The Plainest Demands of Justice: Documents for Dialogue on the African American Experience

How can images help us understand the role of African American women in the abolitionist movement? In this episode, Mary explores an image of Sojourner Truth. Born into slavery in New York, she dedicated her life to abolition and equal rights for women and men. How did her famous "Ar'nt I a Woman?" speech convey her life-long commitment to the ideals of liberty and equality? *The source we reviewed used the phrase "Ar'nt I a Woman?" but Sojourner Truth's speech is often also titled "Ain't I a Woman?"

What significance did the Lincoln Memorial have to the March on Washington? In this episode of BRIdge from the Past, Mary examines images of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The massive march of over 250,000 people culminated at the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech. How did King use American Founding documents to highlight the meaning of equality in his speech? How was this event similar and different to others that have taken place at the Lincoln Memorial over American history?

Images can help tell the story of major events throughout U.S. History, but sometimes, you must look closely to uncover the hidden stories from the past. In this episode of BRIdge From The Past, Mary explores famous paintings depicting the role of African Americans during the American Revolution. How are African Americans depicted in paintings from this period? What clues are we still missing from their role in the Revolutionary War?

What can portraits reveal about African Americans during the Founding Era? In this week's BRIdge from the Past, Mary explores what a miniature portrait of Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman, a formerly enslaved woman turned paid domestic servant, can tell us about her life and the lives of other African Americans during this time.

What can portraits reveal about African Americans during the Founding Era? In her second episode exploring African Americans and the Founding Era, Mary looks at a woodcut portrait of Benjamin Banneker, a self-taught African American author and thinker born in 1731. What is the significance of the inclusion of this portrait in Banneker's own published almanac? What did Banneker's publishing of almanacs have to do with the fight against–in Banneker's own words–“the almost general prejudice and prepossession which is so prevalent in the world against those of my complexion”?

How did African Americans experience education during Reconstruction? In this episode of BRIdge from the Past, Mary explores the images of Fisk Jubilee Hall and the Fisk Jubilee Singers to understand the lengths formally enslaved individuals went in order to establish educational facilities and the resistance they faced. What do these images reveal about the African American experience during the time period? How can we use these images to understand the importance of education today?

What was the “Silent Parade”? In this episode of BRIdge from the Past, Mary examines images of a 1917 silent march down Fifth Avenue in New York City to understand why 10,000 African Americans participated. What events precipitated this march? How do these images compare with those of other historical events or protests where Americans have called for change?

Explore more Black voices from across U.S. History with our primary source based curriculum: The Plainest Demands of Justice: Documents for Dialogue on the African American Experience. Learn more at https://billofrightsinstitute.org/mkt-the-plainest-demands-of-justice. How did Ralph Ellison, prominent African-American novelist and intellectual, contribute to understanding the Black experience in America? In the first episode of our new Scholar Talk series "Black Intellectuals and the African-American Experience," BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams is joined by Lucas Morel, Professor of Politics at Washington & Lee University and editor of several significant books on Ellison. Together, they'll reveal the unique ways Ellison wrote about the Black identity and experience during segregation and contributed to American culture broadly. What Founding values did Ellison emphasize to fellow African Americans during a time of racial discrimination? In our new Scholar Talk series "Black Intellectuals and the African-American Experience," BRI's Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams will be joined by a new scholar every week to discuss the unique ways Black intellectuals like Ralph Ellison, Anna Julia Cooper, and Frederick Douglass have contributed to understanding the African-American experience in America. How did they advance the struggle for civil rights and Founding ideals of equality, justice, and liberty?

Explore more Black voices from across U.S. History with our primary source based curriculum: The Plainest Demands of Justice: Documents for Dialogue on the African American Experience. Learn more at https://billofrightsinstitute.org/mkt-the-plainest-demands-of-justice. How did Frederick Douglass contribute to our understanding of the Black experience in America? In the second episode of our series, “Black Intellectuals and the African-American Experience,” BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams sits down with Peter C. Myers, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, to explore the life and legacy of abolitionist Frederick Douglass. How did Douglass view American Founding documents? What were the most important challenges in the struggle for Black equality and justice according to Douglass?

How did Booker T. Washington, prominent African American educator and intellectual, contribute to understanding the Black experience in America? In this episode of our Scholar Talk series "Black Intellectuals and the African American Experience," BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams is joined by Robert J. Norrell, Professor of History & Bernadotte Schmitt Chair of Excellence, the University of Tennessee and author of "Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington." Together, they explore the educational ideas of Washington and the ways he challenged racial discrimination and contributed to American culture broadly. What educational ideas and civic virtues did Washington promote for Black advancement?

How did Zora Neale Hurston, noted African-American writer during the Harlem Renaissance, contribute to understanding the Black experience in America? In this episode of our Scholar Talk series "Black Intellectuals and the African American Experience," BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams is joined by Patricia Brown, professor of English at Azusa Pacific University, to discuss Hurston's unique examination and celebration of Black expression, creativity, and resiliency. How did Hurston's book "Their Eyes Were Watching God" convey a message of Black women's freedom and self-discovery?

What contribution did Anna Julia Cooper, prominent African-American author and educator, make to understanding the Black experience in America? In this episode of our Scholar Talk series "Black Intellectuals and the African American Experience," BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams is joined by Anika Prather, Professor of English at Howard University, to discuss the unique ways Cooper advocated for equal educational and economic opportunities of Black Americans. As a high school teacher and college professor at Black institutions, how did Cooper use Founding principles of equality and dignity to empower others?

How did W.E.B. Du Bois, prominent African-American intellectual, contribute to understanding the Black experience in America? In this video, BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams is joined by Derrick P. Alridge, Professor of Education at the University of Virginia and affiliate faculty member in the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies. Dr. Alridge is the author of "The Educational Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois: An Intellectual History." Together, they explore the educational ideas of Du Bois and the ways he challenged racial discrimination in "The Souls of Black Folk" and as editor of "The Crisis." How did his ideas about the "Talented Tenth” and Black education promote equality and justice?

Introduce students to the concept of Founding principles based on natural law and natural rights as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Analyze primary source documents to determine the extent to which the writing of the Declaration of Independence contributed to the quest to end slavery in the United States in the Founding era.

In this lesson, students will consider how Founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice were invoked or ignored in the quest to end slavery. Students will use primary source excerpts to consider the ways in which legislators, courts, and individuals interacted and interpreted these principles in the quest to end slavery from colonial times to the outbreak of the Civil War.

This lesson asks students to look at primary source documents as they consider the following question: To what extent did Founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice become a reality for African Americans from Reconstruction to the end of the nineteenth century? The Civil War ended slavery and African Americans were in a position to claim their natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But would that happen?

To what extent did the Founding principles become a reality for African Americans in the first half of the twentieth century? The documents come from a variety of actors in the American republic: legislators and policymakers, the courts, and individuals and groups. As students go through the documents, encourage them to think not only about the principles of liberty, equality, and justice, but also about the ways in which these groups interact with each other in creating or stalling change.

To what extent did Founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice become a reality for African Americans in the civil rights movement? The documents come from a variety of actors: legislators and policy makers, the courts, and individuals and groups. As students go through the documents, encourage them not only to think about the principles of liberty, equality, and justice, but also about the way in which these groups interact with each other in creating or stalling change.

To what extent did Founding principles become a greater reality for African Americans in the latter half of the twentieth century to today? What work must still be done? Primary sources show the splintering of the later civil rights movement and continued debates over the full realization of equality and justice for African Americans in the present day.

What lessons can be learned from studying the African-American Experience? What work still needs to be done to fully realize the promises laid out in the Declaration of Independence?