Larry Neal's 'Black Arts Movements And The Black Aesthetic'
Presley Schumacher
AFAM Literature
Midterm Essay
1 October 2013
Larry Neal’s “Black Arts Movements” and Addison Gayle’s “The Black Aesthetic” are two identical mission statements for the black audience: set yourself apart from the white culture and give your culture the recognition it deserves. The two pieces are similar in ideas and purposes. The black communities were tired of always adapting to the ways of the white culture because it was the “right” way to act. The black community wanted to define their own culture and these pieces were words of encouragement for blacks to step outside the white ways of thinking and acting and step into an acceptance of their own urbanity. Once the differences were accepted that’s when you start …show more content…
The main goal in “The Black Arts Movement” is to emphasize the necessity for black culture to define their world in their own terms. Larry Neal asks the question in his piece, “…whose vision of the world is more meaningful, ours or the white oppressors?” (Neal page 2040). He is asking his audience to move away from a white oppressor vision of the world and create their own vision of the world: a vision that has their own beliefs, thoughts, and ideas; a vision that stands out from the white patterns that have consisted years prior. The Black artists’ primary duty is to express the needs of the Black people. Neal explains this idea by saying, “…main thrust of his new breed of contemporary writers to confront the contradictions arising out of the Black man’s experience in the raciest West” (Neal page 2039). In other words, the goals of these new artists is to use a concept of “protest literature” (page 2040) and direct this new literature directly towards black people to summon hope and “[awaken] Black people to the meaning of their lives” (Neal page 2042). The Black community had been living in an oppressive society for years prior to this new movement. Neal believed The Black Aesthetic was the destruction of white ideas, and the destruction of white ways of looking at their world. Addison Gayle Jr. was another of these contemporary artists who encouraged a new way of life to the black community in his piece, “The Black
AFAM Literature
Midterm Essay
1 October 2013
Larry Neal’s “Black Arts Movements” and Addison Gayle’s “The Black Aesthetic” are two identical mission statements for the black audience: set yourself apart from the white culture and give your culture the recognition it deserves. The two pieces are similar in ideas and purposes. The black communities were tired of always adapting to the ways of the white culture because it was the “right” way to act. The black community wanted to define their own culture and these pieces were words of encouragement for blacks to step outside the white ways of thinking and acting and step into an acceptance of their own urbanity. Once the differences were accepted that’s when you start …show more content…
The main goal in “The Black Arts Movement” is to emphasize the necessity for black culture to define their world in their own terms. Larry Neal asks the question in his piece, “…whose vision of the world is more meaningful, ours or the white oppressors?” (Neal page 2040). He is asking his audience to move away from a white oppressor vision of the world and create their own vision of the world: a vision that has their own beliefs, thoughts, and ideas; a vision that stands out from the white patterns that have consisted years prior. The Black artists’ primary duty is to express the needs of the Black people. Neal explains this idea by saying, “…main thrust of his new breed of contemporary writers to confront the contradictions arising out of the Black man’s experience in the raciest West” (Neal page 2039). In other words, the goals of these new artists is to use a concept of “protest literature” (page 2040) and direct this new literature directly towards black people to summon hope and “[awaken] Black people to the meaning of their lives” (Neal page 2042). The Black community had been living in an oppressive society for years prior to this new movement. Neal believed The Black Aesthetic was the destruction of white ideas, and the destruction of white ways of looking at their world. Addison Gayle Jr. was another of these contemporary artists who encouraged a new way of life to the black community in his piece, “The Black