From Black Power to Black Studies

How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline

• Author(s): Fabio Rojas,
• Publisher: JHU Press
• Pages: 304
• ISBN_10: 0801898250
  ISBN_13: 9780801898259
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Education / Schools / Levels / Higher , Education / History , Education / Philosophy, Theory & Social Aspects , History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies) , History / African American & Black , Political Science / Civil Rights , Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies , Social Science / Sociology / General , Social Science / Discrimination , Social Science / Black Studies (Global) ,

Description:...

The black power movement helped redefine African Americans' identity and establish a new racial consciousness in the 1960s. As an influential political force, this movement in turn spawned the academic discipline known as Black Studies. Today there are more than a hundred Black Studies degree programs in the United States, many of them located in America’s elite research institutions. In From Black Power to Black Studies, Fabio Rojas explores how this radical social movement evolved into a recognized academic discipline.

Rojas traces the evolution of Black Studies over more than three decades, beginning with its origins in black nationalist politics. His account includes the 1968 Third World Strike at San Francisco State College, the Ford Foundation’s attempts to shape the field, and a description of Black Studies programs at various American universities. His statistical analyses of protest data illuminate how violent and nonviolent protests influenced the establishment of Black Studies programs. Integrating personal interviews and newly discovered archival material, Rojas documents how social activism can bring about organizational change.

Shedding light on the black power movement, Black Studies programs, and American higher education, this historical analysis reveals how radical politics are assimilated into the university system.