The Contributions of Blacks to the Arts
The Contibutions of Black Americans to the Arts
“… Without a continuous bond uniting men, without a continuous current of shared thought, … there could be no living worthy of being called human.” Richard Wright spoke these words in his autobiography Black Boy. He, as well as many other black Americans have displayed exmplemtory talent in the arts. As a matter of fact, blacks have contributed their talents to the arts, for many years, especially in the areas of painting, literature, and music.
Many people are unaware of the contributions black people have made to the art of painting. Painters such as Benny Andrews and Jacob Lawerence have expressed the pain and joys share through their paintings. Jacob Lawerence, whose styles range from expressionism to cubism, is famous for the painting Grand Performance. The painting show blacks coming together in the performing arts. On the other hand, Benny Andrews is an artist that conveys his meaning through allegory. He is, however, known for his contribution to the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition. He was one of the firsts to start this organization which protested against the underepresentation of black art.
Another art that blacks influenced is literature. For example, Richard Wright was one of the first writers to address and protest against the racism problem in America. In his book, Native Son, he shows how a black boy is driven to kill a white woman. He also wrote essays for a book written by former communists who were displeased with the party. Most of his works show the struggles of black Americans. Likewise, novelist Toni Morrison writes about the struggles of black females. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature and in the late 1980s, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her book Beloved. This book shows the effects of slavery on a former slave after the war. Morrison is not the only woman to receive awards for work. Maya Angelou given many awards, including Grammys in 1994 and 1996. She received the one for the recording of her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” recited at President Clinton’s inauguration and one for “Phenomenal Woman.” She along with many others has shown explemary talent in literature.
Beginning as early as slavery, blacks have impacted music dearly. Jazz, a form of music stemming from gospel, is a form of expression. One famous jazz musician was the trumpet player Miles Davis.
Think of the last time you saw a painting that featured African Americans in it. Were they the main focus? Did the painting have only African Americans or did it include white Americans too? Now think about the artist, were they an African American? The average person who knows little to nothing about art most likely does not know any African American artists or does not know many artworks that involve only black people in a non-historical context. Kerry James Marshall’s exhibition Mastry is exactly that. It is made up of multiple artworks which only show black people in both historical and non-historical contexts. This exhibition helps to counter this issue of the lack of artworks where only black people are portrayed how white people would
...ce was recognized for his talent. Despite the primitive look of Lawrence’s painting the gesture are read and reveals a set of principles inspired by African-Americans. Thus, the modernist aesthetic of his art shows the critical faith of a people oppressed and striving to get ahead. Therefore, elements of his work and themes like man’s struggle produce one of the United States most famous African-American Artist of all times Jacob Lawrence.
“The real tragedy of Native Son is that Bigger can find no way other than violence to express his potentially healthy desire to merge himself with others and be part of this world, to lose himself so he could find himself to be allowed a chance to live like others, even though he was black,” (Beetz 950). If he had gotten over his fear and controlled his anger then Bigger could've supported his family, found a wife, and be happy with a successful career. Instead his anger and fear got the best of him as he had chosen to plan a robbery, being in gangs, and murder an innocent woman. “He wanted to load about the streets, steal from newsstands, rob stores, meddle with women, free dives, attend cheap movies, and chase prostitutes,” (Wright 477). Bigger may seem like a kid stuck in the bad neighborhood but he had many opportunities to escape that neighborhood. His mother encouraged him for him to seek a job and gave him money to support him, but Bigger refused to find a job and used the money to buy alcohol and movie tickets. Bigger had the support of his mother who tried to help him find his way, yet Bigger did not listened or even allowed his mother’s help. If Bigger had listened to his mother then he could have a happy life but his anger won the best of him and now he sits for his death
In this essay, I will hold that the strongest argument in defence of abortion was provided by Judith Jarvis Thompson. She argued that abortion is still morally permissible, regardless if one accepts the premise that the foetus is a person from the moment of conception. In what follows, I agree that abortion is permissible in the ‘extreme case’ whereby the woman’s life is threatened by the foetus. Furthermore, I agree that abortion is permissible to prevent future pain and suffering to the child. However, I do not agree that the ‘violinist’ analogy is reliable when attempting to defend abortion involving involuntary conception cases such as rape, whereby the foetus does not threaten the woman’s health. To achieve this, I will highlight the distinction
The people of the black culture need a motivating force behind their community. They need a black aesthetic to motivate them and incline them to support the revolution. The black aesthetic itself will not be enough to motivate the people; they will need black art to help them understand what they are supporting. The art in the black culture needs an aesthetic to get the message across to its viewers and allow them to understand the meaning behind pieces of artwork. One of Ron Karenga’s points is how people need to respond positively to the artwork because it then shows that the artist got the main idea to the audience and helps to motivate them to support the revolution. In “Black Cultural Nationalism”, the author, Ron Karenga, argues that
In order to add something to their lives, [black families] decorated their tenements and their homes in all of these colors. I've been asked, is anyone in my family artistically inclined? I've always felt ashamed of my response and I always said no, not realizing that my artistic sensibility came from this ambiance.... It's only in retrospect that I realized I was surrounded by art. You'd walk Seventh Avenue and took in the windows and you'd see all these colors in the depths of the depression. All these colors.
To help argue her point, Thomson first begins with an analogy comparing an acorn of an oak tree to the fetus in a woman’s body. She begins by giving the view of the Pro – Lifers; “It is concluded that the fetus is…a person from the moment of conception” (page 113). She then goes on to say, “similar things might be said about the development of an acorn into an oak tree, and it does not follow that acorns are Oak trees…” (Page 113). This analogy helps illustrate how much she disagrees with this Pro –life argument. She calls it a “slippery- slope argument” and goes to say, “…it is dismaying that opponents of abortion rely on them so heavily and uncritically” (page 113). Although Thomson makes it clear that she disagrees with the notion that a fetus is a person (…I think the premise is false, that the fetus is not a person from th...
In Thomson’s article, “A Defense of Abortion,” Thomson argues that abortion is not impermis-sible because she agrees with the fact that fetus has already become a human person well before birth, from the moment of conception (Thomson, 268 & 269). Besides that, she also claims that every person has a right to live, does so a fetus, because a fetus is a person who has a right to live.
A significant point that shows the failure of this analogy to justify abortion is that one cannot compare having sex and conceiving a child to opening a window that lets in seeds. It does not adequately mirror conception or pregnancy. You could also suggest that the people seeds be transplanted from your carpet to grow elsewhere without killing it. Therefore, the people seeds analogy fails to justify abortion.
Thomson concludes that there are no cases where the person pregnant does not have the right to chose an abortion. Thomson considers the right to life of the pregnant person by presenting the case of a pregnant person dying as a result from their pregnancy. In this case, the right of the pregnant person to decide what happens to their body outweighs both the fetus and the pregnant person 's right to life. The right to life of the fetus is not the same as the pregnant person having to die, so as not to infringe on the right of the fetus. In the case of the violinist, their necessity for your body for life is not the same as their right over the use of your body. Thomson argues that having the right to life is not equal to having the right to use the body of another person. They argue that this is also the case, even if the the pregnant person knowingly participated in intercourse and knew of the possibility of pregnancy. In this case it would seem that abortion would not be permissible since the pregnancy was not by force. However, we are reverted back to the case of rape. If a fetus conceived voluntarily has the right not to be aborted due to how it was conceived, then the fetus conceived from rape should also have that same right. Instead of creating a distinction of cases where the fetus has a right to use the body of a pregnant person, Thomson instead makes a distinction of when abortion would be morally
The African arts formed an essential platform for the promotion of the African American culture today. This culture could not have been created and maintained without the aspiring poets, artists, writers, and musicians that all played a role.
Before Thomson addresses “The Violinist” case, she concedes the point that a fetus is a person and therefore has a right to life. Now, Thomson continues by stating that a woman’s right to her body outweighs the fetus’s right to life. To demonstrate her position, Thomson utilizes a “thought experiment” involving a famous violinist. Suppose you wake up one morning and are attached to an unconscious violinist, one that is respected
In the Judith Jarvis Thomson’s paper, “A Defense of Abortion”, the author argues that even though the fetus has a right to life, there are morally permissible reasons to have an abortion. Of course there are impermissible reasons to have an abortion, but she points out her reasoning why an abortion would be morally permissible. She believes that a woman should have control of her body and what is inside of her body. A person and a fetus’ right to life have a strong role in whether an abortion would be okay. Thomson continuously uses the story of a violinist to get the reader to understand her point of view.
Alternatively, one might think that having the right to life means that one has the right not to be killed. Again, though, Thomson thinks that the violinist case shows this to be false; surely one can unplug oneself from the violinist, even though doing so kills him. Pathos were included when she provided the example of the violinist. If one attempts to alter the definition by suggesting instead that having the right to life means having the right not to be killed unjustly, then one has done little to advance the debate on abortion. She states that the third party don’t have the right to have the choice of killing the person. She went with the logos and pathos way when she was trying to explain what was going to happen. It shows how Thompson agrees with how the choice of life is not up to the third party or anybody else. With pathos and logos, Thomson further argues that even if women are partially being usually responsible for the presence of the fetus, because it is a voluntarily by engaging in intercourse with the full knowledge that pregnancy might result, it does not thereby follow that they bear a special moral responsibility toward
Pros of the restorative justice system are that it brings parties together in crime. Instead of a short term goal, the restorative justice system takes a long-term approach to reducing crime and violence using different kinds of methods. In restorative justice programs, offenders work with others affected by their criminal actions. Restorative justice promotes instilling positive behaviors in young criminals and teaching long-lasting changes in behavior to prevent future crimes. There also could be negative consequences from the restorative justice system. For restorative justice to work, criminals and their victims must communicate about the crime and its consequences. Since violent crimes often leave victims feeling helpless and vulnerable, encouraging communication can result in increased anxiety and fear. Additionally, communication might breach confidentiality for victims of violent crimes, such as rape and assault, because they must discuss the outcome of the crime and how it has impacted