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Defining black popular culture has felt like a daunting and insurmountable task -- although initially, it seemed as simple as playing with Russian babushka dolls. That is, I believed that by defining blackness, what is popular, and lastly, considering what constitutes as culture, I would be able to put together a cohesive definition of the subject. However, retrospectively, I see not only just how naive I was, but how simplistic my understanding of the wider historical context of black popular culture truly was (and frankly, continues to be).
Black popular culture cannot be boxed. It is as rich and complex as the history of the racial categorization of Blackness in the Americas, as well as of the cultural identity and essence of individuals of the African diaspora, two definitions of Blackness which according to renowned scholar of African American studies Manning Marable cannot be isolated if one seeks to truly understand the subject. [1] As a result, it is deeply rooted in a rich oral tradition, which has transcended the boundaries of the family and the home, into the wider American and international public. Despite this general dissemination of black popular culture, however, some cultural critics and artists, such as filmmaker Ada Gay Griffin, contend that black popular culture is that which is not only produced by and made for the consumption of individuals of African-American descent, but that at its core, it is the manifestation of the artistic ideas or “Black aesthetics, style, and articulation,” as described by Tricia Rose, of individuals of African-American descent, and no one else. [2][3] Black popular culture has thus not only served as a platform whereby historically blacks have been able to use their voices to cope with and articulate their concerns, but has to date, to a certain degree, given blacks power over their image in the media.I discuss the definitions of black popular culture which informed my understanding of the subject in greater detail in my sandbox. Please feel free to check it out!