Arts and entertainment Flashcards
Along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, what type of music
is played with the accordion?
Zydeco
Who wrote “Their Eyes Were Watching God?”
Zora Neale Hurston
Which one of composer/pianist Anthony Davis’ operas
premiered in Philadelphia in 1985 and was performed
by the New York City Opera in 1986?
The Life and Times of
Malcolm X
Since 1987, who has held the position of director of
jazz at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New
York City?
Wynton Marsalis
Of what profession were Langston Hughes, Zora Neale
Hurston, and Countee Cullen, major contributors to the
Harlem Renaissance?
LiteraryWriters\Auth
ors
Who wrote Clotel, or The President’s Daughter, the
first published novel by a Black American in 1833?
William Wells Brown
For what 1954 film was Dorothy Dandridge the first
black actress to receive an Academy Award nomination
for Best Actress ?
Carmen Jones
What is the given name of blues great W.C. Handy?
William Christopher Handy
What aspiring fiction writer, journalist, and
Hopkinsville native, served as editor of three African
American weeklies: the Indianapolis Recorder, the
Freeman, and the Indianapolis Ledger?
William Alexander
Chambers
Nat Love wrote what kind of stories?
Westerns
Cartoonist Morrie Turner created what world famous
syndicated comic strip?
Wee Pals
Who was born in Florence, Alabama in 1873 and is
called “Father of the Blues”?
WC Handy
Georgia Douglas Johnson was a poet during the
Harlem Renaissance era. She often held writers‟
workshops at her home in what city?
Washington
DC
Growing up with a white Jewish mother and an African
American father, who wrote Devil in a Blue Dress, A
Red Death, White Butterfly, and Black Betty?
Walter Mosley
Name at least three nationally renowned 20th Century
tap dancers.
Bill Bailey; Charles
“Honi” Coles; Sammy
Davis, Jr.; Savion
Glover; Gregory
Hines; Maurice
Hines; Fayard
Nicholas; Harold
Nicholas; Bill
“Bojangles” Robinson
Known for his social and political views, who published
The Souls of Black Folks in 1903?
W.E.B. Du Bois
Who was the first Black American woman chosen as
Miss America?
Vanessa Williams
In addition to her outstanding career as a singer, what
was Marian Anderson
appointed to by President Dwight D. Eisenhower?
U.S. Delegate to the
United States
Harlem Renaissance writer Eric Walrond was born in
Georgetown, British Guiana and penned what book
that consists of a collection of ten stories?
Tropic Death
What Hopkinsville natives and brothers owned and
edited The Detroit Contender?
Ulysses and Robert
Poston
Name the three journalist sons of educator, poet, and
author Ephraim Pastor?
Ulysses, Robert, and
Ted Poston
Gustavus Vassa was a slave who had written the first
autobiography. His African name was Olaudah
Equiano. How many volumes made up his narrative?
two
Sallie Martin was the “mother of gospel music.” She
and Thomas A. Dorsey founded what group in 1933?
the National
Convention of Gospel
Choirs and Choruses
Langston Hughes was responsible for publishing what
Black American magazine?
The Nation
George Shirley was a tenor and member of what opera
company?
the Metropolitan
Opera
What Broadway show became the longest running
one-person show in the history of Broadway?
The Lady and Her
Music
What New York library houses rare collections of Black
culture?
The Schomburg
Center
What is the name of the sculpture designed as a
tribute to the four Black girls killed during a church
bombing in Alabama in 1963?
The Crucifixion
What is the name of the newsletter which was
originally edited by W.E.B. Du Bois and published by
the NAACP in 1910?
The Crisis
What is the name of the Harlem club where many
famous Black American entertainers began their
careers?
The Cotton Club
Music historians refer to what type of music as the first
Black American music?
Spiritual
This director, screenwriter and actor was born in
Atlanta but relocated to Brooklyn, where he later
established a film company. Whether working with a
low-budget and unknown actors or Hollywood
heavyweights, his films continue to be controversial
and push racial boundaries. Name him.
Spike Lee
Porgy was a black musical play that had its debut in
1927. It became a film in 1959 entitled Porgy and Bess
and had an all star black cast. Name two of the
actors/actresses that performed in this film?
Sidney Poitier,
Dorothy Dandridge,
Pearl Bailey, Sammy
Davis, Jr., Brock
Peters, Diahann
Carroll, Ivan Dixon,
Clarence Muse
Kunta Kinte was one the characters in what Alex Haley
book?
Roots
What Alex Haley novel was made into a television
mini-series in 1977 and 1979?
Roots
What one-time Negro League professional baseball
player, turned-artist created collages on the lifestyles
of blacks in the 1960s?
Romare Bearden
What artist’s painting is entitled After Church?
Romare Bearden
Julian Abele was involved in the design of what
museum?
Philadelphia
Museum of Art
In what city was Marian Anderson born?
Philadelphia
What actor appeared in the play Emperor Jones in
1925?
Paul Robeson
What city and what college did Paul Robeson live and
attend?
Princeton New Jersey
and Rutgers
University
Who was the first Black American poet to be nationally
recognized for his writing?
Paul Lawrence
Dunbar
Arthur Mitchell became the first black man to dance
for a major ballet company in 1955. Name the
company.
New York City Ballet
What was the name of the newspaper started by
Malcolm X?
Muhammad Speaks
She was known as the “queen of gospel music.” Her
first recording “Move On Up a Little Higher” sold over
a million copies in 1945. What was her name?
Mahalia Jackson
Gordon Parks was voted “Photographer of the Year” in
1960 while working for what popular magazine?
Life
Who was the first black to perform at the opening of
the new Metropolitan Opera House in 1966?
Leontyne Price
What term refers generally to the artistic and
socio-cultural awakening among black people in the
1920s and early 1930s?
Harlem Renaissance
In 2015, who was the 1
st African American woman to
be promoted to principal ballerina in American Ballet
Theater’s 75 year history?
Misty Copeland
In 1957, Who was the African American man who
became the 1
st Black principal dancer in the New York
City Ballet?
Arthur Mitchell
Who was the African American singer who performed
a historic open-air concert at the Lincoln Memorial
after the Daughters of the American Revolution had
barred her from singing to an integrated audience at
Constitution Hall?
Marian Anderson
Who was the 1st African American to publish a book of
poetry, in 1773?
Phillis Wheatley
In 1933, who was the 1st African American woman and
composer whose original music was played by a major
orchestra at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra?
Florence Price
From 1919-1929 there was a resurgence of literature,
knowledge, and the period?
Harlem Renaissance
What American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and
composer was the leader of the first Black American
band to play in Carnegie Hall?
William “Count”
Basie
What was the venue called where classic blues singers:
Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith,
and Alberta Hunter, performed?
Vaudeville Music
Houses
The first rap song to achieve commercial success was
“Rapper’s Delight.” What was the name of the group
who recorded this single in 1979?
The Sugar Hill Gang
In the 1920s the Lindy Hop was made famous at this
Harlem dance venue.
The Savoy Ballroom
Name three dance steps from the Disco era?
the Hustle, the
Bump, and the Bus
Stop
Who became Hollywood’s first Black millionaire actor?
Stepin’ Fetchit
What is MC Hammer’s real name?
Stanley Kirk Burrell
In 1972, Cicely Tyson was nominated for Best Actress
for her performance in what film?
Sounder
What will be the longest, continuously running,
first-run syndicated television program until at least
2016?
Soul Train
Who was the first black entertainer to sleep in the
White House?
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Name the hip-hop group that created the theme song
“Fight the Power” to Spike Lee’s film Do The Right
Thing.
Public Enemy
What instrument did Count Basie play, while leading
his group “The Count Basie Orchestra”?
Piano (or organ)
What musical instrument did Nat King Cole play?
Piano
What was the name of the first successful TV variety
show starring a Black American?
Nat King Cole Show
Which rapper known for such albums as Black on Both
Sides began rhyming at age nine in his hometown of
Brooklyn, New York?
Mos Def
The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin recorded how many
albums?
She recorded more
than 50 albums
This trumpet player was also a vocalist and was the
first to use a technique known as scat singing. What
was his name?
Louis “Satchmo”
Armstrong
What famous singer hosts the annual Parade of Stars in
order to raise money for the United Negro College
Fund?
Lou Rawls
What was the given name of popular comedienne and
pioneer of African American vaudeville, Moms
Mabley?
Loretta Mary Aike
She witnessed the East St. Louis riots in 1917 and
immigrated to France just six years later. She was a
singer, dancer, nightclub owner and a member of the
French resistance during World War II. Name this
popular entertainer.
Josephine Baker
Who provided the voice for Darth Vader in the movie
Star Wars?
James Earl Jones
Who was the first Black American woman to win an
Academy Award?
Hattie McDaniel
Musician and Hopkinsville native John Brim taught
himself to play what two instruments?
Guitar and
harmonica
Sidney Poitier starred in a famous movie about an
interracial marriage. What was the name of the
movie?
Guess Who’s Coming
to Dinner
What was the name of the first screenplay produced
by a Black American woman?
Georgia, Georgia
Name 3 movies that Eddie Murphy starred.
Trading Places,
Coming to America,
Beverly Hills Cop II &
II
From 1975 to 1980 this Disco star had eight gold
records and two platinum records. Name her.
Donna Summer
Who is called “The Queen of the Blues”?
Dinah Washington
Name the Grammy award-winning Philadelphia quartet
that sold over 4 million copies of their album Cooley
High Harmony?
Boyz II Men
Portrayed by Diana Ross in the film Lady Sings the
Blues, what was the name of the singer whose song
“Strange Fruit” became her signature piece?
Billie Holiday
What famous female vocalist toured with “The Count
Basie Orchestra”?
Billie Holiday
What is the name of B.B. King’s guitar? “
Lucille
Sung by Diahann Carroll, this song was made popular
in the film version of “Porgy and Bess.” Name it. “
Summertime”
In what year did the cable network BET begin
broadcasting music videos?
1980
The book Roots was made into a movie in what year?
1977
What hit song made Ella Fitzgerald a national celebrity
at the age of 20?
“A Tisket, A Tasket”
What all-black situation comedy television show
started as a radio program in the 1920s to 1950s
whose actors were all white?
“Amos n’ Andy”
What non-performer, founder of Motown was
inducted into the hall of fame in 1988 with The Drifters
and The Supremes?
Berry Gordy, Jr.
This former beauty queen from Ohio started her career
as a model. In 2001 she won the Academy Award for
Best Actress. Who is she?
Halle Berry
What does the nickname of rapper and actor LL Cool J
stand for?
Ladies Love Cool
James
During the 1860’s and the period leading up to
Juneteenth, there was a composer, musician and
activist who worked with Frederick Douglas on the
Underground Railroad. Who was he?
Justin Holland
Who was George Washington Johnson?
In 1890, George
Washington
Johnson became
the first
African-American
to make
commercial
records. The Library
of Congress is now
adding Johnson’s
“The Laughing
Song” to the
National Recording
Register
