ray charles Essay

During the Civil Rights era, African Americans changed the way people looked at music by ending the segregation in the music world and by making a well-known “soundtrack” and influence during the Civil Rights Movement.

Throughout his professional career, Jackie Robinson, received criticism for being the first “black” player to play the game. Not only did Jackie Robinson manage to live up to the criticism, he also changed the face of America’s greatest past time forever. With his entrance into the MLB he opened the path for great black players like Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Ozzie Smith just to name a few. In crossing the color-barrier in baseball Robinson not only strived as a great player on the field, but also a inspiration to the black community of the field with his humility, and willingness to move forward in a time where blacks were not considered “equal”.

The impact that Ray Charles has had on American culture is nearly indescribable. Although unable to see, he was successful in making his artistic visions come to life by fusing the sounds of blues, gospel, jazz, and R&B, making him one of the leading soul artists of the 1950s. The legendary musician is recognized for being a pillar in the industry, credited with making strides in desegregating musical genres. Although he composed many of his early hits, Charles is considered to be an interpreter of music, offering his distinct personal vision of many classics. Over the course of his career, which spanned five decades, he recorded over 60 albums and sold millions of records worldwide.

There may be no bigger name in rap music right now than Chicago's own Chance the Rapper. His third mixtape Coloring Book is now available on all major music streaming platforms (Apple Music, Soundcloud, Spotify, Tidal, etc.) and he is also the first artist EVER to break The Billboard Top 10 Albums chart with streams only. He has burst onto the scene as a "lone wolf" of sorts; refusing to sign to a record label, releasing all of his music for free, and combining rap, jazz, and gospel music more beautifully than anyone we've ever seen in the music industry. To celebrate Lil Chano's recent success let's check out his ten best songs.

Louis Armstrong learned at a young age, not to let negative views direct your life. At the age of seven he worked for a Jewish family, and noticed how the whites treated them. It was not just the blacks in the early 1900’s that dealt with racial issues. But Louis saw one thing that left a long time mark on him. Many of the Blacks wanted Pity, but this family of Jews he worked for, did not, they made their way. This was something Louis would carry with him the rest of his life. Louis Armstrong’s influence was the style, structure, and joy of his art. It is something that can be seen in many musicians that listened to him. Listen to a Miles Davis cd, and you will hear the Great Satchmo. Yes it is Miles Davis, but the influence of Louis is there to be heard. Many of the musicians today you will also hear Louis’s influence, and not only in Jazz, Swing, Blues, but in any form. Louis Armstrong’s influence is one of the most powerful that has ever been, and may ever be.

     Jackie Robinson and integration are two phrases that cannot be segregated. Whether he liked it or not, he played the star role in the integration of society during the time that he played Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. His heroic journey that landed him in the Majors shows, “how integration has come to baseball and how it can be achieved in every corner of the land'; (Robinson 16). But this amazing triumph over the Jim Crow laws could only have been possible in New York as Robinson says, “Cooperstown, New York, and Birmingham, Alabama, are both in the Unites States. In Cooperstown I had been the guest of honor in the company of three other new Hall of

Baseball has always been America’s national pastime. In the early and all the way into the mid 50’s, baseball was America and America was baseball. The only thing lacking in the great game was the absence of African American players and the presence of an all white sport. America still wasn’t friendly or accepted the African American race and many still held great prejudice towards them. All this would change when the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey decided he was going to sign a Negro player. Jackie Robinson was that player and Jackie Robinson changed the game, America, and history. By looking specifically at his childhood adversity, college life and the hardships he encountered by becoming the first black player

Many came from the south, fleeing its oppressive caste system in order to escape the cruelty, they wanted to face the hate by accomplishing their dreams and desires. One of the most influential figures from this time period was Louis Armstrong; he not only brought his ambitions to life, but also gave motivation to millions of others. He survived a tough childhood with little to

Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, had to so called ¨craft an image for his acts.¨ He had young stars go to a music school, to finish up and add on a few new techniques. He would also make them appear such that, in no way could even offend one person. Gordy tried to play it smart and to make the artists album covers in a way that it would be a secret in revealing the artist's race. Gordy found out that some black artist were still having trouble going from the R&B chart to the Hot 100. Many artists were having trouble trying to go along with what Gordy had in mind. But artist wanted to be themselves, express their feelings with how they wanna sing or perform. And hiding who they really were was hard from them to do when you have to keep their race in

The grandson of a slave, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia; he was the youngest of five children. Jackie grew up very poor, but little did he know that his athletic ability would open the doors for his future. After his father deserted the family when Jackie was six months old, his mother, Mallie Robinson, moved the family to California in search of work. California also subjected blacks to segregation at that time, but to less of a degree than in the Deep South. The young Jackie defused his anger over this prejudice by immersing himself in sports. He displayed extraordinary athletic skills in high school, excelling at football, basketball, baseball, and track. After helping Pasadena Junior College

42 is a story about Jackie Robinson, the renowned baseball player who broke the colour barrier by becoming the first African-American to join the roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers (“42”). It portrays the struggles, mainly racism, Robinson had to go through while he was in the baseball team and how he managed to overcome them.

Clifford had a rough upbringing. He was orphaned at a young age and was sent to stay with relatives. One night he left and spent many nights afterward alone in an abandoned school bus. In order to have shelter, food, and rest, he went from house to house, hoping for compassion. When Clifford was thirteen years old, however, he was adopted by James and Irene Sims, and took on their last name. He was then raised well and was able to complete high school. Clifford chose to join

Billie Holiday, whose real name is Eleanora Gough, was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1915. She grew up mostly in Baltimore and always loved jazz. Billie was born to very young parents. Her mother was thirteen when she was born and her father just fifteen. (www.numberonestars.com, 2010)

Rhythm and blues, also known today as “R & B”, has been one of the most influential genres of music within the African American Culture, and has evolved over many decades in style and sound. Emerging in the late 1940's rhythm and blues, sometimes called jump blues, became dominant black popular music during and after WWII. Rhythm and blues artists often sung about love, relationships, life troubles, and sometimes focused on segregation and race struggles. Rhythm and blues helped embody what was unique about black American culture and validate it as something distinctive and valuable.

“I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water.” (Azquotes.com) Those were one of Ray Charles’s most famous quotes. Ray Charles was the best rhythm and blues musician of all times. His love for music started at a young age and took him far in his future years. Above is a great musician he suffered great losses on his road to success. Ray Charles has faced many problems that a regular person couldn’t cope with but he never lost faith.