History is a weapon. Studied and interpreted wisely, it can help defend, inspire, protect, and unify. If history is ignored, forgotten, or misconstrued, it can be part of the miseducation of a people that will have a them going to the back door even without being told. Of all our studies history is so very important not only because it is a vital means to the cognition of and solution to many of the problems that beset us, but because it is the heart and soul of our liberation itself.
From "Lecture at El Mina,"
Ghana, 2004.
Amilcar Shabazz, Professor W. E. B. Du Bois Department
of Afro-American Studies 330 New Africa House
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003-9289 USA
Phone: 413.545.2751
Fax: 413.545.0628 National Council for Black Studiesmember click me!
Blogs I Author or Contribute to...
Below are a number of blogs or web logs I have created for classes I am teaching or have taught. Other blogs are for other purposes: to share thoughts from my vantage point as the chair of the W.E.B.Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, or related to research projects I am involved in, or of travel and other special initiatives. You are welcome to view these and to provide feedback where possible.
At this site you will find the most recent syllabus and all course materials.
AFROAM 391, “The Critique of the Concept of Racism” is an advanced undergraduate seminar that critically interrogates the concept of racism. The goal of the course is to give students an understanding for how race and racism is relevant to some basic political ideas of liberalism and Marxism, so that they will be able to think about race and racism in political terms. Prof. William Strickland created the class and it continues to be offered periodically.
AFROAM 236is a course I first started teaching in the Fall of 2009. “The History of the Civil Rights Movement” is a lower-division undergraduate lecture/discussion course that critically interrogates the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) from 1954-1969. The eminent James Baldwin and professors in the Du Bois Department (Ernie Allen, John Bracey, Julius Lester, Esther Terry, Michael Thelwell, and William Strickland) created the class in 1984 and it continues to be offered.
The Du Bois AFROAM
blog focuses on the intellectual work and events of the department, its faculty, alumni, and current students. Here we will foster conversations on our past, present, and future research work, teaching, and community engagement practice. Here we will spotlight working papers, new books or articles, senior theses, dissertations, etc., emanating from or germane to our department. We will provide a special online venue for discussing the history of the field through links to department archives.
Frankly Speaking truth to power joyfullyis my personal blog that I started as chair of the Du Bois Department. These are my individual thoughts and feelings on issues of the day and do not in any way express the view of the department or the University of Massachusetts. I welcome feedback and responses to postings on this blog. The "About the Professor" tab has some links to articles or documentaries that others have written or produced that are biographical in some form. "A Story about Advancing Democracy" is a part of the blog that talks about the making of my first monograph and some of the awards, reviews, and projects that have spun off from it. "Master of the Blast," "Digital Souls," and "Women/Talk/Organizing" is where I discuss a few of my current projects.
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Visit our link now:http://www.umass.edu/afroam/gradprog.html
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