I think that Larry Neal calls for a kind of writing that "speaks directly to the needs and aspirations of Black America." (Larry Neal's Manifesto). This means that the aesthetics and ethics should create anew form of art for African Americans. Because the white American thinking was the only thing they have known since black people were emancipated. Black people knew that they had the right to be free in America but they were not white Americans. So the journey through their roots began with the arts.
Western Cultural aesthetic was another issue that Larry Neal exposed saying that black Americans have their own identities. The relationship between arts and politics in the Black Arts Movement becomes a turning point in order to explain the Black power because it was not about the literal meaning of these words but the sovereignty of African Americans over society.
This manifesto was published in 1968, the same year of the Vietnam War. The United States of America , the great power of the world, was losing against a poor country like Vietnam. The main reason of this war was allegedly the one about politics. Communism was a powerful party at that time so America decided to stop it.I think this event shaped Neal's ideas in the way that radical politics were not effective as well as the art of politics.
1 comment:
Interesting post - keep in mind that the Vietnam war went on for many years (early 1960s-1975) - 1968 was a turning point in showing that it was possible this poor nation might defeat the U.S., along with a new level of protests against the war in the U.S.
I'm a little confused about your last sentence - do you think Larry Neal is putting forward the arts as a more effective means than traditional political protest, or that the two go together?
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