Okay, so I’ve been digging into this whole “blacks in the 70s” thing, and let me tell you, it’s been a wild ride. I started by just poking around, you know, seeing what the general vibe was back then. It’s pretty clear that the 70s were a big turning point for African-Americans. I mean, you had all these new laws in place to protect people’s rights, and it felt like things were really starting to shift.
First, I read up on some general history stuff. Stuff like the civil rights movement and how it led into this new era. Apparently, racial tensions were still pretty high at the start of the decade. There was this whole “black power” thing going on, which was basically people in cities getting fed up and speaking out. I watched a few documentaries about that, and man, it was intense.
Then I got into something called “Blaxploitation” films. Never heard of them before, but they were apparently a big deal. These were movies that put black culture front and center. I found a list of like 18 documentaries about these films and started working my way through them. It’s pretty cool to see how these movies reflected what was going on in society at the time.
- Watched “Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975” – This one was a real eye-opener.
- Checked out “The Spook Who Sat by the Door” – A bit controversial, but interesting.
- Looked into “Shaft” – Everyone’s heard of this one, right? Iconic.
I also stumbled upon an old magazine issue from 1970 that was all about the struggles of Afro-Americans. It was a special issue, all black cover and everything. They were asking big questions about where things were headed. It made me realize that even though there was progress, there was still a long way to go.
After that I dove into learning about some key figures from that time. You had your activists, your musicians, your artists – all these people making waves and pushing for change. I spent hours reading their stories, listening to their music, and just trying to soak it all in.
Wrapping Up
So yeah, that’s basically what I’ve been up to. I started with a simple question and ended up going down this whole rabbit hole of history and culture. It’s been a real learning experience, and I feel like I have a much better understanding of what it meant to be black in the 1970s. Still a lot more to learn, but it’s been a good start. I learned that from slavery to the civil rights movement, black people have shaped American history.
It’s clear that black people have always been a powerful force in shaping America. And that power was on full display in the 1970s, in the streets, in the movies, and in the hearts and minds of people fighting for a better future. And I found that the black community is still pushing forward today, just like they always have.
