Yale University is planning to offer students a course on Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter’s cultural influence in spring 2025, as reported by Yale Daily News.
The professor, Daphne Brooks teaches African American Studies and music, and will be teaching a new class titled,
“Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics through Music.”
In the course, students will get familiar with Beyoncé’s artistic work from 2013 to 2024. They will learn about Black history, ideas, and performance.
This course comes from a previous class taught by Brooks at Princeton University called
“Black Women in Popular Music Culture.”
While at Princeton, Brooks was part of the English and African American Studies Departments. Many topics in her Yale course are based on what she taught about Beyoncé’s influence in her Princeton class.
“Those classes were always overenrolled,”
Brooks said.
“And there was so much energy around the focus on Beyoncé, even though it was a class that starts in the late 19th century and moves through the present day. I always thought I should come back to focusing on her and centering her work pedagogically at some point.”
Brooks feels that after the 2024 election and the events leading up to it, it’s crucial to acknowledge Beyoncé’s remarkable impact on American culture, popular culture, and global culture over the past twenty years.
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
Beyoncé and her expansive cultural legacy will be the subject of a new course next year at Yale University. https://t.co/BhwOeLI2ai
In the African-American community, Line Dances have become a pillar of the culture. It has united the community together with soulful music for generations.
Line Dancing has provided a sense of comfort and pride throughout time, originating overseas in Africa and the Caribbean and migrating west throughout the world with smooth footwork and swift dance moves.
Whether you are at a Graduation BBQ or an Anniversary party, when these tunes come on you have no choice but to get up and dance with your loved ones.
Cha Cha Slide
In the late 1990s, Willie Perry Jr, better known as DJ Casper, created the dance routine we all recognize today as the Cha Cha Slide for his nephew, David Wilson, who at the time was an aerobics instructor at Bally’s Total Fitness.
The song began to receive a lot of attention spreading to clubs and local hot hangout spots around town and then eventually spreading throughout the globe.
This song became as popular as it did because it was a tune that anyone of any age could vibe to. According to The Washington Post,
“I think it was widely embraced because everybody could dance to it”
says LaDonna Tittle, a veteran radio personality, who contributed to the success of spreading awareness of the soon-to-be worldwide gem.
Cupid Shuffle
Bryson Bernard, better known as Cupid, artist of the song Cupid Shuffle tells a source at Newsone, how he got the idea to create his hit song.
“I was a 19-year-old Blues singer touring with the SOS Band and Lenny Williams when I recorded the song,”
Cupid told Newsone.
“Everywhere we would go before we’d start the show, we’d get the crowd going with a line dance. I saw how the crowd was reacting and I wanted to create a modern-day line dance.”
In 2007, Cupid intentionally came up with a song and dance that he felt everybody in the dance community could come together and dance to. Little did he know that it would later be honored and recognized in the White House and honored by First Lady Michelle Obama for her Let’s Move campaign.
Wobble
A dance group from Atlanta, Georgia created one of the most influential line dances in the early 2000s. Wobble was created to bring people together to have fun and stay in shape.
Although this song is a part of the line dance family, it is well-known as an aerobics dance that is usually paired with hip-hop music.
This dance has become popular with videos of fitness groups, family gatherings, and other social group events circulating throughout social media platforms creating viral moments of the song.
Along the coast, which holds some of the finest beaches in Africa, Famed for its scenic landscape and massive wildlife reserve, plus its variety of animal species.
Finding a comfortable place to rest is important. Here are a few places where you can find that comfort:
1. Weston Hotel
The hotel is elegantly designed to ease the pressures of life and promote ultimate comfort. It boasts the best views of the breathtaking Nairobi National Park and the Ngong Hills in the backdrop. It is only a 5-minute drive from the Central Business District and 15 minutes from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Spacious and airy reception, along with comfortable stylish seats, magnificent flowers, sophisticated style, and luxurious finishes, will definitely make your stay memorable.
2. Giraffe Manor
Situated next to Nairobi’s Giraffe Centre, the manor is in an exceptional location for interacting with Kenya’s wildlife. The international airport is 19 miles away, or Wilson Airport, where many tourists fly in and out on safari, is eight miles away. Set in 140 acres of indigenous forest, the house and grounds are simply beautiful. Built in 1932 as a house for Sir David Duncan, it retains the design and feel of its former days, you feel like you are staying in a friend’s house. During the day, you can sit outside watching butterflies flutter through the trees. In the evening, recline in the lounge in front of a grand fireplace, reading a book or playing chess.
3.The Panari Hotel
The Panari Hotel Nairobi offers a five-star, luxurious, and comfortable space to relax, unwind, rejuvenate in an ideal location that is conveniently 10 minutes away from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Nairobi. The Hotel exudes tranquility in exquisite surroundings and creates a warm feeling of unpretentious luxury.
Kenya is home to some of the rarest and most interesting species of wildlife in the world.
4. Maasai Mara National Reserve
The annual wildebeest migration is best observed at the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which also includes a Maasai village. This is probably the leading safari destination in Kenya and is regarded as the jewel of wildlife viewing. Its animals include lions, cheetahs, elephants, zebras, and hippos. Wildebeest traverse its plains during their annual migration. The landscape has grassy plains, rolling hills and is crossed by the Mara & Talek rivers.
5. Nairobi National Park
Nairobi National Park is the main tourist attraction for visitors. Visitor attractions include the park’s diverse bird species, cheetahs, hyenas, leopards, and lions. Other attractions are the wildebeest and zebra migrations in July, August, the Ivory Burning Site Monument, the Nairobi Safari Walk and animal orphanage. The park’s Wildlife Conservation Education Centre offers lectures and video shows about wildlife, guided tours of the park and animal orphanage. These tours are primarily, but not exclusively, to educate schools and local communities.
6. K’Osewe Ranalo Foods
Locals and tourists agree that K’Osewe Ranalo Foods is the best restaurant in Nairobi city center for traditional dishes and live music. It is also one of the top places to eat in Nairobi to have a local food experience after a day of city sightseeing. You can try out their goat meat, tilapia fish, or wet beef served with ugali and kachumbari. After eating, I recommend staying a little longer to enjoy a few Tusker beers while listening to a live band.
Reports by Arise News, Filmmaker and CEO Teen Africa TV Charles Novia has said the new Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy, overseen by Barr. Hannatu Musawa, should look into creating structures that direct the revenue of the creative economy to contribute greatly to the Nigerian economy rather than the international scene. In an interview with Arise News on Monday, Novia spoke of the numerous interests and investments in the sector right now.
The Culture and Creative industry has been described as a good potential to tap into and contribute to the Nigerian economy if properly harnessed. He stated that the new ministry will have to address the money made from these industries leaving the country, and not really contributing to the Nigerian economy.
He said,
“Burna Boy would do maybe a million or 2 million dollars or sell 10 million dollars worth of streams, I can tell you that 90% of that money is in the US. It doesn’t come to Nigeria. “Any young artist who ‘blows’, becomes popular, has a big hit, shifts out of the country immediately. “We are not feeling much of that impact here because the structures for supporting those artists within the touring systems are not here.”
Novia said the minister might take time to get used to the industry saying,
“We might have a square peg in a round hole.“ That is not what we need now. We need to have policy discussions with people in the industry and then we set the agenda right for her.”
He said,
“We are not speaking with one voice, so we need to start getting ourselves into a regulatory framework to begin to push for the right things for our own people, so the minister can help in that regard”.
He also highlighted the blurred lines between the industries, including Arts, Culture, Creative Economy and Tourism, and the importance of delineating the parastatals under them.
#Clique what are your thoughts on this
Charles Novia: 90% of Money Made By Nigeria’s International Artistes Stays Outside the Country “We have the biggest soft power right now in the whole of the continent," he said. https://t.co/OpIpVKDVSnpic.twitter.com/Y5aFOHnDJC
Nigerians are known for their versatility in art, music, drama and entertainment. Anywhere you see a Nigerian you know they raise the flag so high representing their motherland. Reports from Premium Times, Naija to the world a star studded iconic concert exhibition will debut on the 16th of September at the famous Apollo Theatre In New York. The event is said to celebrate the music and culture of the people of Nigeria’s rich oil cities, the culture of Ken Saro Wiwa, the culture of Don Jazzy, Burna Boy, Rema and many talented Nigerian celebrities.
The organizers’ of this studded event, Buckwyld Media Network and BHM announced the initiative as well as a landmark partnership to develop and execute a range of international showcases exploring the culture and creativity of Nigeria, Afrobeat, Nigeria’s film industry NOLLYWOOD, Naija Jollof and many more. The exhibit will traverse through several Nigerian cities from Lagos, Abuja, Jos, Port Harcourt before New York.
Part of the event will focus on telling cultural stories, providing related music related experiences from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, where at least 10 out of 20 talented creatives in the industry have emerged over the past years. Niger Delta was selected because of its rich cultural history and apart from live curated concerts, the series will also produce themed biographies, biopics and documentaries in partnership with selected platforms with an aim to provide an alternative narrative to the stories out in the media about Nigeria and Nigerians. Grass to grace success in achieving innovated and economic stability despite its 80% GDP in Nigeria.
#Clique what are your thoughts
BHM and Buckwyld Media are celebrating our authentic African stories with a showcase of Niger Delta performers through a series of jaw-dropping international music exhibitions.
The exhibitions, called “Naija To The World”, will debut at the Apollo Theatre, New York, on September… pic.twitter.com/4nGPkaNxDf
