Shut Up and Dribble

 I know why the Caged Bird Sings -Songs of Freedom -- "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud."  

Throughout our history of trials and triumphs, our songs have been of freedom; as we plowed the fields of justice and planted the seeds of equality, we sang of a brighter day to come. That day is today, as we "lift up our eyes unto the hills." Our faith, resilience, and determination have brought us a new song of freedom.

We have now come full circle. And what have we learned? What is the truth? For far too many, the story and reality of Africa springs from the imagination of Europeans. It is a story of initial contact situations in which the Europeans discovered Africa and the Africans. This story is part mythology, part apology, and part ideology, as Europeans emerge as white, superior conquerors, and the Africans are defined as black, inferior, and victimized. We explored how even what is considered science is replete with racial overtones.   Much like the father of American psychology, Samuel A. Cartwright, who argued that enslaved Africans seeking to escape were mentally ill (drapetomania), the father of American sociology, Lester Frank Ward, is notable in that he advocated Social Darwinism, arguing that Western civilization's oppression of Africans was a result of the survival of the fittest.   Thus, from its beginning, sociology was imbued with scientific racism and white supremacy. For upper-class whites, racism, and oppression were not only justified but encouraged. Following suit from the University of Chicago, Robert Park would argue that the failure of blacks and other "lesser" groups to assimilate demonstrated that they had not quite developed. 

These groups suffered from ghetto mentalities, and generational poverty directly resulted from their constant failure. We explored the counterarguments of W.E.B. Du Bois and Mary Church Terrell, who embraced the agency, authenticity, and reality of the Africans by the Africans. We explored the core of African ideas and community. The truth, I suggest, is a song by James Brown in 1968 when he declared, "Say it Loud; I'm Black and I'm Proud." Go ahead, get your Funk on, make that move, and repeat after me, "I'm Black, and I'm Proud." In this final chapter, we shall explore the rich music produced by Africans in America. In the process, we shall understand that this music was more than Soul, Gospel, Hip-Hop, or Funk. African music was an assertion of being, a testament of faith, and a clarion call to the Universe – I am. These were songs of protest and process, anger and love, action, and determination. They were songs that called out the racism faced by Blacks. But they were more than a complaint, as Brown asserted, "As Blacks, we demand a chance to do things for ourselves." Self-empowerment and self-identification originating with and by Black people are not externally rendered but internally endorsed.

Time does not allow for a total review of the rich musical genres and messages Africans have produced. But here, let us consider just one of these sites: the United States of America and its principal proponents, African Americans. 

As we begin, you might ask -but how, given the atrocities visited upon the African, caged in seas of violence, rippling with contempt, bigotry, and despair -can the caged bird sing? The African bird continues to sing because of hope, promise, and possibilities of a new day. The African bird can sing because they know how to survive, thrive, and overcome. And the African bird can sing because it has the keys to the Universe, their cage, and their future. Those keys are love, joy, and wonder for self and community. They are keys of life, justice, and humanity that they brought into this land from the beginning. Those keys are evident in black Soul, Gospel, blues, Jazz, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Rap. 

Black Soul, Gospel, Blues, Jazz, R&B, Hip Hop, and Rap all share one thing: stories of survival, resistance, determination, and empowerment. Perhaps the oldest of these is the Gospel. So, say it loud, say it clearly, say it right now -I am Black and Proud. Today, I sing a new song.