This was G O O D! I recently watched Daniel Atkinson’s presentation on his book & research about George “Nash” Walker. He (Daniel) is a jazz musician & collector & he spoke about the pushback he faced early on for referring to jazz as Black music. I actually want to hear more Black folks speak about this.
That pushback is a very real thing. Whenever an art form that we create becomes a commodity and wealth builder for whites, then the very first thing that's done is to downplay the cultural significance, the Blackness of it in order to make it universally appealing. They tend to think that referring to the Blackness of the art form somehow limits its reach when nothing could be further from the truth. They also don't have to concern themselves with cultural capital because theirs is to dominate others.
Amazing powerful essay
Thanks Hometeam!!
This was G O O D! I recently watched Daniel Atkinson’s presentation on his book & research about George “Nash” Walker. He (Daniel) is a jazz musician & collector & he spoke about the pushback he faced early on for referring to jazz as Black music. I actually want to hear more Black folks speak about this.
That pushback is a very real thing. Whenever an art form that we create becomes a commodity and wealth builder for whites, then the very first thing that's done is to downplay the cultural significance, the Blackness of it in order to make it universally appealing. They tend to think that referring to the Blackness of the art form somehow limits its reach when nothing could be further from the truth. They also don't have to concern themselves with cultural capital because theirs is to dominate others.