Series description:
From the late nineteenth century continuing until the 1960s, millions of African Americans migrated out of the South in search of what Mississippi-born author Richard Wright once characterized as the “warmth of other suns.” Black southerners escaped the Jim Crow South for a less racially oppressive North and West. They left, altering the racial and political landscape of the entire country. These courageous migrants often thrived in their new urban settings by reestablishing community and gaining political power outside of the disenfranchising measures that defined their lives in the South. But the new environments often proved to be unwelcoming for Black people. While restructuring their economic, social, spiritual, and cultural communities, Black migrants often found themselves at the hub of contestation over physical, social, and political space. Black residents frequently became targets of white animosity in cities across the country and were subjected to varied modes of racialized social control, from the legal to the extra-legal to the categorically violent. Nonetheless, millions of Black people created new worlds and found success, changing America forever.
Join us for two ninety-minute lectures/discussions as we explore the dynamics of Black migration and work to understand what made people reestablish life elsewhere. We will examine how their courage and perseverance provide lessons for us all.
Lecture Two: Life in a New City (New York, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta)
The swelling of the Black populations in towns and cities meant job competition and what historian Allen Spears has referred to as increased “social visibility,” both of which grated on the already thin racial tolerance of many local whites. Migration brought black and white people into ostensibly unrestricted contact, which subsequently made Blacks’ presence and varied assertions of freedom highly threatening. But Black people found a way to thrive, despite these challenges.
Join us in this second lecture as we explore the lives of Black migrants in five cities: New York, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, and Atlanta. We will examine how African Americans reestablished community in these cities. Where did they work? What businesses did they create? How did they gain political power? What were their leisure outlets? We will answer these and many other questions.
What to Expect:
This is a NO knowledge shaming space. You are not expected to have a certain level of understanding of the material to participate. Just a willingness to learn.
While this is meant to be an interactive space, this space is open to all. Some may want to participate in the question and answer portion that will be sprinkled throughout the session and others may want to turn off their camera and just listen.
There will be small “assignments” and reading to help orient the conversation that are optional but do add to the learning experience.
There will be NO QUIZZES. While this will mimic a college class setting, this is not meant to mimic all aspects of college.
One ticket will be good for BOTH lectures!
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