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Pan-Africanism

(Encyclopedia)Pan-Africanism, general term for various movements in Africa that have as their common goal the unity of Africans and the elimination of colonialism and white supremacy from the continent. However, on...

Coetzee, J. M.

(Encyclopedia)Coetzee, J. M. (John Maxwell Coetzee) köˈtsē [key], 1940–, South African novelist, b. John Michael Coetzee. Educated at the Univ. of Cape Town (M.A. 1963) and the Univ. of Texas (Ph.D. 1969), he ...

Young, Al

(Encyclopedia)Young, Al (Albert James), 1939-2021, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley (BA, 1969), African-American poet, b. Ocean Springs, Ms. The son of sharecroppers, Young'...

Harlem Renaissance

(Encyclopedia)Harlem Renaissance, term used to describe a flowering of African-American literature and art in the 1920s, mainly in the Harlem district of New York City. During the mass migration of African American...

Ellison, Ralph

(Encyclopedia)Ellison, Ralph (Ralph Waldo Ellison), 1914–94, African-American author, b. Oklahoma City, studied Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee Univ.). Originally a trumpet player and aspiring composer, he moved...

belles-lettres

(Encyclopedia)belles-lettres bĕl-lĕˈtrə [key] [from the French for literature, literally “fine letters”], literature that is appreciated for the beauty, artistry, and originality of its style and tone rathe...

Kwanzaa

(Encyclopedia)Kwanzaa or Kwanza both: kwänˈzə [key], secular seven-day festival in celebration of the African heritage of African Americans, beginning on Dec. 26. Developed by Maulana Karenga and first observed ...

Kenyatta, Jomo

(Encyclopedia)Kenyatta, Jomo jōˈmō kĕnyäˈtə [key], 1893?–1978, African political leader, first president of Kenya (1964–78). A Kikuyu, he was one of the earliest and best-known African nationalist leader...

Gullah

(Encyclopedia)Gullah gŭlˈə [key], a creole language formerly spoken by the Gullah, an African-American community of the Sea Islands and the Middle Atlantic coast of the United States. The word is probably a corr...

Congressional Black Caucus

(Encyclopedia)Congressional Black Caucus, organization of African-American members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Founded in 1970, it addresses legislative concerns of African Americans and other minority ci...