Blog post 3

"The Black Arts Movement"

Larry Neal's Manifesto was very interesting. He believed that they needed a "Black aesthetic" in order to progress. He felt that a black artist could not be successful if they don't look into their roots. They have to let go of the white America way of thinking. They need to absorb their culture, understand it, and start expressing it no matter the consequence. He sees that politics has a lot to do with this because if they keep feeding the white audience what they want they could still be superior to the black community. Also theaters were shut down by organizations because too much "black aesthetic" was being demonstrated. He believed that if people didn't expose their culture and embrace it then their culture will diminish. This was published in the summer of 1968. This was a very important year especially to the black community. In the Olympics two black athletes won. They saluted with the signature "power to the people" wearing black gloves when they were at the podium receiving their medals. Also JFK was murdered. Most believed it was because he was for the black community. After all that was accomplished their still was animosity towards the black community. This could've been a huge influence on Neal because he felt that enough was enough. Black artists should practice black art and stop trying to please the white man.