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AP® African American Studies
The Best AP® African American Studies Review: Topic Summaries, Examples, and Free Practice
Welcome to Albert’s collection of science topic reviews for teaching and reviewing AP® African American Studies. Teachers and students can explore our easy-to-follow guides below for use at home or in the classroom.
Unit 1 | Origins of the African Diaspora
What are the origins of African American Studies as a discipline?
How do early African societies shape the identity and history of the African diaspora?
The review articles below introduce the foundations of African American Studies through an exploration of early African civilizations, diasporic connections, and the origins of the field in 20th-century student activism. From ancient empires and cultural innovations to the rise of academic programs in U.S. colleges, these materials help you master the key concepts in Unit 1.
1.1 | What Is African American Studies?
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1.2 | The African Continent: A Varied Landscape
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1.3 | Population Growth and Ethnolinguistic Diversity
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1.4 | Africa’s Ancient Societies
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1.5 | The Sudanic Empires: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
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1.6 | Learning Traditions
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1.7 | Indigenous Cosmologies and Religious Syncretism
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1.8 | Culture and Trade in Southern and East Africa
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1.9 | West Central Africa: The Kingdom of Kongo
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1.10 | Kinship and Political Leadership
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1.11 | Global Africans
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Unit 2 | Freedom, Enslavement, and Resistance
How did the Transatlantic Slave Trade transform Africa, the Americas, and global power dynamics?
In what ways did Africans and their descendants resist enslavement and create new cultural traditions in the United States?
The review articles below dive into primary sources, maps, and narratives that trace the scale of the Middle Passage, the evolution of slave codes, and the everyday acts of resistance that forged African American culture. By connecting macro‑level trade patterns with individual stories of rebellion, these resources give you the context you need to prepare for Unit 2 of AP® African American Studies.
2.1 | African Explorers in the Americas
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2.2 | Departure Zones in Africa and the Slave Trade to the United States
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2.3 | Capture and the Impact of the Slave Trade on West African Societies
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2.4 | African Resistance on Slave Ships and the Antislavery Movement
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2.5 | Slave Auctions and the Domestic Slave Trade
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2.6 | Labor, Culture, and Economy
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2.7 | Slavery and American Law: Slave Codes and Landmark Cases
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2.8 | The Social Construction of Race and the Reproduction of Status
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2.9 | Creating African American Culture
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2.10 | Black Pride, Identity, and the Question of Naming
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2.11 | The Stono Rebellion and Fort Mose
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2.12 | Legacies of the Haitian Revolution
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2.13 | Resistance and Revolts in the United States
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2.14 | Black Organizing in the North: Freedom, Women’s Rights, and Education
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2.15 | Maroon Societies and Autonomous Black Communities
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2.16 | Diasporic Connections: Slavery and Freedom in Brazil
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2.17 | African Americans in Indigenous Territory
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2.18 | Debates About Emigration, Colonization, and Belonging in America
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2.19 | Black Political Thought: Radical Resistance
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2.20 | Race to the Promised Land: Abolitionism and the Underground Railroad
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2.21 | Legacies of Resistance in African American Art and Photography
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2.22 | Gender and Resistance in Slave Narratives
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2.23 | The Civil War and Black Communities
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2.24 | Freedom Days: Commemorating the Ongoing Struggle for Freedom
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Unit 3 | The Practice of Freedom
How did the Reconstruction Amendments and Jim Crow laws reshape Black citizenship and political power?
How did the Great Migration and the New Negro movement redefine African American community, art, and activism?
The review articles below trace the journey from constitutional amendments and Black Codes to Harlem jazz clubs and historically Black colleges, showing how African Americans rebuilt families, institutions, and identities after enslavement. Explore the legal battles, economic shifts, and cultural explosions that underpin Unit 3 of AP African American Studies.
3.1 | The Reconstruction Amendments
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3.2 | Social Life: Reuniting Black Families and the Freedmen’s Bureau
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3.3 | Black Codes, Land, and Labor
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3.4 | The Defeat of Reconstruction
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3.5 | Disenfranchisement and Jim Crow Laws
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3.6 | White Supremacist Violence and the Red Summer
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3.7 | The Color Line and Double Consciousness in American Society
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3.8 | Lifting as We Climb: Uplift Ideologies and Black Women’s Rights and Leadership
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3.9 | Black Organizations and Institutions
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3.10 | HBCUs, Black Greek Letter Organizations, and Black Education
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3.11 | The New Negro Movement and the Harlem Renaissance
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3.12 | Photography and Social Change
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3.13 | Envisioning Africa in Harlem Renaissance Poetry
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3.14 | Symphony in Black: Black Performance in Music, Theater, and Film
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3.15 | Black History Education and African American Studies
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3.16 | The Great Migration
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3.17 | Afro-Caribbean Migration
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3.18 | The Universal Negro Improvement Association
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Unit 4 | Movements and Debates
How did mid‑20th‑century civil rights and Black Power movements advance—and debate—the quest for freedom and equality?
How do contemporary movements and creative expressions, from hip‑hop to Afrofuturism, imagine new possibilities for the African diaspora?
The review articles below follow the arc from Brown v. Board to Black Lives Matter, tracing how grassroots organizers, artists, and policymakers built on earlier struggles to confront enduring inequities. These resources synthesize legislative victories, cultural revolutions, and global solidarities so you can confidently tackle the themes in Unit 4 of AP African American Studies.
4.1 | The Négritude and Negrismo Movements
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4.2 | Anticolonialism and Black Political Thought
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4.3 | African Americans and the Second World War: The Double V Campaign and the G.I. Bill
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4.4 | Discrimination, Segregation, and the Origins of the Civil Rights Movement
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4.5 | Redlining and Housing Discrimination
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4.6 | Major Civil Rights Organizations
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4.7 | Black Women’s Leadership and Grassroots Organizing in the Civil Rights Movement
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4.8 | The Arts, Music, and Politics of Freedom
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4.9 | Black Religious Nationalism and the Black Power Movement
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4.10 | The Black Arts Movement
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4.11 | The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense
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4.12 | Black Is Beautiful and Afrocentricity
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4.13 | The Black Feminist Movement, Womanism, and Intersectionality
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4.14 | Interlocking Systems of Oppression
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4.15 | Economic Growth and Black Political Representation
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4.16 | Demographic and Religious Diversity in Contemporary Black Communities
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4.17 | The Evolution of African American Music: From Spirituals to Hip-Hop
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4.18 | Black Life in Theater, TV, and Film
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4.19 | African Americans and Sports
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4.20 | Science, Medicine, and Technology in Black Communities
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4.21 | Black Studies, Black Futures, and Afrofuturism
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➜ State assessments
Options for teachers, schools, and districts.