The Mother

The Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s was informed by contemporary political and social movements in the United States. Beginning in theater and spreading through literature, music, and dance, artists sought to represent African Americans’ unique culture and experiences and amplify the celebratory spirit of Black pride. An inherently political project, the Black Arts Movement resisted the oppressive systems of race-based slavery and Jim Crow laws. By lauding the innovation, persistence, and cultural achievements of Black people in the United States, the movement galvanized audiences toward the end of full economic, social, and legal liberation of Black Americans.

Women artists like Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez comprised a feminist subsection of the Black Arts Movement. They critiqued male leaders for failing to address the specific plight of Black women, urging them to examine how gender roles and expectations fueled sexist oppression within the movement. Although movement leadership remained dominated by men, the persistence of these vocally-agitated women created a path for future Black feminist voices to be heard.

Cultural critic Larry Neal described the Black Arts Movement as the aesthetic arm of the Black Civil Rights Movement. On Black Arts and Black Power, he wrote: “both concepts are nationalistic.