Black Arts Movement

The Black Arts movement refers to a period of “furious flowering” of African American creativity beginning in the mid-1960’s and continuing through much of the 1970’s (Perceptions of Black). Linked both chronologically and ideologically with the Black Power Movement, The BAM recognized the idea of two cultural Americas: one black and one white. The BAM pressed for the creation of a distinctive Black Aesthetic in which black artists created for black audiences. The movement saw artistic production as the key to revising Black American’s perceptions of themselves, thus the Black Aesthetic was believed to be an integral component of the economic, political, and cultural empowerment of the Black

The intersection of social movements and Art is one that can be observed throughout the civil right movements of America in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. The sixties in America saw a substantial cultural and social change through activism against the Vietnam war, women’s right and against the segregation of the African - American communities. Art became a prominent method of activism to advocate the civil rights movement. It was a way to express self-identity as well as the struggle that people went through and by means of visual imagery a way to show political ideals and forms of resistance. To examine how a specific movement can have a profound effects on the visual art, this essay will focus on the black art movement of the 1960s and

African Americans always had a great influence in the United States throughout time from the beginning of slavery. African Americans, since the start of slavery, always expressed themselves artistically, where it was through music or art. From making patchwork quilts, slaves used their artistic expression to help conduct the Underground Railroad and escape slavery. To be defined as “illiterate savages” African Americas proved many wrong with their exceptional skills presented in many different styles of artwork. From slavery throughout the 19th century, there were a great number of African Americans whom contributed to the United States through artistic expression, with creating artwork that would either be judged or discredited. For example, Robert S. Duncanson, Edward M. Bannister, Mary Edmonia Lewis, and Henry Ossawa Tanner were all 19th century African American artists who each faced their own individual challenges to achieve acclaim as artists.

The Black Studies Movement was an incredible time in history for student advocacy. There are many different proposed timelines, but essentially the Black Studies Movement happened in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The movement is often swallowed in discussions of other movements at the time, notably the end of the Civil Rights Movement and beginning of the Black Power Movement. It is also addressed somewhat in discussions of late 1960’s and early 1970’s college campus activism.

In Davarian L. Baldwin’s “Chicago’s New Negroes,” Baldwin explains how black people are aggressive and assertive as they want New Negro Politics. Part of their assertiveness, black working class people are able to form their own culture, as they support the New Negro settlers who migrated to the North. Using the language of the New Negro Politics, black people were able to bypass the stereotypes that were placed on them. Events such as the Harlem Renaissance allowed black people in the North to use art as a way to put emphasis on cultural creators that helped black people form their own culture. Many cultural creators that helped shape the modern world were Jack Johnson, Madam C. J. Walker, and Thomas Dorsey.

How did the Black Arts Movement change the white supremacist of the Literary Canon? Before one can go on to answer this question, students must understand exactly what a literary canon is. “Literary canon” is a term used widely to refer to a group of literary works that are considered the most important of a particular time period or place. Before the 1960’s the canon was widely referred to as the “Western Canon.” However after the Black Arts Movement several African-Americans authors emerged adding diversity and ideas from the point of view of racial and ethnic minorities, which was not valued by the mainstream at the time. In the famous essay “Cultural Revolution and the Literary Canon,” Amiri Baraka’s states “The 1960’s had raised questions of the multicultural and multinational character of society and had challenged the white supremacist origins of the so-called literary canon.” Throughout this essay we will discuss how the Black Arts Movement played a major part in changing and challenging the white supremacist of the Literary Canon.

A significant part of this artistic movement was to give the power back the Black Americans, to define who they are in order to over shadow previous offensive caricatures created to promote oppression. W.E.B. Du Bois saw all art as propaganda and as such saw that the artist had a moral obligation to use that power to propagate a diverse and beautiful Black America. Both arguments are valid, in an environment that is flooded with falsehoods, images that are lies about who Blacks are as a people can be combatted with images of real Blacks who are exceptional. On the other hand this begs the question of who is worthy of uplift, if we only depict one kind of black person, what does that say about those who do not fit this mold? Both sides recognize that the New Negro is a complex individual, someone who is not monochromatic, as previous depictions might have had people believing, the debate is about how complex should the image of the new Black America

Sociology is the study of group behavior through the use of scientific investigation and research (Vissing, 2011). This class has shown so many different views on sociology. It explains how different people see society and how they live and interact with them. My theorist of choice is W.E.B Du Bois, because he laid down the foundation for the study of black sociology and the work of scholars such as E. Franklin Frazier (Vissing, 2011). In this paper I will discuss why I feel that W.E.B Du Bois views align with my personal views.

Neal had a desire for change something new and unique against America usual livelihood. He is bold and outspoken in every shape and form. Neal does not believe it was time to keep changing the blacks but instead evolve and with that, start telling whites that he didn't need them to survive. It was time to change things up in his favor. Neal said, “The Black Arts Movement is radically opposed to any concept of the artist that alienates him from his community.”

In those years, racism was a strong and violent issue that not only referred to women but also to minorities such as black people, gays and single mothers. Today people are still struggle with these very issues. Racism in America is proving that this essay is sadly very relevant today and this minorities group reacts in different ways but always similar to Lorde’s description of poetry as a form of creativity as a class issue, thinking that in the 80’s poetry was the most economical way of communication. In recent years there has been an explosion of creativity by minority groups in form of: street-art, rap music, and

It was actually several episodes before thought that Atlanta addresses black culture and gender identity. While in jail waiting to be a bailed-out Earnest finds himself sitting in the middle of a lovers spat over the gender identity of one of the inmates, who is being singled out with slurs and hate speech. Earnest who is baffled by the transphobic rhetoric around him, states, “sexuality is a spectrum”, ensuring the black transgender character that she is free to interrupt her gender and sexual identity anyway she sees fit. This is such an important moment in the show, how often do rappers come out and say things like “sexuality is a spectrum” (remember Donald Glover is a successful rapper outside of the show). It is a widely-accepted notion

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.

From it's inception, rap indured a lot of hostility from listeners--many, but not all, White--who found the music too harsh, monotonous, and lacking in traditional melodic values. However, millions of others--often, though not always, young African-Americans from underprivileged inner city backgrounds--found and immediate connection with the style. Here was poetry of the

In the 1970s Black people were facing many troubles because of the White race .For example, Blacks were working as servants for them, and they were living in miserable conditions along with the violence against them and many other encroachments .So that many Afro- American were struggling in order to get back there dignity and their civil rights through establishing movements, including Black Arts Movement and Black Power Movement.

Art is something that can only be achieved with the manipulation of the imagination. This is successful when using objects, sounds, and words. Richard Wright and Amira Baraka brought the power of art into the limelight. Wright’s perception of art was for it to be used as a means of guidance, one that could uplift the Negro towards bigger and better goals. Baraka’s perspective of art was for it to be used as an active agent, one that could kill and then imprint society permanently. Baraka and Wright both wanted the Negro to see that there was a much brighter future ahead of them. Both wanted art to leave a stain, a stain that could not be easily erased, washed, or bleached. Both believed that Black Art had no need to be silent but instead daring.