The black community wanted to define their own culture and these pieces were words of encouragement for blacks to step outside the white ways of hinging and acting and step into an acceptance of their own urbanity. Once the differences were accepted that’s when you start seeing the different relationships between whites and blacks. These written pieces were significant changes in thoughts and actions at this time, and they weren’t useless, The blacks were really hoping to set themselves apart trot the rest, to have people recognize they were different from the white oppressive mind set, and it worked.
Larry Meal’s ‘The Black Arts Movement”, written in 1968, speaks directly to the needs and ambitions of Black America at the time. The main goal in ‘The Black Arts Movement” is to emphasize the necessity for black culture to define their world in their own terms. Larry Neal asks the question in his piece, vision of the world is more meaningful, ours or the white oppressors? ” (Neal page 2040).
He is asking his audience to move away from a white oppressor vision of the world and create their own vision of the world: a vision that has their own beliefs, thoughts, and ideas; a vision that stands out from the white patterns that have consisted years prior. The Black artists’ primary duty is to express the needs Of the Black people. Neal explains this idea by saying, “… Main thrust Of his new breed of contemporary writers to confront the contradictions arising out of the Black man’s experience in the raciest West” (Neal page 2039).
In Other words, the goals of these new artists is to use a concept of”protest literature’ (page 2040) and direct this new literature directly towards black people to summon hope and Taken Black people to the meaning of their lives” (Neal page 2042). The Black community had been living in an oppressive society for years prior to this new movement. Neal believed The Black Aesthetic was the destruction of white ideas, and the destruction of white ways of looking at their world. Addison Eagle Jar. As another of these contemporary artists who encouraged a new way of elite to the black community in his piece, ‘The Black Aesthetic”. The Black Aesthetic movement was the practice that helped those seeking to navigate and understand the experiences tot black peoples. Eagle explains the Black Aesthetic movement: WV he question for the black critic today is not how beautiful is a melody, a play, a poem, a novel, but how much more beautiful has the poemћ. Made the life of a single black Black Aesthetic, then, as inclined by this writer… S a means of helping black people out of the polluted mainstream of Americanism___” (Eagle 1916). This is a significant quote because Eagle, and many Of the Black Aesthetic artists at the time, really believe that these works of art are not for the critics’ entertainment Instead they are gritty stories Of these Black Peoples’ experiences and they are intended to free the Black Man of an oppressive white America. They are to encourage these black men and women to Stop conforming to the white culture and instead embrace their own.
The black aesthetic period is so significant because it was a time where the artists made a significant shift in the opinions of the white culture towards the black culture, and even more, it gave a chance to the Black community to find their voice in the madness and be able to stand out amongst the white, oppressive view points of the society they were living in at the time. These two pieces of work connect really well with each other. Essentially could connect Galley’s piece to almost any Black Aesthetic piece just because they all have similar viewpoints in regards to the freedom of the oppressive white American culture.
However, Larry Neal directly comments on the Black Aesthetics. He describes the Black Arts Movement and the Black Aesthetic as one, Neal says, “Black Art is the aesthetic and spiritual sister of the Black Power concept. As such, it envisions an art that speaks directly to the needs and aspirations of Black America” (Neal page 2039). This goes with Galley’s beliefs that the Black Aesthetic is directly made for the needs of the black peoples. Eagle says, “A critical methodology has no relevance to the black community unless it aids men in becoming better than they are” (page 1917).
Eagle and Neal both have this vision for Black Americans that they be freed from this movement, not pushed further into oppression, and they believe the arts can advocate them into being better. The encouragement the artists have for the rest Of their brothers and sisters is what makes these two pieces so important, especially when thefts being compared. The black people, whether they are the creators or just regular middle-class folks, share visions of positivist during hardships. They want their brothers to come out and top, so they fight together.
The Black Aesthetic event was a time period where the black Americans, whom had the privilege to create and share poems, stories, and plays, were able to share their creations with the rest of the population to motivate them. Eagle and Meal’s goals are the same: they want the blacks to find their own identity, present themselves differently, and stop following in the footsteps of the whites. They believe that these works tot art really can do wonders tot change tort their brothers and sisters. These stories and creations, poem and plays, aren’t just useless, fictional words that these artist create out of air.
They are real life accounts of the battles the black culture have fought in hopes that the oppressive layer of the white America finally comes off their backs. In the following quote, Neal demonstrates how the arts can really be significant. Neal says, “Poetry is a concrete function, actions_. Poems are physical entities: fists, daggers, airplane poems, and poems that shoot guns. Poems are personal forces. ћ” (Page 2041). In relationship to Neal, Eagle compares the oppression to war. These two works are compatible to each other Eagle believes the two cultures are at afar, while Neal has the reflect weapon: favors of art.
Eagle explains the society conditions by saying, “The serious black artist Of today is at war with the American society as few have been throughout American history” (Eagle page 1914). Eagle and Neal agree upon this. The Black American culture was at a war With the White American culture and the black artists were doing everything in their power to free themselves Of this war using the one weapon they were best at using: words. Using these words of hope and encouragement and visions of freedom and opportunities, the artists created possibilities. Neal and Eagle had similar visions or the future, as well.
They both believed this movement was growing and they believed that growth had been evident in white peoples’ eyes already. Eagle states this growth by saying, Math white academician. ћcalls upon a black man to write the introduction. The editor then declares that his anthology ‘represents the best black literature’ or that he has chosen these works which rank the best in American artistic production. M (Eagle page 1918). In saying that a black man can write an introduction and rank the best in production is a significant amount of change for the Black community.
The white editors are accepting of the different writing styles and topics, and still finding that it’s quality literature even when it’s unlike theirs; a goal the black aesthetic writers have worked to achieve. Neal has a similar idea on hope, but he also adds his beliefs on the growth of this movement by saying, “Afro-American life and history is full of creative possibilities, and the movement is just beginning to perceive them Just beginning to understand that the most meaningful statements… Must come from the Third World of which Black America is a part” (Neal page 2050).
This statement is quite similar to Galleys in that the white society in America is starting to recognize the importance in black arts Which is 3 significant change because its one that they worked towards for many years. At the time, progress was still being made, but some progress had been made and it baas enough to make them feel happy and even more hopeful for the future of the movement. The significance in the pieces is that they set their black community apart from the rest of America. Years prior the whites oppressed the blacks and so at this point in time, the black people were trying desperately to free themselves.
