Black people made several cultural contributions to American music. Many African slaves used music to help themselves and others. It reminded them of their free life back in Africa. Some slaves could bring a banja or banshaw. IT’s currently known as the banjo. They also built drums and used it to communicate with other slaves. Unfortunately, slaveowners realized this and most plantations banned drums. Slaves were still allowed to play instruments. The country fiddling is the product of slave fiddling for the white elite. They also used their bodies as instruments. They emphasized complex polyrhythms that are still used …show more content…
They were tired of the racist jokes and blackface, so they created what they wanted to be pictured as. In “Ethiopia Awakening” by Meta Warrick Fuller shows this. The statue depicts a woman wrapped like a mummy, but she is breaking free from the bondage. Many artists depicted black people instead of the white people. They wanted to show that black people exist and are just as beautiful as white people. Aaron Douglas illustrated “God’s Trombones” and instead of drawing the angles as white people, he depicted them as black. Douglas even created a mural series named “Aspects of Negro Life”. Despite being named the Harlem Renaissance, most of the black artists of that time were in Paris. However, most of the traveling exhibits and contests were in the United States. The Great Depression forced many artists to come home, and together they created several museums and art schools. Federal art projects encouraged many black artists to experiment and continue their