AFRICAN AMERICAN
BLACK
CULTURE




AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE

ASPECTS OF CULTURE

AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE INFORMATION

WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE?

ASSOCIATION FOR BLACK CULTURE (ABCC)

THE BLACK-WHITE DIVIDE IN CULTURAL PURSUITS

AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE LINKS



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SECTION 1



AFRICAN AMERICAN
AFRICAN-AMERICAN
CULTURE




African-American culture, also known as black culture, in the United
States refers to the cultural contributions of African Americans to
the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from
American culture.

The distinct identity of African-American culture is rooted in the
historical experience of the African-American people, including the
Middle Passage. The culture is both distinct from and enormously
influential to American culture as a whole.

African-American culture is rooted in West and Central Africa.
Understanding its identity within the culture of the United
States it is, in the anthropological sense, conscious of its
origins as largely a blend of West and Central African cultures.

Although slavery greatly restricted the ability of African-Americans
to practice their original cultural traditions, many practices,
values and beliefs survived, and over time have modified and/or
blended with European cultures and other cultures such as that of
Native Americans.

African-American identity was established during the slavery period,
producing a dynamic culture that has had and continues to have a
profound impact on American culture as a whole, as well as that of
the broader world.



African-American culture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_culture



African-American upper class
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Black_Upper_Class




African-American middle class
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_middle_class




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SECTION 2



ASPECTS
OF
CULTURE




Culture is the way of life shared by a group of people,
including their ideas and traditions.

Cultures reflect the values and beliefs of groups in
different ways.

Culture influences viewpoints, rules, and institutions
in a global society.



8 ASPECTS OF CULTURE


Art

Music

Language

Food

Daily Life

Government

Clothing

Religion



ASPECTS OF CULTURE
http://www.warrencountyschools.org/userfiles/2619/8%20aspects%20of%20culture.pdf



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SECTION 3



AFRICAN AMERICAN
AFRICAN-AMERICAN
CULTURE INFORMATION




African-Americans, the second-largest minority group as of 2010,

have lived in the United States since the Colonial period.

Most African-Americans are the descendants of slaves who worked on
Southern plantations during the antebellum era. Seeking a sense of
identity, they formed their own culture based on the arts, faith,
oral tradition and community. Although black culture has evolved to
include new elements, such as hip-hop, remnants from the past
continue to influence present culture.



Influences

Many aspects of African-American culture come from West Africa, where
most blacks originate. Foods such as collard greens, rice and okra are
staples in the black diet, and West African slaves introduced these
foods to the United States. Many blacks in the Deep South, particularly
in New Orleans, practice voodoo, which originates from Africa. Stepping,
a popular dance among black youths, derives partly from African foot
dances, such as the Gumboot dance.



Literature

For the greater part of American history, most blacks were not allowed to
read or write. Hence, there are few African-American writings from the
antebellum era. Of the writings that do exist, the most renowned are the
slave narratives, including the works of William Wells Brown and the poetry
of Phillis Wheatley. Common themes in antebellum African-American literature
include slavery, miscegenation, oppression, family and abolitionism. There
was a resurgence of black writing during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance, and
Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Claude McKay were noted authors from
that era. Contemporary African-Americans include Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou,
Sista Souljah and Nikki Giovanni.



Music

Music is a key element of African-American culture. During slavery, many blacks
sang Negro spirituals and call-and-answer songs while working on the fields.
They sang songs such as “Wade in the Water” and “Michael Row the Boat Ashore,”
which people continue to sing today. During the early and mid-20th century,
African-Americans created blues and jazz music, and Louis Armstrong and
B.B. King were famous black jazz and blues musicians. Today, most black musicians
create rhythm and blues (R&B) and rap songs.



Notable African Americans

Although African-Americans lived as second-class citizens for most of American
history, today they enjoy equal rights due to the efforts of black abolitionists
and civil rights activists. African-Americans such as Frederick Douglass,
Sojourner Truth, Frances Harper and Harriet Tubman led thousands of blacks to
freedom and/or worked with white abolitionists. During the postbellum era,
activists such as W.E.B. Dubois, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther
King Jr. fought against segregation. Contemporary African-American idols include
Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé and Chris Gardner.



Current Culture

Today, African-American culture is often associated with urban culture due to the
high percentage of blacks living in the inner cities and the influences of hip-hop
culture. Most hip-hop musicians are African-American, and their music discusses
issues--such as crime, dysfunctional families, frustration, gangs and poverty--
which are prevalent in the black community. Nevertheless, in the past 50 years,
the black middle class has continued to grow, and important values of black
bourgeoisie culture are education, tradition and family.



African American Culture Information
http://www.ehow.com/about_6364801_african-american-culture-information.html



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SECTION 4



WHAT ARE THE
ELEMENTS OF
AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE?




African-American culture has had an unmistakable influence on the rest
of American society and the rest of the world. African-American music
is among the most replicated around the world; black musicians have
pioneered many genres, including blues, jazz, gospel, rock 'n' roll and
hip-hop. Black athletes have also been prominent in various sports at
the highest level. African-American writers and filmmakers have produced
many evocative and provocative works which have received international
acclaim.



Music

African Americans have been instrumental in the development of almost every
uniquely American music genre. Perhaps the most uniquely African-American
music form is the slave spiritual, which informed gospel music. Impoverished
Southern blacks invented the blues, which in turn transformed into rock 'n'
roll and rhythm and blues music. Black musicians evolved jazz, funk, disco,
rap, hip hop and soul music.



Literature

The slave narratives of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs were huge
contributions to American culture as a whole and helped gain support for
the abolition of slavery in the United States. The abolition of slavery
coincided with a rise in literacy and education for African Americans
and as such the volume of African-American literature increased. The
Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s were an influential time for
black writers and the movement gave the world the works of poet Langston
Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Jean Toomer, Claude McKay and
countless others. Black leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T.
Washington and Marcus Garvey wrote books outlining the future for African
Americans. Richard Wright and Gwendolyn Brooks wrote controversial books
about racial segregation. The Autobiography of Malcolm X helped illuminate
to Americans the principles of the then-baffling and polarizing Nation of
Islam. More recently, poet Rita Dove served as the Poet Laureate of the
United States between 1993 and 1995 while Maya Angelou continues to be a
well-respected poet.



Film

Spike Lee is often considered to be the archetypal African-American film
director and his films have often sought to deal with African-American
social issues and history as well as addressing racism and racial
segregation in American cities. Going further back, the blaxploitation
movies of the 1970s range from the pioneering 1971 film Sweet Sweetback's
Baadasssss Song to the iconic Shaft and Superbad. These films brought tough,
uncompromising black role models to American audiences and the musical scores
featured African American soul and funk artists. The Hughes brothers brought
a gritty vision of disenfranchised black youth to American screens in films
such as Menace II Society and Dead Presidents. Hattie McDaniel was the first
African American to win an Academy Award for her role as Mammy in Gone With
the Wind in 1939 and has since been joined in the honor by Sidney Poitier,
Denzel Washington, Halle Berry and many others.



Sport

Black athletes have dominated several American sports in the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries. In 1947, Jackie Robinson was the first African
American to become a Major League baseball player. The majority of
professional basketball players in the NBA are African American, and every
NFL team has many African American players. Black athletes have also
demonstrated their physical abilities at various Olympic Games throughout
the years in a variety of events. Tiger Woods is the most successful golfer
of all time.



Civil Rights Movement

The legacy of the Civil Rights Movement is a palpable element of African
American culture and the heroes and martyrs of the movement live on in
many people's hearts. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks,
Marcus Garvey and many others have been praised and idolized in various
media, in clothing, in art, and have had streets and national holidays
named in their honor. Court rulings outlawing racial segregation remain
in place to this day and the progress made by Civil Rights activists has
helped to make America a more racially diverse and accepting nation.



What Are the Elements of African American Culture?
http://www.ehow.com/info_8104146_elements-african-american-culture.html



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SECTION 5



ASSOCIATION FOR
BLACK CULTURE CENTERS
(ABCC)




The Association for Black Culture Centers (ABCC) is an organization
that seeks to celebrate, promote and critically examine the culture
of people of African descent, through the institutionalizing of Black
and Multiculture Centers to enhance individual, community and global
development.

The ABCC is a growing organization with more than seven hundred colleges
and universities that are members or affiliates in all fifty states, and
in the Caribbean and West Africa, increasingly involving historically and
predominantly Black colleges and universities, museums, community centers,
as well as Multicultural Centers and Offices. ABCC benefits to members
have expanded from networking, the newsletter and national conference
discounts to include its own Speakers Bureau and Traveling Art Exhibits,
as well as discount arrangements with book and journal publishers,
film/video/CD Rom companies, and on-line agencies. In addition, Centers
have the option of applying for formal accreditation from the organization.

It co-published the first book on Centers, “Black Culture Centers: Politics
of Survival And Identity,” which can be purchased through Third World Press.



Association for Black Culture Centers (ABCC)
http://www.abcc.net



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SECTION 6



THE BLACK-WHITE
DIVIDE IN
CULTURAL PURSUITS




Blacks are generally less likely than whites to attend or participate
in cultural activities such as the theater, opera, art, or ballet. The
higher education gap between the races explains some of the differences.
But even among blacks and whites with a college education, a significant
cultural gap exists.

In almost all cases, whites were more likely than blacks to attend or
participate in these types of events. In many cases, the differences
were large.

For example, whites were three times as likely as blacks to attend a
classical music performance, the opera, or the ballet. Whites were twice
as likely as blacks to attend a musical play or other type of theatrical
production. Whites were also twice as likely as blacks to go to an art fair.
Whites were also significantly more likely than blacks to attend a dance
recital or an art museum.

The cost of attending these events is undoubtedly one reason for the racial
gap in attendance. Tickets to many of these performances are very expensive,
and since black families have a median income that is only 60 percent of the
median income of white families, it is undoubtedly difficult for many black
families to afford the price of attendance.



The Black-White Divide in Cultural Pursuits
http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/58_cultural_divide.html



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SECTION 7



AFRICAN AMERICAN
BLACK
CULTURE
LINKS




8 Reasons Why White People Fear Black People
http://atlantablackstar.com/2014/09/24/8-reasons-why-white-people-fear-black-people/

9 Things NEVER to Say to White Colleagues
http://www.diversityinc.com/things-not-to-say/9-things-never-to-say-to-white-colleagues/

9 Things White People Can Do to Fight Racism Now
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2016/09/white-people-anti-racism.html

10 ways white people are more racist than they realize
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/04/10_ways_white_people_are_more_racist_than_they_realize_partner/

11 Things White People Can Do to Be Real Anti-Racist Allies
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/11-things-white-people-can-do-be-real-anti-racist-allies

29 Stupid Things White People Do and What We Can Do Instead
http://bmoreantiracist.org/white-people/29-stupid-things-white-people-do-and-what-we-can-do-instead/

Africa
http://www.nsrc.org/AFRICA/africa.html

Africanna
http://www.africana.com

African Americans in the Civil War
http://mrnussbaum.com/civil-war/african_americans/

African American Art & Culture Complex AAACC
http://www.aaacc.org/index.html



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African American Culture
http://eric.ed.gov/?ti=African+American+Culture

African American Culture
http://www.myblackhistory.net/Culture.htm

African American Culture
http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/agrs92.pdf

African American Culture
http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/africanamericanculture/

African American Culture
http://washington.org/article/100-free-things-african-american-culture

African American Culture
http://africanamericancultureslp.weebly.com/family.html

African American Culture
http://brotheraskari.me/

African American Culture
http://www.lessonplans.com/units-on-african-american-culture-what-is-culture/

African American Culture
http://www.africanaheritage.com/teachersideabank.asp

African American Culture
http://guides.hmcpl.org/AfricanAmericanHistory

African American Culture and Alternative Dispute Resolution
http://racism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=804%3Aalternative02-2&catid=41&Itemid=161



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African American Culture History
http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Society/african-american-culture.html

African American Elders, Cultural Traditions, and the Family Reunion
http://www.asaging.org/blog/african-american-elders-cultural-traditions-and-family-reunion

African Americans Free Lesson Plans,Games,Presentations
http://www.multicultural.mrdonn.org/AfricanAm.html

African-American History
http://afroamhistory.about.com/

African American History Month
http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/

African-American History and Culture
http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/guide/african.html

African American History and Culture
http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/history_and_culture/AfricanAmerican_History.htm

African-American History, Culture, and Black Studies Resources
http://www.blackquest.com/link.htm

African American images
http://digital.nypl.org/schomburg/images_aa19/main.html

African American Odyssey
http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aointro.html

African American Studies
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/socialstudies/inventory/culturalstudiesafricanamericanstudies-68.html?type=lessonplan



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African American Web Connection
http://www.aawc.com

African Americans in the West
http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/westweb/pages/black.html

African American World
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/

AFRICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN CULTURE
http://www.slaverebellion.org/index.php?page=african-contribution-to-american-culture

African National Congress
http://www.anc.org.za/

African Wedding Traditions
http://africanweddingtraditions.com/

AfriGeneas
http://afrigeneas.com/

AfroNet
http://www.afronet.com

Awesomely Luvvie
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/

Atlanta Black Star
http://atlantablackstar.com/

The Biggest Difference Between Whites and Blacks
https://www.amren.com/news/2016/03/the-biggest-difference-between-whites-and-blacks/



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Black Planet
http://www.blackplanet.com

Black Then
https://blackthen.com/

Center for African American History, Art, and Culture
http://aikenculturalcenter.org/online/

Characteristics of african american culture
http://www.ebook-download-site.com/characteristics_of_african_american_culture

Characteristics Of African American Culture RSS Feed
http://thelaborday.com/tags/characteristics-of-african-american-culture

Characteristics of African American Families
http://ssw.unc.edu/rti/presentation/PDFs/aa_families.pdf

Cultural Characteristics Of African Americans
https://docs.askives.com/cultural-characteristics-of-african-americans.html

Culture and Ethnic Groups
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/History-Culture.shtml

Everything Black
http://www.everythingblack.com

A Good Blackman
http://www.agoodblackman.com

Good Men Project
https://goodmenproject.com/

Harlem Live
http://www.harlemlive.com



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The History Makers
http://www.thehistorymakers.com/

I Don't Know What to Do With Good White People
http://jezebel.com/i-dont-know-what-to-do-with-good-white-people-1671201391

Information on Specific Cultural Groups
http://education.byu.edu/diversity/culture.html

Jack And Jill
http://www.jack-and-jill.org

Jewels in the Jungle
http://jewelsnthejungle.blogspot.com/

Juneteenth
http://www.juneteenth.com

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: White People Gets
It Right About Being White

http://time.com/3971416/kareem-abdul-jabbar-mtv-white-people/

The King Center
http://www.thekingcenter.com

Lesson Plans - History and Culture
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/history_culture.html

MAMA HOPE
http://www.mamahope.org/

Mela Net
http://www.melanet.com



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National Museum of African American History and Culture
http://www.si.edu/Museums/african-american-history-and-culture-museum

Nia Online
http://www.niaonline.com

Ta Neter Foundation
http://www.taneter.org/

A New African-American Culture
http://www.ushistory.org/us/6g.asp

Reginald F. Lewis Museum
http://africanamericanculture.org/

Resources for Racial/Ethnic Characteristics: Black/African-American
http://cehdclass.gmu.edu/cip/r/rc/rc-afr.htm

Restore Black America Foundation
http://restoreblackamerica.org/

Slaying Evil
https://slayingevil.com/

Slur Words for Africans
http://rsdb.org/races#africans

Slur Words for Black Americans
http://rsdb.org/races#black_americans

Slur Words for Blacks
http://rsdb.org/race/blacks

Social Step
http://www.socialstep.com

Stewart Synopsis
http://www.stewartsynopsis.com/

Savoy Magazine
http://www.savoymag.com

TWENTY QUESTIONS: That White People Have for Black People
http://clashdaily.com/2015/09/twenty-questions-that-white-people-have-for-black-people/

Vibrant African-American Community in the 1920s and 1930s
https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/exhibits/show/apopka

What Whites Will Never Know
http://whatwhiteswillneverknow.com/

White People Explain Why They Feel Oppressed
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/white-people-told-me-why-they-feel-they-oppressed-456

Yenoba.com
http://www.yenoba.com/



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Afro Kids
http://www.afrokids.com/




THE FREEMAN INSTITUTE
http://www.freemaninstitute.com/




Africa Resource
http://www.africaresource.com/




Real History World Wide
http://www.realhistoryww.com/




History Facts/Science Facts - Quatr.us
http://quatr.us/




African-American Resources
http://www.ushistory.org/more/african-american.htm




African American Studies Library Research Guide
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~savega/aframer.htm




African Music Encyclopedia
http://africanmusic.org/




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AFROPEDEA
http://www.afropedia.org




World Afropedia
http://worldafropedia.com/afropedia/Main_Page




African Indigenous Science and Knowledge Systems
http://www.africahistory.net/




Natives Wiki
http://tribalspedia.wikia.com/wiki/Natives_Wiki




Islamic Wiki
http://islam.wikia.com/




List of African mythological figures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African_mythological_figures




Minority Treaties
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_Treaties




Sexism
http://www.understandingprejudice.org/




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AFRICAN AMERICAN INDEX

AFRICAN AMERICAN LINKS

AFRICAN STUDY

AFRICAN SUB-INDEX

AFRO-LATIN AMERICAN

AFRO-LATIN AMERICAN RESOURCES

AFRICAN NATIVE AMERICAN

AFRICAN NATIVE AMERICANS RESOURCES

DIASPORA

DIASPORA RESOURCES


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