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Gymnasium Hittfeld My Lien Nguyen, Thu Hang Pham and Franziska OttoEN QP1, eA Kf

ThThe African-American Experiencee African-American ExperienceHandoutHandout

African Americans in popular culture since the 1970sAfrican Americans in popular culture since the 1970s

What is 'pop' culture?

culture in modern societies that depends on the film, television, music or otherindustries

we focus on music, movies and TV series

What happenedbefore the 1970s?

Before the 1960s blacks received only roles as servants

but then Sidney Poitier refused to play a servant and revolutionized the show business

In the 1960s:

Civil Rights / Black Power Movement

caused a social change in the society Sidney Poitier

The 1970s

Music

Hip Hop had its origin in African American communities in N.Y.C. when DJ s started to isolate certain beats of popular funk or soul songs at

'block parties'

Rap

in Africa the 'griots' (groups of traveling singers and poets) had a longtradition

in N.Y.C. griot-like performances of spoken word poetry developed intoRap

Movies

blaxploitation (from 'black' and 'exploitation'): black actors were required inorder to please the black audience and earn money

stereotypes were stressed

black actors got roles as gangsters, pimps or prostitutes

then they got better roles that were written for white actors, which washistorically not realistic (e.g. black cowboy in western movies) and causeddispleasure, because they denied the reality

TV series

decade of African American TV showsalthough there were only a few black characters picture fromwho never had a higher academia a scene of the

some of the series dealt with racism series 'Roots'

miniseries 'Roots' dealt with the history of slavery

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The 1980sMusic

Golden Age of Hip Hop, because there was more diversity

the songs dealt with the hard life that became the central theme

different types were invented: conscious rap (political rap lyrics) andgangsta rap (rap lyrics that glorified violence)

besides pop-dance-soul music was invented new dance experience black pop artists like Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston

and Prince became popularMovies

at the beginning: only low-budget productions with black casts were madefor a black target group

later: Hollywood invested in black cast musicals and movies (e.g. Eddie Murphy in'Beverly Hills Cop')

TV series

the 'Cosby Show'

showed the life of a 'normal' black family in the USA paved the way for other series with black main

characters

most influential series in the USA

Oprah Winfrey started her career and became thefirst female African American billionaire

The CosbysThe 1990s

Music

diversity and sex-appeal were important

R&B, Hip Hop and Rap became more popular more African American women began

a career (e.g. Mariah Carey,Mary J. Blidge, Faith Evans)

not to be missed: the conflictbetween the EAST COAST & the WEST COAST

'beef' between Bad Boy Entertainment(N.Y.C.) & Death Row Records (L.A.)

Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. .

murder of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G.Movies

at the beginning: low-budget productions with African Americans were made

they always had the same genre / certain type:

coming-of-age stories with young men (later women) as protagonists

urban settings

rap music as soundtrack, African American rappers were members of thecast

later: mid class drama and comedy with black and white casts and a higherbudget

the main topics were relationships

TV series

blacks had their own channel: BET (Black Entertainment Television)

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but the series had no challenging content

the big channels (e.g. ABC, NBC,...) presented a world without color

Vocabulary

English German

decade Jahrzehnt

servant Diener

to pave the way den Weg ebnen

exploitation Gewinnung

acknowledgment Anerkennung

displeasure Unmut

to glorify beschnigen

cast Besetzung, Ensemblediversity Vielfltigkeit

'blaxploitation' Darstellung von Schwarzen in stereotypen Rollen

Bibliography

Blumen, Jonathan Black People as Scenery. Available Online

Easton, Brandon African-Americans on TV. Available Online.

Erlewine, Thomas Public Enemy. Available Online.

Gillis, Charles American Cultural History. Available Online.

Keller, Alexandra African-American Cinema. Available Online.

New World EncyclopediaAfrican American Movies. Available Online.

Richardson, Ralph My Top 10 African American TV Shows. Available Online.

Wikipedia

Blaxploitation. Available Online.

Hip-Hop. Available Online.

African American Music. Available Online.

Oprah Winfrey. Available Online.

East Coast vs. West Coast. Available Online.

Exploitation film. Available Online.

WordIQ.comPopular Culture. Available Online.