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Black pride is a movement that encouragesblack people to celebrate their respective cultures and embrace theirAfrican heritage.
In the United States, it initially developed forAfrican-American culture[1] and was a direct response to whiteracism, especially during thecivil rights movement.[2] Stemming from the idea ofblack power, this movement emphasizes racial pride, economic empowerment, and the creation of political and cultural institutions.[3] Related movements include black power,black nationalism,[2] andAfrocentrism.
The black pride movement is very popular inBrazil, especially among poorer members of the country's population, and it is found in the Brazilianfunk music genre which arose in the late 1960s, as well as infunk carioca, which emerged in the late 1980s. The origin of Brazilian funk and the origin of funk carioca both reflect Brazilian black resistance. Ethnomusicologist George Yúdice states that youths who embraced a black culture which was being mediated by a U.S. culture industry were met with many arguments against their susceptibility to cultural colonization. Although it borrows some ingredients fromhip hop, its style still remains unique to Brazil (mainlyRio de Janeiro andSão Paulo).[4]
Black pride is a major theme in some works by African American popular musicians.Civil Rights Movement era songs such asThe Impressions's hit songs "We're a Winner"[5] and "Keep on Pushing"[6] andJames Brown's "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud"[6][7] celebrated black pride.Beyoncé's half-time performance atSuper Bowl 50, which included homages toMalcolm X and theBlack Panthers, has been described by the media as a display of black pride.[8][9]
Dating back to the 1960s, there was a push for people of color to be heard. Artists, likeJames Brown, won over the respect of the United States through their art and music. Creating movements like "Black is Beautiful," a movement where the features of black women were highlighted in picture form, allowed black people to emphasize their beauty and further emphasize the idea of Black Pride.[10]
Black pride has been a central theme of the originallyJamaicanRastafari movement since the second half of the 20th century. It has been described as "a rock in the face of expressions ofwhite superiority,"[11] being promoted by national figures likeMarcus Garvey as self-empowering.[12]Dreadlocks became prominent and, according toJesuit priestJoseph Owens, represented "refusal to depart from the ancient, natural way". However, American author and activistAlice Walker claims conservatives saw the movement's style as "not just disgusting, but down-right frightening".[13]
Beauty standards are a major theme of black pride. Black pride was represented in slogans such as "black is beautiful"[14][15] which challenged white beauty standards.[16] Prior to the black pride movement, the majority of black people straightened their hair or wore wigs.[15] The return tonatural hair styles such as theafro,cornrows, anddreadlocks were seen as expressions of black pride.[15][16][17][18]
In the 1960s to 1970s,kente cloth and the Black Panthers uniform were worn in the U.S. as expressions of black pride.[15] Headscarves were sometimes worn byNation of Islam and other Black Muslim Movement members as an expression of black pride and a symbol of faith.[17] Other women used scarves with African prints to cover their hair.[15]
Maxine Leeds Craig argues that all-black beauty pageants such asMiss Black America were institutionalized forms of black pride created in response to exclusion from white beauty pageants.[17]
Because the dominant white culture in America treatedAfrican Americans as subalterns rather than fullAmerican citizens and fullhuman beings, the black pride movement encouraged black Americans to look toAfrica for their cultural origins.
In 1966 the Black Power-black nationalist-black pride movements emerged as equal and opposite reactions to white racism as a reaction of the biracial civil rights movement.
