Black Aesthetics Movement: The Black Arts Movement
The Black Arts Movement
The Black Arts Movement or Black Aesthetics Movement (BAM) was a subdivision of the Black Power Movement and focused primarily on African American musicians, writers, poets, playwrights, dancers, and other forms of self-expression. Founded by acclaimed writer LeRoi Jones (who later changed his name to Amiri Baraka) one month after Malcolm X’s assassination (1965), BAM’s origins were politically, racially, and spiritually-motivated to draw attention to the dehumanization and assassination of Black people and Black leaders. Jones moved from Manhattan's Lower East Side—the ‘white, privileged’ community—to Harlem, where he began the Black Arts Repertory Theatre and School; many consider that to be the defining moment in …show more content…
To accept the white aesthetic is to accept and validate a society that will not allow him to live. The Black artist must create new forms and new values, sing new songs (or purify old ones); and along with other Black authorities, he must create a new history, new symbols, myths and legends (and purify old ones by fire). And the Black artist, in creating his own aesthetic, must be accountable for it only to the Black people”. (Neal …show more content…
Freedom Schools focused on creative outlets and opportunities for African American children, where alternative schooling “free and independent of state control” allowed children to get away from the “repressive and oppressive” public school system. Freedom Schools used a new and independent curriculum that focused on seven core areas highlighting Black people's social, economic, and political experiences with strong leadership development. The most renowned Freedom School was in Mississippi because, among southern states, Mississippi had the lowest number of integrated schools (many Mississippi schools chose to close instead of obey the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling forcing integration); however, a network of 41 schools serving more than 2,500 students worked in Massachusetts, Virginia, and New York. (Agosto 3) Bowie stated, “It is… just about universally recognized that Mississippi education, for black or white, is grossly inadequate in comparison with education around the country… also burdened with virtually a complete absence of academic freedom.” Freedom Schools served as a learning institution focused on forming well-rounded, creative student leaders and quickly began to
The Black Arts Movement or Black Aesthetics Movement (BAM) was a subdivision of the Black Power Movement and focused primarily on African American musicians, writers, poets, playwrights, dancers, and other forms of self-expression. Founded by acclaimed writer LeRoi Jones (who later changed his name to Amiri Baraka) one month after Malcolm X’s assassination (1965), BAM’s origins were politically, racially, and spiritually-motivated to draw attention to the dehumanization and assassination of Black people and Black leaders. Jones moved from Manhattan's Lower East Side—the ‘white, privileged’ community—to Harlem, where he began the Black Arts Repertory Theatre and School; many consider that to be the defining moment in …show more content…
To accept the white aesthetic is to accept and validate a society that will not allow him to live. The Black artist must create new forms and new values, sing new songs (or purify old ones); and along with other Black authorities, he must create a new history, new symbols, myths and legends (and purify old ones by fire). And the Black artist, in creating his own aesthetic, must be accountable for it only to the Black people”. (Neal …show more content…
Freedom Schools focused on creative outlets and opportunities for African American children, where alternative schooling “free and independent of state control” allowed children to get away from the “repressive and oppressive” public school system. Freedom Schools used a new and independent curriculum that focused on seven core areas highlighting Black people's social, economic, and political experiences with strong leadership development. The most renowned Freedom School was in Mississippi because, among southern states, Mississippi had the lowest number of integrated schools (many Mississippi schools chose to close instead of obey the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling forcing integration); however, a network of 41 schools serving more than 2,500 students worked in Massachusetts, Virginia, and New York. (Agosto 3) Bowie stated, “It is… just about universally recognized that Mississippi education, for black or white, is grossly inadequate in comparison with education around the country… also burdened with virtually a complete absence of academic freedom.” Freedom Schools served as a learning institution focused on forming well-rounded, creative student leaders and quickly began to