AP African American Studies Resource Archive | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Toni Morrison, a Black woman wearing a multicolored sweater, white blouse, and black pants, next to her son Harold (wearing a brown sweater and khaki pants) and Slade (wearing a black shirt and red pants), in front of a multi-story house and trees.

“Culture Zone; Black to the Future”

by Walter Mosley

Read this column on the history of, and potential for, Afrofuturism and Black writers in science fiction.

Essay

A lithographic print juxtaposing two black faces stylized as African masks framed by yellow circular emblems with a black panther in the center. The words [BLACK IS / BEAUTIFUL] are inscribed around each panther. The print appears in quadrants, with one face in three-quarter view in the top left and the other face appearing straight on in the lower left. The panther emblems appear in a grid in the top right and bottom left quadrants, with the top and bottom rows extending across the full print.

“Negro Es Bello II”

1969

View an example of art from the Black Arts movement by Elizabeth Catlett.

Primary Source

A vertical timeline from the 1600s to the 2000s noting direct influences from one genre of African American music traditions in pink lines and indirect cross-influences with white arrows.

The Evolution of African American Music

by Portia K. Maultsby

View how African American music evolved over the course of four hundred years through this timeline.

Secondary Source

“Hey Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean”

ca. 1952

Watch Ruth Brown’s live performance of an early R&B song.

Video

Colin Powell, a gray-haired, bespectacled Black man, wearing a black jacket, white shirt, and polka dot (white dots on black fabric) tie

Commencement Address by Gen. Colin Powell

1994

Watch Gen. Powell’s speech at one of the premier historically Black universities.

Video

Charles Mingus, a Black man wearing a white or light-colored turtleneck and a dark vest, playing an upright bass.

“Original Faubus Fables”

1960

Hear Charles Mingus's musical retort to Arkansas Governor and segregationist Orval Faubus.

Video

Oil painting of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman. She is smiling facing forward with her hands clasped in front of her body, holding a black book with gold-colored text [HOLY BIBLE]. Lacks is wearing a red dress with a white flower pattern and small belt.

“Henrietta Lacks (HeLa): The Mother of Modern Medicine”

2017

View Kadir Nelson’s portrait and tribute to Henrietta Lacks.

Primary Source

Ruins of a large brick cathedral (the roof no longer present), with a green tree at right.

Kongo, Christianity, and the Diaspora

with John K. Thornton

Learn more about Kongolese cultural practices merging with Christianity and evolving across the Atlantic.

Video

A poster with a drawing of a Black aviator wearing a brown uniform and gray flight vest. Above the aviator is the phrase "Keep us flying!" in italics. Below is "BUY WAR BONDS" in a blue box.

“Should I Sacrifice to Live ‘Half-American?’”

1942

Read the letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Courier that spawned the Double V movement.

Primary Source

President Barack Obama, standing wearing a black suit, white shirt, and striped gray and white tie, awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Maya Angelou, seated wearing a black dress, sparkly necklace and earrings, and sunglasses, as other honorees (including Sylvia Mendez) sit and look on.

Maya Angelou at the Library of Congress

1984

Listen to Maya Angelou read from her work, including her poem “Still I Rise,” and Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask.”

A color lithograph poster for the musical film Space is the Place featuring Sun Ra and the Arkestra. Sun Ra is depicted in the center of the poster wearing a headdress and collar resembling that of an Egyptian pharaoh. The headdress is topped by a large golden orb with long extensions on either side. On either side of Ra is a yellow and red flaming sun. Above and below him are the words [SUN RA / IN / SPACE IS THE PLACE] small planets are scattered among the lettering.

Poster for “Space is the Place”

1974

View an example of Sun Ra’s Afrofuturist art.

Primary Source

Two Black women wearing light-colored coats look into a glass vitrine case with the title "Arthur A Schomburg, 1874–1938." Atop the case is a matted photograph of Arturo [Arthur] Schomburg.

“The Negro Digs Up His Past”

1925

Read this essay by Afro-Latino historian and collector Arturo Schomburg.

Primary Source