BRIDGES

Description

African American political thought is deeply rooted in African spirituality, which has always been an important means of documenting the history of enslaved Africans in America through different types of music. This spirituality, that pervades all aspects of African American life, originally draws its traditions from African culture. But it has been transformed to serve political thinking and nationalistic strategies for African American leaders during and after enslavement. African spirituality has been a powerful asset which has allowed African Americans to deal with their experiences as free and unfree people. This paper attempts to show how spirituality and oral culture through aesthetics and music have been used to build a strong political thought culture and scholarship, and strategies for liberation, equal rights, and inclusion in America.