Videos

Lynching: One of America’s Grandest Traditions (HIST 1323)

There is little room to debate against the idea that the horrific crime against humanity known as lynching was a fixture in this nation for nearly four centuries after the first stolen Africans arrived in a British mainland colony. In many ways, lynching was a primal expression of Power in this nation. We must also remember that Blacks were not the only victims of this nation’s lynch culture.

What you will find below are two relatively short videos (approximately 10 minutes each) that discuss American lynch culture.

Please view the videos and leave a comment that describes how you feel inside after being exposed to this information.

 

WPA SLAVE NARRATIVES (HIST 2813)

During the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt commissioned writers and folklorists, the most notable being the esteemed writer Zora Neale Hurston, to travel throughout the South and capture the voices of the last living victims of American chattel slavery. What grew out of this research was volumes and volumes of interviews from the last living enslaved Africans. Their accounts are in a word, riveting.

Your task is to view the theatrical portrayals of these irreplaceable stories and chose at least one to highlight as your favorite and please explain why it stands out to you.

Click on the video to view U.S. History. I am sure that you will recognize many of the actors participating in this brilliant project.

Insurrections of Rebellious Africans