songs of freedom
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 spring 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.
Gospel – the soul of America
For far too many scholars and conventional history, the history of African heritage begins with the discovery of Africa by Europeans. But, such a perspective only renders the African as an object, not the subject of his own story. Being an object means that Africans respond to the European definition of reality. Such an object has no real identity save that connected with the European. Alternatively, being an agent means that the African creatively engages, makes choices, and is the architect of both past but also their future. Which of these perspectives one takes is central if we are to understand the realities of Blacks, is it the creation of another, or is it a result of their own designs?
Academic objectivity, the idea that it is fair, honest, and based on science and scholarship, has long been demonstrated to be both myth and ethnocentric. This is particularly the case when understanding other cultures and peoples based on something other than the Western origin. Our history, psychologies, sociologies, anthropologies, etc., all spring from a particular, ethnocentric a.k.a. Eurocentric, frame of reference. This means we evaluate, interrogate, and interpret African-American history and culture through a racial lens constructed on white Western standards. (Metcalfe 1970) One of the first lenses through which to view the Black in America is through Gospel.
As Metcalfe points out, Gospel and spirituals, one of the first cultural forms identifiable with Black Americans, have their roots in Western African Music. Even earlier, Work (1915) was situating the origins of African American Gospel and music writ large in the Ethiopians. Ethiopian legends place the Ethiopians as living in two dimensions, "one in the east, the land of the rising sun, and the other in the West, the land of the setting sun. Consequently, the Ethiopians dwelt in perpetual light". (Work, ibid cited by Metcalfe ibid). The music that came out of this experience, whether Gospel, blues, soul, hip-hop, or rap, reflects these elements of music, music from the Sons of light that has survived the valleys of shadow and death, which has been so long a part of their American sojourn. Using the talking drum, these songs were often the only accompaniment. Again, the talking drum comes from Nigerian and other West African communities. Other instruments used would be a simple washboard, harmonica, and guitar. But the melodious voices could often be heard, singing of freedom and a brighter day tomorrow.
One of the most important figures in Black resistance to slavery was Harriet Tubman, affectionately known as Moses. After her escape, she discussed how she was "a stranger in a strange land." And while she was free, she believed all her brothers, sisters, friends, mothers, and fathers should also be free. (Bradford, Sarah Hopkins 1886/2012) Tubman and other slave insurrectionists used songs as a strategy to communicate, coordinate, and orchestrate the struggle for freedom. These songs became a code whose words gave directions for escape routes and plans. These songs, with Biblical references and connections to people, places, and stories, meant different things to the audience, depending on whether they were white or black. So, being bound for Canaan land, for a white might mean dying and going to heaven, but for the slave, it meant escaping to Canada. A couple of songs were quite useful, such as Tubman using "Wade in the Water" to tell slaves to escape in the water to avoid being seen. Or Steal Away that they were planning to escape. Sweet Chariot to indicate that escape was imminent and that a "band of angels" was coming to take them to freedom. The Sweet Chariot -the Underground Railroad, would be coming low (to the south) to take them to the north or freedom (carry me home).
Contrary to popular wisdom, the Africans were not willing nor happy slaves. In reality, the slave revolted over 100 times. Many were failures, lacked planning, and doomed the perpetrators to torture and death. Yet, the Africans continued to resist and fight for freedom. One of the earliest songs recorded, sung by Black Union soldiers as they escaped the plantations, was the "Freedom Song." It goes like this:
Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me.
And before I'll be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
No more master, no more master, no more master calling me.
And before I'll be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
No more misery, no more misery, no more misery over me.
And before I'll be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me.
And before I'll be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
It is not without irony that a central theme of many African American spirituals is freedom. These songs of space can be heard as far away as South Africa during the struggle against apartheid (1948-1994) and the song "Freedom is Coming." (Hawn 2018)
As Black people began to escape from the South in what has come to be known as the "Great Migration," a new musical form emerged. Colorful melodies, arrangements that, while using white songs, made them black through syncopation -the rhythmical recasting of words, accentuating normally weak beats. This new music, also associated with the rise of Pentecostal churches, featured "shouting," "speaking in tongues," and the "circle dances" that originated in Africa. One of the most significant composers of this period was Rev. C.A. Tindley, who wrote "I'll overcome someday," which became the basis for the American civil rights movement's "We Shall Overcome" by Reverend Gary Davis. Perhaps the most prolific and well-known songwriter was Thomas A. Dorsey, who wrote "Precious Lord, Take My Hand, " or Aretha Franklin's father, Reverend C.L. Franklin. The list would be incomplete without Robert Martin, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and, who could forget, Mahalia Jackson singing "Precious Lord" on the Capitol steps under the shadow of Lincoln's statue.
Gospel music not only captured religious experiences but also preserved West African cultural roots and offered both hope and dreams of freedom.
Blues - a tonic for whatever ails you.
B.B. King is quoted as saying, "Blues is a tonic for whatever ails you." I am reminded of a skit on the Flip Wilson show. In this skit, Flip Wilson played a club owner looking for an entertainer to sing and play the Blues. One of the applicants was white, and he said, "Everybody knows the Negro gave the Blues to America." His wife (in the "Geraldine" voice) said, "Jus' a minute, honey! The Negro didn't give the Blues to America. America gave the Blues to the Negro." And so it is; it has not been a bed of roses for blacks here in America. Early on many Sunday mornings, as my Mother and her sons prepared to go to church, I would dress while listening to B.B. King and other Blues songs. I remember my mom asking, in frustration once," Son, it's Sunday morning; must you play the blues?" My response makes me feel good. Why?
Racial trauma historically has been ignored, submerged under denial, fear of rejection, and caprice on the part of various racist structures, practices, and policies. Racial trauma can result from multiple communities in which we exist, have existed, or have avoided. It can result from dealing with various institutional actors, such as police hiring, supervisory personnel, and colleagues. It can result from policies and laws that are embedded in the system/structures. It results from covert and overt actions.
Let me begin by stating I grew up in an apartheid city -where whites lived on one side, blacks on the other. I attended exclusively black schools until college, when I formally entered a white university and white spaces. I am a Vietnam veteran, and PTSD for both being black and a combat veteran are separate but related entities. Yet, through it all, blues has been my friend. And now let us walk down that road paved with song, sorrow, and uplift.
One of the classic blues songs, written by Abel Meeropol and sung by Billie Holiday in 1939, is "Strange Fruit." With this blues song, the protest song was launched onto the American scene as it protested the continual lynching of Black Americans. This declaration of protest was the beginning of the civil rights movement (Margolick, 2000) and brilliantly articulated the racial trauma of the period.
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia, sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
As a new generation of black female singers broke through in the 1930s – Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Memphis Minnie – some of the first wave sought refuge in other branches of showbusiness. Victoria Spivey appeared in King Vidor's 1929 movie .
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210216-the-forgotten-story-of-americas-first-black-superstars
No one can forget, or should be ignorant, of the 1964 song, Mississippi Goddam. This song articulated the racial trauma associated with the murders of Emmitt Till and Medger Evers and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Between 1882 and 1968, an estimated 4.7 thousand Americans were lynched; of these, 3.5 thousand were blacks. And Mississippi was at the top of the list.
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Lynchings in America were public events; hell, they were parties as whites would come from all over the country to participate and celebrate this strangely local custom. Killing blacks, burning black towns, and the rape of black women were all part of the racialized trauma. And the strange fruit that this produced was rarely punished by any court. Strange fruit indeed.
Soul, Hip-Hop, and Rap -the conscience of America
Strange, whenever there is a conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion -it implies that it is accomplished when White spaces accommodate the token Black, Brown, Red, or Yellow person. Ironically, integration has always been defined as when persons of color come into White Spaces. But when Whites were required to come into Black spaces, they fled. White flight, often paid for with public funds (HUD/FHA), has historically produced and continues to grow "Vanilla suburbs and Chocolate cities." In our modern era, gentrification preserves White spaces by displacing poor Blacks. But Whites have always had a strange fascination for all things Black, Brown, Red, or Yellow. Voyeuristic excursions into the ghettos were and continue to be in vogue. They called it slumming, checking out the "Dark" villages, their music, culture, and essence -but only for a moment, only for the night. In these moments, White America would come to grips with the reality of segregated, displaced, humiliated, and downcast people. Or at least, what they thought were such. Little did they know, or even now would admit, that they were, in effect, confronting their inner selves, insecurities, and self-righteous indignations as they projected their own stuff into these other spheres. And thus, these spheres, particularly in the music genre known as soul, hip-hop, and rap, are and continue to be the conscience of America.
As a Black in academia, corporate, industrial, or almost any other institutional setting in America, we must navigate in White spaces. And given the paltry number of us in these spaces, whenever we are not present, our absence is more than noticed; it is often a source of concern for White supervisors. This is particularly so when we are senior personnel in these spaces. How dare we have other lives, other things that are more important than being on display in White spaces? Do we not know that we must be there to preserve the illusion of inclusion? Ever notice how many Blacks in White spaces always have their music with them, in the ear, turned up loud, and bumping? Thank God for Soul, Hip-hop, and Rap -the soothing sounds that calm a troubled spirit. What is so special about these sounds?
Soul, Hip-Hop, and rap bring together all the other genres of the Black diaspora. Here you will find gospel and jazz, blues, and improv. Here you will find the heart, mind, and, yes, soul of Black existence. Soul is the essence, the embodiment of spirituality, rationality, actuality, and totality of the Africans in America. It reflects the cultural consciousness, pride, intensity, sensitivities, and emotional fervor of a people who continue to rise, strive, and remain agents of their own destiny. Here the vision and the promise, the history and dilemmas, the future and the dreams of Black people wrapped up in rhyme timed to a funky beat—harmonically gifted voices blended in rhapsodies that transcend time, space, and circumstances. I mean, think about it -the Temptations, the Supremes, Miracles, Commodores, Earth, Wind and Fire, Sly and the Family Stone, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Patti Labelle, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and Teddy Pendergrass -and this is just the tip of those great mountains of talent. This mountain that not only survives but helps a people survive; a mountain that not only reveals but attests to the greatness of that people; a mountain that moved a people, caused America to pop their fingers, and rock their worlds.
In 1967, when 24-year-old Aretha Franklin taught America how to spell "RESPECT," she challenged blacks to be confident, independent, empowered, and sassy. This message, rejecting sexism, racism, homophobia, and misogynistic objectification of Blacks in general, but the Black woman in particular, became the anthem for the civil rights movement. Posthumously, Otis Redding's "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay " was released a year later. Here too, the soul of Black America was revealed as he brought Black rhythm and blues together with funk, folk, and our realities. But Otis and his Bar-keys were killed in a tragic plane crash. He never saw his song top the Pop and R&B charts. In 2011, Kanye West and Jay-Z sampled "Otis" "Try a Little Tenderness" and won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance in 2012
When the Staple Singers, in 1971, stepped onto the stage and sang "Respect Yourself," they spoke for a community of "Black Folk" that was frustrated with the world. This was a direct rejection of a world that was dismissive of, afraid of, and simultaneously obsessed with all things Black. Reminiscent of an earlier period known as the Harlem Renaissance, Blacks again asserted their value, resolve, and need to teach their young and reclaim their heritages by, first and foremost, "respecting themselves." Funk exploded all across America.
Just a year later, chronicling the confused, mixed-up world of the '70s, the Stylistics released their hit song "People Make the World Go Round." And what was their message for America and a troubled world:
Trashmen didn't get my trash today
Oh, why? Because they want more pay
Buses on strike want a raise in fare
So they can help pollute the air
But that's what makes the world go 'round
The up and downs, a carousel
Changing people's heads around
Go underground young man
People make the world go 'round
Wall Street losin' dough on ev'ry share
They're blaming it on longer hair
Big men smokin' in their easy chairs
On a fat cigar without a care
But that's what makes the world go 'round
The up and downs, a carousel
Changing people's heads around
Go underground young man
People make the world go 'round
Herold Melvin and the Blue Notes were among the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 70s. their music, spanned soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Among this group of stars was none other than Teddy Pendergrass. Just before he left the group to launch his solo career, he led the group in what has become a timeless classic, "Wake Up Everybody." This song, released in 1975, is resonating with the right today. Have you ever wondered why so many on the right are obsessed with "Woke"? Let's consider this classic, for it is spelled out here.
Wake up everybody no more sleepin in bed
No more backward thinkin time for thinkin ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be so
There is so much hatred war an' poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
When you teach the children teach em the very best you can
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me
Wake up all the doctors make the ol' people well
They're the ones who suffer an' who catch all the hell
But they don't have so very long before the Judgement Day
So won'tcha make them happy before they pass away
Wake up all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out they do it every time
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better
We gotta change it yeah, just you and me (yeah, yeah)
Change it, yeah (change it, yeah) just you and me
Change it, yeah (change it, yeah) can't do it alone
Need some help, y'all (y'all)
Can't do it alone (can't do it alone)
Yeah (yeah)
Wake up, everybody
Wake up, everybody
Need a little help, y'all (yes I do)
Need a little help (say it, boy)
Need some help, y'all (uh-huh)
To change the world
From what it used to be
Can't do it alone
Can't do it alone
Need some help, yeah
Need some help, yeah
Wake up, everybody
Get up, get up
Get up, get up
Wake up, come on, come on
Wake up, everybody
Teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen
To what you have to say
You preachers
Start preachin' what you teach
Teach the truth
Wake up, preachers
All liars (all liars)
Politicians
Stop lyin' (stop lyin')
Why don't somebody
Help the poor people
Help the babies
You businessmen
Start treatin' (start treatin')
What race, creed or color
Everybody we need each other
Wake up, everybody
Well, you see
No more sleepin' in bed
No more backward thinkin'
Time for thinkin' ahead
Wake up, all you teachers
Time to teach a new way
They're the ones that suffer
Each and everyday
Teach the children
Teach the babies
Teach the children
They are the ones who's coming out
When Spike Lee was looking for a song to connect to his 1989 film, Do the Right Thing, he came to Public Enemy, and they produced "Fight the Power." Public Enemy had been blazing a trail with such albums as "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" and "Fear of A Black Planet." This song is ranked number two in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Why -let us consider it. Fight the Power incorporates and makes real so much of black Culture, reclaims civil rights, and brings together black gospel and, of course, the funk of James Brown. Fight the Power is a revolutionary song, calling for Blacks to stop swinging and realize that they must transcend the liberal notion of racial equality and understand that we are not the same. You see, equality means ever comparing yourself to another, which parents would say their children are the same. And while, as a parent, I may love all my children, I love them uniquely, separately, and individually. They are not the same. They are all special. And so are we. We must challenge the power structure to "give us what we want, what we need," not whatever is left on the table of greed. The song is a call for intelligent activism and reminiscent of the first song of blacks in America (We would rather die on our feet than live as slaves on our knees" We must have freedom or death, and we are nevertheless still Black and Proud.
Neither America nor the world was ready for Tupac when he dropped into our world. Tupac, whose mother and family were heavily involved in the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army. Tupac is among the best-selling musical artists in the world. His records sold over 75 million worldwide. To understand his overwhelming influence, consider the top 8 of his greatest hits:
· 1. 'Keep Ya Head Up' – Strictly for my N.I.-.-. A.Z
· 2. 'How Long Will They Mourn Me?'...
· 3. 'Letter 2 My Unborn' – Until the End of Time. ...
· 4. 'Hit 'Em Up' – Greatest Hits. ...
· 5. 'California Love' – All Eyez on Me ...
· 6. 'Changes' – Greatest Hits ...
· 7. 'Trapped' – 2Pacalypse Now ...
· 8. 'Dear Mama' – Me Against the World ..
Today, nearly 3 decades after his death on September 13, 1996, Tupac Shakur still is one of the most iconic figures in hip-hop. His music reflects the contradictory realities of being black, proud, and despised in America. Tupac's music captures the anger and ecstasy, the frivolity and the sublimity, the essence and the insanity of being a Black man. A man whose very life continues to be a character, a caricature, a fantasy. Strangely many consider 2Pac to be the essence of a "thug angel." One who never transcends the streets, the gangster, the drug-starved, pimp, hustler. All the mimes that racist America must create to protect itself from all that is Black. But it was 2PAC who redeemed the black criminal who romanticized T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E., but many do not know that it is an acronym for "The Hate U Give Little Infants F*** Everybody. 2PAC realized that the Black body had long been criminalized, racial profiling, racially biased policing and sentencing, and the cradle-to-prison pipeline were all byproducts of a racist America. So when he signed to the record label -Death Row, he was at once the hottest and most dangerous performer in America. And, of course, he realized that "All Euyez (were) on Me's. I could go on for DayZ, but who can forget his tribute to his mother 'Dear Mama," which acknowledged the tremendous impact this black woman had on his life. Nevertheless, this single mother from a low-income setting filled him with love, tenderness, determination, and hope. Dear Mama, indeed.
And what's popping now:
50. Mos Def – “Mathematics”
“Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients / Youngbloods can’t spell, but they could rock you in PlayStation.”
47. Lauryn Hill – “Zealots”
“And even after all my logic and my theory / I add a ‘motherfucker’ so you ignorant niggas hear me.”
Lauryn Hill gives a taste of her biting wit and humor, commenting on the state of music – hip-hop in particular. It’s a great line, because the “motherfucker” does stand out in Lauryn’s otherwise clean verse; it perks you up, but she’s still using the word in an enlightened manner, thus getting the point across without compromising the quality of her lyrics.
44. Hopsin – “The Ill Mind of Hopsin”
“The term real niggas publicly used / And I need to know what it means ’cause I’m fucking confused / Are you one for always busting your tool with nothing to lose / And something to prove to homies up in your crew? / Is it because you’re selling drugs to get loot / And brag about how you done been shot and stabbed, like it’s fun to be you? / But your life’s a struggle, right? And you just hustling through / Nah, you hamster-ass nigga. You just stuck in a loop.”
Hopsin calls into question the ideal of “realness” in hip-hop, which has long been affiliated with street cred. Hopsin turns this value on its head and likens those hustling in the drug game to hamsters stuck running nowhere in their wheel. To be sure, the line is cruel and unsympathetic, but Hopsin’s never been one for sparing feelings. And the truth hurts: The drug game has no winners.
29. Eminem – “The Way I Am”
“And since birth I’ve been cursed with this curse to just curse / And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works / And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve / All this tension dispensing these sentences / Getting this stress that’s been eating me recently / Off of this chest and I rest again peacefully.”
Tiera Whack -Mumbo Jumbo
It’s a Whack World and we’re just living in it. Tierra Whack breathed fresh air into hip-hop with her acclaimed 2018 visual mixtape of that name, where every track clocked in at one minute as the Philly native welcomed us into her imaginative rap funhouse. (Her eerie “Mumbo Jumbo” video picked up a Grammy nomination in 2019.) Since then, Whack’s proven to be a lethal collaborator while shining on high-profile team-ups, like Lil Yachty’s “T.D.” with Tyler, The Creator and A$AP Rocky. She also got the call from Beyoncé to guest on The Lion King’s “My Power.” Whack’s 2024 included a verse-of-the-year candidate on Chief Keef’s “Banded Up,” and she looked inward for her raw World Wide Whack debut LP. – MICHAEL SAPONARA
3. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – “The Message”
“Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge / I’m trying not to lose my head / It’s like a jungle. Sometimes it makes me wonder / How I keep from goin’ under.”
There is no dearth of examples we can draw upon. The realities, love, sacrifice, hope, despair, dreams, empowerment, and visions found in Soul, Hip-Hop, and Rap have given America its essence, realities, and conscience. Thank you..
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