Introduction: The Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP) and Approaches to Scholarship About/For Black Communities

Purnell, Brian, LaBennett, Oneka, Afro-Americans in New York Life and History

"I think that part of the (the black scholar's) responsibility is to help the people to see themselves in a new light, to see themselves not primarily as victims of America but as co-creators of the past, as co-creators of the present, and as co-creators of a new vision for creating the American future. . . . Wherever and however possible, (scholars) must direct as much of their writing, their speaking (and) their teaching ...directly to the life and heart and growth of the community.... The responsibility of black scholars is to return to people a higher, deeper, cleaner version of the light that the people have given them, for they would have nothing to write their thousand monographs …

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Publication information: Article title: Introduction: The Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP) and Approaches to Scholarship About/For Black Communities. Contributors: Purnell, Brian - Author, LaBennett, Oneka - Author. Journal title: Afro-Americans in New York Life and History. Volume: 33. Issue: 2 Publication date: July 2009. Page number: 7+. © 2007 Afro-American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier, Inc. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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