Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Zamsky, Robert
Keywords
Jimi Hendrix, Bob Kaufman, Ofwgkta
Area of Concentration
Music
Abstract
Jimi Hendrix, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, and Bob Kaufman are black artists working within predominantly white milieus. The public histories of each case exemplifies the continued marginalization of black culture within the mainstream. As pop cultural commodities, Hendrix and OFWGKTA's appeals to white audiences have resulted in discourses that divorce them from the black cultural traditions in which their work is grounded. A poet whose work was mostly done in public performance rather than publication, Bob Kaufman was more resistant to capitalist mechanisms, and until recently was excluded from literary history almost entirely. As a result, the African-American perspective that informs his poetry is all but forgotten within the public history of the Beats. This thesis re-grounds Hendrix and OFWGKTA's music within black traditions and re-engages with Bob Kaufman life and work, illuminating the processes by which such traditions become marginalized.
Recommended Citation
Mason, Jakilah, "To Be Black As You Are Jimi Hendrix, Ofwgkta, Bob Kaufman, and The Marginalization of Black Cultural Traditions" (2012). Theses & ETDs. 4642.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/4642