M. Keith Claybrook

The synergy of Africana Studies, African-Centered Psychology, and African Philosophy provide the foundation for conceptualizing African Deep Thought as an African-Centered approach to critical thinking. The result is a paradigm shift encouraging deep thinking grounded in an African worldview that is guided by African ethics and cultural values. Ultimately, the critical thinking process begins with African ethics and cultural values as the basis for understanding that which is being investigated.

Examining African American holidays and festivals reveal that after the American Civil War, Black people celebrated their freedom in diverse ways and called for the freedom of all people internationally. Freedom from enslavement and oppression has been and continues to be a critical theme in African American history, holidays, festivals, and celebrations. In this context, freedom frames Black History Month activities and celebrations.

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a pastor, civil rights leader, Nobel Prize winner, author, son, husband, and father. It took 15 years for the United States to declare his birthday a national holiday. Numerous works on King such as "King: A Life," "The Radical King," "The Sword and the Shield" provide biographical accounts, cover King's revolutionary thoughts and ideas, and engage points of divergence and convergence with Malcolm X. This article explores the last book written by King himself, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, which revealed his thoughts and plans for achieving a good and just society. This analysis challenges current and future generations to broaden its understanding of King beyond struggles in the American South, speeches, marches, and his martyrdom to include his nonviolent direct action, moral compass, political organizing, and plans for the whole of

The struggle for freedom is a rejection of oppression. In the experience of African people and people of African descent, the struggle waged against enslavement, colonization, settler colonialism, neo-colonization, apartheid, segregation, internal colonization, and more were struggles for freedom. The struggle for freedom is a reaction to having freedom denied. But what is freedom? A clear answer to this question lets people know what is at stake and challenges them to contribute to the individual and collective struggle for freedom.

In the summer of 1961, Black people from Los Angeles and their allies volunteered to travel south and take part in the Freedom Rides. They provided moral and financial support at the request of Martin Luther King, Jr. and they sent volunteers to take part in the Freedom Rides. This article adds to works by authors such as August Meier and Elliot Rudwick and Raymond Arsenault who tangentially explore the contributions of Black Los Angelenos and their allies to the Freedom Rides. Given that the South was the main stage of the civil rights struggle, it is important to recognize the struggle as a national movement with support and participants from around the country, including Los Angeles.

Black Studies, (also known as African American Studies, Africana Studies, and Pan African Studies) has its origins in the Black Campus Movements of the late 1960s. Black students and their Native American, Asian American, Latinx, and supportive white allies demanded relevant education that decentered European and Euro-American approaches to education. They desired a more inclusive and relevant education while simultaneously acquiring the knowledge, skills, and knowhow to be change agents in their communities and society at large.

In the aftermath of the summer of 2020's social unrest and the call for racial justice after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, among others, many institutions around the country began to champion anti-racist, diversity, equity, and inclusion rhetoric. The attention given to Black students and employees at these institutions, however, has often reduced the broader concerns to a problem of representation. Although representation matters, being Black is more than a matter of representation. Understanding the '60s as a linchpin moment in the creation of a Black racial identity reminds current Black activists, and their allies, that a Black racial identity is about power, culture, and consciousness. This article examines the shift from "Negro" to Black during the Black Freedom Movement exploring Black Power advocates in California, in general, and Los Angeles, specifically. This article draws upon oral histories and autobiographies with content analysis revealing that Black people in the west contributed to the reconstruction of a positive and reaffirming Black racial identity with a focus on the contributions of Maulana Karenga and the Organization Us. It also reveals the positive psycho-cultural effect the Black racial identity had on Black youth.

CORE was very active in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, but it also had a presence around the nation, including Los Angeles. It is critical to recognize the contributions of CORE and other civil rights organizations outside of the South to the broader Black freedom struggle. Los Angeles CORE’s work at the community level in their city and elsewhere made them an indispensable part of the solidarity network that drove the desegregation movement.

This article examines Black student activism in the context of the Black activistintellectual tradition. It explores activism as a form of learning. Examining the Black Student Movement in Los Angeles from 1965 to 1975 in the context of student engagement and high impact educational practices reveals that (1) it is appropriate to analyze the Black Student Movement, and related social movements, in the context of student engagement and high impact practices highlighting the intellectual agency of Black student activists, and (2) that the Black Student Movement of the 1960s and 70 s were part of the Black activist-intellectual tradition requiring a reconceptualization of Black student activists as intellectuals. This case study draws upon autobiographies and semi-structured interviews of former Black student activists illustrating that activism is an intellectually and academically enriching activity.

It has been 60 years since the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) targeted racially segregated housing in Los Angeles. Although the main stage of the Black Freedom Movement was the American South, the struggle stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. The Black population in Los Angeles grew exponentially after WWII, settling largely in the “socially isolated and physically dilapidated South Central and Watts” while others would integrate the historically white areas of West Adams and Compton. This resulted in white flight. By November of 1961, CORE turned its attention towards integrating housing in Los Angeles with a renewed sense of power and faith in the ability to challenge and change racially discriminatory practices after the success of the Freedom Rides. Like chapters in Brooklyn, NY and Seattle, WA, CORE in Los Angeles started the “special Freedom Dweller campaign” targeting the areas of Glendale, Burbank, Torrance, Monterey Park and the Centinela Valley. The Freedom Dweller campaign executed the CORE strategy of research and dialogue before taking nonviolent direct-action. And according to Andrea Gibbons, “By early 1962, CORE had tested thirty-three buildings, and was involved in litigation and campaigning around several of them.”

Critical thinking is foundational in American higher education, and yet the approaches are largely grounded in European and Euro-American thought. It behooves Africana Studies, then, to develop an African-centered approach to critical thinking and related pedagogical approaches. This article argues for employing African proverbs (wise sayings), riddles (verbal puzzles), and narratives (stories) as culturally grounded and relevant pedagogical practices that promote African Deep Thought which is an African-centered approach to critical thinking. The objective of this article is to advance African proverbs, riddles, and narratives as viable African-centered approaches to critical thinking. Secondly, it enhances African proverbs, riddles, and narratives as culturally relevant pedagogy for grounding students of Africana studies in African cultural values. Lastly, the article contributes to the existing literature on decentering European and Euro-American centered approaches to education by diversifying basic assumptions, core concepts, and pedagogical approaches in higher education. The article presents observations and reflections on student responses to African proverbs, riddles, and narratives in two Africana Studies courses.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and other city officials could have prevented the Watts Rebellion in August 1965 had they addressed the concerns of Black leadership in the early sixties. When Black people went through the “proper channels” to have their complaints addressed, often, they were dismissed, leaving Black residents with a growing sense of frustration and angst. In addition, the LAPD further criminalized and marginalized Black Los Angeles.

"Volumes of work have been written on the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is important to remember, however, that King’s parents and family, as well as being a witness to and victim of racial injustice in his youth, shaped his commitment to racial and social justice," writes M. Keith Claybrook, Jr.
https://www.aaihs.org/dr-king-and-the-foundation-of-a-black-intellectual-activist/?fbclid=IwAR2AYil6hLobzrgwkKkTiIDqdc2EyPrBiJarU0AnccCAAEF_tg2OaxRhSwU

There is much to learn from studying the Black Power Movement in the context of the Black intellectual-activist tradition. It takes intelligence to prepare, organize, and counter-organize when dealing with a force that seemingly has the law on its side as well as greater resources such as personnel and firepower. Consider the events surrounding the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party and the shootout with the Los Angeles Police Department at Panther Headquarters on 41 Street and Central Avenue in the early morning of December 8, 1969. Much of the popular and scholarly attention given to the shootout highlight the spectacle of Panthers as revolutionaries engaged in self-defense from agents of the state. Here, the focus is on the intelligence of the Panthers and the broader Black community. Reflections of those who were involved reveal their reflections and intellect in that historic moment.

"Dorothy I. Height" was a Black woman whose intelligence and activism improved the quality of life and material conditions of Black people and women, and sought to ensure their humanity and dignity were respected as well. Height was molded into a Black intellectual-activist through her parents, the intellectual preparation and stimulation she received in her youth, and a nurturing community.

James Farmer conceptualized and developed a nonviolent direct-action philosophy that could be applied in the United States. He drew inspiration from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) and the Indian Independence Movement. As a Pacificist and a Norman Thomas socialist, Farmer would reimagine nonviolent direct-action in the United States to address Jim Crow. Thirteen years before the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Farmer founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1942. Nonviolent- direct action became CORE’s guiding philosophy and praxis. After eighty years since CORE’s founding, it is appropriate to revisit Farmer’s autobiography Lay Bare the Heart and by extension his
experiences in segregated Black communities to assess the shaping of his intellect and commitment to racial justice which made him a Black activist- intellectual defined as “having a commitment to knowledge in the service of community, society and humanity.” The following quotes are taken from Farmer’s autobiography.

the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), a drug dealer, drug abuser, womanizer, and abuser of women. Writing in the late 1980s while battling his addiction to crack cocaine, Anthony states in the Author's Preface, "I came to the realization that taking to the streets to fight social revolution in this country is like 'spitting in the wind; it will fly back into your face.'" Essentially, he uses his second book to argue social revolution is fruitless and a waste of time. Anthony was writing in pain; grief stricken and hurt by the pain he saw and caused during the Black Power era. Anthony attended and graduated from Los Angeles City College and the University of Southern California in the early 1960s. By fall 1963, he relocated to San Francisco to attend Golden Gate College of Law. There, Anthony led rent strikes in San Francisco as part of the Independent Action Movement (I AM). He also took part in a week-long commemoration

"It has been 60 years since the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) killed Ronald (X) Stokes, wounded several others, and raided the Nation of Islam’s Temple #27. This enraged many in Black Los Angeles and led Minister Malcolm X to organize a Black alliance for racial justice. The over policing of Black Angelenos specifically and other minoritized communities more broadly was common in Los Angeles. In addition, LAPD’s Chief William H. Parker’s officers were known for invasive and abusive policing. Furthermore, federal and local law enforcement became increasingly aware of and monitored the rapidly growing Nation of Islam viewing them as crazed, fanatic, “hate mongers” for their critiques of white people. Founder and leader of the Nation, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad says they want freedom, justice, equality of opportunity, and the establishment of a separate state or territory. However, the differing approaches to freedom, justice, and equality among Black people would prove difficult to overcome when attempting to build a Black United Front in Los Angeles. "

This article examines the lived experiences of Black graduate student activist David C. Turner, III. It explores his intellectual and academic development in his masters program at the University of Pennsylvania and doctoral program at UC Berkeley. It also explores Turner's on and off campus activism, including his involvements in the Black Liberation Collective, Black Youth Project (BYP) 100, and Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition. Highly involved Black graduate student activists that successfully balance their studies and activism make themselves increasingly prepared for the job market in general and for the professoriate in particular. This article asserts that highly engaged activism coupled with advanced education prepared Turner for a career as an Africana activist-scholar in the academy. The article reveals his preparation by connecting Turner's lived experiences with proven effective practices. The objective of this case study is to highlight the on and off campus experiences of one 21st century Black student activist, Turner, to reveal the link between Black graduate student activism, intellectual and scholarly development, and career preparation drawing upon informal conversations and semi-structured interviews.

Black identity is the most political social identity used to identify people of African descent in the United States. The 1960s constitute a linchpin moment that recreated what it meant to be Black in the United States, tethering pre-1960s derogatory perceptions of blackness as an adjective and post-1960s use of Black to denote peoplehood, pride, and power. Black activists in the 1960s and 70s redefined and recreated what it meant to be Black in the United States. Their efforts demanded dignity and human respect for people of African descent. Being Black was about the right to be self-naming, self-defining, self-determining, and exercising individual and collective agency. This is consistent with current uses of Black in organizations such as in Black Lives Matter, Black Youth Project 100, Afrikan Black Coalition, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and Institute of the Black World 21st Century to name a few. And yet, many still use a lowercase "b" when referring to Black people.

This blog examines the what many refer to as the Watts Rebellion in 1965. It posits that Watts is a small fraction of Los Angeles and should be renamed to reflect as such. Furthermore, it is argued that it was not a riot but a rebellion.

https://www.aaihs.org/remembering-rethinking-and-renaming-the-watts-rebellion/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=remembering-rethinking-and-renaming-the-watts-rebellion

This article examines the relationship between academia and activism. It explores the undergraduate experience of veteran 21st century Black student activist, David C. Turner, III, revealing the foundations of his academic and activist career in higher education. Framed in the context of student engagement and high impact educational practices, this paper argues that 21st century Black student activists are motivated by a belief in a society and world free from overt, insidious, and institutional racism. Furthermore, it argues that activism offers academically relevant learning opportunities. The article draws upon informal conversations and interactions, formal interviews, and Turner's published and unpublished writings. It chronicles Turner's undergraduate experiences at CSU, Dominguez Hills majoring in Africana Studies, president of the Organization of Africana Studies, and research and conference opportunities revealing the foundations of his pursuit of cultural grounding, academic excellence, and social responsibility.

This paper engages the idea of critical thinking from an African-centered perspective centralizing the role of African and African Diasporic culture in knowledge construction in Africana Studies. “Putting some soul into critical thinking” refers to putting African and African Diasporic culture into critical thinking. This African cultural enhancement of critical thinking skills offers an alternative to European and Euro-American approaches to critical thinking and offers an alternative approach, cast in this article as African Deep Thought. It ensures that knowledge is culturally grounded, relevant, and positively affects the African and African Diasporic existential trajectory. This is also critical in re-centering Africana scholars as the knowing subject, deriving their inspiration and clarity of vision from African culture in ways that engender intellectual and intercultural pluralism without hierarchy. To that end, this paper explores some of the distinct features of African-centered critical thinking such as good character. Good character is defined here as the qualities and attributes that are part of one’s personality and are consistent with and reaffirmed by the individual and collective soul. Another feature is the interest in improving the individual and collective human respect and dignity of African people and their descendants as well as improve their material existence and quality of life. Lastly the intellectual skills and practices that draw upon African and African Diasporic cultures and philosophies.  The paper discusses culture and power, African-centeredness, African Deep Thought, and the relationship between the individual and community in route to an African centered approach to critical thinking.

Black students at historically white colleges and universities created self-conscious sociopolitical and cultural organizations most commonly referred to as Black student unions (BSUs), Black student organizations, and Black student alliances or Black student associations (BSAs). Largely founded in 1967 and 1968, these organizations developed in response to a growing need for intraracial group solidarity, security, and political voice on campus. They became unifying organizations for Black students on college and university campuses throughout the United States. In addition, others also formed coalition organizations of Black students and organizations across campuses. Emphasis on the Black Student Alliance in Los Angeles reveals the centrality of Black student activism during the Black Power Movement both on and off campus. On top of the immediate concerns and environments, Black students were motivated by and therefore learned from previous and concurrent movements such as the Chinese Revolution, the Cuban Revolution, and liberation movements in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. On the heels of the Civil Rights Movement and as part of the fledgling Black Power and Black Arts Movements, Black students founded Black student alliances at universities such as Yale University (1967), Emory University (1968), and Pasadena Community College (1968). They developed demands rooted in Black Power principles as part of the Black campus movement. Demands included but were not limited to increasing the number of Black students, staff, faculty, and administrators in institutions of higher education. In addition, they demanded Black cultural centers and Black studies programs. On numerous campuses, BSAs held events such as lecture series, wrote letters, took over office buildings, and negotiated their demands with campus authorities. For example, in May 1968, the BSA at Yale University organized a symposium titled "Black Studies in the University," with speakers from major universities addressing the academic relevance and contribution of Black studies to the academy. Ultimately, Yale became the first Ivy League institution to house a Black studies unit. Black student alliances were also active off campus. In 1969, the Black Student Alliance at Yale also became very active and vocal about police brutality-both on campus and in New Haven. They wanted the university to take more of an active role in holding the police accountable for their actions and bringing justice to their victims. In California, Black student activists named many of their organizations "Black Student Union," with San Francisco State being the first. Black student alliances formed as a coalition organization in an effort to consolidate power, develop student and community relationships, and serve both student and community needs.

The mission and goal of Africana Studies is the development of cultural grounding, academic excellence, and social responsibility. Building the Basics: A Handbook for Developing Academic Excellence in Africana Studies focuses on the goal of developing students academically. Throughout students’ academic career, they will take a variety of courses and learn the course content. Many students enter higher education at different levels of preparation. Regardless of content or preparation, students should always build and develop the basics.

Building the Basics provides students with strategies, tips, and approaches to maximize learning. The handbook discusses the basics of working at home, critical thinking and questioning, skilled and critical reading, scholarly writing, working collaboratively in groups, and studying for quizzes and examines. Each chapter begins with guiding questions and key terms to prime students for what is to come in the chapter. In addition, each chapter concludes with activities for students. Building the Basics offers pragmatic strategies and approaches to master the fundamentals every student needs to enhance student learning in pursuit of academic excellence. 

https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/building-basics-handbook-pursuing-academic-excellence-africana-studies