John Henrik Clarke (born John Henry Clark; January 1, 1915 - July 16, 1998) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

historian, professor, and pioneer in the creation of

Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

and Africana studies and professional institutions in academia starting in the late 1960s.

Early life and education

He was born John Henry Clark on January 1, 1915, in

Union Springs, Alabama Union Springs is a city in and county seat of Bullock County, Alabama, United States. The population was 3,980 at the 2010 census. History The area that became Union Springs was first settled by white men after the Creek Indian removal of the ...

, the youngest child of John Clark, a

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

, and Willie Ella Clark, a washer woman, who died in 1922. ). With the hopes of earning enough money to buy land rather than sharecrop, his family moved to the closest

mill town A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe Italy * '' Crespi d'Adda'', UNESCO World ...

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it o ...

. Counter to his mother's wishes for him to become a farmer, Clarke left Georgia in 1933 by freight train and went to

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

, New York, as part of the Great Migration of rural blacks out of the South to northern cities. There he pursued scholarship and activism. He renamed himself as John Henrik (after rebel Norwegian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...

) and added an "e" to his surname, spelling it as "Clarke". He also joined the U.S. Army during World War II. Clarke was heavily influenced by Cheikh Anta Diop, which inspired his piece "The Historical Legacy of Cheikh Anta Diop: His Contributions to a New Concept of African History". Clarke believed that the credited Greek philosophers gained much of their theories and thoughts from contact with Africans, who influenced the early Western world.

Positions in academia

Clarke was a professor of Black and Puerto Rican Studies at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admin ...

of the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven pro ...

from 1969 to 1986, where he served as founding chairman of the department. He also was the Carter G. Woodson Distinguished Visiting Professor of African History at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

’s Africana Studies and Research Center. Additionally, in 1968 he founded the

African Heritage Studies Association The African Studies Association (ASA) is a US-based association of scholars, students, practitioners, and institutions with an interest in the continent of Africa. Founded in 1957, the ASA is the leading organization of African Studies in North ...

and the Black Caucus of the

African Studies Association The African Studies Association (ASA) is a US-based association of scholars, students, practitioners, and institutions with an interest in the continent of Africa. Founded in 1957, the ASA is the leading organization of African Studies in North ...

. In its obituary of Clarke, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' noted that the activist's ascension to professor emeritus at Hunter College was "unusual... without benefit of a high school diploma, let alone a Ph.D." It acknowledged that "nobody said Professor Clarke wasn't an academic original. " In 1994, Clarke earned a doctorate from the

non-accredited Unaccredited institutions of higher education are colleges, trade schools, seminaries, and universities which do not have formal educational accreditation. Educational institutions may not be legally required to obtain independent accreditation, d ...

Pacific Western University (now

California Miramar University California Miramar University (CMU) is a private for-profit university in San Diego, California. The university offers degree programs through distance education and a combination of on-line and classroom (hybrid) delivery. It is accredited by ...

) in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, having earned a bachelor's degree there in 1992.Andy Wallace
"John H. Clarke, 83, Leading African American Historian"
Philly.com (''The Inquirer''), July 18, 1998.

Career

By the 1920s, the Great Migration and demographic changes had led to a concentration of African Americans living in Harlem. A synergy developed among the artists, writers, and musicians and many figured in the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

. They began to implement supporting structures of study groups and informal workshops to develop newcomers and young people. Arriving in Harlem at the age of 18 in 1933, Clarke developed as a writer and lecturer during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

years. He joined study circles such as the Harlem History Club and the Harlem Writers' Workshop. He studied intermittently at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, Hunter College, the

New School of Social Research The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

and the League for Professional Writers."John Henrik Clarke"
, Legacy Exhibit online, New Jersey Public Library - Schomburg Center for the Study of Black Culture; accessed January 20, 2009. He was an

autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individu ...

whose mentors included the scholar

Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (January 24, 1874 – June 10, 1938), was a historian, writer, collector, and activist. Schomburg was a Puerto Rican of African and German descent. He moved to the United States in 1891, where he researched and raised awa ...

. From 1941 to 1945, Clarke served as a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, ultimately attaining the rank of master sergeant. In the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

era, there was new artistic development, with small presses and magazines being founded and surviving for brief times. Writers and publishers continued to start new enterprises: Clarke was co-founder of the ''Harlem Quarterly'' (1949–51), book review editor of the ''Negro History Bulletin'' (1948–52), associate editor of the magazine, '' Freedomways,'' and a feature writer for the black-owned ''

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acqu ...

''. Clarke taught at the New School for Social Research from 1956 to 1958. Traveling in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

in 1958–59, he met

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An ...

, whom he had mentored as a student in the US, and was offered a job working as a journalist for the ''Ghana Evening News''. He also lectured at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

and elsewhere in Africa, including in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...

. Becoming prominent during the Black Power movement in the 1960s, which began to advocate a kind of black nationalism, Clarke advocated for studies of the African-American experience and the place of Africans in world history. He challenged the views of academic historians and helped shift the way African history was studied and taught. Clarke was "a scholar devoted to redressing what he saw as a systematic and racist suppression and distortion of African history by traditional scholars". He accused his detractors of having

Eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western worl ...

views. His writing included six scholarly books and many scholarly articles. He also edited anthologies of writing by African-Americans, as well as collections of his own short stories. In addition, Clarke published general interest articles. In one especially heated controversy, he edited and contributed to an anthology of essays by African-Americans attacking the white writer

William Styron William Clark Styron Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work. Styron was best known for his novels, including: * '' Lie Down in Darkness'' (1951), his acclaimed f ...

and his novel, ''The Confessions of Nat Turner'', for his fictional portrayal of the African-American slave known for leading a rebellion in Virginia. Besides teaching at Hunter College and Cornell University, Clarke founded professional associations to support the study of black culture. He was a founder with

Leonard Jeffries Leonard Jeffries Jr. (born January 19, 1937) is former departmental chair of Black Studies at the City College of New York, part of the City University of New York (CUNY). Jeffries is a political scientist, historian, educator, master-teacher/adm ...

and first president of the African Heritage Studies Association, which supported scholars in areas of history, culture, literature, and the arts. He was a founding member of other organizations to support work in black culture: the

Black Academy of Arts and Letters The Black Academy of Arts and Letters was an organization founded on March 27, 1969 in Boston. The organization was "dedicated to the defining and promoting cultural achievement of black people." According to its founder, Dr. C. Eric Lincoln, "A Bla ...

and the African-American Scholars' Council.

Personal life

Clarke's first marriage was to the mother of his daughter Lillie (who died before her father). They divorced. In 1961, Clarke married Eugenia Evans in New York, and together they had a son and daughter: Nzingha Marie and Sonni Kojo. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1997, John Henrik Clarke married his longtime companion, Sybil Williams. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on July 16, 1998, at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City. He was buried in Green Acres Cemetery,

Legacy and honors

*1985 – Faculty of the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University named the John Henrik Clarke Library after him. *1995 – Carter G. Woodson Medallion, Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History. *2002 –

Molefi Kete Asante Molefi Kete Asante ( ; born Arthur Lee Smith Jr.; August 14, 1942) is an American professor and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African-American studies, African studies, and communication studies. He is currently professor ...

listed Dr. John Henrik Clarke as one of his

100 Greatest African Americans ''100 Greatest African Americans'' is a biographical dictionary of one hundred historically great Black Americans (in alphabetical order; that is, they are not ranked), as assessed by Temple University professor Molefi Kete Asante in 2002. A s ...

. *2011 –

Immortal Technique Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is an American rapper. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics, from a radical left-wing perspective. Immortal Techn ...

includes a short speech by Dr. Clarke on his album '' The Martyr''. It is Track 13, which is entitled "The Conquerors".

Selected bibliography

* Editor and contributor, ''William Styron's Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond'' (1968) (other contributors are

Lerone Bennett Jr. Lerone Bennett Jr. (October 17, 1928 – February 14, 2018) was an African-American scholar, author and social historian who analyzed race relations in the United States. His works included ''Before the Mayflower'' (1962) and '' Forced into Gl ...

, Alvin F. Poussaint,

Vincent Harding Vincent Gordon Harding (July 25, 1931 – May 19, 2014) was an African-American pastor, historian, and scholar of various topics with a focus on American religion and society. A social activist, he was perhaps best known for his work with and wri ...

John Oliver Killens John Oliver Killens (January 14, 1916 – October 27, 1987) was an American fiction writer from Georgia. His novels featured elements of African-American life. In his first novel, ''Youngblood'' (1954) Killens first coined the phrase "kicking as ...

John A. Williams John Alfred Williams (December 5, 1925 – July 3, 2015) was an African American author, journalist, and academic. His novel ''The Man Who Cried I Am'' was a bestseller in 1967. Also a poet, he won an American Book Award for his 1998 collection ' ...

, Ernest Kaiser, Loyle Hairston, Charles V. Hamilton, and Mike Thelwell.) * Editor and contributor, with the assistance of

Amy Jacques Garvey Amy Euphemia Jacques Garvey (31 December 1895 – 25 July 1973) was a Jamaican-born journalist and activist. She was the second wife of Marcus Garvey. She was one of the pioneering female Black journalists and publishers of the 20th century.< ...

, ''

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

and the Vision of Africa'' (1974) * ''The Boy Who Painted Jesus Black'' (1975) * Editor, ''Malcolm X: Man and His Times'' (1991), an anthology of the activist's writing * * ''Cheikh Anta Diop And the New Light on African History'' (1974) *''Africans at the Crossroads: Notes for an African World Revolution'' *''Rebellion in Rhyme: The Early Poetry of John Henrik Clarke'' *''New Dimensions in African World History: The London Lectures of Dr.

Yosef ben-Jochannan Yosef Alfredo Antonio Ben-Jochannan (; December 31, 1918 – March 19, 2015), referred to by his admirers as "Dr. Ben", was an American writer and historian. He was considered to be one of the more prominent Afrocentric scholars by some Black ...

and Dr. John Henrik Clarke'' *''

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

and the Afrikan Holocaust: Slavery and the Rise of European Capitalism'' *''African People in World History'' *''My Life in Search of Africa'' *''Who Betrayed the African World Revolution? And other Speeches'' *''Critical Lessons in Slavery and the Slave Trade: Essential Studies and Commentaries on Slavery, in General, and the African Slave Trade, in Particular'' *''Ahmed Baba: A Scholar of Old Africa'' *''The Image of Africa in the Mind of the Afro-American: African Identity in the Literature of Struggle'' *''A New Approach to African History'' *''On the Other Side: A Story of the Color Line,'' Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, Vol. 17, No. 9 (September, 1939): 269-270.

Short stories by John Henrik Clarke

*"On the Other Side: A Story of the Color Line," Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, Vol. 17, No. 9 (September, 1939): 269-270. *"Leader of the Mob: A Story of the Color Line," Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, Vol. 17, No. 10 (October, 1939), p. 301-303. *"Santa Claus is a White Man: A Story of the Color Line," Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, Vol. 17, No. 12 (December, 1939), pp. 365–367. *"The Boy Who Painted Christ Black: A Short Story," Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, Vol. 18, No. 9 (September, 1940), pp. 264–266. *"Prelude to an Education: A Short Story," Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, Vol. 18, No. 11 (November, 1940), pp. 335+ *"Return to the Inn," The Crisis, Vol. 48, No. 9 (September 1941), pp. 288+ *"The Bridge," Harlem Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Winter 1949-1950), pp. 2–8. *"Return of the Askia," Harlem Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Spring 1950), pp. 45–49. *“Journey to Sierra Maestra,” Freedomways, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Spring, 1961), pp. 32–35. *“The Morning Train to Ibadan,” Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Autumn, 1962), pp. 527–530. *“Third Class on the Blue Train to Kumasi,” Phylon, Vol. 23, 3rd Quarter (Fall, 1962), pp. 294–301. *"Revolt of the Angels - A Short Story," Freedomways, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Summer 1963): pp. 355–360.

Notes

External links

* Robert McG. Thomas Jr.
"John Henrik Clarke, Black Studies Advocate, Dies at 83"
''New York Times'', July 20, 1998

National Black United Front Web Site
"John Henrik Clarke" (page dedicated to his memory)
Hunter College, City University of New York
Published Works by/on Dr. John Henrik Clarke
Hunter College.
"John Henrik Clarke - A Great and Mighty Walk (full version)"
YouTube.
"Dr. John Henrik Clarke - Education: The Highest Form of Struggle".

"Are We Ready for the Twenty-First Century"
* FBI files on John Henrik Clarke {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, John Henrik 1915 births 1998 deaths New York University alumni Columbia University alumni Hunter College faculty African-American academics Historians of Africa American pan-Africanists Afrocentrists Writers from Columbus, Georgia People from Union Springs, Alabama American religious skeptics 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers American expatriates in Ghana American expatriates in Nigeria University of Ghana faculty University of Ibadan faculty American male non-fiction writers Historians from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century African-American writers African-American male writers