The 1989 Grammy boycott by Hip Hop In 1989, Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff won the very first Grammy for Best Rap Performance. However, the win was not televised. Perhaps the higher ups couldn’t imagine people wanting to see rappers being presented with an award. Or maybe they didn’t know what would happen if they actually let rappers get on stage and speak freely, without … [Read more...] about Tuesday Open Thread: Iconic Hip Hop Moments in History
History
Saturday Open Thread: Historic Pop Culture Moments
Welcome to the 3 day weekend POU! Our final historic pop culture moment comes from 1983: Vanessa Williams crowned Miss America. The first African Americans to appear in the Miss America Pageant came onstage as 'slaves' for a musical number in 1923. It was not until 1970 that black women were even allowed to compete. That year, Iowa's Cheryl Brown, won a state … [Read more...] about Saturday Open Thread: Historic Pop Culture Moments
Friday Open Thread: Historic Pop Culture Moments
Happy Friday POU! It is probably the epitome of irony that the most historic, iconic performances of the National Anthem, are performances by African-Americans: Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye and Whitney Houston. Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock 1969 “The moment when he played ‘The Star-Spangled Banner, kinda stopped everything.” - Henry Ditz, official photographer for … [Read more...] about Friday Open Thread: Historic Pop Culture Moments
Saturday Open Thread: Black Music Composers
Undine Eliza Anna Smith Moore (25 August 1904 – 6 February 1989) was a notable and prolific African-American composer of the 20th century. She was also a professor emeritus at Virginia State University. Moore wrote more than 100 compositions, although only about 26 of these were published in her lifetime. Much of her work was composed for choir or voice and many of these were … [Read more...] about Saturday Open Thread: Black Music Composers
Friday Open Thread: Black Music Composers
Margaret Allison Bonds (March 3, 1913 – April 26, 1972) was an American composer and pianist. One of the first black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States, she is best remembered today for her frequent collaborations with Langston Hughes. … [Read more...] about Friday Open Thread: Black Music Composers