ABSTRACT

In Soul Babies, Mark Anthony Neal explains the complexities and contradictions of black life and culture after the end of the Civil Rights era. He traces the emergence of what he calls a "post-soul aesthetic," a transformation of values that marked a profound change in African American thought and experience. Lively and provocative, Soul Babies offers a valuable new way of thinking about black popular culture and the legacy of the sixties.

chapter |22 pages

“You Remind Me of Something”

Toward a Post-Soul Aesthetic

chapter |33 pages

Sweetback's Revenge

Gangsters, Blaxploitation, and Black Middle-Class Identity

chapter |41 pages

Baby Mama (Drama) and Baby Daddy (Trauma)

Post-Soul Gender Politics

chapter |32 pages

The Post-Soul Intelligentsia

Mass Media, Popular Culture, and Social Praxis

chapter |44 pages

Native Tongues

Voices of the Post-Soul Intelligentsia

chapter |20 pages

Epilogue: A Soul Baby in Real Time

Encountering Generation Hip-Hop on Campus