Anyone seen Ken Burns’ Jazz documentary?
One of the things about it that is very telling is that you get a glimpse of, among other things, the Harlem Renaissance. There WAS a time (pre 1960) when things were happening in Black America. And they happened there just the way that they happen anywhere else: hard work, over generations...many obstacles to overcome. But hard work over generations IS a solution and in fact it is the only solution.
Certainly artistic innovation is one way to gauge the lifeblood of a civilization (one way...not the only way...perhaps not even the best way, but it is a data point). In the history of this vast and varied movement we call “Jazz” there is so much to see and learn and hear. It’s truly amazing.
It is also very depressing, as just when Black America was starting to get some momentum, along came the Great Society with all its help, and after that, it has pretty much been a downward spiral.
I have not seen the documentary you mention, but I find that music from that period was the best ever in America. I still listen almost exclusively to Monk, Miles, Mingus, Blakey, Basie, Lester, et al, and cannot find anything to beat it!