African American World

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• Learn more about African American history, African Americans, American history, biographies, and culture.

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This site from PBS presents teachers, kids, and all other audiences, but particularly African-American audiences, with a resource to discover and discuss their history and culture.Drawing on materials from PBS, NPR, and the Encylopaedia Britannica, this website leads its audience to profiles of prominent African-Americans, historical events, race and societal issues, and contributions to arts and culture. Journey through a multimedia timeline to understand more about the African-American experience. Kids have a special page where they can play games and send free e-cards to friends and family. In each section of this website, PBS invites its users to comment on the materials and tell their opinions and perspectives in online forums.Also take advantage of the related resources, register for the free email newsletter, and download the African American World newsletter.African American World is a rich multimedia resource. Produced by National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), this site provides a central launching point to the vast cultural and historical resources produced by NPR and PBS, as well as new content and opportunities for participation.Content on the African American World is organized into four channels. History features the events and people that have “shaped the face of modern America.” A monthly spotlight tells the story of individuals such as Venture Smith, Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Interactive areas provide opportunities to react to powerful historical photographs (Visual Voices), participate in online discussion of issues (Sound Off) and attempt quizzes (Brain Teaser) based upon content on the site.Like History, the Arts and Culture channel includes features as well as opportunities to respond to issues and art. Art Focus groups artists by themes that include Exploring Freedom, Harlem Renaissance, and Social Activism. Each artist feature includes a biographical essay and images of their work; many include links to additional resources such as NPR radio interviews and PBS articles about artistic technique.Discussion and response are integral to the Race and Society channel. The Debate area features issues such as affirmative action, media stereotypes, slavery reparations and black America today.From the Profiles Channel you can advocate for the Innovators and Icons you think have made the most significant contributions to African American history and culture. Votes are being tallied for the most influential people in the arts, politics, religion, sports, science, and business.The Kids version of the African American World features easier navigation and cool graphics. Kid Talk highlights the dreams and heroes of young African American students. Find the Face is a matching game highlighting important firsts and the African Americans who achieved them. Students can even select and send an E-Card depicting significant events in American history.Teachers, don’t miss the Classroom with links to other great PBS and NPR sites grouped by theme, annotated and assigned grade levels. A collection of lesson plans is incorporated into this website for teachers to bring such phenomena as John Brown’s Holy War and African-American migration to the classroom. The materials on this site are also accessible through a timeline and a site map.