- Black Studies 4 Critical Intro to Race
- Black Studies 15 Psychology of Blacks
- Black Studies 38B African American Literature
- Black Studies 103 Politics of Black Liberation
- Black Studies 106 Women Politics of the Body
- Black Studies 133 Gender and Sexuality
Entering into the University of California Santa Barbara, I had a monolithic way of looking at the world. All I knew about Black History and racial politics were the mainstream basics: Slavery, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and the Civil Rights Movement. Also, I had come to accept that although I knew that as an African American woman I had to work harder than my white counterpart I held the idea that racial equality had been achieved post-civil rights movement. UCSB’s Black Studies Department is exceptional, and has influenced my perspective significantly. The general Black Studies courses that I have taken examined the ways in which racism is constructed and embedded within systematic structures of oppression. Before taking Black Studies courses I was not aware of the impact of race in poverty, employment, education, media representation, public policies, and so on.
Being a double major in Black Studies and Sociology with a minor in Feminist Studies, I’ve gained a lot of perspective from Black Studies 133 Gender and Sexuality. Generally, Black Studies courses and racial politics have the tendency to center race in discussion of racial politics, without providing a critical gender critique. Thus, rendering the Black womens' experiences invisible. Black Studies 133 influenced my perspective by providing an intersectional analysis that examined different identities along with race, such as gender, class, and sexuality. The Black Studies courses that I have taken thus far, have provided me with a historical context to the plight of African Americans and exposed me different fields in which African Americans are examined. In addition, they have given me the tools to think and analyze critically.
Being a double major in Black Studies and Sociology with a minor in Feminist Studies, I’ve gained a lot of perspective from Black Studies 133 Gender and Sexuality. Generally, Black Studies courses and racial politics have the tendency to center race in discussion of racial politics, without providing a critical gender critique. Thus, rendering the Black womens' experiences invisible. Black Studies 133 influenced my perspective by providing an intersectional analysis that examined different identities along with race, such as gender, class, and sexuality. The Black Studies courses that I have taken thus far, have provided me with a historical context to the plight of African Americans and exposed me different fields in which African Americans are examined. In addition, they have given me the tools to think and analyze critically.
I agree with you Ashley. As a freshman I came into UCSB thinking that I knew every civil rights leader, every riot, every black activist, etc. I began to learn about grass root movements and not your typical activist such as Fannie Lou Hamer. If it was not for Black Studies 1, I would have not been interested in the history of “black people.” I never understood why people made a big deal about racism, ethnicity, etc. But then it dawn on me as I was learning about different cultures and history that was not covered in high school, that being black goes deeper than skin color. I am also glad that I switched out of the Biology department into the Black Studies department. The amounts of information that students are learning in these Black Studies courses are very empowering. We have become activist and researchers ready to mobilize the world when we graduate. I don’t know about you, but I feel that we are receiving valuable information that will help us become better and effective leaders.
ReplyDeleteI definitely have to agree with you Ashley, our Black Studies department here at UCSB I think is exceptional. I find it amazing how before coming to college and taking black studies courses I as an African American woman was not aware of the the various kinds of mechanisms that essentially prevent not only blacks but people of color in general in attaining access to opportunities that are afforded to our white counterparts. I know before coming to college I was definitely oblivious to some if any systems of oppression that disenfranchise people of color. I think that our black studies department does an excellent job at making students aware of the race politics that took place in the past and that are still in effect in the present.
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