Influence of African-American in the USA.

From the first slave in the U.S. arriving in 1526 to Barack Obama, there is a fascinating story that includes slavery, wars, pride, and above all freedom.

US has been influenced by African-American culture in all its branches: history, culture, religion, political movements, civil society groups and economic, sports, language and in all its forms.

Since the story of African Americans is so rich and deep, we will discuss here only its influence on American culture.

FOOD.

Since 1600 , slaves brought their food and different styles of cooking. Okra, sesame seeds, rice, black-eyed peas and peanuts. And because they received a small portion of food every day, they learned to make different dishes such as pork, cornmeal and vegetables (cornbread and grits). During the years they celebrate the holiday Kwanzaa and promote their unique styling of cooking called “Soul Food”. During the 1960s and 1970s African American business people established "soul food" restaurants all over the country, where Americans of all ethnic origins could enjoy spicy barbecued meats and poultry, tasty greens, cornbread, and other home-style dishes. Other commons dishes are fried chicken, fish and macaroni and cheese.

MUSIC.

The influence in music in this country is huge.

It all started with the African musical roots. Eso se dividió en tres importantes ramas.

African American secular traditions instrumental, African American secular traditions and African American sacred traditions.

On the line of the instrumental traditions borns syncopated music to dance. In 1880 appears ragtime, the syncopated brass bands, the New Orleans-styled jazz, the early jazz bands, the swing bands in the 50´s, and then from there; the bebop, modern jazz, soul jazz, jazz fusion and new jazz swing.

On the line of African American secular traditions was born in the 1600 and 1700 songs to play (game songs) and social songs. There were also songs to work (in the cotton fields) that eventually mutated into rural blues. Three important styles emerge from here: the vaudeville blues, urban blues and Boogie-Woogie, from where is born the rhythm & blues that eventually becomes rock & roll in 50´s. Then, a huge variety of different rhythms such as soul, disk, house, funk, rap and hip-hop, go-go, techno funck, new jack swing, etc, were born.

The third line is the religious, where is born the folk spiritual, and at the same time folk gospel, gospel hymn, traditional gospel, gospel gropus, choirs until today we can see contemporary gospel.

The number of notable musicians are endless: icons such as Buck Clayton, Sidney Bichet, Louis Armstrong, Lil Hardin, King Joe Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton. They were followed by Scott Joplin, Fletcher Henderson, Noble Sissle, Louis Jordan, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others.

In the rhythm and blues style banner artists include Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Big Joe Turner and Hudie Ledbetter led the way for artists including Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Ruth Brown, Little Willie John and many more.

With the rock and roll style the names are: James Brown, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Betty Everett, Tammy Terrell and Marvin Gaye.

Others influencers such as Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Martha and the Vandellas and The Jackson Five, George Clinton, Jimmy Hendrix, Michael Jackson and all the Hip-hop heroes, Snoopy Dogg, Notorious Big, etc.

DANCE.

Again, the roots of Afro-American dance is founded in the first slaves brought to US. Dance is a tradition that was constantly used in the everyday life of the African tribes. Many of these traditions such as get down, ring shouts, and other elements of African body language survive as elements of modern dance.

From there the dance evolved, passing through different States: catwalk, there were born the lindy hop, jitterbug and the swing. The African-American broadway shows helped legitimize and establish the black dancers.

(http://www.ehow.com/about_5526590_africanamerican-dance-history.html )

White and black choreographers used the African-inspired movements and cast African-American dancers in their performances.

Break dancing emerged from the streets of the Bronx in the 1970s, and hit the big screen in the 1980s with "Breakin'" and "Breakin' 2." Although breaking and hip-hop dancing originated on the streets, classes in both dance styles are offered in dance studios across the world today.

LITERATURE.

From the oral tradition of Africans to the contemporary authors its have been written amazing variety of topics; to combat racism, seeking an identity of race and trying to keep a balanced life quality.

The first published black writer was Phillis Wheatley. Then the Slaves Narratives in the 18th century and autobiographies, with writers such as Booker Washington.

In the 19th century and early 20th, the authors who have influenced were Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison to reach nowadays with writers as Alice Walker, Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison.

HARLEM RENAISSANCE.

The Harlem Renaissance, baptized as new black movement, originally consisted of a flowering of literature and art African-Americans in the New York neighborhood of Harlem, back in the twenties and early thirties of the twentieth century.

The millions of black southerners, newly freed from slavery laid the foundations of this Renaissance and also suffered the hardness of the reconstruction of the early 19th.

They migrated to New York and other northern cities, an exodus that is known as the great migration.

Important part in the foundations of the Harlem Renaissance is the historian and African-American sociologist W.E.B. DuBois, famous for his book The souls of black folk (the soul of blacks - 1903) and for the role he played in the creation of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).

DuBois imposed a new kind of cultural awareness and pride blacks, inspiring a generation of young writers and artists.

One of the leaders of this movement was James Weldon Johnson, author of the novel “Autobiography of an ex-colored man”. Johnson was followed by Nella Larsen and Zora Neale Hurston, whose respective novels Passing (1929) and Their eyes were watching God (1937) were among the first literary works of African-American women applauded by critics.

The Harlem Renaissance was a particularly remarkable in poetic terms. As for example Countee Cullen, cultivating traditional forms and Langston Hughes, who incorporated into his works the new musical genre, jazz rhythms.

These links between music and literature were particular from this movement: great figures of both fields were mutually inspired throughout his artistic life.

In the 1930s, the Harlem Renaissance was turning off because of the great depression that hit the black community of New York.

Despite this, new styles and subjects that were born during its heyday, paved the way for Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and other exponents of new generations of novelists, poets and African American playwrights. During this time, a large number of black renowned painters were born, like William H. Johnson and Palmer Hayden, Lois Mailou Jones.

SPORTS.

Innumerable amount of African-American athletes have influenced the history of United States. Since the first black baseball player, Jackie Robinson in 1947, through the, perhaps bettter boxer of all times, Muhammad Ali, to Jim Brown, which some called the most big football player ever.

We cannot forget of the runner that humiliate Hitler, Jesse Owens; the great boxer Joe Louis, the best and most charismatic athlete of the planet, Michael Jordan. We cannot forget to name Wilma Rudolph, John Carlos, Arthur Ashe, Hank Aaron, Curt Flood, Tiger Woods, Magic Johnson, Jack Johnson, the Harlem Globetrotters and the inevitable influence of Don King.