Abolism In The Case Of Blackface Minstrelsy And Hip Hop

Picture a protest. The first thing that comes to mind is likely chaotic or disruptive. Perhaps it is a group of disenfranchised working men and women, marching for change on the streets. Or maybe it is an assembly of frustrated youth, torching buildings and destroying cars. In any case, these are the images and thoughts of protest that history and popular media has ingrained into the minds of many. Contrary to this belief, dancing bodies of the past have proven that revolutionary change can be sparked without destruction or loss of life. Within the American narrative, blackface minstrelsy and hip hop have emerged from oppressed communities as a nonviolent means of opposing institutionalized discrimination. In the case of minstrelsy, the form

Like minstrelsy, the style stemmed from longstanding experiences of racism and oppression, and it ultimately became a form of protest and expression for black and Latino youth. Though blackface minstrelsy and hip hop had deep connections with discrimination, the marginalized continued to utilize them to resist the repressive established social hierarchy. By displaying their strength and individuality through dance, oppressed groups have shown that they are people like any other; they are not lesser beings who will surrender to abusive and alienating treatment without a fight. Through their participation in blackface minstrelsy, African Americans resisted their labels and subverted the influence of stock characters at the national level. In the 1830s, Thomas

These young artists and their hip hop culture emerged from the South Bronx, a community of primarily black and Latino people that had been devastated by the authorities. The creation of urban renewal plans in the 1960s/70s decreased property prices, causing unsympathetic owners to torch their own buildings to collect the more profitable insurance deposit. This led to the displacement of struggling black and Latino families and an increase in militant policing. Though the communities in the area were decaying because of all these issues, local officials refused to help the community under the pretense of benign neglect. Consequently, those who could not afford to leave the South Bronx were left to fend for themselves, instilled with the belief that they somehow deserved it. Under these bleak conditions, the youth from these communities began to invent unique dances to escape from reality; they became b-boys and b-girls to surpass their material limitations and labels. As mentioned, "Through breaking, in its original form, all the pleasures, frustrations, hopes, and fears of adolescence were symbolically played out in public spaces" (Banes 3). In their personal world, where everything was literally crumbling to pieces, dancing was a way for the youth to express themselves and their individuality. Their athletic and flexible