Black is beautiful is a

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 ind ...

that was started in the United States in the 1960s by

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. It later spread beyond the United States, most prominently in the writings of the

Black Consciousness Movement The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...

Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Black is beautiful got its roots from the ''

Négritude ''Négritude'' (from French "Nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, developed mainly by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians of the African ...

'' 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 Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

'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 advertising agencies, claimed he coined the phrase in the 1950s. The phrase “Black is beautiful” encompass emotional and psychological well-being of black people. It promotes the black culture and identity, where the black past is an inspirational cultural pride. It affirms the beauty of black’s natural features, such as their variety of skin colors, hair styles and textures, as well as physical characteristics. This movement began in an effort to counteract the racist notion in

American culture The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western, and European origin, yet its influences includes the cultures of Asian American, African American, Latin American, and Native American peoples and their cultures. The U ...

that features typical of Blacks were less attractive or desirable than those of Whites. Research indicates that the idea of blackness being ugly is highly damaging to the psyche of African Americans, manifesting itself as

internalized racism Internalized racism is a form of internalized oppression, defined by sociologist Karen D. Pyke as the "internalization of racial oppression by the racially subordinated." In her study ''The Psychology of Racism, '' Robin Nicole Johnson emphasizes ...

. This idea made its way into black communities themselves and led to practices such as paper bag parties: social events which discriminated against dark-skinned African Americans by only admitting lighter-skinned individuals.

History

While the Black is Beautiful movement started in the 1960s, the fight for equal rights and a positive perception of the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

body started much earlier in American history. This movement took form because the media and society as a whole had a negative perception of the African-American body as being only suitable for slave status. The Black is Beautiful movement was based around a fight for an equal perception of the black body to help undo all the negative ideas brought about by a history based in white supremacy. The genesis of the movement was a fashion show titled, Naturally '62 On January 28, 1962 by Kwame Brathwaite. Kwame was a black photographer and activist born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1938. He devoted his life to capture the lives of others in pictures. In 1960s, in his small darkroom in Harlem, he developed an imaging technique that made black skin outstand in photographs showing off life and energy. He spent thousands of hours in his darkroom to ensure his images could demonstrate the beauty of the black people. His hard work demonstrated his commitment to black freedom movement. The

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 ...

at the show deliberately veered away from western concepts of beauty instead incorporating African imagery as a form of protest against "how, in

Ebony magazine ''Ebony'' is a monthly magazine that focuses on news, culture, and entertainment. Its target audience is the African-American community, and its coverage includes the lifestyles and accomplishments of influential black people, fashion, beauty, an ...

, you couldn’t find an

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...

girl". Naturally '62 proved to be very popular with a crowd forming around the nightclub hosting it, the Purple Manor. It was also subject to controversy. Brathwaite's photos of black musicians, including

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

and

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 o ...

, would spearhead the movement into the public consciousness. More Naturally shows and adoption of African imagery by musicians such as

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, ...

lead to the looks shown to be normalized. Proving that Black is Beautiful has bled into fashion, where the idea is that dressing with sophistication in mind allows for one to command automatic respect from those around them. This is exemplified in Black Dandyism, a male fashion movement described in Monica Miller's book ''Slaves to Fashion''. Since enslaved persons were often forbidden from wearing expensive or beautiful fabrics, dressing up the Black body has historically been a radical statement of selfhood and

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

. Black Dandyism has morphed over the years, moving from simply dressing sharply in the fashion of the times to what is now the combination of dressing sharply and loud African-inspired prints, and dressing in colors that subvert notions of traditional masculinity.

History

See also

References

Further reading