The Evolution of Rap Music All one has to do is simply observe their surroundings to realize the huge impact of rap music on today\'s society. The way people dress, talk, and act have all been influenced by the cultural phenomenon known as rap music. Almost every aspect of American culture has b...

This fourth essay for the African American History Through Sacred Music class covers Michael W. Harris', The Rise of Gospel Blues: The Music of Thomas Andrew Dorsey in the Urban Church, the final section of Wyatt Tee Walker's Somebody's Calling My Name: Black Sacred Music and Social ...

From years 1505 to 1870, the world underwent the largest forced migration in history. West Africa was soon to be convulsed by the arrival of Europeans and become the advent of the transatlantic slave trade. Ships from Europe, bound for America, appeared on the horizon, and their captains and sailor...

The Social Significance of the Blues and its Impact on Jazz To understand the part played by the blues in American society, we need to consider what psychological imprints the blacks inherited from the years of slavery as well as what cultural and artistic forms existed during those times. ...

Da Bluez From years 1505 to 1870, the world underwent the largest forced migration in history. West Africa was soon to be convulsed by the arrival of Europeans and become the advent of the transatlantic slave trade. Ships from Europe, bound for America, appeared on the horizon, and their captains...

The history of slavery in the Americas normally covers the situation of the blacks in North America. However, recently there have been increasing numbers of historical studies conducted about Africans in Latin America, specifically Mexico. Blacks were present as slaves of the Spaniards as early as t...

African Americans were among the people who were enslaved at the time in the 18th century. Most of the slaves were located in the south. There are three main things that helped the slaves to overcome these troubles of slavery, by no means did they make up for the torture they were put through; how...

The Harlem Renaissance was a period for blacks to engage in life. Life, which consists of good, evil, happiness, sadness, communication and expression, was more like a prison built on a foundation of hardship, suppression and all the counter parts of the good things, the things worth living for. Bu...

Langston Hughes, a Man of Many Virtues Langston Hughes is one of the most well-known black poet and short story writer in our country today. He is also famous for his willingness to write on subjects important and close to him, and never being afraid to stand up for what he believes in. Through ...

The Black slaves of colonial America brought their own culture from Africa to the new land. Despite their persecution, the "slave culture" has contributed greatly to the development of America's own music, dance, art, and clothing. Music It is understandable that when Africans were torn from their h...

Ishmael Reed, through parody, allusion, and satire, manages to convey the meaning of Jes Grew without once explicitly defining it. There is a good reason why he never defines it; Jes Grew has no true definition. Even those infected by this ?anti-plague? that evokes the jump, jive, and wail, do wh...

Ishmael Reed, through parody, allusion, and satire, manages to convey the meaning of Jes Grew without once explicitly defining it. There is a good reason why he never defines it; Jes Grew has no true definition. Even those infected by this ?anti-plague? that evokes the jump, jive, and wail, do wh...

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes. Specifically it will discuss the importance of the poem in Black history and literature. Langston Hughes is considered one of the premier Black poets, and he often wrote of Harlem and other places...

Professor Jim Gray of Sonoma State University defines culture as a means of survival. Going by this definition of culture the evolution of black humor has definitely been a foundation in the survival of the comedy in America. This paper will be a discussion of how African American Humor has evolve...

Tailgates as a Cultural Contact Zone "Arts of the Contact Zone" by Mary Louise Pratt is an article that talks about how critical and history-making it is when different cultures meet for the first time. She describes this moment with her coined phrase, the "contact zone". She gives the perfect exa...

Rastafarians Rastafarianism is a religion that was created in the early 1900's. It is a product of the poor social and economic conditions of blacks in Jamaica. Many people think Rastafarians are bad people. They are thought to be very violent. It is said that Marcus Garvey is the one wh...

4 Little Girls A Documentary by Spike Lee When you first asked what the title meant today I had no idea. I was thinking about how emotional this documentary made me feel. And it hit me. 4 Little Girls, automatically makes me think of young children under the age of seven. Knowing that the ...

Working with the Past No one knows with certainty what really happen to African-Americans during , in my opinion, the worst historical moments of our American culture. The deliberated effort to intentionally destroy the African culture was insidious, yet only through the "creative spirit&q...

The constraints described in "The Invisible Man" imply we live in a country that is divided by race, ethnicity, religion and class (prejudices towards differences). A person's life is then heavily shaped around these perimeters. Some in the minority unfortunately try to deny these barriers to e...

The 1960's was full of dramatic changes in the lives of Americans, from living in fear day to day for a week and a half in 1962 to an increase in recreational drug use, the attitude and outlook on life was affected. America was growing not only in population but in it's acceptance of diff...

To understand the history of America and come to grips with the development of blacks at a time where they were looked down upon by the rest of society, we must be able to comprehend the works of intellectuals of that time. Not only must we comprehend these works, but we must also decipher whether o...

Since arriving on the shores of the United States, the experience of the African American individual has been a turbulent, convoluted struggle for full rights as citizens. Through the use of many strategies, blacks in the United States have reached parity with whites in terms of social and political...

There is a little too much greed going on in society and some psychologist believed that America is the land of the greed. Greed means selfish on desire beyond reason. America is the leader of capitalism. Capitalism makes a country rich and a lot of modernized things to fit in people's daily li...

A funny thing, though: The man who started the tradition in the 1920s didn't think it would last. He didn't want it to last. Some day, he thought, African Americans and their history would enter the American mainstream. A special day, week or month to tell their stories and study their past ...

What is a slave? A slave is a tool, a total servant, and a possession. Being a possession, a slave is required to total obedience to a master who has the power to do anything to a slave. The so-called "freeman" really is a slave. Freedom means, to carry out ones own choices, actions wi...