20th Century African American Culture

The American culture is define to everyone in their own way. Everyone grows up differently in a particular community that shares the same languages, values, rules, and customs. The American Culture on that is consider to be a “melting pot”, because of all the different cultures that reside inside of it making it so diverse. Race in this country has never been a great topic throughout history. African Americans play a huge role into defining what our culture is as a whole, as well as being a part of racism for the past 250 years.

In this paper I discuss the African-American culture in regards to values, norms and beliefs.

Music is a creative art form that allows the artist to construct something that expresses a purpose. It evolves over time and changes as the world changes, taking on many different motivations behind the melody and lyrics. In today’s society, anger, oppression, racism, and negative opinions rule the media and popular culture. I believe that African Americans need to show their self worth and not let white people hold them back. With the music in white culture often mocking African American culture and portraying negative stereotypes, African Americans have to find ways to gain respect. In acknowledgement of the negative portrayal of their culture, African Americans respond by creating songs and videos that express their pride in their culture and heritage, react to white oppression, and communicate their independence.

While there are some similarities between Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton and Elvis Presley’s versions of the song Hound Dog, I am of the opinion that there were more differences. The obvious similarities would be the lyrics retained in Elvis’ version of the song, though the interpretation of those lyrics were very different. Perhaps what I feel is colored by growing up in a household where my mother was an Elvis fan who played his version, and my father, who was a coal miner’s son born in the 1920s in the “hills” of Virginia, sang and played a much loved copy he had of Big Mama Thornton’s version. While my father masculinized the song when he sang it, he did so retaining much of the spirit Thornton’s recording had. Early on I was too young to understand any of the risqué meanings behind the lyrics, but I knew it had a deeper meaning than the fun version my mother and her sisters would bounce to while it played.

“Cooning” was a TV show or Film usually they act like idiot behavior that misrepresents African American culture. I think idiot because that shows a deliberate act. Many people called “coons.” Yes, I saw some examples today’s culture some white people still discriminate black people. Some white people were enjoying it, and that seems to some people they insulted African- American behaves. African-American got angry. It was not fair at all that behavior. All are good examples.

Africans have, since the early settlement of America, has had a great influence in the nation’s growth. These contributions to the United States from enslaved Africans have been greatly portrayed in American culture. Varying from cuisine, to song and dance are not only portrayed today but it has a deep-rooted impact throughout the United States. During the middle passage, enslaved Africans were forced to abandon their everyday lives, their families and their homes and forced to adapt to a new lifestyle they knew nothing of. However, upon arrival into the New World, due to their prior knowledge and wisdom from back home, they were able to quickly adapt and custom themselves to this new lifestyle in order to survive with the hope of potentially one day returning back to Africa. Unfortunately, African contributions to the culture of the United States has received little to no recognition and it has been taken credit for by Europeans and Whites since the early establishment of the United States.

The African American Culture and Traditions A Research Study and Facts That Will Take Us Into What Makes This Culture So Unique.

Throughout American history, African Americans fought to establish their own culture. Even though they were silenced by white laws and stereotypes, African Americans created their own distinct culture, to a certain extent from 1800 to 1860. By mixing their African American traditions and Christian ideas, they formed a religion, their own version of Christianity. African American rebellions, though small and infrequent, were used to express their beliefs on slavery and add to their distinct culture. And, with the constant fear of being split up by being sold, African American families managed to form within plantations through marriages and children. Despite

Hound Dog, originally sang by Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton, is accredited to the “King of Rock and Roll”, Elvis Presley. This version is fast paced, with slightly different lyrics than the original. Elvis is accompanied by the bass fiddle, the guitar, and the drums. You also can hear background claps and “ahs”. It also includes an extended guitar break by Pete Lewis. Although Thornton’s version is considered 12-bar blues or rhythm and blues, Elvis’ rock and roll hit top the charts at number one; it was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The duration of the chart-topping single is about two minutes sixteen seconds (2:16) with 175 beats per minute. Hound Dog essentially serves as the hit that pushed the youth movement and kicked off

It was no coincidence that rock ‘n’ roll and the civil rights movement started at the same time. The genre originated from African American music and was greatly discriminated against. Traditional white Americans would target anything bad about it. But as the teenager demographic of the 1950s started increasing the sales of the music, the genre started gaining more popularity. It was the style of Elvis Presley and his new voice that made girls weak in the knees and boys want to be him. Artists such as Presley had enough influence to change the view of their devoted fans on civil rights issues. Soon as protest songs and rock ‘n’ roll became more popular and influential, it began a gap between the young adult generation and their parents

Rock and Roll can include many different melodies and influences like Jazz which was brought about from African-American musical origins. Rock and Roll had many aspects including race, the guitar, radio, and had many influential artists. Back in the 1950s, race was a big problem and currently still is with African-Americans saying, “black lives matter too.” Race is defined by “a group of people identified as distinct from other groups because of supposed physical or genetic traits shared by the group.” African-Americans in the 1950s had been fighting against racial segregation.

The emergence of Rock and Roll was one of the most pivotal moments of our nation’s history. The impact that this genre of music made is still evident in our culture. However, before this genre was able to gain momentum, it faced many cultural conflicts. The book, All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America by Glenn C. Altschuler analyzes the impact that rock and roll music has made on American culture. It explores how the Rock and Roll culture was able to roughly integrate and later conflict with preceding cultural values. This is especially apparent in chapters regarding race and sexuality. Overall, Rock and Roll was extremely controversial amongst parents and educators. This new music genre was condemned by the previous generation as

Rock and roll has come a long way through the years from a dance fad in the 1950's to a political and cultural image that is recognized around the globe. Rock and roll has come to define the roots of teenage rebellion, those who refuse to follow the norms or have disrespect for authority. The style of rock and roll itself is essentially a ‘melting pot’ of music. In other words, the genre of rock and roll is a complete combination of sounds that include jazz, country, blues, gospel, swing, classical, and ethnic music. However, African Americans are undeniably responsible for the development of the genre and are sadly often overlooked for their contribution.

The first difference between Big Mama Thornton's performance in the video of Hound Dog and Elvis Presley’s is that Big Mama Thornton stays remotely in the same place the whole time. The little movement she does do consists of her rocking her body and move her arms, but she does not move far away from the original spot she starts in. Which gives the impression that it is a more serious situation for her. The meaning behind the lyrics Mama Thornton sings is about a man who sneaks around her home and wants things from her, but she wants nothing to do with him. Then, while Elvis is performing he is constantly moving around and dancing.

I have traveled all over the world but I have never been down South. Being from New York has also given me a very narrow perspective of African American culture. The purpose of this research project is to gain some understanding of Black culture specifically in the South. College has exposed me to a lot of people who were born and raised in the South and some of my closest friends are southerners. By researching the history, culture, and demographic information of the South, I plan on becoming a more well-informed American.