History of Rock and Roll Lesson 1/26/15 and 1/28/15

"Say it Out Loud."

Today's lesson focuses on the evolution, and growth of "soul music" in the late 1960's and 1970's.

Please click here for a link to today's lesson.  You may answer the questions on looseleaf, or download the file to your google docs file.  Please finish the assignment by the end of the period.  If you do not finish by the end of the period, you must finish the assignment for HW, and email it to me, at michael.tesler@wjps.org.  Thanks!

Day 2: 1/28/15 
1. Read  Handout 2: Biography of James Brown
2. Answer the questions below.  You may answer them on looseleaf, or create a google doc.

1. According to the author, what effect did the release of “Say It Loud” have on Brown’s career? How did Brown react? 
2. Why do you think it was important for Brown to make this record? Why was it important for the African-American community at that time?

3. Play the video James Brown, "Man to Man,"
4 . After watching the video, answer the questions below.  

• How does the audience react when Brown says, "I'm a man, a black man, a soul brother?"
• Does Brown seem to be conveying the same message that Smokey Robinson did in his interview? How is his message different?
• What do you think Brown means by saying he is struggling against the old "colored man" and replacing him with a "black" man?  
• How does Brown see his responsibility as an artist? Does he feel he has a particular responsibility to the African-American community? 
• Based on the song, the reading, and the video, how would you summarize the way Brown feels about himself as an African American?  

Day 3: 1/29/15
1. Play the video video of the interview with singer Harry Belafonte in 1967 and discuss:

• What is Belafonte's attitude toward the African-American community? How is his message similar to that of James Brown?
• Do Brown and Belafonte see themselves purely as entertainers? Do they see themselves as people whose job it is to simply make music to entertain African Americans and whites alike?  How does being African American influence the way they see themselves and their roles in society?
• How might the attitudes of Brown and Belafonte have been influenced by challenges to the Civil Rights movement and historical events between the early 1960s, when Motown and artists such as Smokey Robinson began recording, and the later 1960s, when dissatisfaction in the African-American community escalated into riots in places such as Los Angeles, California, and Newark, New Jersey, and the more militant political messages of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers became more popular? 

2. Read  Handout 3: Poetry Excerpts from Amiri Baraka and Nikki Giovanni

• What are the similarities between the poems and “Say It Loud.”
• What do you notice about the language and style of the two poems, as well as the language and style of the lyrics to “Say It Loud?" 
• Based on the language and style of the poems, and well as the language and style of "Say It Loud," what can you conclude about African-American self-expression?

3. Review the picture of  Diana Ross and the Supremes from 1966.  Compare it to a picture of Ms. Ross from 1968, 

• What conclusions can they draw from this dramatic change in Ross's look?