Stanley Crouch

Stanley Crouch is a critic, novelist, social commentator and syndicated columnist. A onetime jazz drummer, he first became well-known for his writings on music and popular culture. Although he was originally associated with the avant-garde, he later become an outspoken champion of jazz tradition and was an early supporter of the return to jazz fundamentals led by his longtime friend, musician Wynton Marsalis. In recent years he has attracted controversy for his criticism of gangsta rap and other aspects of contemporary popular culture, which he faults for promoting antisocial values. A self-described black nationalist in his early years, Crouch has become a severe critic of cultural separatism and the "cult of victimhood" that he believes has burdened African Americans since the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement,. He opposes it to the "heroic optimism" he sees as the authentic legacy of African American history. This podcast was recorded in 1999, as Stanley Crouch addressed the Academy of Achievement at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.