Archive Report
Archive Report
Surge of Negritude in American Arts
Black Self-Assertion in Many Cultural Forums
The black american's drive to assert his presence as a social and political force has a vital counterpart in the arts. The evidence of this is found in an outpouring of creative activity in painting, graphics, sculpture, poetry, music, drama, dance, and handcrafts. Even more than during the so-called Negro Renaissance of the 1920s, America's black people are being drawn to vigorous self-expression in the visual, performing and literary arts. And there's a new element today—a highly vocal effort by militant spokesmen for black culture to bend this arts revival to the needs of the black revolution.
This new black art movement assumes many individualized forms and ranges in tone from mass-appeal entertainment and polemic ...