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.
Williams, S. (April 27, 2023). How sneaker culture took over the world. National Geographic.
"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)."
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.
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."
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.
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 Studies, 37(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 Republic, 43(4), 631–643.
Prandy, A. (2022). Does Afropolitanism apply to the Americas? Radical History Review, 2022(144), 229–236.
Zheng, J. (2022). Jazz poetry as a message of African American culture: An interview with Lenard D. Moore. Mississippi Quarterly, 75(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 Studies, 24(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