Rastafari is a young, Africa-centred religion which developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as King of Ethiopia in 1930. Rastafarians believe Haile Selassie I is God and that he will return to the African members of the black community who are living in exile as the result of colonisation and the slave trade. (www.bbc.co.uk) Marcus Garvey a political activist developed the idea of Rastafari ideology because he wanted to improve the status of his fellow black people. There are approximately one million people worldwide adherents of Rastafari as a faith. The 2001 census found 5,000 Rastafarians living in England and Wales (bbc.co.uk) Rastafarians are known by different names such as Rasta, sufferers, locks men, and dreadlocks or dreads.
George Emmett talks about the evolution of hip hop culture and how it rose and spread. Emmett mentions that hip hop evolved during the 1970’s as a liberation movement. Hip hop is grounded in the traditions of U.s born blacks, first and second generation Latinos and Latinas, and people of Caribbean decent. Emmett shows that hip hop is a method for expressing their thoughts on social commentary, economy, racism and more. Rajakumar, Mohanalakshmi.
However, many consider the Harlem Renaissance relative to African American culture and political affairs movements of time immemorial in black individuality and political activism. Dorman argues “Harlem of the Harlem Renaissance was always a symbolic abstraction that has overwhelmed scholars who have neglected the history of operative individuals who lived in conjunction with the jet set cultural movement. His similes of everyday life in Harlem were vivid and compelling”.
Everything from his physical features to his words was portrayed through the arts in a way that would insinuate Malcolm X as “forever young”. The cultural and artistic iconic reputation of Malcolm X witnessed a brief hiatus over the period of 1970s to 1980s until the pop explosion of the hip-hop generation. Numerous artists began to incorporate samples from X’s speech over hip-hop beats into their music. Apart from his words, images of Malcolm X also began to become more visible whether in murals or in paintings. In a way, in a generation and time of newfound Afro-centricism and the Black Power movement, Malcolm X was the perfect fit for being able to speak whatever uncomfortable truths that no other individual could muster to bring forth.
He gave a powerful speech on the fourth of July addressing his fellow African Americans called ‘What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July.’ He portrays how all of America celebrates Independence Day with their political freedom. “May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? Were the nation older, the patriot’s heart might be sadder and the reformer’s brow heavier. Its future might be shrouded in gloom in the hope of it prophets go out in sorrow. There is consolation in the thought that America is young” (Douglas, 1852).
Poets like Leroi Jones and Nikki Giovanni employed the aggressive spirit of Black power in their poetry, while Toni Morrison began to explore the difficult issues of racial self-identity. Perhaps the central feature of this movement was the development of the “soul” particularly in pop music. Detroit’s Motown Records was at the height of its productivity, and stars such as Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, and James Brown appeared as symbols of a renewed racial
Enters the New Negro, Alaine Locke Alaine Locke’s piece of work “Enters the New Negro” is one of the scholarly works that have garnered a lot of publicity from all corners of the world. In this piece of work, Locke describes a revolutionary time when the African Americans experience a new light of hope to put an end of their past miserable life, a condition that had been heightened by the existence of racial boundaries. The work of this scholar marks an ending of suffering and equal treatment of all American nationalists, whether white of black. The critics of this novel have pointed out that the Locke’s prediction of hope Black Americans was the first leg of a new journey towards salvation of the enslaved African. The feature of Harlem Renaissance used by the author, points out to the long journey of liberation that African Americans had to undergo during their stay in America.
Harris M. (1992). The Rise of Gospel Blues, The Music of Thomas Andrew Dorsey in the Urban Church, Oxford University Press. Harvey, P. (2007 ). The Evolution of an American Music Traditional: Wall
He became widely popular in the summer of 1980 as he moved more into the style the art which we know him for today, his graffiti artist beginnings shows throughout his work. his work is an example of how the punk rock movement effected every industry and was embraced and celebrated in the 1980s. His paintings subject matters, often black figures in a graffiti esc style, with latin (more often or not misspelled.) gives the impression that it pays homage to his african caribbean roots with the givers being presented almost mask like, apart of a tribal civilisation that never came to be. Though his work looks unstudied, Basquiat is a talented artist, his work has been described as a cultural collage mixing the influence of his urban setting and his african caribbean heritage.In his work he tries to challenge peoples perceptions of what it means to be an african american man.
The Transformation of Consciousness The Black Cultural Center arranged a speech by Benjamin F. Chavis, who is the Hip Hop Summit Action Network’s president, co-founder and CEO. Chavis has been a “long-time civil rights defender and leader. In 1963, he was the state-wide youth coordinator in North Carolina for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He also became the director and CEO of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).