American Culture In Nigeria

Elvis Presley is one of the biggest names in rock and roll. Singer, musician and actor he was an American icon. He is best known as the King of Rock and Roll. His musical influence included the country and pop music of the time, the gospel music he sang in church and the black R&B music he listened to as a teenager (Comprehensive History of Elvis Presley’s Dynamic Life). Elvis has influenced American culture not only while he was living but also in today’s 21st century. It wasn’t easy for him to be accepted; in fact many adults and the older generations of his time were appalled by his performances and his music. In time though, people were able to accept him and he became well-known all over the world. Even after his death Americans are

Elvis Presley was one of the most influential rock and roll singers in the American history. Presley’s work revolutionized the music and brought about significant changes in the entertainment industry. He grew up in an environment where racial segregation between the whites and African Americans was highly pronounced. In fact, Presley schooled in Memphis where he graduated from a whites-only high school. However, he upheld the Black’s music and made it possible for their music to be accessed by the White American youths. Presley’s tracks broke past the racial barrier as many teenagers loved his amazing voice. Through his music, he confronted racism and challenged both social and moral values. Elvis Presley changed the manner in which the Black minority were treated in the U.S. through his music, and this initiated the fights against racial discrimination leading to the civil rights movement.

Using the Hofstede model of comparison, I will be comparing the culture of my home country, that is, the Republic of Benin and the United States of America. First, I will do a little background of Benin and the USA. Benin is located in West Africa and is in between Togo and Nigeria. Its official language is French mainly because it was colonized by France during the colonial period. Its population is 10 million and it is considered a developing country. On the other hand, the USA is located in North America. Some of its neighbors are Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas. Its population is 321 million and English is its official language. The USA economy is the world's largest national economy. The location, population, national language and

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

Elvis Aaron Presley, otherwise known as “The King” was born on January 8th, 1935. He came from simple beginnings; being born into a lower-class family in Tupelo, Mississippi. In 1948, at the age of 13 Elvis Presley and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Soon he launched his incredibly successful music career with Sun Records at the age of 19 in 1954. His music was influenced by both African American and White artists causing his unique blend of country, pop, rhythm and blues, and gospel music. Presley was heavily influenced by artists such as Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Buddy Holly. Though Presley was widely known for his “provocative” dances moves and his popularization of Rock n’ Roll Presley impacted American culture in a much larger aspect. His influence on Americans and American culture aided desegregation and civil rights during his period of influence and helped create “youth culture”.

He was a poor man who became rich, a white boy who dressed and sang like he was black, and a mamma’s boy who was also a rebel. Elvis scared white children’s parents. They saw this child who could be their kid acting like a juvenile delinquent and they feared his music would ignite rebellion in their children. The teenage population was huge and the people were well enough off that the kids had money to spend and a desire to spend it. When Elvis started singing, suddenly they knew what they wanted to spend their money on. They wanted everything that Elvis had and they wanted to do everything that he did. He inspired a whole generation to be different. He showed them they could dance and they could be feminine and manly at the same time. Elvis showed the kids that they could have fun and they could have fun together regardless of race. Elvis inspired a graduation and he consequently became known as the King. He was the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the King of the baby boomers generation. Not only did Elvis encourage blacks and whites to get along together and have fun, inspire the fashion and musical tastes of a generation, and demonstrate that not all men must be manly, but he also started America on the path of children and their parents listening to different music. The teens of the 1950s loved rock music and that started the trend of each generation having their own music that they felt spoke to them. The 60s folk music, the 70s

From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern for the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as remembered traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art

Igbo and Americans share various cultural aspects, such as language, and weddings. Although the two cultures are not alike completely they do have some similarities. The Igbo and American cultures have many commonalities and differences.

He broke the chains of the puritanical lifestyle of 1950s America. Despite the media constantly ridiculing him for being vulgar, incompetent, and a bad influence on society, the power of his music was too overbearing to suppress. He signaled to the masses that a new age has come. Mark Bernardo points this out in his book “Elvis Presley: Memphis”, in which he writes, “In the United States, rock ‘n’ roll had outgrown Memphis and become a national phenomenon. Elvis’ influence was evident in the new crop of teen idols that appeared on the scene, including Fabian, Frankie Avalon, and Paul Anka. All the while, the Colonel worked feverishly to keep Elvis’ music in the national spotlight, releasing singles at well-planned intervals; for the most part, his strategy was successful. But to the legions of Elvis fans who continued to listen to his tunes and read about his army exploits in magazines, nothing could compare to the thrill of seeing the King return home” (Bernardo, “Elvis Presley: Memphis”, 134). As a white Southerner performing blues mixed with country and gospel music, Elvis united American music in all aspects, including race and color, making him one of the most import social and cultural figures in history. Elvis had a way about him, in that his performances moved the masses, using a natural sexuality that drew teens to adore him, as well as attracting a generations of rebels as an international

His appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show gave the network the highest rating at the time, and yet “Elvis the Pelvis” was shot only from waist up. His hip dusting moves was too risque for 1950s Americans, along with his nature. Yet Elvis was a very religious man; daily he would read the bible, he would never drink, and most of his songs had religious connotations. He was a humble man who remembered where he came from.Elvis Presley was born and raised in Tupelo, Mississippi. He grew up with little money, and his family lived off of welfare. During the year of 1948 Presley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 13, and there he was introduced to the black community. In Memphis he was a frequent singer at the Reverend H.W. Brewster’s black Memphis church where he learned gospel music.

Elvis changed a lot between culture and people through his musical influence. When Phillips had said that he had finally found “a white man with a negro” this was a would eventually bring a large change in society. Elvis had spun up the social norm in 1950, with his album “The Hillbilly Cat” by intertwining the music of black people with poor white people to create his unique rock and roll (Hauser, 2013). Elvis had not been very socially accepted by older age groups, for they say it as a disgrace on American culture (Hauser, 2013). Elvis had been able to preserve the sound of black music and was able to attract white culture to the music so well (Hauser,

The foundations of today’s popular music were built by an unlikely source: a poor white

Elvis’s music allowed them to be able to hear the amazing sound that came from this specific type of music. This began to bring the younger generations of different races together by liking one specific thing causing a huge change in society. Elvis’s clothing would also help to change America. White adults believed that Elvis dressed like a black person. He would wear baggy pants, leather jackets and a pink shirt with its collar up. More white teenagers would start to wear more types of clothing like this. White teenagers started to shop in stores that were owned by black businessmen. This was something that was just simply never done. Elvis’s dancing was the last part of him that would cause tension in America. He would dance sexually with hip thrusts and moving that was inappropriate. This would start a tread of new dancing though the teenagers. This upset adults that their children were more open about their sexuality. Simply, Elvis would start treads which can still be seen today. This was the start of the African American culture being mixed with mainstream culture.

I am a part of the Nigerian diaspora, one of the millions of Nigerians living in a foreign nation. I moved to the United States at the age of 8 and since then, the Nigerian culture I had known and brought with me has changed and adapted to the dominant culture of the USA. Many Nigerian families and communities abroad are faced with the same internal struggle of holding onto their traditional cultural values, while ensuring enough adaptation into the dominant culture. Due to the diversity of nations Nigerian migrants have settled in, the end result, a hyphenated Nigerian identity, differs greatly across continents and countries. Through the Frances L. Phillips scholarship, I would like the opportunity to explore the Nigerian diaspora communities in 6 different Western Europe countries and how these communities have shifted and adapted due to the dominant culture in the countries.

Every nation has unique ways of doing things ranging from clothing to education or style we refer to these things as culture. It is important to understand and have idea of what operate in other countries. The aim of this paper is to identify the differences and similarities between the American and Nigeria classroom. The important bases of the U.S. classroom learning environment include the rights of the individual, personal responsibility, freedom of choice, interactive learning, liberal education, independent thinking, and democratic principles. You will find these values and principles represented in the following discussion, which offers an introduction to important features of the U.S. classroom