Oral Tradition In African American Culture

To be Black in America comes with a rich tradition of overcoming the impossible to achieve dreams through the richness of our cultural roots. However, that leads to the second half of the title, "Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It", where Charlamagne exclaims, "this for the dreamers, for the optimists; this book is about embracing who and what you are regardless of race gender, sexuality, and class. God gave you the privilege of this thing called life so regardless of what this society tells you that you can’t do and what you don’t have to understand you lack nothing God gave you everything you need to succeed.” From the days as a child in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, to achieving massive success with The Breakfast Club and numerous on-air opportunities, Charlamagne Tha God has excelled in seizing the moment. Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It, not only chronicles his path to success, but the book serves as a gift of empowerment to people of all races, creeds, and sexuality.

His role in the Harlem renaissance proved to have provided an excellent in the African American community. Subjectively, the influence of Langston Hughs’s writings may have evolved to a form of poetry that is known in African American community today as a Spoken word. This is a writing form that is read aloud with expressive thoughts while there is music playing in the background most preferably jazz. Spoken word has similarities to Hughes writings because its primary goal of is to express the struggles of the community in an art form while providing the audience with the emotional

Nevertheless, there were momentous differences between male and female slave narratives. Female oral accounts are as an integral part of that Afro-American literary tradition as they enlarge the historical assumptions about nature and function of literary tradition.

African-American culture is rooted in struggle, determination, love, and empowerment. It is a culture that cannot be defined or put in a box due to its intricate and evolved nature. Creating, celebrating, and cultivating African-American culture is essential on campus and in the greater New Orleans area. Black Student Unions or Black Student Associations are one way that we create African-American culture on college campuses. Having African-American owned businesses is a way of creating culture in the community.

patchwork of flashbacks, memories, and nightmares that is channeled to unearth those unspeakable horrors of slavery while giving them life through a life-giving eternal story. Toni Morrison joined the league of slave narrators, by producing a text which is set to make the horrors of slavery once again alive and saved from the oblivion which forced by some Americans who were chewing historical facts and order to adopt a less disturbing and more favorable account of slavery. In this light, Toni Morrison's Beloved worthy of study in relation

One of his most famous works is “Negro,” which is a poem that highlights African American identity through the personification of African American heritage. The narrator is the personified figure that connects African Americans by explaining historical allusions that contributed to African American heritage and culture. This personified narrator enhances the theme of unified heritage among African Americans in the poem “Negro” with the use of structure, historical parallels, and historical context. One of the ways the use of personification in “Negro” enhances the theme of unified heritage is by manifesting African American history and experience structurally into one person, who is also the narrator. Hughes wrote this poem in the first person, so the poem is laden with “my,”

Thus, the culture was created as a form of communal resistance to financial instability and the institutional exclusion of the youth. Furthermore, hip-hop is initiated by the potential to fabricate alternative spaces for the purpose of growth and expression. Hip-hop as a “space” also works as a tool for accessing capital for people of color who were brought up in an America that has often cultivated values and attitudes similar to that of the Horatio Alger myth (McMurray, 76). Thus, the genre and culture of hip-hop have become an improvisation for the malleability of Islam and its debated meanings, political histories, and various

It is African American’s way to express their pride and their resistance against discrimination and social injustices. Since then, the song itself has some specific connotations attached and evoked certain feelings/emotions, I think it would remain as a form of active music against racial injustice because it speaks to people who are fighting/ advocating for their rights. The song holds a bittersweet tone to it since the lyrics suggest that people should be grateful for the changes and civil movements in history, but they still need to strive on because the march to victory is still not over. They need to continue until “victory is

Take TRIOS for example. The ideas of “time, rhythm, improvisation, oral, and spiritual” (p. 290) factors within a culture being explained to me by a woman (Thompson) of that same culture, it becomes, for me, a cultural descriptor. Firstly, I see these as cultural descriptors because they're coming from a person who is a member of the culture being discussed (African American culture). Secondly, TRIOS is a cultural descriptor because when drawn out and explained she refers to what a group says, or uses terms like “almost always” (p. 290) which are much more general than “all.” Though indicating it is extremely common in her culture, she is careful not to over generalize and leaves wiggle room for those who deviate from the main culture.

Yet, both create a story based on similar issues that the African American goes through. These issues along with the fictional events, create a newfound empathy for the African American. As their literature has been categorized as

7 Civil Rights Leaders who Made an Impact on African-American History Photo Credit: History These civil rights leaders made a significant contribution to African-American history and culture. These activists helped shape the course of black history thanks to their passion and dedication to uplift the rights of the black community. Their names should be recognized and remembered by all black citizens.

During the late 1900’s, an aesthetic movement known as primitivism integrated itself into Modern art. African and Pacific Island motifs, fetishes, and design elements were adopted into the work of Modern artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Moore.19 The rise in popularity of these primitive inspired artworks helped to influence Black Americans in investigating and reconnecting with their own cultural heritage.20 One of the concerns facing Black Americans was how to merge the heritage of their ancestors with being an American. Through music, the Blues evolved from African tribal songs to songs workers would sing while laboring in the fields before and after slavery. When Black American migrated north, the Blues transformed into Jazz

“Folklore represents a line to a vast, interconnected network of meanings, values, and cognitions. Folklore contains seeds of wisdom, problem solving, and prophecy, through tales of rebellion, triumph, reasoning, moralizing, and satire” (Ogunleye, Tolagbe, African American Folklore: Its Role In Reconstructing African-American History, 1997). Folklore is a medium in which to impart teachings and principles. By using storytelling, folklore becomes an accessible means of relaying cultural guidelines. Contrary to popular perception, tales are not merely told for entertainment purposes.

The traditions of African-American slaves, from the earliest of times in colonial America, were acts and words that endowed the future of their race with the essence of their past. From the earliest of our rice crops to the females, who provided their masters through repeated sexual abuses, slaves laid ownership to their portion of colonial American history. The key to maintaining the heritage of the early African family was a combined version of their ancient tribal religion and their master’s Christianity. In order to maintain a peaceful accord with their masters, slaves learned that diversifying songs and actions from African shores with slight adjustments in order to abide by the beliefs of their Christian masters. Examples of this

For African Americans migrating from the southern United States to the North and the West Coast, they almost all shared similar experiences. They were worn-down by the Jim Crow south and the restrictions placed upon them and were seeking new opportunities to better themselves and the future generations that would come after them. Although sharing this similar experience and background, each individual went through their own unique form of assimilation. The first form of assimilation noted was cultural pluralism of the many southern immigrants who held on to their traditions even when they flew in the face of the norm.