Connecting Social Movements: U.S. Civil Rights and African Liberation

Catalog description

This course examines the interconnectedness of African liberation movements and the United States Civil Rights Movement, specifically focusing on periods of the 1950s through the 1970s. This course has three main aims. First, drawing from a political philosophy lens, the course aims to show the significance of how race was constructed, how racialization informed political systems/structures, and how racialization led to imperialism, colonialism and racial subjugation. The second aim is to demonstrate the impact and interconnectedness of African and Black American liberation movements through the lens of Pan-Africanism. The third aim is to explore the consequences of colonization and the social, cultural, and political impact of decolonization, post-colonialism, emancipation, and Black consciousness. Students will use their examination of African liberation movements and the U.S. Civil Rights movement to connect with their knowledge, observations, questions, and experiences with social justice, liberation, and social change movements in the present-day context.