Introduction
Boogaloo is a Latin dance and musical movement that originated in East Harlem during the 1960s as a result of cultural exchange in the area. This SourceLab edition introduces readers to the history of boogaloo and how it relates to the wider context of music and migration in the 1960s.
Research for this project focused on the people who shaped boogaloo. As we read newspaper articles and listened to songs or interviews, our team recognized that no single song can capture the complexity of boogaloo as a genre. Therefore, this edition presents an early boogaloo hit for readers to consider: "Bang Bang" by Joe Cuba. Rather than thinking of this song as the epitome of boogaloo, we hope readers use this song as a starting point for further exploration of the genre.
The SourceLab Series is managed by SourceLab’s Editorial Board, which conducts rigorous peer-review of every edition. This publication is licensed for free and unrestricted use in all settings under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except as otherwise indicated.
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- Editor’s Note: As readers may be aware, in recent years the word “boogaloo” has been adopted as a meme by white nationalists and neo-Nazis. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, it is “frequently associated with racist violence and, in many cases, […] an explicit call for race war.” This edition, however, focuses on “boogaloo’s” earlier, and continuing, use to describe a style of music, produced in diverse and transnational spaces. For more information about the racist use of the term “boogaloo,” see Southern Poverty Law Center, “The ‘Boogaloo’ Started as a Racist Meme,” accessed July 8, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/06/05/boogaloo-started-racist-meme.↵
Citation for Cover Image:
"Latin Roots: Latin Soul," Latin Roots, NPR, published March 3, 2016, https://www.npr.org/sections/worldcafe/2016/03/03/469074094/latin-roots-latin-soul.
Citation for Introduction Image:
Joseph Rodriguez. From Spanish Harlem, in Spanish Harlem: El Barrio in the '80s.
