Below are links to many resources for both teachers and students, organized by theme and including a general section for contemporary cultures of resistance.
Bomba and Freedom
- “Why Puerto Rican Bomba Music Is Resistance” documentary by PBS’ Sound Field - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RGqiGHWDrQ&t=37s&ab_channel=SoundFieldSoundField
- “Afro-Latinx Revolution: Puerto Rico” documentary by Natasha S. Alford - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uM83LNZmWs&t=723s&ab_channel=theGrio
- “Bomba: The Enduring Anthem of Puerto Rico,” Photographs by Rose Marie Cromwell, Text by Lauren Du Graf - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/07/style/bomba-puerto-rico-music-dance.html
- “Rooted in resistance, Puerto Rico’s bomba honors Black lives,” Vicky Diaz-Camacho, Kansas City PBS - https://artscanvas.org/arts-culture/rooted-in-resistance-puerto-ricos-bomba-honors-black-lives
- “Bomba Reveals A Story Of Slavery,” Leah Andelsmith
- https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/bomba-reveals-the-story-of-slavery
- Slave Voyages interactive website with maps - https://slavevoyages.org/voyage/maps#introductory-
- “Movimiento Cultural Afro-Continental Keeps The Beat,” Alma Mendoza
- https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/movimiento-cultural-afro-continental-keeps-the-beat
- “Feb. 2, 1512: Taíno Leader Hatuey Executed in Cuba,” Zinn Education Project - https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/hatuey/
- Hurray for the Riff Raff, Navigator album, music video for “Rican Beach” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqfxkKR7y98&ab_channel=Pitchfork
- Hurray for the Riff Raff, Navigator album, music video for “Pa’lante” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LilVDjLaZSE&ab_channel=HFTRRVEVO
The Blues and Black Feminism
- Bessie Smith, “Poor Man Blues” (audio) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykl6o4GAEq8&ab_channel=BessieSmithVEVO
- Ma Rainey, “Chain Gang Blues” (audio) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y1POslMDUE&ab_channel=TravelerIntoTheBlue
- Bessie Smith, “Young Woman’s Blues” (audio) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAUfnWKE3Ts&ab_channel=BessieSmithVEVO
- Ma Rainey, “Prove It On Me Blues” (audio) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srSLnF8xcj8&ab_channel=MaRainey-Topic
- Megan Thee Stallion, “Why I Speak Up for Black Women” Opinion Editorial - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/opinion/megan-thee-stallion-black-women.html
- Megan Thee Stallion (video) - https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000007387419/megan-thee-stallion-black-women.html
- “The Year Megan Thee Stallion Become a Symbol,” Rawiya Kameir https://pitchfork.com/features/article/the-year-megan-thee-stallion-became-a-symbol/
Zoot Suits and Fashion as Resistance
- “A Brief History of the Zoot Suit,” Alice Gregory - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/brief-history-zoot-suit-180958507/
- LACMA Exhibit - https://unframed.lacma.org/2016/01/26/search-authentic-zoot-suit
- “‘Zoot Suit,’ a Pioneering Chicano Play, Comes Full Circle,” Robert Ito - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/theater/zoot-suit-a-pioneering-chicano-play-comes-full-circle.html
- “How Anti-Mexican Racism in L.A. Caused the Zoot Suit Riots,” History Channel short documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxtThBTf0sI&ab_channel=HISTORY
- “A Brief History of Protest Fashion,” Scarlett Newman - https://www.teenvogue.com/story/a-brief-history-of-protest-fashion
- Fashion and Race Syllabus, Rikki Byrd, https://fashionandrace.wordpress.com/
The Black Panther Party, Emory Douglas, and Visualizing Black Revolution
- “Emory Douglas: The Art of The Black Panthers,” Dress Code (documentary) https://vimeo.com/128523144
- “Fifty Years Later, Black Panthers’ Art Still Resonates,” By Angelica McKinley and Giovanni Russonello (including images of Emory Douglas artwork) - https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/arts/fifty-years-later-black-panthers-art-still-resonates.html
- “Black is Beautiful: The Emergence of Black Culture and Identity in the 60s and 70s,” National Museum of African American History and Culture - https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/black-beautiful-emergence-black-culture-and-identity-60s-and-70s
- “A Brief History of the Lumpen, the Black Panthers' Revolutionary Funk Band,” Eric Arnold - https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851531/a-brief-history-of-the-lumpen-the-black-panthers-revolutionary-funk-band
- ¡Presente! The Young Lords in New York exhibit at the Bronx Museum - http://www.bronxmuseum.org/exhibitions/presente-the-young-lords-in-new-york
- AfriCOBRA - https://www.swanngalleries.com/news/african-american-art/2020/04/africobra/
- Elizabeth Catlett - https://www.elizabethcatlettart.com/new-gallery/6nyr9fzjttm3rql1gykx6v23388oqy
- Betye Saar - http://www.betyesaar.net/
- Hiram Maristany - https://americanart.si.edu/artist/hiram-maristany-31147
- Taller Boricua - https://tallerboricua.org/about/
- Allied Media Projects - https://alliedmedia.org/resources
- Maria Gaspar, interdisciplinary artist - https://mariagaspar.com
Queer Resistance: Gay Balls and Disco
- “‘Listen, and You Will Hear all the Houses that Walked There Before’: A History of Drag Balls, Houses, and the Culture of Voguing,” Tim Lawrence - https://ezratemko.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/A-history-of-drag-balls-houses-and-the-culture-of-voguing.pdf
- “A Brief History of Voguing,” National Museum of African American History and Culture - https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/brief-history-voguing
- “The Ballroom Scene Has Long Offered Radical Freedoms For Black and Brown Queer People. Today, That Matters More Than Ever,” Benji Hart and Michael Roberson - https://time.com/5941822/ballroom-voguing-queer-black-culture-renaissance/
- “Already Obsessed With Pose? Here's A History Of New York's Ball Culture,” Elena Nicolaou - https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/06/200854/ball-culture-history-pose-fx
- “Walk!” documentary, Nicholas Jenkins - https://vimeo.com/156953364
- “Paris is Burning” documentary
- “Kiki” documentary
- Clotilde Jimenez, painter and sculptor - http://www.clotildejimenez.art/
- Bad Bunny Gets a Full Drag Makeover in New ‘Yo Perreo Sola’ Video, Suzy Exposito - https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/bad-bunny-drag-transformation-yo-perreo-sola-video-974467/
- Lil Nas X - https://www.teenvogue.com/story/lil-nas-x-queer-representation-music
Hip Hop and the Youth of the Bronx
- “Wild Style,” hip hop film, Charlie Ahearn - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaXMfw0IJOo&ab_channel=UNIVERSALHIPHOPTV
- “Hip Hop Evolution” series (Netflix)
- Noname - https://www.npr.org/2019/02/10/692701998/we-need-to-exist-in-multitudes-noname-talks-artistic-independence-women-in-rap-a
- Rebel Diaz - https://rebeldiaz.com/
- Shellyne Rodriguez - https://www.shellynerodriguez.com/
- Take Back the Bronx - https://www.instagram.com/takebackthebronx/?hl=en
- Decolonize This Place - https://decolonizethisplace.org/
Contemporary Cultures of Resistance
While each lesson includes contemporary connections and relevant resources, there are many additional artists who must be mentioned. The following list, though certainly not exhaustive, includes contemporary artists across a variety of genres who are currently creating cultures of resistance. These can be excellent openers to share with students throughout the length of this unit, making connections between the past and the present.
- Alok Vaid-Menon, performance artist - https://www.alokvmenon.com/about
- Bisa Butler, textile artist - https://news.artnet.com/art-world/bisa-butler-art-institute-chicago-interview-1957021
- Daniel Lind-Ramos, sculptor - https://daniellindramos.com/biography/
- Dread Scott, interdisciplinary artist - https://www.dreadscott.net/
- Jennifer Packer, painter - https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/jennifer-packer/
- Kehinda Wiley, visual artist - https://kehindewiley.com/
- Kenny Rivero, visual artist - https://www.kennyrivero.com/
- Nick Cave, textile artist, sculptor, performance artist - https://jackshainman.com/artists/nick_cave
- Nicole Eisenman, mixed media - https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/26346-nicole-eisenman
- Terence Nance, filmmaker - http://terencenance.com/
- Titus Kaphar, visual artist - https://kapharstudio.com/
