The History of Black Studies

385 Pages·2021·3.15 MB·English

by  Abdul Alkalimat

The History of Black Studies
“Abdul Alkalimat is one of the most rigorous and committed Black radical thinkers of
our time.”
—Barbara Ransby, award-winning author of Ella Baker and the
Black Freedom Movement
“Magisterial [...] The most comprehensive history of the field of Black Studies. This
landmark book will become a standard in the history of our field.”
—Professor Molefi Kete Asante, Department of Africology, Temple University
“Abdul Alkalimat, one of the pioneers of Black Studies, has done a great service by
providing a powerful, expansive, and compelling history of the field.”
—Keisha N. Blain, award-winning author and co-editor of the #1 New York Times
Bestseller Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America 1619–2019
“This is Alkalimat’s magnum opus […] a focal point for scholarship on the history of
Africana thought in the academy. It is required reading for Black Studies scholars and
intellectual historians.”
—Fabio Rojas, Virginia L. Roberts Professor of Sociology, Indiana University
“A visionary and a documentarian, Alkalimat has been a major figure in the Black
Studies movement since its modern inception. This landmark book is indispensable.”
—Martha Biondi, author of The Black Revolution on Campus
The History of Black Studies
Abdul Alkalimat
First published 2021 by Pluto Press
New Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright © Abdul Alkalimat 2021
The right of Abdul Alkalimat to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7453 4423 2 Hardback
ISBN 978 0 7453 4422 5 Paperback
ISBN 978 0 7453 4426 3 PDF
ISBN 978 0 7453 4424 9 EPUB
Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England
To my comrades in People’s College
and the Black student activists of today

Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Tables ix
Introduction 1
PART I BLACK STUDIES AS INTELLECTUAL HISTORY
1 The Academic Disciplines 13
2 The Historically Black Colleges and Universities 45
3 The Political Culture of the Black Community 63
PART II BLACK STUDIES AS SOCIAL MOVEMENT
4 The Freedom Movement 95
5 The Black Power Movement 101
6 The Black Arts Movement 128
7 The New Communist Movement 158
8 The Black Women’s Movement 172
9 The Black Student Movement 178
PART III BLACK STUDIES AS ACADEMIC PROFESSION
10 Disrupting 197
11 Building Consensus 220
12 Building Institutions 233
13 Establishing the Profession 261
14 Theorizing 277
15 Norming Research 296
Conclusion 303
Appendix 310
Bibliography 311
Index 354
Figures
1. Model of the Rise of Black Studies in Mainstream Higher Education 194
2. Black Studies Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral Degrees Earned
Each Year in the US from the 1987–1988 Academic Year to the
2016–2017 Academic Year 234
3. Paradigm of Unity in Black Studies 244
4. NCBS Model for a Core Curriculum in Black Studies 246
Tables
1. Works of Bibliography by and about African Americans 15
2. First African Americans to Earn Doctorates in Eleven Disciplines 18
3. African-American Literary Anthologies 28
4. Key Faculty at Howard University, 1890–1969 58
5. Special Issues of Freedomways 107
6. Special Issues of The Black Scholar, by Year and Topic 111
7. Musicians’ Organizations of the Black Arts Movement 138
8. Writers’ Organizations of the Black Arts Movement 139
9. Literary Anthologies of the Black Arts Movement 141
10. Theater Groups of the Black Arts Movement 142
11. Key Murals 1967 and After 148
12. Journals of the Black Arts Movement 154
13. Old Left Veterans in the New Left 163
14. Key Works Fusing Marxism and Black Power 166
15. Key African-American Marxist Contributions to Black Studies 166
16. Key Court Cases Ending Segregation in Higher Education 179
17. Building Takeovers 203
18. Early Books about Black Studies 229
19. Two-Year Colleges’ Introduction of any Black Studies Course 234
20. Percentage of Four-Year Institutions with Black Studies Courses
or Units 235
21. Faculty by Gender in 356 Black Studies Units (2019) 239
22. Faculty Rank by Gender of 2,614 Individuals in 356 Black Studies
Units (2019) 239
23. Gender of Black Studies Unit Heads and Chairs as of 2013 241
24. Black Studies Units by Region, Ownership, and Size of College or
University 250
25. Selected Annual Events Sponsored by Black Studies Programs 256
26. History of Several Black Studies Doctoral Programs 262
27. Black Studies Journals and their Editors and Editorial Board
Members, by Type and Publisher (2008) 268
28. Top Five Universities in Terms of Black Studies Journal Editorial
Positions (2008) 270
29. Faculty Holding Three or More Black Studies Journal Editorial
Positions (2008) 270
30. Contexts for Black Studies Journals (2008) 271