African American Music

African American music has its roots in the rhythms carried over from Africa mainly by slave trade. The music has evolved significantly since its first arrival. Currenty, Hip Hop/Rap and R&B makes up most of the main stream of African American music. This music is generally described as race neutral and more part of the new hip hop culture than the African American culture. Below is an example of a song sung by an African American, Beyonce, reflecting the hip hop culture, which is all about living life and finding love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnVUHWCynig&ob=av2e

  source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_music#The_1990s_and_2000s

Hispanic American Poetry

Hispanic American poetry decribes both everyday and more significant life events. A major topic for Mexican American poetry is crossing the border into the United States. The poem below is the work of a Mexican American poet describing the stereotpyical life of a Mexian field worker toiling in the sun in order to create a better life for his family. This reflects the ideas of Hispanic culture of hard work and the importance of family.

 A Red Palm
You're in this dream of cotton plants.
You raise a hoe, swing, and the first weeds
Fall with a sigh. You take another step,
Chop, and the sigh comes again,
Until you yourself are breathing that way
With each step, a sigh that will follow you into town.
That's hours later. The sun is a red blister
Coming up in your palm. Your back is strong,
Young, not yet the broken chair
In an abandoned school of dry spiders.
Dust settles on your forehead, dirt
Smiles under each fingernail.
You chop, step, and by the end of the first row,
You can buy one splendid fish for wife
And three sons. Another row, another fish,
Until you have enough and move on to milk,
Bread, meat. Ten hours and the cupboards creak.
You can rest in the back yard under a tree.
Your hands twitch on your lap,
Not unlike the fish on a pier or the bottom
Of a boat. You drink iced tea.
The minutes jerk Like flies.

It's dusk, now night,
And the lights in your home are on.
That costs money, yellow light
In the kitchen. That's thirty steps,
You say to your hands,
Now shaped into binoculars.
You could raise them to your eyes:
You were a fool in school, now look at you.
You're a giant among cotton plants.
Now you see your oldest boy, also running.
Papa, he says, it's time to come in.
You pull him into your lap
And ask, What's forty times nine?
He knows as well as you, and you smile.
The wind makes peace with the trees,
The stars strike themselves in the dark.
You get up and walk with the sigh of cotton plants.
You go to sleep with a red sun on your palm,
The sore light you see when you first stir in bed.
By Gary Soto

Dances With Wolves ( Native American Movie)

Lt. John Dunbar is exiled to a remote western Civil War outpost. Dunbar requests to be sent here so he can see the frontier before it's gone. Although he finds it abandoned and in disrepair, he fixes the place up and doesn't actually mind living the life of solitude. Dunbar realizes he is in the territory of the Sioux Indian Tribe and as time continues on he befriends them and gradually earns their trust and respect.
I know this movie was made in 1990, however in my opinion, it does an excellent job of showing the Native American lifestyle. It instills a lot of respect for their culture in the viewers who watch this movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMOQORiWn80

Native American Poetry

"A Sioux Prayer"
Translated by Chief Yellow Lark - 1887

Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds
Whose breath gives life to the world, hear me
I come to you as one of your many children
I am small and weak
I need your strength and wisdom
May I walk in beauty
Make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
And my ears sharp to your voice.
Make me wise so that I may know the things you have taught your children.
The lessons you have written in every leaf and rock
Make me strong--------!
Not to be superior to my brothers, but to fight my greatest enemy....myself
Make me ever ready to come to you with straight eyes,
So that when life fades as the fading sunset,
May my spirit come to you without shame.

This is an older example of Native American poetry, but reveals much of the culture of this people group. This culture is characterized by spirtuality and love of nature. Man is seen as part of the earth, not ruler over it. The author uses reveals these ideas in desribing an individual as being their own biggest enemy, along with the use of nature imagery.

Source: http://www.firstpeople.us/html/A-Sioux-Prayer.html

Crazy Beautiful (Hispanic American Movie)

Nicole is a 17 year old troubled daughter of a congressman. She comes from a wealthy family and breaks all the rules that she possibly can. When she meets Carlos, a straight A student from a poor Latino family, they fall hard for each other. Throughout the movie it shows in great detail how their lives and cultures are completely different. A couple examples- Nicole is spoiled rotten, Carlos has to work for everything. Nicole is just living through the motions, getting drunk and skipping class, while Carlos is striving to become a pilot for the navy. Finally, Nicole bums of rides from her friend, while Carlos rides the bus for two hours in order to attend a good school.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCX6ofByDrg&feature=related

Asian American Poetry

Asian American poetry reflects the construction of asian identiy in the American culture. Since the 1970's Asian American involvement in society has increased. Asian American poets display the different types of involvements through their works. Janice Mirikitani in her poem, "Looking for America" describes the stereotypes Asian Americans face

Gran Torino (Asian American)

Walt is a grumpy, widower, Korean War vet who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. When his neighbor Thao, a Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang, tries to steel Walt's Gran Torino, Walt takes him under his wing and conforms the troubled teen. After taking time to actually get to know Thao, Walt helps and protects his family from the surrounding gangs. This film takes place in a neighborhood dominated by poor Asian familes in Detroit Michigan.
Side Note: The Hmong are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Z2n534q1Q