Week 1: The Roots of Popular Culture: From Blackface Minstrelsy to the Harlem Renaissance… and Beyond

• By mrgord
• Posted in Popular Culture in English Speaking Countries, Fall 2006
• On September 11, 2006
• Comments Off on Week 1: The Roots of Popular Culture: From Blackface Minstrelsy to the Harlem Renaissance… and Beyond

This week, we talked about the roots of American and global popular culture in the tradition of blackface minstrelsy, and connections between African-American culture and popular culture in general in America. We explored this through video, recordings, audio, texts, and lecture. This brings us from 1845 to roughly 1945.

• We watched segments from Spike Lee’s film Bamboozled (IMDB, Wikipedia, subtitle file).
• We listened to some tracks from Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. IV.

Here are some videos, mp3s, and texts of some use to the class:

Minstrelsy and Blackface:

• A blackface puppet show from 1937.
• A blackface show titled “Harlem Revue”.
• A documentary segment on a modern, educational blackface show.
• Jungle Jitters, a Warner Brothers cartoon which was banned for containing racist depictions of blacks Africans.
• The Old Mill Pond, a banned MGM cartoon containing blackface.

The Harlem Renaissance:

• An overview of the Harlem Renaissance.

Langston Hughes:

• The Negro Speaks of Rivers (mp3) (text)
• Trumpet Player (mp3)
• Let America Be America Again (text)

James Baldwin:

• Stranger in the Village (essay)

Bukka White:

• Parchman Farm (lyrics)