Many people would argue that the most important, most significant part of any piece of literary, artistic, or vocal work is the title. The title often times resonates through the minds of an audience; simultaneously, this essential feature of any piece of work imprints specific emotions and thoughts in the psyche of an author’s captivators. In Lawrence Levine’s “The Quest for Certainty”, the title is used to address the motivation enslaved African-Americans of generations ago possessed that ultimately was utilized to create sacred music. Validation in one’s identity is not something everyone in this world can attribute to owning. Individuals from the inception of time to now have always questioned their existence and purpose, and the lives …show more content…
According to Lawrence Levine, slave music provided a safe haven for African-Americans because individuals were allowed to share in the warmth of their assumptions; which in part produced a sense of community . Music brought the oppressed together. Regardless of the fact that African-American women, men, and children could not verbally communicate in the same manner nor did they share many of the same cultural aspects, each of these souls still had the ability to commune and fellowship in song. One of the more common forms of communal song transpired in the form of a celebration called the Ring Shout. The Ring Shout was described in further detail by Barbara Glass in her depiction of slave-era dances in which she stated, “The dance was strongly African, and through its African ritual and communal characteristics it provided a rich and nurturing experience for both enslaved and free blacks” . This culmination of dance and music not only uplifted the souls of the burdened men and women in slavery, it provided an outlet for these individuals to gather and become one as a …show more content…
African-American slaves may not have had the formal education that many of their white slave owners possessed, but they intuitively knew that the labor they toiled through each and every day was unjust. This dynamic of unfairness brought about a mindset in which slaves would critique the workings of slavery. To many people’s understanding, slavery was an invasively oppressive institution; Levine however, noted, “for all its horrors, slavery was never so complete a system of psychic assault that it prevented the slaves from carving out independent cultural forms” . Slave spirituals were a part of the independent cultural form that enslaved African-Americans produced; these songs had numerous functions and critiquing slavery served as one of
Rachel M. Harper’s The Myth of Music intentionally weaves together 1960s era jazz music and a poor African American family via metaphor and allusion to show a deep familiar bond between father and daughter.
The slaves went along with the demands of the slave owner’s ideals of paternalism and in return were able to manipulate the system to create their own culture within the plantation, therefore using accommodation as a tool of resistance and revolt. Many slave owners often saw religion as a form of “social control” and feared those without religion. While the masters believed they were in control, the slaves used Christianity as a sense of hope, community and equality. The slaves combined Christianity and African traditions, and emphasized the ideal of “the irrepressible affirmation of life” meaning they never let the world around them affect their joy in life.
Before beginning to analyze both Motown and Stax Record’s influence on black consciousness it must first be understood why black consciousness itself can be seen as a step in the right direction in the fight against black struggle. Brian Ward does a great job of capturing the true success of soul music’s influence on black consciousness. Ward says, “[Black radio’s] real strength… was its ability to dramatize and celebrate shared aspects of the black experience… to promote a revived sense of black identity, pride, solidarity and common consciousness” (Ward 449). In his book, Ward also points out that despite this successful development of black consciousness, there was limited success both economically and structurally on behalf of the black music industry. This shows that even though ther...
“Most things I write, I do for the sheer love of the music in them. Somehow or other, however, I find my poetry of itself treating of the Negro, of hi...
Slave’s masters consistently tried to erase African culture from their slave’s memories. They insisted that slavery had rescued blacks form the barbarians from Africa and introduced them to the “superior” white civilization. Some slaves came to believe this propaganda, but the continued influence of African culture in the slave community added slave resistance to the modification of African culture. Some slaves, for example, answered to English name in the fields but use African names in their quarters. The slave’s lives were filled with surviving traits of African culture, and their artwork, music, and other differences reflected this influence.
Music is an art and a wonderful gift to human race. It soothes, stimulates and makes us feel happy. It affects our moods in many different ways from lullaby to war cry for changes in the society. Music is actually distinct to different people. Above all, it has a transformational importance that is captured in its art and nature. Music draws our emotions and it has an impact of bridging different cultures across the continents. Slave songs were very vital channels through which all kind of information was conveyed both positive and negative.
The content is written in the style of the blues not only in the music but in the social perspective of the times in Harlem in respect to the sufferings and struggles of the African-American past and present experiences, and what they were going to encount...
Toni Morrison supports her “truth” that slavery causes mental alterations in her novel Beloved by using repetition, parallel syntax, and metaphors. From the time of being young children in elementary school, it is drilled into society’s mind that owners of slaves were wrong for whipping and beating blacks, yet not often do we discuss that these violent actions affected them mentally as well.
African Americans often correlate language, experiences, and perspectives of life to identity. The history of slavery illustrates the creativity and dexterity African American utilized to suppress the adversaries against them. The use or misuse of language was used in a similar context. Throughout the years of slavery, racists did not view Africans as having a communicative pattern or practice identifiable amongst the assembly (George, 2004). The thought process for racists were that: the prevention of African American communication would guarantee that a social identity could never be formed and that rebellion or riots would never exist (George,
Enslaved Africans have always brought music, dancing, and singing to the plantation life. It has always been apart of African-American culture to resemble theatre with traditions. Theatre traditions are a great way to be able to express yourself and given the history of African-Americans they always loved the rituals of music, dancing, and singing. It was a great way to be able to keep their mind off dealing with slavery and the lack of rights they were given within America at that time. In 1820 William B...
The second portion of the title, “certainty”, reinforces the importance of the search for freedom. Certainty is defined as “a fact that is definitely true or an event that is definitely going to take place” . Certainty of freedom, broken down into colloquial terms must mean that enslaved African-Americans believed that the event of definitive freedom would eventually come to fruition. These two words work in concert with one another to paint a picture of the journey African-Americans took to achieve freedom in which they employed sacred music to assist in their goal. Slaves created sacred music to assure themselves of a strong community and to critique slavery, as a means of creating certainty of ultimate freedom for the near future. Levine’s mindset is crucial in regards to analyzing the power of sacred music, and through his words I hope to shine light to a generation of individuals who found certainty in
Slaves were not allowed to have a political voice, but singing was permitted. Slaves were free to sing while working in the fields, or while performing various duties about the plantation. White Southerners viewed songs with biblical themes as non-threatening. A spiritual-singing slave was perceived as joyous and content. However, the seemingly joyous" music of the Negro slave was that of an unhappy people" (Dubois).
Black art forms have historically always been an avenue for the voice; from spirituals to work songs to ballads, pieces of literature are one way that the black community has consistently been able to express their opinions and communicate to society at large. One was this has been achieved is through civil disobedience meeting civil manners. In this case, it would be just acknowledging an issue through art and literature. On the other hand, there is art with a direct purpose - literature meant to spur action; to convey anger and shock; or to prompt empathy, based on a discontent with the status quo. That is, protest literature. Through the marriage of the personal and political voices in black poetry and music, the genre functions as a form
Music often carries information about community knowledge, aesthetics, or perspectives. Toni Morrison discusses the power of music and the way it functions in culture in discussions of her craft. Symbolic and structural elements of music appear throughout all of Toni Morrison’s fiction in one way or another. (Obadike) As mentioned above, the title itself, draws attention to the world-renowned music created by African Americans in the 1920s’ as well as to the book’s jazz-like narrative structure and themes.
Small, Christopher. Music of the Common Tongue: Survival and Celebration in African American Music. Hanover, NH: U of New England, 1998. Print