Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: South African Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of South African Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Black Past
Black Past: Rap/hip Hop
This encyclopedia entry gives a brief history of rap and hip hop and the influences of the music on modern culture.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: American Culture in the 1920s
The First World War had a crippling effect on any notions of positivity in the artists, writers, and intellectuals of that time and they became known as the Lost Generation. This page discusses this group of people, the emergence of jazz...
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Understanding Poetry of Maya Angelou Through Rap Lyric
By examining the lives and lyrics of popular, positive black female rappers such as Queen Latifah and Lauryn Hill, students can trace a direct line back to the inspirational writer and poet, Maya Angelou. Rap lyrics will help explicate...
A&E Television
History.com: Why the Watershed 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival Was Overshadowed for 50 Years
The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival brought over 300,000 people to Harlem's 20-acre Mount Morris Park from June 29 to August 24, 1969 against a backdrop of enormous political, cultural and social change in the United States. The summer...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Jamaican Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Jamaican Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Other
Black Gospel Music: The History of Gospel Music
This site explores the history of Gospel music, including how gospel music began and some of the various incarnations it has gone through.
Black Past
Black Past: Queen Latifah
This encyclopedia entry extols Queen Latifah as the most influential female rap singer. You can read about her evolution as a rap singer and actress.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Black History: Jack the Rapper
Jack the Rapper (Jack Gibson) helped open the first African-American-owned radio station in the United States, WERD in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1949. Gibson learned about radio while working as a gofer for deejay Al Benson in Chicago. He...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Etta Baker
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Etta Baker, an American folk musician who influenced the folk music revival of the 1950s and '60s with her mastery of East Coast Piedmont blues, a unique fingerpicking style of...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Carl Van Vechten
Learn about Carl Van Vechten, a U.S. novelist, music and drama critic, and an influential figure in New York literary circles in the 1920s.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Black History: Duke Ellington
Biography of Duke Ellington, one of the originators of big band jazz, and a noted composer.
Black Past
Black Past: Jackson, Mahalia
This encyclopedia article tells the high points of Mahalia Jackson's life. She was a world-renowned gospel singer whose influence was felt in the civil rights movement.
Black Past
Black Past: Bert Williams
This encyclopedia article gives a good overview of the life of Bert Williams, a black entertainer of the early 1900's who broke many color lines.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Wayne Shorter
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Wayne Shorter, an African-American musician and composer, a major jazz saxophonist, among the most influential hard-bop and modal musicians and a pioneer of jazz-rock fusion music.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: De La Soul
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features De La Soul, an American rap group whose debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989), was one of the most influential albums in hip-hop history.
Other
Saudi Aramco World: Muslim Roots, u.s. Blues
This site explores the link between Muslim traditions and American blues music. Using audio content, pictures, text, and the song ?Levee Camp Holler,? this site examines African Muslim history tied to the history of U.S. Blues.