Chikowero said that the colonists used music "as a weapon to undermine African sovereignty and, on the other, how Africans similarly deployed their musical cultures to tell their own stories, reclaim their freedom, and reconstitute their being” (Chikowero 2, 65). While the debates ensue of the tainting of traditional African music, it cannot be denied that the Era of Colonialism has imprinted deeply in the music of the
Matthew Stoloff Ms.Nicholson BIHS Global History Period 5 5/14/14 Afro-Cuban Music: A Musical Evolution The evolution of Afro-Cuban music is an amazing complex history. So many different factors over time went into the creation of Afro-Cuban music. Afro-Cuban music of the late 1800’s-early 1900’s influenced by the Cuban politics, African Slave Trade, and the meeting of European and African cultures lead to the creation of new instruments, sounds, and rhythms. Religion such as Santeria or the Rezo’s created new Latin rhythms and branches of the genre. 20th century Afro-Cuban music, whose origins began in Africa, has changed over time by many influences.
Our culture is recognized worldwide for its music. The Caribbean has different genres of music such as calypso, reggae, dance hall, zouk and many others. Our music has roots in both African and European cultures. The drum rhythm comes from the African in... ... middle of paper ... ...13). ISLAND LYRICS.
The concert was not as I had expected, but was rather intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable. In this report I hope to analyze Bachata’s roots, report on its concert style, and compare it to another piece in the genre. Bachata is a creolized music, meaning that there is both European and African influence. It is also a descendent of a few different Dominican Republic and Cuban forms of music – primarily son, but also merengue and ranchera. Son is music of the African diaspora, commonly involved in debates of African retention.
Africa’s struggle to maintain their sovereignty amidst the encroaching Europeans is as much a psychological battle as it is an economic and political one. The spillover effects the system of racial superiority had on the African continent fractured ... ... middle of paper ... ...he malleable nature of the African psyche and how susceptible it can be to foreign influence. From the inception of colonialism, Shanu was straddling between two cultural identities; however the strain it placed on his psyche consumed him, ultimately leading to his suicide. . While Collins does a succinct job of examining the economic and political factors that heightened colonization, he fails to hone in on the mental warfare that was an essential tool in creating African division and ultimately European conquest.
Many believed it the curse given upon Noah’s son Ham for “looking upon his father’s nakedness” (p17). Each of these contrasting views on color needed to be used in this book. For no better reason in that it showed from an initial point that the English viewed the color of the Africans as a plague. Instead of excepting that Africans may in fact be different, the English consistently made attempts to explain the dif... ... middle of paper ... ...b in this section of clearly displaying the facts and supporting his arguments. Laws dealing with the intermixing of races and separate treatment also created a second class or lower standing of the African.
This same sensibility can be viewed in African music as well and the spectra of this phenomenon encompasses the role of creativity as a transcendent factor that underlines (and 'cements') the aesthetic imprint of summation cultural identity and vibrational dynamics. The folkloric festivals of this region of the African continent has an added significance when seen in the total context of a changing African landscape and constantly shifting geo-political world order. Slowly but surely, the future of contemporary research into the aesthetic spiritual and/or functional components of African continental experiences (dynamics) will be based on examining the collected isolated fragments and recorded documents that were gathered through actual encounter experiences from the first and second wave of scholars that partitioned Africa- (starting from the second wave of documentation and travel records from the sixtieth century extending to the present era) as opposed to the po... ... middle of paper ... ...ulet or poisson yassa, marinated and grilled chicken or fish; mafé, a peanut-based stew; tiéboudienne (chey-bou-jen), rice cooked in a fish and vegetable sauce. Senegalese beer is also good. Gazelle and Flag are popular brands.
In conclusion, it is without a doubt that African blood as well as influence beats within the Puerto Rican national identity to which is embodied and distributed within the music. The most popular music is based off of West African traditions and concepts, and the most infamous artist are black themselves. Although, not entirely accepted within the Puerto Rican and Latino communities, the African presence exemplified in day to day activities such as listening to music are in their own ways acceptance and reaffirmation of African cultural elements within the Puerto Rican realm of society. So instead of ending with a triumphant Viva Puerto Rico, I conclude with a glorious Viva Africa!
Many Black Nationalist, had romanticized Africa to be this place that once had thriving empires but lost everything due to colonization, and westernized blacks needed to go to Africa to help liberate it. Gaines dispels these myths, and
Another prominent scholar who recognizes the integration of African elements in American musics is Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Though his much deeper and more analytical approach to African musics is divergent from Wilson’s, both scholars acknowledge African diaspora musics and examine them in different ways based on different criteria. Cuba is considered one of the places where African music has been most fully preserved. Within this island nation there exist many secular and religious genres of Afro-Cuban music. These genres are associated with the spread of palo monte and santeria—two of the many neo-African syncretic religions in the New World (Den Tandt and Young 251).