From the zoot suit and Black dandy through to Rastafarianism and beyond, black style has had a profound influence on the history of dress in the twentieth century. Yet despite this high profile, the dress styles worn by men and women of the African diaspora have received scant attention, even though the culture itself has been widely documented from historical, sociological and political perspectives.Focusing on counter- and sub-cultural contexts, this book investigates the role of dress in the creation and assertion of black identity.From the home-dressmaking of Jamaican women, through to the Harlem Renaissance and contemporary streetstyles such as Hip Hop and Raggamuffin, black Britons, African Americans and Jamaicans have been at the forefront of establishing a variety of black identities. In their search for a self-image that expresses their diaspora experience, members of these groups have embraced the cultural shapers of modernity and postmodernity in their dress. Drawing on materials from the United States, Britain and Jamaica, this book fills a gap in both the history of black culture and the history of dress, which has until recently focused on high fashion in Europe. It is a powerful exploration of how dress both initiates and confirms change, and the ways in which it expressed identity and resistance in black culture.

It is broadly recognized that black style had a clear and profound influence on the history of dress in the twentieth century, with black culture and fashion having long been defined as 'cool'. Yet despite this high profile, in-depth explorations of the culture and history of style and dress in the African diaspora are a relatively recent area of enquiry. The Birth of Cool asserts that 'cool' is seen as an arbiter of presence, and relates how both iconic and 'ordinary' black individuals and groups have marked out their lives through the styling of their bodies. Focusing on counter- and sub-cultural contexts, this book investigates the role of dress in the creation and assertion of black identity. From the gardenia corsage worn by Billie Holiday to the work-wear of female African-Jamaican market traders, through to the home-dressmaking of black Britons in the 1960s, and the meaning of a polo-neck jumper as depicted in a 1934 self-portrait by African-American artist Malvin Gray Johnson, this study looks at the ways in which the diaspora experience is expressed through self-image. Spanning the late nineteenth century to the modern day, the book draws on ready-made and homemade fashion, photographs, paintings and films, published and unpublished biographies and letters from Britain, Jamaica, South Africa, and the United States to consider how personal style statements reflect issues of racial and cultural difference. The Birth of Cool is a powerful exploration of how style and dress both initiate and confirm change, and the ways in which they expresses identity and resistance in black culture.

An outstanding photography book documenting a movement that rocked the world. Syd Shelton: Rock Against Racism is a body of photographs that Syd Shelton produced for and about the British Rock Against Racism movement (RAR) of 1976-1981. For Shelton, this work was a socialist act, what he calls a "graphic argument," on behalf of marginalized lives. His practice of photographic activism began in 1973 when he was driven to document the socio cultural and political dynamics expressed on the streets of Sydney by urban Australian Aboriginal communities, the working class, and the architectural landscapes of these groups. Shelton's first solo show in 1975, "Working Class Heroes" at the Sydney Film-makers Cooperative, established his distinct activist eye. Shelton joined RAR in early 1977 on his return to England from Australia. He did so because he found his birthplace a more racist country than it had been when he left. This was marked by the increased political presence of the National Front, notably its gain of some 119,000 votes in the Greater London Council Elections of May 1977. Shelton, like millions of others, feared for the future of multi-cultural Britain. His contribution to RAR was to be on the London committee, to create graphic material with other RAR members such as the RAR publication "Temporary Hoarding," posters' badges and his photography-RAR did not have an official photographer. Shelton's instinctive need to document RAR-its events, contributors, and supporters-has resulted in the largest collection of images on the movement. Alongside his documentation of RAR, Shelton took photographs of what he calls "the contextual images," the lives and landscapes that were defined by others as "different," and that often fueled racist acts of violence by simply being. What is presented here are Shelton's authoritative visual statements as participant-photographer on the social tempo in Britain at this time and the activist potency of RAR. As collective activism, RAR's success was dependent on individual contributions to fuel the movement's activities across the country. This unique national, and eventually international, charge incorporated the visual dynamic of how Black and white RAR contributors and participants styled their bodies as another antagonistic tool against racism. These were acts of style activism-the making of an activist identity through the considered composition of clothes, accessories, hairstyles, makeup, and body language. Shelton's images prompt us to remember that the individuals at RAR carnivals, gigs, and demonstrations were the event-they were RAR. There are many versions of what RAR was and its legacy. Syd Shelton: Rock Against Racism provides an auto/biographical telling of that historical moment. It reflects on how Shelton's work as a photographer contributed towards social change at a critical moment of political and racial tension in Britain.