Known to refer to herself on occasion as "Zora, Queen of the Niggerati," Zora Neale Hurston cut a provocative figure during the Harlem Renaissance, both in her person and in her writing. As folklorist, teacher, anthropologist, and author, Hurston was a champion of black heritage. She visited Haiti an

African american fiction, Feminist, Political, Southern gothic, Spiritual, Tribal, Women's literature

A visionary, revitalizing force in the New German Cinema of the 1970s, Werner Herzog articulated the dreams of the human spirit. In contrast to his contemporaries, who focused on frenzied, high-tech effects and chaotic jump cuts, Herzog used a lyrical film language to depict quiet spaces of epic unfo

Dystopic, Epic, Excessive, New german cinema, Pioneering, Political, Rebel, Tribal

As a member of Senegal's nomadic Toucouleur ethnic group, Baaba Maal has fought convention by challenging the caste system into which he was born. Although he does not belong to the griot caste -- the only caste allowed to enter musical professions -- he has become one of the most successful African

Mbalax, Tribal

When Pearl Primus was studying anthropology in graduate school, she had no idea that her part-time job with the National Youth Administration would lead to a spectacular career in dance. Her understudy role with the NYA dance group converted her from a co-ed to a chorine overnight. Immensely talented

Political, Primal, Tribal