Showing what I have learnt using a Prezi

'What is Black British culture', Radio 1Xtra

Black British culture:

When listening to the Radio 1Xtra programme, ‘What is Black British culture?’, I learnt a variety of interesting facts in which I felt made me understand the Black British culture. I looked at a variety of different issues within the Black British culture such as, foods, fashion and music.

Listening to the radio station showed the idea of the black British culture bringing over to UK a variety of new elements of their culture such as; food, music and fashion, bringing over a new heritage. Some of the foods are now known as a typical everyday life to the UK, allowing the different cultures to come together and for people to have a new variety of these different cultures. The different foods in which have been brought into the British culture by the different cultures such as the Jamaican culture allowed the culture to adapt and change in a variety of ways. Music is also seen as another matter in which Black culture has brung to British culture, such as grime.

The different styles of fashion have also seemed to combine throughout different cultures including the black culture. The idea of baggy jeans and tight jeans being the new fashion seems to show the idea of fashion crossing all the races as there is a variety of different cultural fashion. I also learnt by the radio cast of how black styles and tradition looks were also known to start being used by people who were known as a famous, traditionally British person such as David Beckham having small twists at the front of his hair, having contemporary cultures, the idea of new cultures coming into traditional cultures to create a variety of fashion styles and looks.

The language used within the Black British culture these days shows how the Jamaican language has now been involved within the British culture, such as new sayings and phrases which seem to be more said in the culture. Slang has also increased within the culture, as more youths today are known to be using it during everyday life. " At first when people used to say 'you think you're black' I used to argue the case back but now I just laugh." This quote shows that things have changed for youths today as people have got used to this way of life.

Overall, I feel that Black British culture has allowed different cultures come together and create a new type of lifestyle for many people to experience, allowing things to be less boring and have more variety of what is able to be done within a culture. I feel over that the Black British culture is a positive for many as it allows such a wide new variety of things within the British culture, mixing new things together to create a new type culture and community.

Radio Extract from 1958

When listening to this radio extract from 1958, the music used seems to represent the idea of fear, maybe being used to scare or put fear into British citizens. The lines used also seem to represent the idea of the different cultures such as the black and white culture. Showing that at the beginning of the clip the lines are representing the two being apart, then in the middle of the clip; the coming together and then going apart may show the continuous battle between the two trying to come together. However, towards the end of the clip the two different coloured lines come together and make of the typography towards the end of the date showing that by this date of 1958 things were finally starting to come together and the two cultures were beginning to work together as one, creating a new culture.

THE WINDRUSH YEARS (1948-1998)

1. 50 years - historic voyage of west Indians and were joined on their life-changing Atlantic voyage by some 500 other Caribbean men and women keen to visit England, over time "the Windrush generation" and their families have become integral to our society.

2. Taught to respect royal family - could not say anything against them.

3. In 1957, 2oo men returned back to the carribean.

4. The white British didn't understand the music taste of the Carribeans.

5. People after a certain time began to mix and start becoming friends with each other. The idea of sitting down for a drink together started to become more known.

6. They brung a new culture to britain, for example music, clothing and food.

7. A riot is started due to a group of youths chasing a Jamaican into a shop. Police are called and a mass of people watch what happens to this man.

8. Black people were beaten up on streets due to there colour, however many white people believed this was wrong and knew it had to be stopped.

9. People didn't want their churches due to the idea that the white felt that they would lose their white community as a result of this.

10. Black political action in Britain found its first focus in 1963 in Bristol.

11. Michael X was known as a very strong person who was only seen to want to speak the truth of his feelings towards different matters.

12. The conservative people began very divided due to the different views given.

13. A quote from Arthur Curling from the windrush years shows the views of someone involved within it, 'I came to England first in 1944 in the Airforce. I returned back to Jamaica in 1946 after spending two years there, it was too small for me. I joined the Airforce when I was 16 at the same time I left school, took my test and waited for the results. It was something beautiful at the time to all the young fellows in uniform. You think you want to be a part of something, but apart from that you can't always say why you do something, you're young, you don't stop and think of the dangers and things, you just do what you feel you want to do regardless of what your parents say. My parents did not approve in the beginning, but they had no choice at the time, but like everything else, its your life or your education, you gain an experience. I went back to JA in November 1946, the Windrush came in 1948, I returned to England, you know your parents are strict for one, now you have more freedom. After you reach a certain time in life you think you want to get away from the control of your parents'.

14. 60 years after Windrush: Significant immigration to the UK from the Caribbean began on 22 June 1948 with the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush at Tilbury in Essex. In 2008, Ipswich Celebrates is looking at the ongoing effects on Britain.

15. The 'Windrush Generation' refers to the whole first wave of immigrants from the West Indies rather than just the 492 passengers on the boat itself. By extension, it also refers to the mass-immigration from Asia.

Vince Reid's story about the Windrush years...

My parents brought me on the Windrush - I had no choice in the matter. They didn't have to - it was obvious they came in search of a better life, better opportunities. It was quite a devastating experience. I was thirteen when I arrived so I wasn't a man, I was a boy. Most of the people on the Windrush were men. I had never been out of Kingston same as for anybody, to go on this big ship, for all those days it was quite an experience.

I went to school in Kings Cross. I never associated with white people in any significant degree, and then school I came across real hostility. I mean to say I had no friends for several years that wouldn't be far from the truth.

I only had friends when I had gone through the Airforce and came out. I joined the Airforce when I was sixteen, what they call a boy entrant an Airforce apprentice. By the time I came out there were more black people in this country.

I am 62 years old now. I have been here 50 years . I would prefer to live here. Well, my family is here, my wife, my grandchildren are here.

I have no significant roots in Jamaica. I have been back to Kingston several times. My circumstances were significantly different to everyone else's, but personally I like England, it's a nice place to live. It's not to say it doesn't have its problems, racism and so on.

Definitions

IDENTITY: Identity is something that defines someone, 'without cultural/political/social differences one cannot have an identity. Unfortunately, sometimes these differences are amplified and a strive for a unified nationalistic identity is forfeited when certain groups, such as the Muslim members of society, are subjectified and ‘labelled' through certain media forms, newspapers particularly'.

COLLECTIVE IDENTITY: The concept of a collective identity refers to a set of individuals' sense of belonging to the group or collective. For the individual, the identity derived from the collective shapes a part of his or her personal identity. It is possible, at times, that this sense of belonging to a particular group will be so strong that it will trump other aspects of the person's personal identity. To put it another way, Collective Identity is the idea that through participating in social activities, individuals can gain a sense of belonging and in essence an "identity" that transcends the individual.

MEDIATION: Within media studies the central mediating factor of a given culture is the medium of communication itself. The popular conception of mediation refers to the reconciliation of two opposing parties by a third, and this is similar to its meaning in both Marxist theory and media studies. For Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, this mediating factor is capital or alternately labor, depending on how one views capitalist society (capital is the dominant mediating factor, but labor is another mediating factor that could overthrow capital as the most important one).

REPRESENTATION: Representation refers to the construction in any medium (especially the mass media) of aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures for example, class, age, gender and ethnicity.

HEGEMONY: The strong influence, as of a state, region, group, over another or others. The importance given to the dominant class’s ideas, values, belief systems. Labels those of other classes as ‘minority’, and so further controls production of future ideas, values.

COLONAILISM: is known as the policy of acquiring and maintaining colonies, especially for exploitation. Electronic colonialism theory explains how mass media are leading to a new concept of empire. It will not be one based on military power or land acquisition but one based on controlling the mind. It is a psychological or mental empire. It is an evolving global "Empire of the Mind." The global media are collectively influencing the minds, attitudes, values, and languages of individuals around the globe.

POST-COLONIALISM: Postcolonialism deals with cultural identity in colonised societies. The dilemmas of developing a national identity after colonial rule; the ways in which writers articulate and celebrate that identity (often reforming it from and maintaining strong connections with the coloniser).

YOUTH SUBCULTURE: A youth subculture is a youth-based term with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school. Youth subcultures that show a systematic hostility to the dominant culture are sometimes described as countercultures. Youth subcultures are often distinguished by elements such as fashion, beliefs, slang, dialects or behaviours. I feel that it could be relevant to collective identity as youth subculture also involves socioeconomic class, gender, intelligence, conformity and ethnicity can be important in relation to youth subcultures. Youth subcultures can be defined as meaning systems, modes of expression or lifestyles developed by groups in subordinate structural positions in response to dominant systems — and which reflect their attempt to solve structural contradictions rising from the wider societal context.

SYNCRETISM: Is known as the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.

POST-MODERNISM: Involves the belief that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs, as they are subject to change inherent to time and place. It emphasizes the role of language, power relations, and motivations; in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial. Rather, it holds realities to be plural and relative, and dependent on who the interested parties are and what their interests consist in.

URBAN MUSIC: Is a format of a certain type of music. Mainstream urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an urban contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic. The majority of the stations cater to younger listeners; they tend to have a more hip-hop-heavy playlist compared to the R&B-heavy playlist that is very common among urban contemporary-formatted radio stations. Also, mainstream urban stations tend to target both genders with its playlist compared to urban contemporary station that tend to target mainly females.

Prezi on 'Black Britain;.

Black Britain on Prezi

Creating an interactive brainstorm on 'Black Britain'.