...One American subculture consists of Black Americans. They have their own unique history that differs from people of different skin colors who moved to the North American continent. Black Americans were originally from Africa and brought to the North American continent as slaves. The most prominent distinctive factor is their dark skin color. In 2015 the black population in America was 46.3 million people, which is about 14.4 percent of the U.S. population. As stated earlier, they originated from Africa and were transported to North America as slaves. They were freed from that lifestyle with the help of the emancipation proclamation that was made in 1862. Since they were separate for a long time, they developed their own cultural traditions,...
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...Throughout the 1920’s jazz music was a defining aspect of American culture; it also had a huge effect on society.. People of the time saw either playing or listening to jazz as a way to feel free or even escape from their daily lives. With the social changes going on in the 20’s, like the parties and the way people behaved, jazz fit right in with the changing times. Many jazz enthusiasts will argue that you are born with a love of jazz (Jazz History: The Standards). Like Louis Armstrong once said, "if you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know" (Music with Ease > Jazz Quotes). In conjunction with the roaring twenties, jazz made it to the top and became widely known across the United States, and even some parts of Britain, making it a worldwide movement. It came very popular with people who wanted to get away from their normal lives and escape into the swing of jazz. Novelist F Scott...
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...Slavery, while brutal and inhumane, reshaped African identities and culture. In order to avoid work, slaves would often disfigure themselves. They would cut off their own fingers, hands, toes, or feet. They would also fake illnesses or pregnancies for long term avoidance. Doing this also made them less desirable at slave auctions. When slaves became desperate enough, they would even openly resist their masters. Numerous examples show slaves who were brutally beaten or even killed for resisting their masters. Slave owners consistently tried to erase African culture from slave’s memories. They spread lies by insisting that the blacks had been rescued from the inhumane and barbaric ways of African culture. Some slaves even believed this to be true and praised their owners for saving them. But African culture among most was kept a secret. In the fields they were under white rule and showed no signs of African culture. But in their houses and shacks, culture was everywhere from language and paintings, to games and rituals. Almost all Africans brought to the U.S. were sold at slave auctions to the highest bidder. Slaves were taken based on their appearance usually tall strong men were highly...
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...Charles Waddell Chesnutt is an important, but not well recognized, American Author because he the main inventor of Afro-American fiction. Chesnutt was an African-American lawyer and author in the 19th century. He mostly wrote short stories that were collected in in his two most famous books, The Conjure Woman and The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color-Line. The Conjure Woman is a collection of Stories where slaves mainly escape to the north by using the powers of voodoo. The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color-Line is a collection of stories that explored slave behavior and culture. Chesnutt and his works are important because Chesnutt was the first recognized black American author, he used slave diction and culture, and he wrote about social problems from the different races. Chesnutt was the first recognized African-American author. His short story “The Gophered Grapevine” was...
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...African American's Journey Essay Below is a free essay on "African American's Journey" from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples. “African American’s Journey to Freedom” Charity Johnson HIS204: American History since 1865 Instructor: Leslie Ruff February 11, 2013 “African American’s Journey to Freedom” To some African Americans it may seem ironic that The United States of America is known as “the land of the free” considering that majority of their ancestors entered the US as slaves. African Americans were brought to North America via the middle passage which originated during the fifteenth century. They were enslaved for approximately 400 hundred years until the end of the Civil War in 1865. Although African Americans were enslaved in America, they were determine to survive and one day be freed in this great country. During The African American’s journey to freedom several significant events took place which was inclusive of but not limited to: The Civil Rights Movement of 1865-1877, Separate but Equal Legislation (Plessy vs. Ferguson court case) in 1896, The Harlem Renaissance of 1920, Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, The March on Washington Movement of 1963, and The Black Power Movement of the late 1960s and 1970. I will discuss the significance of these events in relation to the African American journey to freedom and how they have help shape American society today. THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT OF 1865-1877 Frequently when...
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...distinctive and varied "negro/black American" culture and it was centered here in Harlem of New York City. It was a culture movement that began around 1920s. Before it was called the Harlem renaissance it was known as the "New Negro Movement", that was named after the anthology edited by Alain Locke in 1925. The Harlem Renaissance grew out of the changes that had taken place in the black community since the abolition of slavery, and which had been accelerated as a consequence of the First World War. It can also be seen as specifically African-American response to an expression of the great social and cultural change taking place in America in the early 20th century under the influence of industrialization and the emergence of a new mass culture. This movement impacted urban centers throughout the United States. Across the cultural spectrum (literature, drama, music, art, dance) and also in social thought (sociology, philosophy), artists and intellectuals found new ways to explore the historical experiences of black America and the contemporary experiences of black life in the urban North. Challenging white superiority and racism, African-American artists and intellectuals rejected merely imitating the styles of Europeans and white Americans and instead celebrated black dignity and creativity. Asserting their freedom to express themselves on their own terms as artists, they explored their identities as black Americans, celebrating the black culture that had emerged out of slavery and...
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...Cultural Identity Essay All of my cultures are being a student, being African American, being an aries, being a friend to others, being a daughter and a sister. All of my cultures are great but, the culture I’ve decided to write about is being an African American. Being African American is simply about how close our families are. My family is super close. The reason why I say this is because every year we have parties. For example, every July we have a party for all of my family members that have a birthday in July. My aunty buys all of the birthday people a bouquet or a gift card for food or something like that. That’s what the July parties are for. We also have Christmas parties every year at the same house. There is also a Thanksgiving...
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...Shiquita Jones 6/5/08 Expository Essay Every culture has some form of music they practice or enjoy listening to. Music can have a huge impact around the world. Music has important themes or meanings that can be positive or negative. Music originated around the globe. Music is created for all ages to listen to; however it can be harmful to certain people for various reasons. Some cultures musical styles are similar; however many are also different. African Americans have quite different musical rhythms and instruments from the musical traditions of Native Americans. In this essay I will explain the differences and similarities between Iroquois, a Native American tribe and African American music. Music is used for various reasons between Iroquois and African Americans. It is used for recreation, rituals and ceremonies, story telling, and language. For example, African Americans sung spiritual songs to help one another during slavery, so the master wouldn't know what they were talking about. Music was also used in Iroquois and Africans Americans society by communicating with others parts of the world. Music was used as an early sign of general cultural diffusion. (Plantinga, p.6) Music is used to help expand our world and cultures. Music is a part of most activities that African Americans and Iroquois tribes enjoy. Music is taught and learned orally by both cultures. This means that they are sung and played together easily;...
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...specific group of people? Kwame Anthony Appiah discusses the issues of identity, race and culture in his essay "Racial Identities". Appiah uses references from poets and scholars who see different or similar views on race and culture. Matthew Arnold, Thomas Sowell, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Charles Taylor are few of the scholars and poets that are used in "Racial Identities" and how their literary texts, views and issues contributed to Appiah's essay. Matthew Arnold poem was used as a reference in the "Racial Identities", where he discusses culture. Arnold was born on December...
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...but by culture as well. Years ago, French sociologist Pierre Bordieu argued, "culture is a way of distinguishing between positions in the cultural hierarchy." I believe this to be true because the "social system tends to reproduce itself through culture and through schooling." Throughout our lives, we go about ourselves based on upbringing and predominantly what we are taught in school. Authors Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno use culture as a way to portray our capitalist system in writing. Art has become transformed into a money-making business versus…art. They discuss how the cultural industry creates “predetermined ideologies and messages” through radio, tv, music etc. This means that the media tries to socially control and condition mass audiences to obey the established social structure, which maintains a capitalist economy for those at the top of Marx's hierarchical superstructure. In my eyes all these things are just another way to target and control the lower class. Another author Walter Benjamin discusses how mass culture has basically broken down the true meaning of art through mechanical reproduction. All of these are ways of controlling and shaping our population into whatever a higher authority would want them to be. African American author, Toni Morrison, wrote an essay called Playing in the Dark. Morrison discusses the way the literature of the European- descended white population takes an "Africanist" presence for granted." For many years Africans were...
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...Rap games! A Wittgensteinian analysis of modern hip hop culture and language! Running Head: RAP GAMES! 2 Rap games - a Wittgensteinian analysis of modern hip hop culture and language! Introduction For new listeners many hip hop songs will be almost incomprehensible due to the language used. Yet seasoned listeners will be able to explain new songs without much thought. I take this to suggest that the language of hip hop resembles language games as per Wittgenstein’s view. In this short essay, I set out to explain this statement. Firstly, the hip hop culture is discussed together with the characteristics of the language used in hip hop culture. Next the explained culture is analysed using Wittgenstein’s theory as based on his Philosophical Investigations.! In order to analyse the culture properly, it is necessary to somewhat limit the scope of this essay. The “rap games” mentioned in the title refer (in this case) to the communicative aspect of rap music. More so than other music, rap songs refer and react to other rap artists, songs and expressions. The ways in which these reactions manifest itself in rap music and language are the focus of this essay. ! Hip hop culture and language Hip hop consists of different types of expression, but this essay only looks at the one most relevant to our discussion, namely rap. Rap consists of “the aesthetic placement of verbal rhymes over musical beats” (Alim, 2001, p. 272). In essence it is similar to musically spoken poetry, but...
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... An African-American cultural movement of the 1920’s centered in Harlem, that celebrated black traditions, the black voice, and black ways of life. Jazz and music Jazz was a new style of music created by African American musicians, featuring syncopated rhythms and improvisational solos It was so interesting because the improv aspect meant that no two performances could ever be the same Duke Ellington turned commercial radio into a place for music by performing jazz music from the Cotton Club, broadcasted to thousands of Americans Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday coined blues and jazz vocal solos Chick Webb (King of Swing) saved money as a paperboy to buy his drum set, and started playing professionally in Harlem at 11 years old, then later became the best-regarded band leader Louis Armstrong played jazz music on Broadway, a Creole Jazz Band, and at the Cotton Club. He played in many films and toured internationally. He was the man that made the most Americans begin to accept jazz into their culture II. Poetry Langston Hughes One of the most well known names of the Harlem Renaissance His writing reflected that black culture should be celebrated because is it just as valuable as white culture "I tried to write poems like the songs they sang on Seventh Street...(these songs) had the pulse beat of the people who keep on going." said Langston One of Langston most famous work was his essay entitled "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" This essay talks about...
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...in the Kingdom of Culture: Black Swan Records and the Political Economy of African American Music." Teaching the Journal of American History Vol. 90, No. 4.March 2004 (2004): 1295-1324. Web. 1 Mar. 2004. African American owned Record Company, which produced records for African American consumers, was faced with attempts by a large record corporation to force them into bankruptcy. Why would a large company do this for such a small African American owned company? How would it merit attention from African American people in this medium when you have more important subjects like voting rights and lynching? Moreover, why would it merit any attention at all, not to mention, selling records to black consumers. This article answers these questions and investigates the rise and fall of the small record company and explores the political economy in which it operated. Black Swan Records created by Henry H. Pace, who saw a way to respond to a hostile environment that African American people faced with, both in the entertainment industry and in American society. The protégé of W.E.B Du Bois, also saw that African Americans were not equally even when they were freed from slavery. Access to material goods that cultivate and motivate African Americans creative spirits were denied by America. The fear of African Americans, by White America, to support one another and encourage each other to develop business, and economic self-sufficiency was racially evident. African American growth and prosperity...
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...Post-National Enquiries Post-National Enquiries: Essays on Ethnic and Racial Border Crossings Edited by Jopi Nyman Post-National Enquiries: Essays on Ethnic and Racial Border Crossings, Edited by Jopi Nyman This book first published 2009 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2009 by Jopi Nyman and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-0593-9, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-0593-3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ..................................................................................... vii Chapter One................................................................................................. 1 Introduction Jopi Nyman Part I: Crossing Racial Boundaries Chapter Two ................................................................................................ 8 Between Camps: Paul Gilroy and the Dilemma of “Race” Tuire Valkeakari Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 30 Breaking the Apartheid: Blocking Actors of Color in Globalized Multicultural...
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...“The New Black Face Movement” The New Black movement is encouraging youth of my generation to adopt an attitude of assimilation instead of enduring a fight to keeping our identity. History is important to people of all cultures it helps to guide you by knowing where you’ve come from and it lets you know when you’ve elevated your way of thinking by honoring your ancestors and what they have fought for. The new black movement is encouraging a growth stunting amongst black people which is not helping to create a more progressive race but is instead encouraging children to lose themselves. The new black face is the result of the African experience while in America, forcible assimilation has always been a part of our culture, but there is a new threat implemented by enticing the youth with the “New Black Movement.” The notion of the new negro was coined by Alain Locke meaning by race, was black, but would not live in the stereotypical confines of what being black meant. But affluent African Americans such as Raven Symone and Pharrell have taken this idea and morphed it into what can be seen as an abandonment of identification, according to Pharrell, you must stop identifying with the African American group altogether and the positive accolades of hard work will elevate your status with society. But this idea is simply furthers the crisis of identification within black children. In the 1940’s there was a doll study performed by The Clarks determined that the black children overwhelmingly...
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