Humor in Hue

Abstract

The Black Arts movement developed as a counterpart to the Black Power Movement in the 1960s and 1970s, and African American cartoonists incorporated Afrocentric themes in their work. The most prominent periodical during the Black Arts movement was Black World magazine. Formerly called Negro Digest, Black World featured original essays, short stories, poetry, and cartoons. This chapter discusses how gag cartoons in Black World from 1970 to 1976 featured intra-racial and interracial commentary between African American and White characters that affirmed, criticized, and challenged racial assumptions. The humor in these gag cartoons reflect a shift in racial class and gender attitudes during the Black Power and Black Arts movements. The chapter includes commentary from cartoonists featured in the magazine who were in a dominant position as creators of images that challenged racial assumptions and interrogated the signs, symbols and substance of the Black Arts movement.