This is a music appreciation course that focuses on getting students into, behind, and under "the groove" of African American music and its intellectual traditions of black pride, power, and cultural expressivity. This course will contain a broad introduction to African American music origins but it will also consider the impact of cultural contexts such as slavery and Euro-American musical influences on African American culture. Students will gain new appreciation for the multi-faceted and wide-ranging ways in which African American music is performed how this music has helped unite one nation under its soulful groove.