480 p., By the end of 1825, 6,000 African Americans had left the United States to settle in the free black Republic of Haiti. After arriving on the island, 200 immigrants formed an enclave in what is now Samaná, Dominican Republic. The Americans in Samaná continued to speak English, remained Protestant (in a country of devout Catholics), and retained American cultural practices for over 150 years. Relying on historical archaeological methods, this dissertation explores the processes of community formation, maintenance, and dissolution, while paying particular attention to intersections of race and nation.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
322 p., Kweh-kweh is an African Guyanese pre-wedding ritual system that emerged among African slaves in Guyana and historically functioned as a medium for music-centered matrimonial instruction for soon-to-be-married couples. The ritual is executed on the eve of a wedding ceremony and encompasses music, dance, proverbial speech, and a plethora of ritual practices that allow participants to chide, praise, and instruct the bride and groom and their nations (relatives, friends, and representatives) on matters of marriage. However, kweh-kweh performances also reveal embedded values of the Guyanese community, such as what it means to be a "real man" or a "proper woman." African Guyanese hold conflicting views on kweh-kweh, but at the onset of a wedding, they devise ways to celebrate kweh-kweh, a "pagan" ritual they also regard "our culture." This work demonstrates how African Guyanese manipulate the kweh-kweh ritual, their religious values, and themselves to articulate the complex of their identities, particularly racial and gendered identities.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
247 p., A study of the interchange between Cuba and Africa of Yoruban people and culture during the 19th century, with special emphasis on the Aguda community.
Adekunle,Julius (Editor) and Williams,Hettie V. (Editor)
Format:
Book, Edited
Publication Date:
2013
Published:
Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
334 p., A volume of 16 essays analyzing the issues of blackness and identity of the African Diaspora in global perspective. Focuses on the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
317 p., Includes descriptive ethnographies of Haitians in 19th century Jamaica, eastern Cuba, Detroit, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Paris, and Boston, and innovative scholarly work on non-geographic sites of Haitian community building.
Hill,Robert A. (Author) and Garvey,Marcus (Author)
Format:
Book, Edited
Publication Date:
2011
Published:
Durham, NC: Duke University Press
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
845 p., "Though not an exhaustive compilation of documents from the period, the historical commentaries, chronologies, and primary documents in this volume serve as a thorough introduction to this important period in history and successfully integrates the history of Garvey and his impact on the global African diaspora into world history." -- Glenn A. Chambers, Journal of World History
Okpewho,Isidore (Editor) and Nzegwu,Nkiru (Editor)
Format:
Book, Edited
Publication Date:
2009
Published:
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
531 p., Traces the immigrants' progress from expatriation to arrival and covers the successes as well as problems they have encountered as they establish their lives in a new country. Includes Georges E. Fouron's "I, too, want to be a big man" : the making of a Haitian "boat people"; John A. Arthur's "Immigrants and the American system of justice: perspectives of African and Caribbean Blacks"; and Perry Mars' "The Guyana diaspora and homeland conflict resolution."
