Critical Social Inquiry 0129 - I Strike the Empire Back

This class will focus on urban Black communities during the 20th century, including their establishment, and economic, social, and cultural development. The political struggles that erupted during several different historical eras, and the anti-Black violence that has been an enduring feature of Black life in America's cities will be a major point of emphasis. Accordingly, we will chart a course following the migration of Black people out of the rural South to the major metropolitan areas where the majority of migrants settled and fashioned new communities in order to examine when, where, and how those communities took shape, the resistance they encountered, and the range of responses to that resistance from the New Negro/Harlem Renaissance movements, through Civil Rights, Black Power/Black Arts, to the rise of hip hop, with the intention of using the insight gained through historical analysis to better understand the recent emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Power, Community and Social Justice Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Course will be taught by David Swiderski, adjunct Students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time.