The Black anthropologist, Vera Mae Green, is featured in this analysis of the concept of soul as applied to African-Americans. Music and dance are used to express soul in cultural context. But soul is also a force, an energy which encompasses the Black experience and makes Black culture persevere. (VM)

Among the aims of the festival are: 1) to ensure the revival, resurgence, and propagation of black and African culture and black and African cultural values and civilization, and 2) to promote black and African artists, performers, and writers and facilitate their world acceptance. (Author/AM)

FESTAC 1977 was the culmination of the many investigations, diversity of expression and the myriad ways black people are identifiable with African heritage. (Author)

An annotated listing, by publisher, of Black and Black-related books, described as incomplete due to space limitations. Includes novels, scholarly analyses, poetry, history, cultural studies, political studies, biographies, how-to manuals, bibliographies, drama, literary criticism, and folklore. (CMG)

The focal point of this dissertation was to generate a theory of the black aesthetic in the visual arts. The specific areas investigated were: (1) the black artists' and art students' assessment of their role to their community, (2) the explicit and/or implicit attitudes as perceived by the visual art participants of art instructors and art…

Discusses the spirituality and African roots of African-American culture. Defines Africanisms as elements of African culture that permeate both religious and secular African-American life. Defines the phenomenon identified as "soul" among African Americans as the contemporary manifestation of Africanisms. Suggests that soul music is…

The focus of this dissertation is on two central issues: (1) significant aesthetic theories developed by black scholars which treat the music of black Americans, and (2) the implications which these theories suggest for the development of curricula at all educational levels which treat the music of black Americans. The aesthetic theories selected…

Current research reveals that West African musical concepts provided the foundation for the various musical genres created by Black Americans. The Black musical tradition continues to evolve and mirror new values, attitudes, philosophies, and life-styles without the loss of a West African identity. (RLV)

The Caribbean is a rich breeding ground for African-derived music. A synopsis is given of the music of the following countries and styles: (1) Jamaica; (2) Trinidad and Tobago; (3) Calypso; (4) steel pan; (5) Haiti; (6) Dominican Republic; (7) Cuba; (8) Puerto Rico; and (9) other islands. (SLD)

Black American males lack a ceremony to usher them into manhood. Such a ritual could help to ensure proper socialization and self identity. It may counteract the negative influence of street culture. Like other major life change ceremonies, a coming-of-age rite can help to locate anew the individual within the community. Elements of this rite of…

A depiction of the Black family as an illegitimate White family is a misconception of Black family researchers who accepted Western assumptions about the Black family. A full understanding of the Black family will only occur when it is conceived in terms of its own nature. (Author/WI)

Concludes that the concerned black scholar should not shy away from empirical research on the psychological affairs of Afro-Americans because of its attendant vulnerability to presuppositions and biases. Instead he should use a presuppositional infrastructure that is heuristically viable and ethnographically sensitive. (Author/AM)

Identifies characteristics of the "bad nigger" image, establishes its historical consistency, and explores its significance in Afro-American literature. Though this study is not exhaustive, it is comprehensive enough to point to an image that is persistently shown in the literature. (Author)

Argues that proverbs play an important role in the continuing development and survival of Africans and African descendants throughout the diaspora. Analyzes research of proverb studies conducted in Africa, the Caribbean, Pittsburgh, and Detroit. Provides recommendations for further research. (KH)

Blacks, now distributed throughout the world, have everywhere maintained some Africanisms that reflect their cultural heritage. An awareness of these Africanisms can unite Blacks throughout the diaspora and contribute to their international quest for liberation and national identity. (KH)