From a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote these immortal words on a few scraps of paper: “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but bends toward justice.” But he did not mean that progress is inevitable in society, intrinsic in history, or even inherent to humanity. The arc bends toward justice because generation after generation of Black people and their allies have struggled, fought, and died for liberation since the birth of the United States. History/ African American Studies 2276 will explore the social, cultural, and political history of African Americans since the Civil War. From Black Reconstruction to #BlackLivesMatter, this course will trace the long Black freedom struggle, studying the victories, the limitations, and the inevitable backlashes. We will examine the anatomy of race massacres, lynchings, and rebellions throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and we will also study mass political movements against state-sanctioned violence and structural inequality under law. A content warning: The readings, films, and course materials will focus on the lived experiences of Black people, who inherently faced discrimination, racial terror, trauma, and violence. But this class will also demonstrate the power of grassroots activism; amplify Black culture, music, art, and literature; and it will highlight individual acts of moral courage, everyday resistance, and the stories of ordinary people who enacted extraordinary social change.