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Essay On African American Culture

803 Words4 Pages

It is a personal opinion that without art, music, and literature, the people are collectively motionless. Culture is more than art, music, and literature, it is the substance of the people’s faith and the evidence of their growth. While Black culture contributed to the development of the United States of America’s culture, Caribbean popular culture is and has always been the channel used by the lesser group against the dominant group actions. An example, when the dominant group (British) tried to restrict the Carnival celebrations of the enslaved on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago in late 1800 the lesser group fought back . For the purpose of this essay, Trinidad Carnival will be the focus of this discussion. The origin of Trinidad …show more content…

This project involves discovering how the Caribbean culture flourished during the 1800 and 1900 under Spanish, French and British rule. The African enslaved and Indian indenture servants popular cultural was subtly influenced by the Spanish, French and British traditions. Actually, research traced the Indian presence in music to 1845 through their use of tassa drums during their Muslim Hosay festivals. Trinidad and Tobago indisputable rich African rhythmic style is still found in the authentic traditional African music of the people of Africa. A music that is mysterious, challenging and even repulsive to some modern Afro-Caribbean and non–African listeners.
There are many similarities between Africans and Indian culture, this has allowed the communities in Trinidad and Tobago to grow and keep the rituals, customs and beliefs without being questioned or changed. The traditions connected the people by country, community, family and friends. Many of these traditions are still passed down in oral form from generation to generation, despite the growing ethnocentrism that still assesses Caribbean popular culture according to preconceived standards. This judging

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