Clarkes the Influence of Arthur Schomburg on My Concept of Africana Studies - Essay Example

Reaction Paper to Clarke’s the Influence of Arthur A. Schomburg on My Concept of Africana StudiesSynopsisThe article by John Clarke talks about the influence of Arthur A. Schomburg with regards to John Clarke’s view and knowledge of African history. Arthur, in the article, is presented as the antecedent of the African American Studies Revolution as well as one of the ideological fathers of this age bracket of scholars.Question 1The author relates to how Schomburg says that scholars should approach the study of African history in various ways.

First and foremost, John Clarke turns out to be a teacher due to the influence of Arthur A. Schomburg (Clarke 4). John quotes that Arthur was the person who influenced him in setting the establishment of his career as an educator, as a Socialist and a Pan Africanist. According to John Clarke, Arthur A. Schomburg was responsible for influencing him to become an individual who sees no problem in being a Pan-Africanist and a Socialist at the same time and an African World Nationalist at an early age of his life.

Also, Clarke relates to Schomburg’s statement by studying through other cultures and understanding how they relate to the African American culture. According to Schomburg, in order to understand the African American culture, it is vital to understand the origin of African oppressors first (Clarke 6). Also, it was vital for a scholar to understand what led to the Africans being oppressed by the whites as this would be the only way people such as Clarke would understand the African American culture.

Question 2Some of the organizations that focused on the African history during the 30’s and the 40’s include the Harlem History Club and the National League of Negro Youth. Individuals, on the other hand, who focused on the African history during the 30’s and the 40’s, include Willis N. Huggins, John G. Jackson, Eugene Orr and the author of the article himself, John Clarke. These individuals each also played a part in forming the organizations mentioned above in the paper (Clarke 8). Harlem History Club was a group of young individuals who wanted to find a definition of the Africans in history.

The National League of the Negro Youth had a responsibility of securing speakers for its member’s weekly meeting in which they discussed the African society. The latter club was led by Eugene Orr, and the first club was led by Willis Huggins and John Jackson (Clarke 7). These clubs and individuals were essential since their efforts of studying the African culture widened peoples’ perspectives on the African culture. Question 3John Clarke’s article is extremely educative. Studying the article shows how a lot of African Americans have contributed, in the past years, in numerous ways to the establishment of Africanism, including the contributions that are unheard of or go unnoticed.

Schomburg’s statement, “remake their past to shape their future” means that Africans need first to understand the world’s history so as to understand the basis of their suffering with an aim of improving their future. The statement means that Africans need study the account of their oppressors so as to understand how to improve the Africans future (Clarke 6).Work CitedClarke, John. The Influence of Arthur A. Schomburg on My Concept of Africana Studies. Phylon 49(1) (1992): 4-9. Print.