Diaspora: From Lali to Rap: The African Musical Influences in the Americas

Using basic themes of communication, leadership and community, Diaspora! will lead students on a journey from the coasts of Africa to the in-lands of America. Students will learn about the aesthetics of work and the principles of survival as they are presented in the American slavery experience. Methods of communication and story telling are explored through the oral traditions of “signifying”, “pattin’ juba” and “urban street jive”, traits which are present in the rituals of African tribal life and modern day rap that survived the African Diaspora.