African Americans are an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa. The phrase generally refers to descendants of enslaved black people who are from the United States.
Black people is a skin group-based classification used for specific people with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all black people have dark skin; however, in certain countries, often in socially based systems of racial classification in the Western World, the term black is used to describe persons who are perceived as dark-skinned compared to other populations. It is mostly used for the people of Sub-Saharan African descent and the indigenous peoples of Oceania, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Barack Hussein Obama II is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American President of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
In African-American culture, Shuckin' and jivin' is joking and acting evasively in the presence of an authoritative figure. Shuckin' and jivin' usually involves clever lies and impromptu storytelling, used to one-up an opponent or avoid punishment. In Ribbin', Jivin', and Playin' the Dozens: The Persistent Dilemma in Our Schools, Herbert L. Foster writes: "Shuckin' and jivin' is a verbal and physical technique some blacks use to avoid difficulty, to accommodate some authority figure, and in the extreme, to save a life or to save oneself from being beaten physically or psychologically."
William Manning Marable was an American professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University. Marable founded and directed the Institute for Research in African-American Studies. He authored several texts and was active in progressive political causes. At the time of his death, he had completed a biography of human rights activist Malcolm X titled Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention (2011), for which Marable won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for History.
Dorothy Irene Height was a revolutionary leader for the civil rights movement, known for her contributions and ideological breakthroughs as she had up to four million followers. Height is often referred to as being an extremely prominent figure, as she was of great significance in the women's rights movements simultaneously to the civil rights movements. Height specifically focused on the issues of African-American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for forty years.
African-American history is the part of American history that looks at the history of African Americans or Black Americans.
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an American lawyer, university administrator, and writer, who was the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She is married to the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, and was the first African-American first lady.
The term black church refers to Protestant churches that currently or historically have ministered to predominantly African American congregations in the United States. While some black churches belong to predominantly African-American denominations, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), many black churches are members of predominantly white denominations, such as the United Church of Christ.
The family of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, and his wife Michelle Obama is made up of people of Kenyan (Luo), African-American, and Old Stock American ancestry. Their immediate family was the First Family of the United States from 2009 to 2017. The Obamas are the first First Family of African-American descent.
Barack Obama, who was elected as the 44th President of the United States, has elicited a number of public perceptions regarding his personality and background. As the first African-American President of the United States, his race and culture have played a prominent role in this, both positively and negatively. His relative youth has alternately resulted in his being praised for his freshness and criticized for his inexperience. His temperament and demeanor have drawn praise for his perceived unflappability and criticism for the perception of his lacking emotional attachment.
The Speech: Race and Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" is a non-fiction book edited by T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, author of several books on race and director of Vanderbilt University's African American and Diaspora Studies, concerning the "A More Perfect Union" speech of then-Senator Barack Obama.
The 2000 United States House of Representatives election for the 1st district in Illinois took place on November 7, 2000 to elect a representative from Illinois's 1st congressional district for the 107th United States Congress. Incumbent Democratic Representative Bobby Rush faced a primary challenge from future President Barack Obama. Rush defeated Obama 61 percent to 30 percent, with other candidates combining for the remaining nine percent. Rush then defeated his Republican opponent, Raymond Wardingley, 88 percent to 12 percent, ensuring his reelection.
Marian Lois Robinson is the mother of Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States, and Craig Robinson, a basketball executive, and the mother-in-law of former U.S. President Barack Obama.
Major party, African American candidates for President of the United States could not run in primaries until nearly the third quarter of the 20th century, after the passage of the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) opened up political participation to blacks in the South. Also, party changes to give more weight to candidates' performance in primaries, rather than to party leaders' negotiation in secret, opened up the fields. In 2008, Senator Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, the first African American to win the office.
The African-American heritage of United States presidents relates mostly to questions and claims made by amateur historians as to whether five presidents of the United States who were accepted as white also had significant recent African ancestry. There is no disagreement that President Barack Obama (2009–2017) had a Kenyan father and an American mother of mostly European ancestry. The academic consensus of historians is that no president other than Obama has had recent African ancestry; it rejects claims to the contrary.
Clarence Lusane is an African-American author, activist, lecturer and freelance journalist. His most recent major work is his book The Black History of the White House.
The post–civil rights era in African-American history is defined as the time period in the United States since Congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, major federal legislation that ended legal segregation, gained federal oversight and enforcement of voter registration and electoral practices in states or areas with a history of discriminatory practices, and ended discrimination in renting or buying housing.
African-American women have been involved in American political issues and advocating for the community since the American Civil War era through organizations, clubs, community-based social services, and advocacy. Issues that deal with identity, and misogynoir have been important to African-American women in the political dialogue.
On 16 October 1901, shortly after moving into the White House, Theodore Roosevelt invited his adviser, the African American spokesman Booker T. Washington, to dine with him and his family, and provoked an outpouring of condemnation from southern politicians and press. This reaction affected subsequent White House practice, and no other African American was invited to dinner for almost thirty years.
