Vatter: A Cultural Movement

#BlackLivesMatter: A Cultural Movement

What is a cultural movement? It is a mental shift within a cultural and a change in how a certain group/discipline approaches a concept or idea. The point of trying a new approach is usually if not always to enlighten, stir up conversation, or bring awareness to said concept/idea. As a result, many within the culture/society are affected by this ‘societal insurgency’, whether they agree with the approach or not. Overtime cultural movements have been seen as uprisings within the community in which they were birthed as well as inspired. Take for example, the cultural movement of hip-hop and how songs like N.W.A’s “F*** the Police” can on one hand dishevel one group of people, while at the same time continue

As time passes, these insurgencies start to evolve into something new as new generations of cultural movement start to take hold of the ideals being dealt with at the time, and twist it to create something new. It could be because as generations change, their mentality and analyzation of what has already been culturally put forth is that it’s continuing in a circle and has been very repetitive. However, as generations go through this change in cultural movement, the message tends to stay the same as well as the affect the movement can have on a society. In order to define black pop culture we must individually define pop culture and discuss the black influence on pop culture. Pop culture is what the producers of society use to push products, activities, goods, etc. towards the masses and making sure that what they produce agrees with and is aimed to the tastes and desires of the general masses. Also cultural patterns that are widespread within a population. Black influence has shown various evidence/product throughout communities. Black influence in pop culture ranges on many levels. Clothes, music, dance moves, dialect, singing voices, even physical aesthetics. However, many a times the credit has not been given to the innovators and

#BlackLivesMatter has its roots. It evolved from the 1960s/1970s cultural movement of Black Power and non-violent American Civil rights Movement. Movements that also promoted racial pride, ethnic cohesion, as well as responding to racism head on in a militant manner. BLM began a domino effect and uprooted other movements such as #BlackGirlsRock and the Natural Hair Movement to name a few. Passing on the notion that "black is beautiful” and should be represented and presented as so. As a result, just like what happened in the 60s and 70s, there’s a renaissance happening in this day and age in regards to black culture. There’s interest in, and an embrace of, elements of African culture within African-American culture that had been suppressed or devalued to conform to Eurocentric America. People are pushing for acceptance of natural hair (afros, dreads, braids, etc.) in the workplace. African clothing, such as the dashiki, are gaining popularity. Also, the African-American aesthetic (lips, hips, and curves) are seen as what’s “in” instead of abnormal. Now while knowing the roots of this movement and its impact, the question to be asked is who, demographically speaking, is this cultural movement for? The answer would be pretty simple right: Blacks. But what if Blacks aren’t the only ones to benefit from this movement. What if I said that this movement, out of anyone, is for whites? Reason