Rebirth of the Cool: Miles Davis, Cool Demeanors, and the African American Freedom Struggle in the 1960s

Trumpeter Miles Davis (1926–91) was regarded during his lifetime as an embodiment of “cool,” a term associated with both a spare musical aesthetic and a stylishly reserved, impassive demeanor. While cool has long been recognized as a facet of African American culture that conveyed dignity in the face of white supremacy’s daily slights and dangers, this article traces a shift in cool demeanors during the 1960s – from stoic impassivity to increasingly candid emotional expression – that was evident first in Davis’s music and speech and then, by mid-decade, within the African American freedom struggle, to which cool’s utility has scarcely been acknowledged.