| Author | Message | ||
     Yvettep AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Yvettep Post Number: 3667 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: N/A |
From another thread: America’s principle export is popular culture which is intrinsically Black culture. So now if there are no clearly identified and culturally literate or connected people - where is American popular culture? Moreover, where are the Black people? and in response from another poster: One reason the uniqueness of being black will remain is because underclass Blacks are reproducing like crazy, and the task should be not to fixate on the demise of Ebony but to get this population to become productive members of society, as opposed to killing each other off... So my questions are: Is there such a thing as "Black culture"? Is "Black popular culture" on the verge of extinction? Why or why not? Exactly what is "Black culture" and who are the producers of it? | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 14156 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Thinking... | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 14167 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Thinking... | ||
| Abm "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Abm Post Number: 10414 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: |
I doubt I am smart enuff to provide a concise definition of Black or African American Culture. I will, however, say that at the bedrock of our culture is our desire and efforts to define, dignify and assert our humanity (via our industry, education, literature, art & music, etc.) base on a history where the very notion of our humanity ITSELF has been often questioned, challenged and debased by those more numerous and powerful than us. | ||
| Yvettep AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Yvettep Post Number: 3672 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: N/A |
ABM, I give that one 5 stars. I think the cultural output of many groups during many historical times has to do with that sort of expression. Being on the outside or seen as less-than is probably a huge motivator for the creation of culture IMO. It probably does not even have to be an intentional thing. (Or at least, it doesn't have to start out that way.) Cynique, don't hurtcho self! LOL | ||
| Abm "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Abm Post Number: 10416 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: N/A |
Yvettep, Thanks. But even at the very height of my hubris, I would not consider myself capable of providing a comprehensive definition of American American Culture. Because it is a subject that is just too vast, deep, varied and complex for someone of my meager limitations to define. I will, however, declare that our Culture (in all its variety) truly has been a unique and indelible force in this country and world. And without it, the world would be a much less interesting, colorful and FREE place to think, feel and live. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 14170 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Still thinkin and making progress, Yvette. I will add my response shortly and it will end up being long, but it won't high jack the thread because it's in response to the question you posed. | ||
| Crystal Veteran Poster Username: Crystal Post Number: 510 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Maybe the problem we have in defining Black American culture is that we’ve been a group of people for far shorter a period than other Americans. Others came/come here with a sense of many centuries of a shared culture already established and they’ve just continued it with some American quirkiness. Our little 400 years of culture as Americans was stunted by slavery to begin with. Being able to form our own culture has been allowed us for only about 150 years. Compared to the Chinese, Jews etc – we just got here. | ||
| Ntfs_encryption "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Ntfs_encryption Post Number: 3693 Registered: 10-2005 Rating: N/A |
"I will, however, declare that our Culture (in all its variety) truly has been a unique and indelible force in this country and world. And without it, the world would be a much less interesting, colorful and FREE place to think, feel and live." Agreed.....No doubt about it..... | ||
| Chrishayden "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Chrishayden Post Number: 8216 Registered: 03-2004 Rating: N/A |
Is there such a thing as "Black culture"? (Yes) Is "Black popular culture" on the verge of extinction? (not now, but it will be) Why or why not? (It seems to me that the goal of most blacks is assimilation. Though we talk about hip hop culture it has been easily coopted and accepted by whites because, unlike the afrocentric or zoot suit styles it is totally American. You just turn your baseball cap around backwards and wear your blue jeans hanging down. Black culture will fold into American culture like Celtic and Norman culture folded into the English) Exactly what is "Black culture" and who are the producers of it? (This is a detailed subject. Very simply it is manners, mores and customs produced by African Americans. But non African Americans can produce it. Like all the white jazz men, rappers, etc.) | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 14179 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
After a discussion that inspired conflicting views, Yvettep posed these questions: “Is there such a thing as "Black culture"? Is "Black popular culture" on the verge of extinction? Why or why not? Exactly what is "Black culture" and who are the producers of it” As an older person I probably see things differently than others but what follows are my thoughts on the subject. Once I got started I couldn’t stop. To the chagrin of some, I contended that African America culture was not in danger of extinction because young black singles are reproducing like crazy. I asserted further that instead of being fixated on preserving relics of our past we should be concentrating on preserving the future of young people whose lives are endangered by black-on-black crime. Juxtiposing these 2 positions points out the ironic contradictions that influence the character of black culture. Two of the most powerful people in the world are black Americans: Oprah and Obama. Black millionaires abound amid the bling-bling world of sports and music. But at the other end of the spectrum the under-class struggles, mired in poverty, boxed into the confines of consumerism where materialism dominates their aspirations as they preoccupy themselves with acquiring what they want, instead of what they need. To bolster racial pride, Blacks tend to grasp at straws, bragging how we dominate sports and have put Rap on the map, boasting that this makes us trendsetters in the realm of pop culture - not to mention cash cows for the white advertisers who capitalize on black charisma. Significantly, those Whites in sync with the vibe of hip hop eventually marginalize their affinity for it as they mature and move into the mainstream of corporate and blue-collar America, leaving their idle black counterparts behind to dangle in the limbo of rappin and dunkin, and killin, and - reproducing like crazy. Planted in the center of this breeding frenzy are the neck-workin, weave-wearin baby mamas stuck with the fatherless broods that provide the vampire of violence with the blood black children shed in the course of killing each other. This is the lifestyle of the ghetto sub-culture. Another more viable facet of our culture is represented by upwardly mobile blacks who have been steered toward a different path that leads them to integrate into the greater society, a transition that requires them to dilute their blackness by modifying their uniqueness. Some consider this a choice that will eventually erase blackness from the big picture. Assimilation, does, indeed, blur the concept of authentic blackness. In any case, because they can afford it, the black middle class is even more materialistic than the underclass. Obviously, the great contributions to the fields of Literature, Art, Music, and Science comprise the cultural heritage that Blacks want to pass on to posterity and export to the world. But to preserve the legacy and the keepers to whom it will be entrusted, the threat of genocide contained in the gangsta sub-culture has to be thwarted. In order to do this we need winning role models for losers to emulate. Only, once again contradiction rears its head, spawning a dilemma created by the conflict between those who applaud success and those who excuse failure. Threaded through the fiber of black culture is a “we-can’t-win-for-losing” pattern. In further examining black culture, it behooves us to pay homage to that which courses through our blood-line manifesting itself in the resiliency passed down to us from the legacy of slavery, a resiliency which enables our notorious dual identity to kick in; behind the mask we present to the world is a painted game face; muffled in the calm of our demeanor throbs a pulse that is synchronized with the beat of distant drums; concealed in the sheath of our persona awaits an arrow of attitude ready to be hurled at any white m o t h e r f u c k e r who calls us a “n i g g e r”. Therein lies the common bond of black culture. The bottom line is that black culture is a many-faceted entity that is a work in progress and, on one level, it is a state of mind. Just by existing, we personify it. Black folks know how to endure and we will, even as we coninue the struggle to find our identity and craft our image. In spite of superficial make-overs, the Soul of blackness will continue to resonate throughout the land, and because it as ethereal as it is primitive, the richness of black spirituality will remain an integral part of American culture. | ||
| Nels AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Nels Post Number: 1296 Registered: 07-2005 Rating: N/A |
Is there such a thing as "Black culture"? Chicken lips, bug eyes, shuck-n-jive, and disdain for every other person on the planet. | ||
| Carey AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Carey Post Number: 2290 Registered: 05-2004 Rating: N/A |
I's lub me some chicken lips and a little shuckin'-n-jivin'! Are you kidding me, give me a sista with five babies by five different men, and I don't need no nother person on the planet. I's just be waiting for the mailman to deliba dat welfare check. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 14180 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
I didnt know chickens had lips, Nels. Or that black culture embodied people who have disdain for everybody else. Black men, in particuclar, don't seem to have a lot of contempt for white women. I'm guessing that if they did, you wouldn't be here.  |
