How Did Slavery Dehumanized African American Culture

Throughout the southern states of America, slaves were forced into unfair and inhumane living conditions. They were made to do hard labor in the fields or in the houses of their masters under the threat of abuse or even death. Nonetheless, slaves managed to create their own culture and lives under this oppressive lifestyle. Many bonded together to achieve some semblance of personal freedom even confined by the numerous restrictions of a prejudiced country. Although slaves were forced into a life they did not ask for they still managed to produce their own culture and make their lives better through religion, music, language, family relations, and even freedom movements.

Very informative post. African American slaves took on many jobs and worked on large plantations, small farms, towns and cities, inside homes, in the outfields and in the industries. Most slaves worked the field on cotton plantation in the southern regional. Surprisingly, three quarter of the white elites in the South never owned a slave. This implies that the image of the South as a place where there were plantations all over and that the whole white population remains to be a myth.

First of all, slaves used elements of medicine and magic from African cultures in their everyday lives by using them whenever they felt a fever coming on or the slaves would use it for protection. Many slaves used magic and medicine for prayer and their way of for healing; treat their illness from their body and soul. Medicine and magic were used when the slaves would get together and do spiritual rituals on their masters. They would also use it as healing power, most of them are leaves, roots and bark. When the slaves would use this remedy it would cause less physical and emotional stress.

After WWII, African-Americans refused to conform to the rules drafted in favor of the white society. The negroes of America used race music as a weapon to demonstrate non-conformity and performed music only to the African-American society. A famous race music in the 1960s was ‘Hound Dog’ performed by an African American blues singer, Big Mama Thornton. Elvis Presley, a white singer who sings like the blacks, would perform the same ‘Hound Dog’ to the white audiences because Big Mama wouldn’t perform for the white society [Rock & Roll, 1950s PDF]. Another instance that shows non-conformity of African-Americans is the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56).

Over the spring break, I enjoyed perusing through my collection of Yazoo Records reissues and spent considerable time with a seven-disc boxset entitled, Kentucky Mountain Music: Classic Recordings of the 1920s and 1930s. In the liner notes, Richard Nevins commented on a few sides recorded by Taylor’s Kentucky Boys at Gennett Records in 1927. In addition to some fine musicianship by the players, what made this group different was its interracial lineup of guitarist, Willie Young, banjoist, Marion Underwood, and African-American fiddler, Jim Booker. Nevins lamented that, historically, the racial make-up of the group was the most remarkable attribute of their recordings and not the fine playing on the few sides released by Gennett. He states, “It’s hard to understand why anyone would have the perverse impulse to place fiddlers into categories of black and white.

What Is Racism in 1885 America? Paragraph Structure- Literary Response The main idea sentence- In the opening lines of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Southern Baptist Presley took the United States by fire, and rapidly burned down the monotonous air of the traditional and conforming nature of an old-school upbringing. His climb from literal rags to riches brought with him the "behaved values" of the church, and molded it with his protesting lyrics and pelvic gyrations. His music was unique to the white population, often regarded as a "race sound," and the soul embedded within his performances stirred a revolution which would provoke critics and parents alike, while drastically morphing the direction of pop culture. Elvis Presley was a concoction of his southern origins, a booming economy, and a drearily antiquated era of entertainment - all which were integral towards popularizing and

Civil Rights and Black Liberation movement inspired artists such as Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder to express social commentary in their music. Stevie Wonder expresses social issues in all of his songs but, the two songs I am going to talk about are “Big Brother” (1972) and “Village Ghetto Land” (1976). In his song “Big Brother” accuse the government of spying and killing African American leaders. “Village Ghetto Land” invites the politicians to see the inner city of families suffering from starvation. Both songs reveal the hardships that African Americans face as a result of deception, abuse, and neglect by government.

The black slaves of colonial American brought their own culture from Africa. Contributed greatly to the development of American’s own dance, music, art, food and clothing. When Africans were taken from their homeland and brought to America as slaves, they also brought with them their individual cultures, languages and customs. Culture defines people’s values, beliefs, and personal interests. Culture is important because it allows people to maintain their identity.

The event that I had the opportunity to attended was a country concert at the University of Kansas. This was my first time attending a concert and also the first time I had heard country music being played live. The main reason that I attended the concert was primarily because it was free and the fact that I had never been to the University of Kansas before. Myself and a couple of friends went to the concert, Mosies Suarez was one of the friends that went to the concert with me. The artist who preformed at the concert was the country artist Brad Paisley, who is a well known singer and songwriter within the United States.