The 1920's: Forming The African American Identity

Finally Forming the African American Identity Prior to the 1920s, African Americans had no method of self-expression, and as a result, American culture largely consisted of traditional European influences. The end of World War I provided a unique opportunity for the expression of African American culture that had not been possible before. African American culture of the 1920’s was vastly different from mainstream American culture. African Americans’ adaptations of classical forms of music and literature contributed to the establishment of new possibilities for their racial identity that is both emotional and intellectual. The development of a new African American identity was promoted by the introduction of jazz. Classical music is often
African Americans utilized the variable form of jazz music to express their heritage, and emotions which have been stifled by slavery and racism. In his paper “Jazz: America’s Classical Music,” renowned jazz pianist Billy Taylor argues that jazz is “based on the Afro-American value system,” and that despite the systematic oppression of black culture by white society, was an effective means of communication between cultural lines (Taylor 24). Taylor suggests that the isolation of jazz performances to a setting which permits the “interaction between the jazz musician and the audience,” allowed jazz to develop into a particularly expressive musical art form (Taylor 24). He asserts that “the semantics of jazz convey thoughts, expressions, and feelings which are relevant to generations of Americans, [allowing jazz’s influence] to transcend ethnic boundaries” while altering the national culture (Taylor 24). This recognition of the development of a communicative musical art rooted in black culture allows one to observe the impact of jazz on the African American identity. Jazz creates an identity for African Americans that doesn’t mutually exclude emotion and intellectuality. Because jazz combines classical influence and modern dialect, and is so intertwined with the African American experience, it constructs a new racial
The shadow of slavery limited black culture’s opportunity for expression. The form of the poem is traditional, with multiple distinct stanza separating his ideas; however, the syntax and form of each individual stanza is innovative. Hughes breaks up sentences across lines, and excludes a classical rhyme scheme. Furthermore, the diction of “I Too” is composed of colloquialisms. This conjoining of traditional and contemporary forms establishes the basis for Hughes’s sophisticated integration of modern expression into classical art. Not only is the syntax of “I Too” modern, but the content is progressive as well. The narrator recognizes that there exists a prejudice against mankind’s “darker brother,” but is resilient and “grow[s] strong,” in defiance of his oppression (Hughes 2 and 7). He asserts that one day he will “sit at the table [and] nobody ‘ll dare / say to me, / ‘Eat in the kitchen’ / then” (Hughes 9 and 11-14). This use of a slang and colloquial language makes the poem more accessible to a large audience, and therefore the poem is more influential in modern society. Hughes cleverly intertwines classical techniques with modern narratives and forms to broadcast his heritage in an intellectual, and sophisticated