During the 1960’s, African Americans in the United States were treated extremely different that other ethnic groups. After the American Civil war, African Americans had to face a lot of segregation and discrimination. The race overall was stereotyped and looked down upon. The 1960s was the time of Civil rights and a series of political activity. This decade helped to change the country’s political and cultural background. Thousands of people contributed to the Civil Rights movement but Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became the leader. The goal of the Civil Rights movement was to seize and end racial discrimination and segregation towards African Americans with their main focus being to receive equal rights. Boycotts, sit-ins, and marches were some forms of non-violent protests that African Americans used and many were successful. Malcom X, another prominent leader during this time who led the Black Panther Party, a group formed by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. This group had similar goals as Dr. King, but they believed in the right to self-defense. African American dress during the 1960’s has had a very influential impact of what we wear today. During this time, blacks were still close minded and had beliefs that white people were superior to them. Blacks would use chemicals to straighten their hair with the hopes of resembling the white culture. Popularized by African American men, the hairstyle “conk” became a very popular hairstyle for men in the 60’s. It was not long before the black power movement was started where blacks started to embrace their natural beauty and sport the afro, which became a popular symbol for the movement. This cause the hairstyle the “conk” to go out of style quickly and become less popular in society. During the 1960s, sporting the afro showed your passion for African American pride. Even though the afro was considered as “big hair”, many wanted to rock it because it African Americans were able to go against the societal norms and not feel obligated to imitate the white hair. They then openly expressed their afrocentricity and promoted the African culture. Eventually, surrounding cultures started to fall into this trend making it popular amongst everyone. Blue jeans is another thing that took off in the 60’s and became a significant part of the African American culture. Before, blue jeans were not seen worn often by African American unless for yard work. They now delivered the messages “make, love, not war” or “black power”. In 1965, miniskirts became very popular for women and by 1967, many of the American young women were showing off their legs, which went against society’s modesty rule. Many of them wore them as a sign of rebellion and gained a lot of attention from the society as a whole. They got tired of following the conventional standards of dress and decided to dress more freely. Many people considered this as the decade to “let it all hang out”. Rhythm and blues music was the popular genre during this era. It is rooted from jazz and old spiritual and gospel music that was performed by African Americans. By the 1960's, rhythm and blues consisted of more influence from gospel elements. Eventually R&B and gospel music elements were combined to create a new mix that was termed soul music. This was instituted by several successful African American artist such as James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Sam Cooke ("Civil Rights and Fashion", 2009; Ward, 2009; "R&B", 2014; "Civil Rights Movement", 1991; Duncan, 2014; "African American"; Beck and Parsons, 2007). Sources
Civil Rights and Fashion in the 60's. (2009). Civil Rights and Fashion in the 60's. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.civilrightsdefence.org.nz/resources/fashion.html Ward, B. (2009, January). What's That Sound? Teaching the 1960s through Popular Music. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/sixties/resources/what%E2%80%99s-sound-teaching-1960s-through-popular-music R&B History. (2014). The Official 60's Site-Rhythm and Blues Music of the 1960s. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.the60sofficialsite.com/Rhythm_and_Blues_Music_of_the_1960s.html Civil Rights Movement. (1991, January). History.com. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement Duncan, G. (2014, February 12). Black Panther Party (American organization). Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/68134/Black-Panther-Party African American Civil Rights Movement. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_(1954%E2%80%9368) Beck, J., & Parsons, J. L. (2007). Twentieth century dress in the United States. New York: Fairchild Publications.
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