Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Discussions of effective activism in the Civil Rights Movement typically center on people who overtly used his/her platform and art to address issues of injustice. Yet, the relationship between overt actions and activism are often conveyed, not simply by one’s perceived participation but by the person’s impact. In this, Nat King Cole is without rival. He represented Black America with excellence in the face of the cruelty of racism. Born Nathaniel Adams on March 17, 1919, Cole remains an American icon whose music continues to cross cultural and political boundaries. An examination of his life and career will reveal a man balanced precariously between two communities, the African American community in which he lived and was deeply seated and the White community in which he primarily worked. On one hand, high profile friends such as Frank Sinatra and necessary compromises to further his career (being “whited up” to make him more “accessible” to predominantly white audiences), often put him in the crosshair of civil rights activists. On the other, though he made television history when he became the first African American performer to host a TV series, no national sponsors were willing to back a program featuring African American entertainers. 100 years after his birth, singing Cole’s music offers an opportunity to step into his lived reality of singing beautiful, ‘easy listening’ music in an era of America’s tumultuous history and draw parallels to activism in contemporary America.