Black Performance as Social Protest

Black performance and social activism have been a model for protest globally. It has enriched and activated cries for justice in multiple contexts. This course will help you expand your understanding of Black performance as social protest and its active effects on performance and protest today. The arts are a potent way of responding to issues of injustice. From slavery and lynching to incarceration and disenfranchisement, Black performance has resisted oppression across several historical frames. On this course, you’ll read, watch, and listen to performances that illustrate various forms of artistic protest from the African Diaspora. You’ll cover chants of the enslaved and dances of heritage, before moving on to look at early 20th century migrations and United States protests. You’ll identify ways in which patterns of resistance from the past contribute to ongoing social justice movements, such as Black Lives Matter. After investigating the history of Black performance as social protest, you’ll produce a reflective manifesto for achieving racial equity through performance.

• Slavery and The Whip
• This week we will be examining Black performance and representation in the age of slavery and beyond. We will begin to assess how protest developed and solidified in Black performance in the United States.
• Jim Crow and The Noose
• This week we will be examining how Black performance developed in response to the socio-political events of the early 20th century including migrations and protests in the United States. We will explore patterns of resistance within Black performance of this time.
• Civil Rights and The Fist
• This week we will be exploring Black performance of the Civil Rights Era and beyond including how it both defined and enlivened the global movement for Civil Rights and Black Nationalism.
• Black Lives Matter and The Baton
• This week you will expand on the concepts of the past and explore how they affect us in the present. You will also look at modern protest movements and explore how the use of performance manifests in the modern age.
• Call to Action: Manifesto and The Circle
• The final week of the course will culminate in a self-directed manifesto. To prepare for this we will explore other manifestos that have come out of the performance world.