Black is beautiful
Encyclopedia
Black is beautiful is a cultural movement
that began in the United States of America in the 1960s by African American
s. It later spread to much of the black world, most prominently in the writings of the Black Consciousness Movement
of Steve Biko
in South Africa
. It aims to dispel the notion in many world cultures that black people
's natural features such as skin color, facial features and hair are inherently ugly. John Sweat Rock was long thought to be the first to coin the phrase "black is beautiful"–during a speech in 1858–but historical records indicate he never actually used the specific phrase on that day. The movement also encouraged men and women to stop trying to eliminate African-identified traits by straightening their hair and attempting to lighten or bleach their skin
.
This movement began in an effort to counteract the prevailing idea in American culture that features typical of "Blacks" were less attractive or desirable than those of "Whites". Research indicates that the idea of "blackness" being ugly is highly damaging to the psyche of African Americans, manifesting itself as internalized racism. This idea made its way into Black communities themselves and lead to practices such as paper bag parties
: social events which discriminated against dark-skinned African-Americans by only admitting lighter-skinned individuals.
Cultural movement
A cultural movement is a change in the way a number of different disciplines approach their work. This embodies all art forms, the sciences, and philosophies. Historically, different nations or regions of the world have gone through their own independent sequence of movements in culture, but as...
that began in the United States of America in the 1960s by African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s. It later spread to much of the black world, most prominently in the writings of the Black Consciousness Movement
Black Consciousness Movement
The Black Consciousness Movement was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in...
of Steve Biko
Steve Biko
Stephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It aims to dispel the notion in many world cultures that black people
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
's natural features such as skin color, facial features and hair are inherently ugly. John Sweat Rock was long thought to be the first to coin the phrase "black is beautiful"–during a speech in 1858–but historical records indicate he never actually used the specific phrase on that day. The movement also encouraged men and women to stop trying to eliminate African-identified traits by straightening their hair and attempting to lighten or bleach their skin
Skin whitening
Skin whitening, skin lightening and skin bleaching refers to the practice of using chemical substances in an attempt to lighten skin tone or provide an even skin complexion by lessening the concentration of melanin...
.
This movement began in an effort to counteract the prevailing idea in American culture that features typical of "Blacks" were less attractive or desirable than those of "Whites". Research indicates that the idea of "blackness" being ugly is highly damaging to the psyche of African Americans, manifesting itself as internalized racism. This idea made its way into Black communities themselves and lead to practices such as paper bag parties
Paper Bag Party
Paper bag parties were 20th-century African-American social events at which only individuals with complexions at least as light as the color of a brown paper bag were admitted...
: social events which discriminated against dark-skinned African-Americans by only admitting lighter-skinned individuals.
See also
- AfroAfroAfro, sometimes shortened to fro and also known as a "natural", is a hairstyle worn naturally by people with lengthy kinky hair texture or specifically styled in such a fashion by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair...
- Black prideBlack prideBlack pride is a slogan indicating pride in being black. Related movements include black nationalism and Afrocentrism.The slogan has been used in the United States by African Americans to celebrate heritage and personal pride. The black pride movement is closely linked with the developments of the...
- Black nationalismBlack nationalismBlack nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
- African American cultureAfrican American cultureAfrican-American culture, also known as black culture, in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of Americans of African descent to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture. The distinct identity of African-American culture is rooted in...
- Cool (aesthetic)Cool (aesthetic)Something regarded as cool is an admired aesthetic of attitude, behavior, comportment, appearance and style, influenced by and a product of the Zeitgeist. Because of the varied and changing connotations of cool, as well its subjective nature, the word has no single meaning. It has associations of...
- Cornrows
- DreadlocksDreadlocksDreadlocks, also called locks, a ras, dreads, "rasta" or Jata , are matted coils of hair. Dreadlocks are usually intentionally formed; because of the variety of different hair textures, various methods are used to encourage the formation of locks such as backcombing...
- JewcyJewcyJewcy is an online magazine and user community. The site was launched on November 15, 2006. The Guardian has described Jewcy as "a cultural icon" and "at the forefront of a reinvention of Jewish identity by young US Jews."...
- Natural hair
- "Non Angli, sed Angeli"
- Racial transformationRacial transformationRacial transformation is the process by which someone changes their appearance with respect to race, either from their current race to another race or to a new category...
- John RockJohn Rock (Abolitionist)John Stewart Rock John Stewart Rock John Stewart Rock (October 13, 1825 – December 3, 1866; was an American teacher, doctor, dentist, lawyer and abolitionist who originated the notion of "black is beautiful." Rock was one of the first African American men to earn a medical degree. In...