HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MEMORY

I. Fundamental Questions of Human ExistenceII. Geography Speaks to Fundamental Issues of

Orientation, Community and Identity III. Community, Identity and MemoryIV. The Historical Geographic Context of

Remembering and Forgetting V. Sites of Memory VI. Sources of Memory Geography and Worldview VII. Seeing Oneself in Diasporan Context

VIII.Cartographic and Visual Representations of African American History

The Fundamental Questions of Human Existence

• What am I?-Physical/Biological Facts of Life

• Who am I? Cultural Context of One’s Life

• Why am I? Purpose /Raison d’Etre

• How am I?Action/Praxis

• Where am I? Absolute and Relative Location/Situational Context

• Knowing Who You Are Depends on Knowing Where You Are

Geography Speaks to Fundamental Issues of Orientation and Identity• What is the Worst Feeling in the World? Being

Lost• Geography is Central to Grounding Your

Orientation in the World• Knowing Where You’re Going Depends on

Knowing Where You Have Been• The Need for a Map• The Need for Understanding Relations, Patterns

& Distributions of Phenomena That Impact Life

Community, Identity & Memory

• Modern Notions of Identity: I think therefore I am

• Traditional Notions of Identity: I am Because We Are & Because We are Therefore I am

• Identity and Community Context Interwoven

• Internal Dynamics of Community

• External Relations Between Communities

The Historical Geographic Context of Remembering and Forgetting

• Memory formation as a process of remembering the particulars of one’s lived experiences • in a specific place, city, neighborhood, home and or

household• As we move from on place to another from one

generation to the next

• The forgotten past as those things, people and events that we choose to not do, remember or talk about

• Generational transmission of memory, secrets and silences

Sources of Memory

• Archival

• Bibliographical

• Memories of Elders and Ancestors

• Family Albums, Bibles and Scrapbooks

• Family Cookbooks, Clothing, Jewelry & Other Heirlooms

• Stories, Songs & Myths

• Legends & Lies

• Legacies of Silence

Sites of Memory

• Physical & Cultural Landscapes

• Museums and Parks

• Historic Landmarks of Community Life & Significant Events

• Community Building as a an Act of Human Agency, Resistance & Self-Determination

• Making History & Making Geography

• Evolution of Historical Neighborhoods & Business Districts

Geography and Worldview

Seeing Oneself in Local/ Diasporan Context

Cartographic and Visual Representations of African

American History