Black People and the Knowledge They Created: The History of Black Studies

From the time they arrived here, Black people in communities created knowledge about themselves that eventually led to the creation of a new field of study known as Black Studies. This included various waves of cultural creators and institutions, such as bookstores that served broad audiences. It also included the first wave of African Americans writing doctoral dissertations. And it certainly has included the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

These intellectual powerhouses enabled numerous social movements to study and teach about the Black experience: the freedom movement, the Black Power movement, the Black arts movement, the socialist movement, the women’s movement, and the student movement. These movements, in turn, inspired Black Studies to become a formal academic profession, attracting students of all kinds and even spreading worldwide.

This presentation and the following discussion make the case for diversity, equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory (CRT). It encourages audience members to reflect on and share their own pathways to knowledge, often passing through Black Studies or other DEI/CRT projects, whether identified as such or not.