This course of study explores the histories, cultures, and politics of African Americans and Latinos since the Haitian Revolution and the Mexican War of Independence to the presidential campaign of 2008. Special emphasis is placed on challenges to coalition building between African Americans and Latinos. Chicana activist and scholar Betita Martinez has called the comparative study of African Americans and Latina/o histories one of the critical political and social issues of our time.
On this site you will find study guides, lecture notes, slide shows, music videos, and other materials on remarkable individuals such as Martin Espada, August Wilson, and Piri Thomas. World historical events including Spanish colonialism, the making of the racial caste system in the Americas, Black and Indigenous rebellions, environmental racism, and many other topics are covered. Students who have enrolled in this class are taking the materials back to their high schools. They are requesting that their school districts incorporate these materials into school curricula on American history, and social studies because their families live and work in increasingly diverse schools and neighborhoods.
Ernesto Galarza wrote: As percentages of poor, brown and black hold about equal shares of not having.” The “brown and black” have shared other things. Thanks to the scholarship of Juan Flores, we understand now that in Puerto Rico, the popular and deeply historical rhythms of Plena and Bomba are rooted in slavery and reach back to West African musical traditions. From these musical blends, Salsa was born and transmitted through the Caribbean, Latin America, and North America. Musical collaborations between Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Ella Fitzgerald, Mongo Santamaria, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Arturo Sandoval have changed the course of musical history. This course is part of a broader effort to recover and promote the histories of African Americans and Latinos in the Americas.
Overlapping themes in the histories of African Americans and Latinos in the Americas include: working class struggles, public policy debates as well as voting and contemporary electoral politics. Both Latinos and African Americans have experienced slavery, colonialism, and racial oppression. Latinos and African Americans have both been subjected to massive forced movements since 1492, and this has led to intense efforts to define and redefine identity, race, and place.
Please feel free to adapt these materials to classroom or organizing workshop formats. Please cite the blog address in your presentations as we hope to encourage high school teachers, community activists, and scholars to use this site as much as possible. http://cmmu126.blogspot.com/
I wish to thank UCSC graduate Marisol Pineda (UCSC, Class of 2008!) for authoring, updating, and creatively maintaining this course blog. I also want to thank the extraordinary teaching assistants who made this class work: Shelia Ann Turner, Damaris Santos Palmer, Marisol R. Pineda, Danae Maria Tapia, Maria Lidia Perez, Kana Carlisle, Neidi X Dominguez and Laura Del Pilar Lopez Ledesma.
Finally, I wish to thank the 2008 UCSC African American and Latina/o Histories class for making this one of the most extraordinary educational experiences of my life!
In Struggle,
Paul Ortiz
University of California, Santa Cruz, June, 2008.
