and autonomy. As Suzanne E. Smith (55) writes, "Motown's prosperity as a black-owned business achieve many of the economic objectives of black nationalism espoused by leaders such as Malcolm X." Even so, Berry Gordy Jr. and Motown's success stemmed from decades of African American economic self-help in Detroit, a movement that by the end of 1963 was "a centerpiece of black nationalist thought" (Smith 55).
Where the Rhythm and Blues movement was concerned, prior to the 1960s African Americans were not empowered to reflect real political or other concerns in music. Constraints on African Americans prior to the 1960s prevented powerful expression of political, ideological or other forms of protest in mainstream forms of expression. As Ward (293) suggests, "few actually gave much consideration to whether, let alone precisely how, Rhythm and Blues might be used as, in Snellings' phrase, a 'political weapon.'" Ultimately, however, the Civil Rights Movement leaders chose other forms of musical expression like freedom songs and grassroots southern music to help promote the cause, being averse to using Rhythm and Blues to help promote the issues of Civil Rights. As Ward (296) explains, "The Movement's own reluctance to use Rhythm and Blues and its artists in any systematic way partially accounted for their generally low profile in the civil rights activities of the early 1960s."
During the 1980s, a backlash against social welfa
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