Turner, Soundtrack to a Movement Notes

Pages 15-69
● Islamic and Christian Influences in Jazz
● Boston and New York during WW2
● Mtropolis essetial to the black Atlantic story
● Golden age in which African American Islam and jazz shared parallel goals and values of
racial affrirmation, freedom, and self determination
● Boston’s pan-African and jazz communities were important sites of cultural creativity for
thousands of blacks from North, South, and caribbean, who reshaped religious, musical,
and political forms drawn Christianity, Islam and the African Diapsore into moden black
Atlantic Culture
● Malcolm Little’s story to the chapter’s main themes
● Rise of Boston’s Black atlantic community in the 1940s
● Dynamic period of growth between 1940 and 1950
● Looks at the role of music in the African American Muslim community/connection to
broader movments of black liberation and international solidarity
● Author argues that jazz and other forms of music played a critical role in shaping the
ideology and identity of African American Muslims from the early 20th century to
present day
● Jazz and other musical forms were used by Muslim leaders such as Noble Drew Ali and
Elijah Muhammad to create a distinct African American Muslim identity
○ Rejected the cultural assimilation promoted by mainstream American society
● Explores connections between African American Muslic music and broader struggles for
black liberation and international solidaritity
● AAM musicians were influnced by global movments
○ Pan-Africanism
○ Anti-colonialsm
○ Used music to express their solidarity with these struggles