Civil+Rights+Art

Background: The African American Civil Rights Movement took place from 1955-1968. The official birth of the movement was Rosa Parks's refusal to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, AL on Dec 1, 1955. The end of the movement was marked by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN. It was during this time that African Americans and Whites alike sought to gain equal rights for the African American Community. With the passing of legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act in 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, they made great progress in gaining equal rights for African Americans. This movement also greatly inspired musicians, writers, and painters to produce some of their greatest and most politically motivated pieces.

Theater: One of the most famous pieces of writing from the civil rights movement is //A Raisin in the Sun (//1959), a play by Lorraine Hansberry. It is a play about an African American family in an all white Chicago neighborhood. It was the first Broadway play to be written by an African American woman, and also the first to have an African American director.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3416802371101142149&q=a+raisin+in+the+sun&ei=vVEqSI-tAZSGrQK-ipWHCg&hl=en

Painting: The most prominent African American painter of the 20th century was Jacob Lawrence, who is best known for his //Migration Series// a set of paintings depicting the Great Migration of African Americans from south to north. While these were done in 1941, he continued to be a pioneer of African American themes in painting throughout the civil rights movement. His paintings can be seen at various prominent museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MoMA, and the Whitney. One of his paintings was actually purchased for 2.5 million dollars for the White House.