<h2><u>The South African Gumboot Dance</u></h2>
Perhaps the most recognizable dance in the show, the gumboot dance originated during apartheid-era South Africa. The dance gets its name from the thick rubber rain boots (think modern day Hunter Boots) known as “gumboots” or “wellingtons” worn by migrant laborers who were employed in diamond and coal mines. The apartheid government enacted laws that restricted these workers from speaking to one another, so they developed their own means of communication: using the sounds and stomps of their gumboots as a form of morse-code. The movement eventually transformed into a dance, which became particularly popular during the fight against apartheid and even became a protest symbol. Those involved in the Struggle would participate in the gumboot dance as a way to express their unification in the fight against the oppressive government. Even after the official end of apartheid in 1994, the gumboot dance remained a symbol of hope and solidarity. This dance made its way into popular culture as well, with Paul Simon writing a song titled “Gumboots” featured on his touchstone album Graceland. The formation of the gumboot dance marks a pivotal point in both the history of South Africa, as it symbolized the fight against a powerful regime, as well as in the history of dance, as it became the foundation for the development of step-dancing.
New England colonies were the sections of colonial America that had the smallest percentage of Africans in 1750.
The Cuban missile crisis was when the soviets sent missiles to Cuba because they were a ‘communist’ society because of Castro. This meant the USA had to sent a message and had the soviets removed, this showed we were still showing imperialistic tendencies
Booker T. Washington believed that blacks should accommodate to racial prejudice and focus on self-improvement through hard work. The quote mentions the importance of "merit" or hard work in determining the value of a person in society. This therefore supports his idea that blacks should focus on an economic skill and not focus on the separation and prejudice in society.
In Washington's famous "Atlanta Compromise" speech, he outlines his theory of accommodation. He essentially argued that blacks must find their place in society, a place that whites did not want to occupy. In doing this you accept the segregation law by achieving economic success in your area. He believed in vocational studies for blacks to find their economic success. In his speech he refers to the country as a hand and that each group were the fingers. African Americans could successfully work to support the hand while not interfering with other groups.
