African-American music

Renaissance was a rise in the African-American culture which embraced the theatrical, visual arts, music, and literary works of African-Americans. It took place from 1917 until 1932. In the midst of that time, the Harlem Renaissance was going on other important events in history were happening such as World War 1, which was from 1914 until 1918, the Great Migration which started in 1916, and the Great Depression which started in 1929. Involved in this movement were the African-Americans,…

After the first form of ‘American’ entertainment rose to popularity in the 1840’s known as the Minstrel Show, the African American race faced new forms of bigotry not alike from the injustice they had experienced for the past two centuries as a part of the transatlantic slave trade. Originally being encouraged by their slave traders, the roots of African music trace back to the 1600’s where slaves began singing and dancing to help maintain their physical condition and keep them from despair and…

industry transformed Midwest from agricultural to urbanized economies with trading hubs in cities like Chicago. This transformation from rural to urban sparked the Great Migration, a mass movement of African Americans from the South to industrialized cities in the North. This influx of African American communities challenged the existing racial constructs in the metropolis and gave rise to new socially constructed identities and means of self-expression. Davarian L. Baldwin examines these…

As a little boy I always loved going to the festivals with my mama, New Orleans had the best of them. I loved the food, the music, and the mixture of the people from our city. Normally we weren’t allowed to be around the white people, but during festivals they were all over the city, and so were we. At school, we wouldn’t eat lunch at the same table as the white boys, but at the festivals I could be right there and nobody would pay any attention to me. Once during the first Jazz Festival in 1970…

The Harlem Renaissance, was a time where art, music, poetry, and theater came alive. Jazz could be heard from every corner , the sounds of poetry lifted every ear. The migration of African Americans from the south to north in search of a better life. Changing art from something basic to a masterpiece full of color, design, and rhythm. Since the spark of the Harlem Renaissance, music, art, and poetry of African-Americans has evolved. “Driven from their homes by unsatisfactory economic…

Hughes. Hughes was American poet, columnist, novelist, playwright, and a social activist. Even more, he was the part of the innovators of the new literary art form of jazz poetry. Majority of his poems touched on the struggles of African Americans in white society. Also, the problems he endured throughout his life. When Jazz became popular, Hughes incorporated…

turning point for African Americans of their status in America. In the 1920s, following World War I, social and mental changes occurred amongst American men and women. New ideas were spreading about personal convictions, social standards, and advancing technology. Many African Americans had moved North from the southern plantations that they were finally freed from in a movement known as the Great Migration. This movement brought forth the ideals and opportunities the African Americans had…

The Guidance of Blues Blues is an African American art form that was created in the early 20th century. It was a secular response for the segregation that African Americans faced during the post-reconstruction era. African Americans use blues for catharsis, a spiritual relief from physical and emotional grievance in their difficult position in the society. Elements of it has been passed through the adaptations over the century and still exists in the modern blues we hear nowadays. Looking back…

Working and Singing Dr. Hunter in the The death of the Negro, tells of Willie Dixon accounts of the slave working and singing the blues. If they(slaves) got paid a week’s pay it was fifty cents and a dollar on Saturdays. The songs were religious in nature and called slave spirituals that touched all, even the oppressors or slave masters were often moved to tears. More importantly, this was not a new custom for the slave habitually sang while doing their work in Africa. They sang of a luckier and…

Motown was a very big impact in many branches of our culture. Branch being music, The music being birthed out of Motown was very unique and music produced by black majority and meant to reach the white wealthy community. The other effect it had on our culture was the civil rights examples they gave others in the black community. They way Motown impacted motown in a big way is that people walked in played their unique music and walked out musicians and money makers. This task did not come easy…