What Have Been the Social Contributions of Black Communities?
Throughout the era of slavery and in postemancipation years, black communities have produced, contributed, and innovated in ways that maintained and advanced their own societies as well as benefited human welfare more generally. In their home societies, the labors and investments of people of African descent enabled their communities to move forward step by step. As enslaved migrants and as wage workers, these individuals also provided valuable labor for other communities. At home and abroad, they developed techniques for resisting slavery and other forms of oppression. They created a broad, pan-African identity, providing local black communities with a sense of participation in a larger society. Black people developed flexible family structures to adapt to their complex social situations, structures that relied heavily on a time-tested vision of motherhood. They learned skills and created traditions appropriate for urban life. They also established governing philosophies and practices
