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Truxal Library Special Topic Guide: Black History: Positive Impact on America

Library exhibit in conjunction with AACC's 2024: Blackness in Full Bloom

Sneaker Culture

Sneaker culture has a deep-rooted connection with African American culture. “It’s like art,” says  Akio Evans, a Baltimore creative who specializes in turning shoes into wearable artwork. “Even though it is a sneaker that is on the shelves or inside of a box inside a store, the very first thing you are doing is admiring what you see. You look at all the pieces and decide which one resonates with you.” Decades after their first introduction to the fashion industry, sneakers are finally getting their due as part of our cultural heritage—and particularly how Black culture has shaped that heritage.

Red, white, and black color-blocked high-topped Nike Air Jordan.

Williams, S. (April 27, 2023). How sneaker culture took over the world. National Geographic.

Hip Hop Culture

"The first thing that is important to remember about hip-hop is that hip-hop is more than just music. Hip-hop is a culture. Richie Colon, also known as Crazy Legs and a member of the world-renowned New York break-dancing team, the Rock Steady Crew, asserts there are four elements of hip-hop: graffiti, b-boying, DJ'ing, and rap (also known as MC-ing or master of ceremonies) (Colon in Malone, 2003). Although commonly thought of as rap music, hip-hop music and culture has evolved into one of the most popular art forms in the world. In the words of the influential MC KRS-One, 'Rap is something you do, Hip Hop is something you live!' (KRS-One, 2010, track 2)."

Black-and-white photo of DJ Tony Tone in sideways baseball cap and DJ Kool Herc in oversize sunglasses and broad-brimmed hat.

DJ Tony Tone and DJ Kool Herc, 1979 © Joe Conzo, Jr. photographs and ephemera, #8091. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Ransaw, T. S. (2014). Hip-Hop music and culture. In S. Thompson (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice. Rowman & Littlefield. Retrieved January 23, 2024, from https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NDMyNjY2?aid=105206.

Afrofuturism

According to Delan Bruce (Sept. 3, 2020), "Afrofuturism, more concretely, can be understood as a wide-ranging social, political and artistic movement that dares to imagine a world where African-descended peoples and their cultures play a central role in the creation of that world."

Photos of Kamasi Washington and Octavia Butler digitally modified with colorful designs. Washington portrait is in profile view and features starry sky and butterfly. Butler faces forward, backed by rainbow-hued symbols and surrounded by icons included a writing hand, crystals, books, and dragonfly.

From left: Kamasi Washington and Octavia E. Butler: Image by Jabari Jacobs.

Bruce, D. (September 3, 2020). Afrofuturism: From the past to the living present. UCLA Magazine.

Afrofuturism exhibit at National Museum of African American History & Culture.

Much more...

The following selection of articles is from the library's collection, ProQuest News and Newspapers and Academic Search Premier:

Thomas, C. W. (2007, May 28). Black culture beyond hip-hop: [FINAL edition]. The Washington Post.

Bogage, J. (2022). Walmart apologizes, pulls ‘Juneteenth ice cream’ after online backlash. Washington, D.C., United States Washington, D.C.: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post.

Stemmler, S. (2013). Tha global CIPHA: The transcultural dynamics of a black aesthetics in James G. Spady’s rap oeuvre. Western Journal of Black Studies37(2), 112–125.

Mitchell, E. A. (2023). Black and African American. Journal of the Early Republic, 43(1), 85–100. https://doi.org/10.1353/jer.2023.0005

Newman, R. (2023). Early Black thought leaders and the reframing of American intellectual history. Journal of the Early Republic43(4), 631–643.

Prandy, A. (2022). Does Afropolitanism apply to the Americas? Radical History Review2022(144), 229–236. 

Zheng, J. (2022). Jazz poetry as a message of African American culture: An interview with Lenard D. MooreMississippi Quarterly75(1), 99–110. 

Burke, S. (2022, Feb 23). Celebrating love and joy in black culture: [correction]. New York Times.

Stone, L. (2020). African American consciousness. Journal of African American Studies24(1), 96–115.

Ismail, M. (2023). Is there a right way to talk about black culture?: Nonfiction. New York: New York Times Company.

Library photo courtesy of Barry Halkin Photography