The Black Arts Movement

1. The Black Arts Movement

2. The Black Arts Movement • Contemporaneous with the 1960s Black Power Movement

3. The Black Arts Movement • Contemporaneous with the 1960s Black Power Movement • Key Figures: Larry Neal, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones)

4. The Black Arts Movement • Contemporaneous with the 1960s Black Power Movement • Key Figures: Larry Neal, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) • Rejected European Aesthetic Tradition

5. The Black Arts Movement • Black Arts Movement rejected European Aesthetic Tradition European tradition: Emphasis upon formal and thematic unity and coherence Aristotle’s precepts for great drama Emphasis upon heroic individual Emphasis upon internal psychological development Separation of Art from Politics and History

6. The Black Arts Movement • Contemporaneous with the 1960s Black Power Movement • Key Figures: Larry Neal, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) • Rejected European Aesthetic Tradition • Rejected values of Western Modernity

7. The Black Arts Movement • Black Arts Movement rejected values of Western Modernity Western Modernity: Emphasis upon individual, at the expense of community Emphasis upon individual, at the expense of family Emphasis upon progress, as opposed to tradition Emphasis upon conquest and destruction as opposed to conservation and preservation Industrial society as opposed to Agrarian society Theories of Racial and Cultural superiority supported by technological development Privileging of Capitalism, as opposed to pre-capitalist economic structures

8. The Black Arts Movement • Contemporaneous with the 1960s Black Power Movement • Key Figures: Larry Neal, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) • Rejected European Aesthetic Tradition • Rejected values of Western Modernity

9. The Black Arts Movement • Contemporaneous with the 1960s Black Power Movement • Key Figures: Larry Neal, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) • Rejected European Aesthetic Tradition • Rejected values of Western Modernity • Sought to recover traditional African art and culture

10. The Black Arts Movement • Contemporaneous with the 1960s Black Power Movement • Key Figures: Larry Neal, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) • Rejected European Aesthetic Tradition • Rejected values of Western Modernity • Sought to recover traditional African art and culture • Focused on Black Art for Black People

11. The Black Arts Movement • Contemporaneous with the 1960s Black Power Movement • Key Figures: Larry Neal, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) • Rejected European Aesthetic Tradition • Rejected values of Western Modernity • Sought to recover traditional African art and culture • Focused on Black Art for Black People • Emphasized Community over Individual

12. The Black Arts Movement • Contemporaneous with the 1960s Black Power Movement • Key Figures: Larry Neal, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) • Rejected European Aesthetic Tradition • Rejected values of Western Modernity • Sought to recover traditional African art and culture • Focused on Black Art for Black People • Emphasized Community over Individual • Asserted the connection between Art and Politics