Black Is Beautiful
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Black Is Beautiful
Black is beautiful is a cultural movement that was started in the United States in the 1960s by African Americans. It later spread beyond the United States, most prominently in the writings of the Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko in South Africa. Black is beautiful got its roots from the ''Négritude'' movement of the 1930s. Negritude argued for the importance of a Pan-African racial identity among people of African descent worldwide. It aims to dispel the racist notion that black people's natural features such as skin color, facial features and hair are inherently ugly. John Rock was long thought to be the first person to coin the phrase "black is beautiful"—during a speech in 1858—but historical records indicate that he never actually used the specific phrase on that day. The movement also encouraged men and women to stop trying to eliminate African-identified traits by and attempting to lighten or bleach their skin. Bill Allen, a freelance writer for adverti ...
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Cultural Movement
A cultural movement is a change in the way a number of different disciplines approach their work. This embodies all art forms, the sciences, and philosophies. Historically, different nations or regions of the world have gone through their own independent sequence of movements in culture, but as world communications have accelerated this geographical distinction has become less distinct. When cultural movements go through revolutions from one to the next, genres tend to get attacked and mixed up, and often new genres are generated and old ones fade. These changes are often reactions against the prior cultural form, which typically has grown stale and repetitive. An obsession emerges among the mainstream with the new movement, and the old one falls into neglect – sometimes it dies out entirely, but often it chugs along favored in a few disciplines and occasionally making reappearances (sometimes prefixed with "neo-"). There is continual argument over the precise definition of each ...
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Grandassa Models
Grandassa Models were a part of a Black is Beautiful movement started by Kwame Brathwaite and Elombe Brath which centered on natural Black beauty. They attracted African American females who represented their standards of "Black is Beautiful" and were part of the Black is Beautiful movement from 1962 to 1979. The Grandassa Models were a part of the "Miss Natural Standard of Beauty Contests" based in Harlem, New York City and were hosted each year on Marcus Garvey Day, August 17. History The original Grandassa Models were Clara Lewis, Black Rose, Helene Nomsa Brath, Priscilla Bardonille, Mari Toussaint, Esther Davenport, Wanda Sims, and Beatrice Cramston, and Jean Gumbs. Members wore their hair naturally, which was considered taboo in the 1950s, and represented a range of body sizes and skin colors. “It was revolutionary. During that time – the 1950s and 60s – it was unacceptable to wear your hair in any natural hairstyle. The point that was being made was that you can be ...
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Black Pride
Black Pride in the United States is a movement which encourages black people to celebrate African-American culture and embrace their African heritage. In the United States, it was a direct response to white racism especially during the Civil Rights Movement. Stemming from the idea of Black Power, this movement emphasizes racial pride, economic empowerment, and the creation of political and cultural institutions. Related movements include black power, black nationalism, Black Panthers and Afrocentrism. Arts and music Black pride is a major theme in some works by African American popular musicians. Civil Rights Movement era songs such as The Impressions's hit songs "We're a Winner" and " Keep on Pushing" and James Brown's "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" celebrated black pride. Beyoncé's half-time performance at Super Bowl 50, which included homages to Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, has been described by the media as a display of black pride. Dating back to t ...
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Black Nationalism
Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves around the social, political, and economic empowerment of black communities and people, especially to resist their assimilation into white culture (through integration or otherwise), and maintain a distinct black identity. Black nationalists often promote black separatism, which posits that black people should form territorially separate nation-states. Without achieving this goal, some black separatists employ a "nation within a nation" approach, advocating for various degrees of localized separation. Pan-African black nationalists variously advocate for continental African unity (aiming to eventually transition away from racial nationalism) or cultural unity among the African diaspora, which entails either a return to Africa or a sustaine ...
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Afro
The afro is a hair type created by natural growth of kinky hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair.Garland, Phyl"Is The Afro On Its Way Out?" ''Ebony'', February 1973. Retrieved February 20, 2010. Sherrow, Victoria, ''Encyclopedia of hair: a cultural history''
Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, pp. 21–23. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
The hairstyle can be created by combing the hair away from the scalp, dispersing a distinctive curl pattern, and forming the hair into a rounded shape, much like a cloud or puff ball.Mercer, Kobena

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African-American Culture
African-American culture refers to the contributions of African Americans to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. The culture is both distinct and enormously influential on American and global worldwide culture as a whole. African-American culture is a blend between the native African cultures of West Africa and Central Africa and the European culture that has influenced and modified its development in the American South. Understanding its identity within the culture of the United States, that is, in the anthropological sense, conscious of its origins as largely a blend of West and Central African cultures. Although slavery greatly restricted the ability for Africans to practice their original cultural traditions, many practices, values and beliefs survived, and over time they have modified and/or blended with European cultures and other cultures such as that of Native Americans. African-American identity wa ...
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African Textiles
African textiles are textiles from various locations across the African continent. Across Africa, there are many distinctive styles, techniques, dyeing methods, and decorative and functional purposes. These textiles hold cultural significance and also have significance as historical documents of African design. History Some of the oldest surviving African textiles were discovered at the archaeological site of Kissi in northern Burkina Faso. They are made of wool or fine "short" animal hair including dried skin for integrity. Some fragments have also survived from the thirteenth century Benin City in Nigeria. Historically textiles were used as a form of currency since the fourteenth century in West Africa and Central Africa. Below is an overview of some of the common techniques and textile materials used in various African regions and countries. Textile weaving Stripweaving, a centuries-old textile manufacturing technique of creating cloth by weaving strips together, is ...
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Racial Equality
Racial equality is a situation in which people of all races and ethnicities are treated in an egalitarian/equal manner. Racial equality occurs when institutions give individuals legal, moral, and political rights. In present-day Western society, equality among races continues to become normative. Prior to the early 1960s, attaining equality was difficult for African, Asian, and Indigenous people. However, in more recent years, racial equality has become part of laws generally ensuring that all individuals receive equal opportunities in treatment, education, employment, and other areas of life. Background American Civil War The bloodiest and most traumatic war in American history, the Civil War, was fought from 1861 to 1865. By 1860, one in three people in the Southern States belonged to someone else. In a population of twelve million, four million were slaves. In September 1862, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which avowed the aim of freeing the slaves in the Conf ...
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Paper (magazine)
''Paper'' (also known as ''Paper Mag'') is a New York City-based independent magazine focusing on fashion, popular culture, nightlife, music, art, and film. Initially produced monthly, the magazine eventually became a quarterly publication, and a digital version was made available online at ''papermag.com''. In 2020, physical production of the magazine was paused following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Digital content still continues to be published via the website. History ''Paper'' was founded in 1984 by Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovits, former editors at the ''SoHo Weekly News,'' with help from Lucy Sisman and Richard Weigand''.'' Beginning as a monthly print magazine in the form of a black and white 16-page fold-out, it has since transformed into a quarterly print and digital magazine. Past cover models include Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Prince, CL, Kacey Musgraves, Jennifer Lopez, and BTS. In 2017, Hastreiter and Hershkovits s ...
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Dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle despite coming from a middle-class background, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain. Previous manifestations of the ''petit-maître'' (French for "small master") and the Muscadin have been noted by John C. Prevost, but the modern practice of dandyism first appeared in the revolutionary 1790s, both in London and in Paris. The dandy cultivated cynical reserve, yet to such extremes that novelist George Meredith, himself no dandy, once defined cynicism as "intellectual dandyism". Some took a more benign view; Thomas Carlyle wrote in ''Sartor Resartus'' that a dandy was no more than "a clothes-wearing man". Honoré de Balzac introduced the perfectly worldly and unmoved Henri de Marsay in '' La fille aux yeux d'or'' (1835), a part ...
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Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. The sixth of eight children born from a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where, despite a well received audition, she was denied admission,Liz Garbus, 2015 documentary film, ''What Happened, Miss Simone?'' which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree. To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself ...
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Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, as well as his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley's contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide, and made him a global figure in popular culture to this day. Over the course of his career, Marley became known as a Rastafari icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music and culture and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for democratic social reforms. In 1976, Marley survived an assassination attempt in his home, which was thought to be politically motivated. He also supported legalization of marijuana, and advocated for Pan-Africanism. Born in Nine Mile, Jamaica, Ma ...
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