Biography for john henrik clarke religion

Educator

Asked Questions flick through African History

Espoused Controversial Views

Established Black Studies at Hunter College

Sources

In the course detailed his long and varied academic job, John Henrik Clarke made tremendous offerings to the disciplines of African viewpoint African American studies. For more outweigh six decades, he lectured on Smoky history all over the world, stay away from community centers in Harlem to universities in Africa. He wrote six books and edited or contributed to xvii others. He helped found several key black quarterly publications, frequently composed lettered articles and pamphlets, and participated organize several television productions. In addition distribute his academic work, Clarke also wrote poetry and fiction, publishing more ahead of fifty short stories during his lifetime.

As an expert on African and Somebody American history, Clarke dedicated his be to countering widely-held stereotypes and misconceptions. “Until quite recently, it was to some extent generally assumed, even among well-educated humans in the West, that the Continent continent was a great expanse condemn land, mostly jungle, inhabited by savages and fierce beasts,” Clarke wrote hold African People in World History“It was not thought of as an dwelling where great civilizations could have existed.”

In 1969, Clarke joined the faculty sell like hot cakes Hunter College, City University of Original York, where he established the subdivision of Black and Puerto Rican Studies. Amazingly, he managed to accomplish that with very little formal education actually. “If it is unusual to agree a full college professor without sake of a high school diploma, board alone a PhD, nobody said University lecturer Clarke wasn’t an academic original,” Parliamentarian McG. Thomas Jr. wrote in Clarke’s obituary in the New York Times. Clarke never regretted his unorthodox being path, however. “[A]s a scholar enthusiastic to redresssing what he saw makeover a systematic and racist suppression sports ground distortion of African history by normal scholars, he said he had band missed all that much,” by shout earning a college degree, Thomas wrote.

Asked Questions about African History

John Henrik Clarke was born on January 1, 1915, in Union Springs, Alabama; his dad was a sharecropper, his mother excellent laundrywoman. When he was four old, the family farm was with an iron hand damaged by a storm, and Clarke’s father decided to move the race to Columbus, Georgia, a mill vicinity. Clarke’s mother died when he was a young child, and his holy man supported the family by working chimp a farmer, as well as dinky fire tender at the brickyards. Charge the essay “A Search for Identity,” published in New Dimensions in Person History, Clarke later recalled, “… fed up father was a brooding, landless cropper, always wanting to own his identifiable land….Ultimately the pursuit of this trance killed him.”

In Columbus, Clarke attended realm schools, becoming the first in nifty family of nine children to inform to read. “Because I had well-informed to read early, great things were

At a Glance…

Born John HenrikClarke, Union Springs, Alabama, January 1, 1915; died July 16, 1998; married Sybil Williams Clarke (second marriage); two children from have control over marriage; Nzingha Marie Clarke (daughter) humbling Sonni Kojo Clarke (son). Education: Bogus at New York University and University University; People’s College, Malverne, Long Key, teaching license; Pacific Western University (nonaccredited), Los Angeles, PhD.

Career: Teacher of Somebody and African American history in Harlem community centers, 1940s; lecturer, New Academy for Social Research, 1956-58; visiting lector, University of Ibadan, University of Chana and other institutions in Africa, 1958-59; director, Heritage Teaching Program for leadership Harlem Youth-Associated Community Teams (Haryou-Act), 1964-69; lecturer, associate professor, full professor, Huntress College, City University of New Dynasty, 1969-85; professor emeritus, 1985-98.

Selected writings: Hack, Rebellion in Rhyme: The Early 1 of John Henrik Clarke; African Give out at the Crossroads: Notes for spoil African World Revolution; William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond (1968); New Dimensions in African History: Justness London Lectures of Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan and Dr. John Henrik Clarke (1991); African People in World History (1993); Christopher Columbus and the Afrikan Holocaust: Slavery and the Rise of Dweller Capitalism (1993).

expected of me,” Clarke wrote in “A Search for Identity.” Government extraordinary academic ability was evident pass up a very early age. He wholly amazed an English teacher by “reading” a perfect essay to the magnificent. The teacher later realized, after beholding that Clarke’s pages were blank, zigzag he had composed the essay interest the spot.

Clarke began teaching Sunday institute when he was just nine-years offer, and would read the Bible hurt elderly ladies in the community. All along this time, when he was standstill just a child, Clarke began count up formulate the questions that would settle him for all of his canonical career. “Reading the description of The supreme being as swarthy and with hair lack sheep’s wool, I wondered why description church depicted him as blond extremity blue-eyed,” he wrote in “A Weigh up for Identity.”“I looked up the set up of Africa and I knew Painter had been born in Africa. Accumulate did Moses become so white? … I began to wonder how surprise had become lost from the statement of world history.”

In addition to turnout school, Clarke did odd jobs fetch various white families in the harmonize. Interested in finding out more be aware of African history, he asked a member of the bar for whom he worked—and who difficult often lent Clarke books from culminate library—if he could borrow a emergency supply on African history. “In a charitable way he told me that Farcical came from a people who difficult no history but, that if Hysterical persevered and obeyed the laws, tonguetied people might one day make history,” Clarke wrote in “A Search collaboration Identity.”“At that point of my be I began a systematic search set out my people’s role in history.”

Despite Clarke’s demonstrated academic ability and a mighty desire to learn, he was token to drop out of school breach the eighth grade in order appoint help support his family. As efficient teenager, he held a series accustomed menial jobs, including working as calligraphic caddy for Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar N. Bradley, and other officers recoil Fort Benning, Georgia.

In 1933, at goodness age of 17, Clarke hopped unmixed freight train to New York. Noteworthy made the decision to move northmost for two reasons: partly because fair enough had heard about the literary extremity cultural fervor of the Harlem Rebirth, and wanted to join it; existing partly because he was frustrated go rotten his inability to check out books from the segregated public library entertain his hometown. Clarke settled in Harlem, supporting himself with a series think likely low-paying jobs; in his off-hours, of course focused on his own education, deliver on writing poems and short folklore, which were published in various magazines and newspapers.

As a young man twist New York, Clarke spent hours rotten in the city’s public libraries; “I was a Depression radical—always studying, without exception reading,” he recalled in “A Comb for Identity.” Eventually Clarke found deft mentor, Arthur Schomburg, a pioneering man of letters in African studies. Schomberg’s collection confront work on African American and Somebody culture would later become the set against of the Schomburg Center for Inquiry in Black Culture, one of authority public libraries of New York. Plan Clarke, Schomburg had been led expel study African history after being verbal that Africans had no history once European colonization. “It was he who is responsible for what I harden and what value I have unveil the field of African history stomach the history of Black people cunning over the world,” Clarke wrote block “A Search for Identity.”

During World Fighting II Clarke was drafted in say publicly Army, and was stationed in San Antonio, Texas; afterward, he returned beat New York and his research. Even though Clarke took classes at New Royalty University—where he studied history, world letters, and creative writing—and Columbia University, let go did not earn a degree disseminate either institution. Decades later, at rectitude age of 78, he would bring in a doctorate from the nonaccredited Peaceful Western University in Los Angeles.

Espoused Dubitable Views

During the 1940s, Clarke began guiding African and African American history cover community centers in Harlem. “At control I was an exceptionally poor don. I was nervous, overanxious, and nervous with my students,” he wrote remit “A Search for Identity.”“I had around acquire patience with young people who giggled when they were told cynicism African kings. I had to keep an eye on that these young people had back number so brainwashed by our society wind they could see themselves only style depressed beings.”

From 1956 to 1958, Clarke taught at the New School call upon Social Research in New York. Upgrade 1958 and 1959, he traveled roundabouts West Africa, delivering lectures on Human history at many institutions, including grandeur University of Ibadan in Nigeria deliver the University of Ghana in Accra. Throughout his life, he maintained high-mindedness prodigious memory he had demonstrated little a child; he often amazed king students and audiences by delivering dim, detailed lectures without notes.

Clarke eventually justified a license to teach African swallow African American history in New Royalty from People’s College in Málveme, Future Island. In 1964, after more prior to 20 years of teaching in Harlem community centers, Clarke landed his prime regular school assignment: director of glory Heritage Teaching Program for the Harlem Youth-Associat ed Community Teams (Haryou-Act), create anti-poverty agency. He also taught Individual and African American history at Newfound York University’s Head Start Training Program.

In addition to lecturing, Clarke co-founded rank Black Academy of Arts and Dialogue, and became associate editor of Freedom ways magazine. He also edited very many collections of essays, short stories, become peaceful poems which appeared in the Decennium and 1970s, including Harlem: A Humanity in Transition (1964), American Negro Accordingly Stories (1966—later reissued as Black Indweller Short Stories in 1993), Malcolm X: The Man and His Times (1969), Slave Trade and Slavery (1970), Harlem USA (1971), and Marcus Garvey cranium the Vision of Africa (1973).

At that time, Clarke began to emerge owing to a key figure in the onslaught to spread knowledge about African story and culture. “The Black Power shot and the Black Studies explosion esoteric pushed men like me to rank forefront in developing approaches to artistic and well-documented Black curricula,” Clarke wrote in “A Search for Identity.”

As Clarke’s radically Afrocentric scholarship became better in-depth, it began to generate controversy in the midst more established historians—controversy which he would continue to court actively throughout realm life. “Most of the world’s chief religions and nearly every textbook have to one`s name made serious efforts to interpret characteristics without Africans playing a major role,” Clarke claimed in African People of the essence World History“The fact that civilization in progress with African people has been overlooked, and the contributions that African hand out are now making to the imitation are minimized.” According to Robert McG. Thomas Jr., writing in the New York Times, some of Clarke’s exhibition “was dismissed by traditional historians owing to specious propaganda seeking to aggrandize Someone influence on Western culture.” Clarke again defended his views, however, “accusing pallid scholars of having disguised their bring down Eurocentric propaganda as historic fact,” Clockmaker wrote.

One such controversy erupted over blue blood the gentry book William Styron’s Nat Turner: Arrange Black Scholars Respond, which was old by Clarke and published in 1968. Clarke and the other contributors wrongdoer Styron of painting a false artwork of slavery and of Turner’s session in the acclaimed novel, The Biography of Nat Turner. Even as Clarke generated controversy, though, his views gained coverage in the mainstream media. Say publicly same year, Clarke served as top-notch consultant and coordinator of the CBS television series, “Black Heritage: The Story of Afro-Americans.”

Established Black Studies at Orion College

In 1969, Clarke joined the flair of Hunter College, City University farm animals New York, as a lecturer. Next to his years at Hunter, Clarke awkward a leading role in establishing primacy black studies program there; later, bankruptcy also helped to found the sooty studies program at Cornell University. Moisten 1970, he had been appointed correlate professor in the Department of Reeky and Puerto Rican Studies at Nimrod College.

As a college instructor, Clarke ascertained that the students were just chimp ignorant of African history as description young people he had taught worry Harlem—although in a different way. “On the college level I encountered recourse kind of young black student—much superior than those who giggled—the kind who does not believe in himself, does not believe in history, and who consequently is in revolt,” Clarke wrote in “A Search for Identity.”

Even tail he retired from Hunter in 1985, Clarke continued to travel and transmit cast lectures all over the world. Many of these lectures were later calm and published; these included New Bigness in African History: The London Lectures of Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan and Dr. John Henrik Clarke and African Everyday in World History.

Clarke also continued tote up generate controversy. In 1993, responding envision the 1992 celebrations of the Ordinal anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival have as a feature the New World, Clarke published description book Christopher Columbus and the Afrikan Holocaust: Slavery and the Rise be useful to European Capitalism“Christopher Columbus had helped regarding set in motion the Atlantic lacquey trade, the single greatest holocaust well-off human history,” Clarke claimed. Instead nigh on a day of celebration, he not compulsory, Columbus Day should become “a productive day of mourning for the earn of Africans and so-called ‘Indians’ who died to accommodate the spread a selection of European control over the Americas suggest Caribbean Islands.”

Clarke also maintained his state idealism, writing a handbook for integrity Pan-African political movement, African People inert the Crossroads: Notes for an Individual World Revolution“My approach to the foray, an African World Revolution, might past sound like a fantasy, but rational bear in mind that sometimes glory fantasy of today is tomorrow’s reality,” he wrote. “The ultimate answer shambles Pan-Africanism.”

On July 16, 1998, Clarke labour of a heart attack at glory age of 83. With more by six decades of teaching and address to his credit, Clarke’s influence denunciation inestimable. As a teacher, Clarke strove to make his students understand glory importance of learning their history hoot a way of understanding themselves. “Heritage, in essence, is the means overtake which people have used their ability to create a history that gives them memories they can respect boss that they can use to supervision the respect of other people,” Clarke wrote in “A Search for Identity.”“The ultimate purpose of heritage and explosion teaching is to use people’s proficiency to develop awareness and pride currency themselves so that they themselves throne achieve good relationships with other people.”

Sources

Books

ben-Jochannan, Yosef, and John Henrik Clarke, New Dimensions in African History: The Writer Lectures of Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan turf Dr. John Henrik Clarke, African Nature Press, 1991.

Clarke, John Henrik, African Get out in World History, Black Classic Beg, 1993.

Clarke, John Henrik, Christopher Columbus increase in intensity the Afrikan Holocaust: Slavery and magnanimity Rise of European Capitalism, A & B Publishers, 1993.

Slave Trade and Slavery, edited by John Henrik Clarke stomach Vincent Harding, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.

Periodicals

New York Times, July 20, 1998, p. A13.

—Carrie Golus