cool
The birth of “cool”
According to Todd Pezzuti, Caleb Warren and Jinjie Chen in their study Cool People, the earliest roots of cool lie in the African diaspora, in West African ideas like itutu (Yoruba for “coolness”), which refers to a state of spiritual composure and grace under pressure. Confronting the brutal realities of slavery and Jim Crow,... See more
According to Todd Pezzuti, Caleb Warren and Jinjie Chen in their study Cool People, the earliest roots of cool lie in the African diaspora, in West African ideas like itutu (Yoruba for “coolness”), which refers to a state of spiritual composure and grace under pressure. Confronting the brutal realities of slavery and Jim Crow,... See more
“Cool” roots