Mingus, Charles (1922–1979)
Charles Mingus (1922–1979) was an American jazz bassist, composer, and bandleader. He held strong social and political views and composed songs on civil rights, such…
Search Results 1 - 25 of 27
Washington, Booker T. (1856–1915)
Born into slavery in Virginia, Booker Taliaferro Washington was the most prominent spokesman for Black Americans at the end of the 19th century. After attending…
Tolson, Melvin B. (1898–1966)
Melvin Beaunorus Tolson was a poet, journalist, and teacher whose literary work examines the conditions for black life and art from the African diaspora through…
Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt (1868-1963)
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was the most significant critical writer on race and culture in the twentieth century. Du Bois characterized the issue of…
Bernstein, Leonard (1918–1990)
Leonard Bernstein was the first American-born conductor to be trained entirely in the United States, and to lead a major symphony orchestra, the New York…
Spiral
Spiral was a collective of African American artists that briefly formed in New York City between 1963 and 1966. Romare Bearden and Norman Lewis were…
Lau, Alan Chong (1948--)
Alan Chong Lau is an American poet and visual artist. Lau began his poetic career in the wake of the 1970s Asian-American movement, a surge…
Rock ’n Roll Dance
Rock ’n roll dance was a major American dance form that became prominent in the 1950s and soon thereafter spread to the UK. The dance…
Boghossian, Alexander (Skunder) (1937–2003)
Alexander Boghossian, better known as Skunder, was one of the most prominent figures of African modernism. Born in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in 1937 to…
New Criticism
Formed in response to philological, historical, and moral methods of teaching literature in the mid-1930s, the New Criticism was an American critical movement that insisted…
Gandhi, M. K. (1869–1948)
Mohandas Karamchand (sometimes called Mahatma, or ‘great soul’) Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, a champion of Indian independence from Great Britain, and an advocate and…
Rive, Richard Moore (1931–1989)
Born 1 March 1931 in Cape Town, South African author Richard Rive was a novelist, editor, short story writer, and critic. Rive grew up in…
George Lamming (1927– )
George Lamming’s fiction, poetry, criticism, and journalism have been foundational for 20th-century Caribbean and African diasporic identities. To date, he is the author of six…
Ellington, Duke (1899–1974)
Duke Ellington was an American jazz composer, pianist, and big-band leader who authored over 1,000 compositions throughout his career. Having studied piano since the age…
Plaatje, Solomon Tshekisho (1876–1932)
Born in 1876 in the rural Free State, Sol Plaatje is descended from the Barolong boo-Modiboa, royals who had been deposed in the 1500s. The…
Barrett, Cynthia (1921–2006)
Choreographer, teacher, and dance artist Cynthia Barrett was a modern dance artist who established her own company in Toronto. For a short while she directed…
Kirstein, Lincoln Edward (1907–1996)
Lincoln Kirstein was an American impresario, writer, and philanthropist, best known as the patron and champion of choreographer George Balanchine, whom he brought to the…
Feminism and Suffragism
Originating from the French word féminisme, feminism’s first appearance in 1837 is attributed to the social theorist Charles Fourier (1772–1837). Denoting a principle that argues…
Genet, Jean (1910-1986)
Jean Genet was a poet, novelist, autobiographer and playwright within the Theatre of the Absurd movement. He wrote licentiously on homosexuals and outlaws, and explosively…
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a flourishing of artistic, intellectual, musical, and literary accomplishments by African Americans between the World Wars. The movement took its name…
Miranda, Carmen (1909–1955)
Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer and actress Carmen Miranda defied twentieth-century social and theatrical conventions to become a modern pop icon, an emblem of Hollywood’s Latina…
Black Dance
Black dance is both an aesthetic and historical category. When the term first appeared in the late 1960s, it referred to dance forms grounded in…
World Expositions of Paris (1889 and 1900) and Chicago (1893 and 1933)
The world expositions were monumental, public spectacles originating in the industrial fairs of early-nineteenth-century France and culminating in the Expositions Universelles of Paris (1889 and…
Dunham, Katherine Mary (1909–2006)
As a choreographer, anthropologist, educator, and activist, Katherine Dunham transformed the field of dance in the twentieth century. In the mid-1930s she conducted anthropological research…
McKayle, Donald (1930–)
In the mid-twentieth century, Donald McKayle became known for creating powerful modern dance works dealing with contemporary African-American experiences. He also helped break down color…