https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/e16bb192d1b16103f777882a54c32042.pdf 6e9cb4d46bd2295d61d4f733d71a5276 PDF Text Text 0--V 0 CHAPTER II THE BLAC K AND UNKNOWN BARDS 7~ , l o black and unknown bards [ of long ago, ~✓ How came your lips to touch the sacred fire? - '- James Weldon Johnson t-1\ (j) Origins of Blac k Expression c:, In this chapter, as in subsequent ones, e.mpha.~3 ;wH..LJoe on ~ic,~i,t1g J Let..c:\<.. ?t)~""TT-y ~ within the spirit and letter of • African-American cultural t radition . Unfortunately, many early sch olars either played down or i gnored African influe nces., ~~ "tttouj4~ -~~ ISt_ - I!. @ ___ .. ¥£ .ft. f!i hu ,i. 1n s was certainly not true of all os:'-t1\erq. ~ ,; ii z G Gd! lg aSI I 1. For while some gloated over t he "findings " 'f of ') (outh ern whit e s 1 purp orting to prove that t he ;(piri tuals were derived sole ly f rom Engl ish ~ ymns and Psalms) sources /4 ~ ,q~t, .3-oL ,1.1. L Johnson (Book of America n Negro Spirituals, 192~, J t ilD,.. ~__s ~Y Work {Folk Song of t he American Negro, 1915), and othersi dist of Africanisms existing in practically allJ 'l ack American folk materials . ~ef'\> this cha pteJ ~ill e ~ . e)(a.r}une ~~I.OYl : upda ting some of the t h i nking on traditional African t't,on l . views a nd ma nneris m~~in, Jlack America. ~ ~r ief consideration _ will be given t he major trunks of the folk poetry: ,a _j piritual ~ 1 - and the / eculars (or religio~~ folk poetry and everyday wor~ -r ,; (~ and-play folk poetry) . . . . . .~.uicludedAa fair representation -.. -I of t he original folk poetry . 27 �Nost anth ologies • these items J -- - - -- - ----- Ii ell B?IWi &AIM a 3 t t l omit - - - - - - b~-t , "with out a knowledge of Svt,h i.-r Cs dtff'ricult ei~e ..the1'-' deve Lo,o~r,1' """ / . ,,,,. \ to understandAthe_;Black poet's of f='ttt.,, 1, CV "-Hl rlt iener,t,use (see Dunbar, Johnson, Brown, Hugh es, Hayden, Walker and others}. However, before discussing the origins of__,,Black - - - -.-no1"e Tl, e ~ou o F expression, we should id 1 ii ? A.,_ ~rio.~'°~ 16 i societies. or story telle~- in pre industrial African M The p ack poet, as creator and chronicler ]J "1 artisans .~ OWll 3110Lve.s LLI Afrom t h e'><' ~ ~ human~recordA~f family a nd national f!!Sgitt jilv trained to recite -without flaw-Lthe gene f M ~ lore. j 1ogies, eulogies, victories and calamities of the folk,.., griots (like ~ lead singers of ;(piri tuals) had to spic~ ~itet~ ,,,..- and r:-; ----...., no.~raTton eme1t1etJ.n Jlac "youngsters 1 ew .,. Qu,dan# (rolYl grew up (even in recent times) without § I _ -A.a sort of t It g with drama-~excitement. griot (uncle, grandmother, big brother) w- sister, mother1 • hvs1le.11 '...;;;;,' I father, pre acher, etc.). The job of the ~ injo ndent: At'('lwn SO<cWt$j I -. was so i mportant t h at ~ a n e,.rcr could cost him his life. gr iot be gan at a very early a g; ~ mastezt • - information. m~~-re~ The technique and Like the~drummer, he understudied an elder sta t e sman of t h e trade. His training demanded a certain psychological adjustment to t he significance of h is j ob C.vlt,,t-&C.. /\') which was to cont ain (and give advice on) t he,theirlooms" of t h e community. As years and centuries passed, this "f'actual" information was · Y''iiuo.. U3ed i nto a lore, myt hology, cosmology and le gend; it became a part of t h e vas t web of r a cial conscious 28 �ness and memory. .., It became t he legacy with which every new.. __, born child entered the world. Clearly, then, the myth- and legend: buildingJlack poet bas a past into wh ich to dip and a future to ~ project and protect. jc ~ And any violation of the past, present or future constitutes a serious crime against one's ancestors ¾ against one's parents, against one's blood, against one's god. So it follows that the poet-~ griot l M..-- fV\ is not some haphaz1ardly arrived~hipster or slick-talker ~ simply mouthing tired old phrases. ~ •k~ To the J lackAgrio -singer~ poet the job of unraveling the complex network of h is past and present-future worlds is a paiorul but rewarding labor . of love. We can say, then, that t he _J{lack_/xperience i n the United States continues via the African~ ontinuum: . . ., a complex of mythical (see Jahn), linguistic (see Twiggs), gestural (see Emery; Black Dance), psychological, sexual, musical, physical and religious forms. This complex is evidenced in the day-to-day attitudes and activities of Blacks: ~their sacred and secular (organized and random) expressions, t h eir physical appearancel , t h eir dress patterns and t h eir family ..; life. Not only in the United State~, but in the Caribbean, in Latin A:nerica, in all areas of t he world where Blacks live in substantial numbers~ they exhibit characf, teristics peculiar to the nature and culture of indigenous Africans. Naturally, general/ lack expression evolves from the myriad components of Jlack culture; and the artistic (song, poetry) expression- traditional / lack (African) M. 29 �com.muni ties did not separate l_ife. f'rom art i is a :nore soph is l, f_otA"' 'r°'f~\_r,,t •t.lK' "'~_.,al,.~ It\ - ticated J/Jff!!llll" w 1119"'1'from,.,the general "storeh ouse) 1111 has yet idtnTi~sed --- 11 ti/_ rnro one ___________, "tlt\-e. "" exac tiy- - t h e first Afr i can sounds or i,1 ovements were incorporated into "white tr 1-.7e ster n frames of ref'erence• or vice versa; 01, _,/ but we do know t hat it did bappen . Unfortunatel~r, inept reporting on t hefa ackj cperience has muddied t h e waters so much that one is .of.Teti S'h •c."ed ~ M4tt&V conclusio ns of" r II i iad1 1.Ri: , ~ by~ tser vati ons and 1: • be "researcher s. " I n an uni'linchingly brilliant analysis of' ~ lack African.)1ral iterature presented at t he First World Festival of Negro (1966) i n Dakar, Senegal, B il7 Juleat ouda, not ing _/ "oral literature is as old as creation," coined the phrase _;,!trch ival} iterature of )feature. important revelations, Fouda said: n Concluding 'h is "Thus in the Black Africa of tradition, literary art is an ano nymous art because it is a social art; it is a social art because it i s a functional art; and it is functional because it is humanist." research is not b ounded by color. Good Black sociologist E. Franklin Frazier (Black Bourgeosit)P~rong~_!_jthat t here were no significant carryovers (cultural transplants) from Africa to the United States. (Slavery, Frazier said, "stripped II t he African of bis culture and "destroyed" his personality . ) 1'1hite anthropologist Melville Herskovits (The Myth of the Negro ~ ) proved without a doubt that there were African "survivalisms" operating daily in Jfiac k American,! culture. 30 v~r ~e\~~ �..to'1tt 1i\e on this see Jahn ts Muntu,A:'7ork ' s findings ,~memoirs of Katherine IA~ Dunham, works of Lorenzo Dow Turner~ Negro Folk Musi c of Africa and America (Folkways Lp). 2u 0511!1 i!IINi.. Rudimentary/ lack expression and the numerous fol k forms it produced (field hollers, vendors 1 shouts, chants, wor + ongs , / Pirituals, blues, jospels, jazz, rhytbm=-~ blues, soul music) form the linguistic and modal bases for mostJ lack poetry. The early song and chant for ms were almost always accompanied by what we have come to call "dramati c ideograms 11 ~ or dances. Dance became one of the t hree basic ar tistic modes encapsu~ lated by folk expression. The other two aref-ong and/4rum. Aside from being the first means of communicating over disi, tances, the drum also played a major role in the social lives of traditional African peoples. The career drummer, like t he )flack American musician today, went through years of grueling pract ic e and preparationJ -learning not only drumming tech niques M but the legends, the myths, the meanings and symb ols /11¥··-w hich the drum was derivative. Dance always accompanied songi Fouda refers to the "acoustical phonetic alphabet";tso that the com~ plex web of oral nuances was illustrated vividly and graphicall3J Obviously, when teaching or entertaining, the artist/teacher had to present his material in interesting and exciting ways so as not to bore the audience. Thus repetition became a backbone of J lack expressionf a flexible, buoyant repetition that was designed to reinforce and increase group participation. The three essential modesl""-drum, song and dance f'\heightened 31 �the i mmediate experience, which was ecstatic, t h erapeutic, spiritual, visceral and revelatory . Added to t h ese intricate and vary ing modal patterns were t h e colorful costumes, make-up, props and i mportant subject matter. The ach ievement was not -+~t..1"o~ just~the vicarious experience but one of t h e act and s ymb ol being actualized together! While such a prospect boggles t he mind, a serious study of t h ese forms and the general tradition will prove eye-opening for many a disbeliever. Ohe. ~e.e.d onLy h~c.o1ne. enme.she.i '"' Atl'f •~pec.'t O ~~to.,k ",tu a.lp Pc.. 1o ~h• 1-U OAcl u11de.-~u.~ 'ltl,~ potnt. Early,.)3lack American oral and gestural art forms ini herited t h e qualities described thus far. dancet In language, in and, more i mportantly, in points of view (attitudes) toward time, life and death , t he cosmology of Africa "continued" (with some modifications) in the j lack culture of the Western Hemis phere. Specifically , informatio n was conveyed by way of aph orisms, riddles, parables, tales, enigmatic dances and sounds (tonal scales)~ j okes a nd poetry . ~lique and cryptic utterances, puzzles, ea- The patt ern remains irCtact today . II One 0 \ 1/ For a brilliant and cogent stateme~t on t his aspect of / CT V (P4'Jl v~sey9 Zlack expression see Samuel Allen'sA"The African Heritage" in 1 . (Jano1u"yJ1<17t) is an acknowledged auth ority on both African and Af'ro-American culture. ~r .. Black Worl"a;r' Alle n In the article, he finds African "carryovers 11 in t h e ;(lack American church (Baldwi n ), l i terature £~ (Sterling Brown, ~Cleaver) and secular life. 32 �find.Sthe tradition in_/lack poets, in the sermons offilack ministers and in family apd other social gatherings. me.t.-vo, Tbe scintillating/'lack poet~olson operates in the olq, enigmatic (word-fencing ) frame when in "An Ex-Judge at the Bar" he says: I r;; \...[ 1 I Bartender, make it straight and ma ke it two M · One for the you in me and one for the me in you. Tolson (known to carry this~ lack nature into his teaching at Langston Universit~ where he reportedly gave a student an 'F~ ..,, to the ~ power) ends the poem with an equally enigmatic mock: debts to the African tradition i_ance and ,hum. So too in the shouts and hollers ..;w..~~ actual African words and phrases were often used. 2 ./ Hence we can say that 911 traditional -...__/ African phonology and ritual, modified on the anvil of slavery, were operating and continue to e represented in different forms of , flack American expression. The African slave, forced to acquire functional use of English and to reject surface aspects of his religion, went "underground}' so to spea19 and became bit ingual and bi';)hysical. (j) ~ Hence, while much of the Raymond Patterson (26 Ways of Looking at a Black Man) is currently assembling a book listing several hundred African words that are used daily in the American 33 �thematic material of the Jlack folk tradition is taken from the harsh difficulties the slave encountered in America, t be form, spirit and phonology were essentially African . The use of polyf r hyt hms 3 and the intr o uction of syncopation, the reliance on various rhythmi c instruments (drum-related and sometimes invented), the adh erence -h-,--,....., on-European tonal scale and the employment of the blues~ one, t h e development of a distinct body of folklore and a rich langua ge to convey the lore ~ all represent the African's resourcefulness. Cross-cultural inputs are also evident • Ir) the piritual~ which, in many cases, were influenced by the English 7-'ymn and the Psalm. o_.,_. o.u.et-s lb Other considerations in .l'MIMu elude the slave's use ofaEuropean instruments (Baraka n ,._ \ out, in Black Music, that the piano was the last instrume~t to be mastered by the )3'lack musician e I house, If $ 4)~inA I G&Boii caghiJ w iilR ) ~'lack adaptation of songs heard in the "big the continual re r tyling of American fads) and t he vocabulary . See b ibliography for more on -th11 little ~known area of sch olarship . 3 Isaac Faggett, a y oung QI 5 composer-band director in '(li.<J.. ......__, Sacramento, Cali1V: has said that the word 11 po1Yf}'hythm11 (Le., many rhythms overlapping each oth er) should perhaps be replaced by or alternated with the wordl "Y 11 poly meter" or "poly metrics. V Eileen Southern, in The Music of Black Americans, sets forth a thorough and accurate discussion of t he se points. 34 She 11 �employment of / i blical i magery a nd language i n so ngs a nd sermons. / Langston Hughes noted t hat t he ~lues usually dealt fw i t h the theme of the rejected lover and personal depressio n. Hugh e s 's f irst volume of poems, in fact, was entitled The Weary Blues. However, the /iues, like the / piri tuals, do not simp11 preach resignation or submissiveness . _lhJ•~w1!L) Rather, as J ~ r~~and Howard Thurman (The Negro Spiritual Speaks of Life and Death ) note, underneath the complaint is a "plaint": or change ! t h ings must get bett er For as the slave said: / Freedom, ~• Freedom, h ow I love t hee! -- Freed~ eedom, how I love t he e! And before I 1 11 be a slave I 1 11 be buried in my grave And go home to my Maker and be Free! II C'f) Black Folk Roots in America "Get it together or leave it alonerr i Jackson Five )}l e-- Black poets have been writing in the English literary tradition since t he middle of t he eighteenth century. But notes with some detail b ow t h e Africans (made slaves) had to learn to use t h e instruments of the New World. Professor Southern als o relates how~lack music influenced wh ites in the early days of America. 35 �it is the fol k literature - Lthose productions of t he e veryday ('I\ mus t be examined before a literary or poetic tradition can be viewed in its entirety . There are few persons in the United States who have not been touched or influenced (in one way or another) by the folk expression of ~ lack America. White Americans began collecting)3lack folk lyrics and stories in the early ~ars of t h e nineteenth century (see bibliography) . In the same century , this aspect of~ lack culture reached wide audiences via at least three major veh icles. The first was the abolitionist movemen~ which E v. featur ed_)3iack poets (Francis Harper , James Whitfield, Benjamin Clark, and oth ers), orators and prose writers (David __, Walker , ~ rick Douglas Russwurm••·) -~ . ;~■), and journalists (John The second veh icle was the national and Euro pean tours (i n t he 187ot s) of stud~nt choirs from Hampton Institute and Fis k · { ,' J ubile e Singer;\ University '~Tbe abolitionist movement popularized anti-slavery and freedom song) and the c ollege ch oirs gave wide exposur e to t he~p irituals, considered by most sch olars (of,;Black culture ) t o be t he first authentic poetry of~ lack America. The t h ird major veh icle was t he publication (in t b e l ate=ninetee nt h ce nt ur y ) of Brer Rab~ it tales by Joel Chandler Harris . I n studies and wri ti nes, Harris r ecognized t be mythi c worth in j'lack fol~+ ales a nd exposed readers t o s uc!:1 cl1 aract ers as Brer Terra pin , Brer Bear , Brer Fox, Brer ·.101£' and others . Hany of t hese tales and characters have African counte rpart s . 36 �if III spirituals: C::- Use {£:: 11 Tryin I to get home 11 of the word "spiritual" to describe or identifyJ 1ack religious or church life is, in many ways, a corruption of the modal adaptations of African life in the United ~tate ~ Learned interpretations, outlined against new information and empirical tenacity, reveal the entire/ lack world as 11 spiritual 11 : i.e., informed by and responsible to a "higher order" i the order of God or ·the • gods. ' This spirituality drapes the interdependence V and integration of various modes and points of view flowing through and evolving from the community(!) Such a 11 6V feel 11 -aad "sense" is witi nessed in '111~ exuberance, spontaneity, ecstasy, trance, tongue ~ talking, racial flavor and flair in dress/( church or nightclub), and songified comm ications systems which are · the backbone of \Iv- . {Jr\ Afro-American lif • 11.Work describes this phenomena as "this difi ference and this oneness." Robert· Hayden eplploys an unders~anding () r,I (#I,,,, ; -..when, in a poem to Malcolm X, he,,az l ii~tmi'_y the "blazing oneness II of Allah Further proof of this fusion is seen in the emotional abandonment of church folk during picnics, socials and other events of merriment@ Listening to Aretha Franklin immediately recalls the / . ospel-blues alternation in the unity of expression. S; And it is found, without a doubt, in the works of-------- - - - . : : , r observe that the most brilliant and influential vnde~sliud ack poets have intimately~this aspect of the culture Almost without exception (and Kerlin, Brown and ~ 37 - q �the Staplet ...., Singers, the Edwin Hawkins Singers and in a :nore vulgarized manner in Flip Wilson's Rev. Leroy"...., . In t he words of one brother, "the preach er and the pimp style out h eavy." - Still, it is important that we offer the traditional portrait and breakf down of/4lack folk expression•••••:•1•1•••1•cwsllll!!IISWS•tMllll&B~G!!!JIII' - .~ . . .. .,L..,.. • • - ... ~ ( The .1-:Pirituals have been the source of continuing de ,, ate among scholars: Are they completely African in origin? Are ~...i11 <fflve oP ----.. '7 they primarilyAEnglish (Methodist, Wesleyan!__) ) . Sov~Ct{.. \ Or do they represent the coJ joining of African/European t h emes and r e l i g i o s i t y ? ~ : - ~ • 1a ef :ewaelr p e e t ~ ::;;_·➔,. : : t, ,,,.,....._,,._.~ -- iL-a- po abs s:rn!" detatcl! and ?ello'- ~e~ usi ees of and his brother, .r. :~'s,&.,, ::: :: ¥' ~ , ~t'l'\es tA,,eldot\ tbiXill: ..r.. I\ .Johnson RosamondA put togeth er the best ~known collection of these songs in The Book of American Negro Spirituals I {1925), and The Second Book of ~ r ~-Negro Spirituals (1926). The~pirituals usually deal with physical or figurative con~ tact between the singer _ or congregation ~ and God. / ..-ftll~a...---r-i (Early u. fro-Americans often used the words God, .Jesus, Savi~,1 and Lord interchangeably. For a more thorough discussion of t h is see Benjamin !1ays 'I; !The Negro' a God. ) The songs also deal with others warn young pack writers to follow example i _,,t1ack poets since the Civil War have availed themselves of integral folk rudiments -even when they did not use them in poetry. . rv.., still a fact that It is lack culture (despite the racist and techno 38 J /\ <) �a longing for rest and the ove rcoming of for midable obstacles or adversaries. Work 's 1915 study was seminal and remains a lan~ - ~L~ ~ mark re.~e""tnce war"- Oki African and_/J-ack America. rti:songs. His work provides many answers to questions and issues that had /4i, I l been (and 1f ontinueq \"'o be ) muddied by the waters of insensi tivity and careless r e s e a r c h . - "Undertaken for ~ eswdy the love of our fathers' songs, 'jAgi ves clear connections b etween ~ African and Afro-American • • song . ......_., His main ft1it-t>eS'T is in religious songs J -although his comments on form and style M 1{f are of general value: In America we hear it [ the song] and see it acted in t he barn dance, on t he stage, in the streets {i) among the children; in fact, many an occasion is enlivened by t h is species of music , t h e interest in which is intensified by the rhythmical patting of hands and feet. This rhythm is most strikingl y and accurately brought out in their work songs. Citing the emotionalism and songified intensity of the / lac k American, Professor Work says., "He worships not so much because _" ~,. ~t,916u.s ,-e.-,.s~ 1 be ought, as because he lo~ worship." This "worsh ip "I\. of course, is the kind we~rofr ;e.J ]!) 39 to earlie · t he integration �of sensuality and ecstasy into the sweeping ritual of live and i mmediate drama.. Such musical activity is "as natural to the American Negro as his breath 11 : Indeed, it is a portrayal of his soul, and is as ch aracteristic as are bis physical features. Hear bim sing in his church , b ear hio preach, moan, and gi ve '' gravery'' in h is sermon, hear t h e wasberi woman singing over her tub , b ear the laborer m singing b is accompani ae nt to bis toil, hear the chi ld babb ling an extemp oraneous tun6(9 ••· Even th ose Negroes who have been educated and wbo h ave been inf'luenced by long study, find it diffi t cult to express their musical selves in any other way . Black song, as is readily observable, possesses both pure~song (the verse and chorus plan) and chant (use of interjections and expletives) qualities: Poor man Laz'rus, poor as I, Don't you see? /'7;\ Po or man Laz'rus, poor as I, \_ V Don 't you see? When he died he found a home on h igh, \ He h ad a home in dat rock, Don't y ou see? Alluding to the deeper, more psychological meaning of these songs, Professor Work says1 "there are closer relations between - 40 �beefl the soul and musical expressions t han have~satis.factor j.l y explained. These relations can be felt, but a ny accurate description seems beyond the grasp of man 1 s mind. 11 Never theles~ this i mportant study goes on to classify a nd number these songs 01' Jove, ~ ope, )!umility. / oy, / orrow, f orrow with j ote 01' / oy, .,Faith , '-- , etermination, ,Kdoration, / atience, ,lourage a nd Like most scholars of t b e~ pirituals, t h is one points out t h at there is no b ate, resentment or v indictive ness in them. Howo."'Cl However, ~Thur ma n, t heologian a nd ph ilosoph er , bas excavated underpinni ngs of tur bulence. In The Negro Spiritual,~ Thurman tells us death was i omediate a nd '----" ever present for t he slave. In such an atmosph ere of a nxi ety and fear, the slave developed a rath er stoic attitud~ i n which he saw death as i nescapable arrl as, possibl y , t h e only remaining vehicle for mediation with t h e plantation lords. could take his own lifet i f he wanted to ~ as h e did in preference to slavery or separation fro CT family and/or loved ones. • - Tburma n 1 s brilliant analysis must be '-,.../' read by any serious student or/ lac k t h ought and culture • .Johnson (wh o also clas s ified the songsf t said a h ierarchy of poets for t h e/ pirituals i ncluded the song1ma ker (writer) and the song, leader. The leader had to remember leading lines, .Johnson, Brown, Kerlin and~ Thurman also give co~ to the "poetic" content of the / piri tuals. ? _______, and ? .Joh nson Work discuss t he preservation and promotion of '----' 41 �pitch tunes true and possess a powerful voice. (like Professor Work) believes the earliest Johnson, wa o lack American songs were built on the common Af'rican form, says th: /pirituals were written by individuals and set to tre moods of groups. Like the blues, their secular and structural cousins, the / pirituals incorporated~=.:::::==~~ all-and-respons ~ which allowed for audience (congregation) participation (either by alternatingt or interminglin4 Leader: ~ 1uf) ri} "iJ--1'-vJ { j ~ ? , .)- , with the leader): h, de Ribber of Jordan is deep and wide, ~ Congregation: One mo' ribber to cross. Leader: I don't know how to get on de other. side, Congregation: One mo' ribber to cross. .. w Heavily influenced by Christian imagery and mythology, t h e creators of the _/pirituals often ch ose the most militant of biblical personalities as their heroes. This aspect of these "poems" opens up an entire area of questions and research for and the student seeking to compare!(contrast biblical themes and e charactf rs to the )3"pirituals. Certainly there is need to exi, amine the English "Wymns and Psalms in the framework of such / -· a study. co'>d The/ pirituals should also be compared1contrasted to the/ lack 11 terary verse of the period during which they these songs t hr ough arch ival holdings, choir concert tours and t he attention paid to them by composers. �were forged-~ especially the work of Jupiter Hammon, Phillis 'Wheatley and George Hoses Horton. j IV W Folk Seculars Don wid massa's bollerin '; Don wid massa's hollerin'; 0 Don wid massa's hollerin' Roll Jordan roll. C::::-- We observed that there is a thin line between · ~ f lack reli gious a nd secular worlds. This is true for many reasons N-.. some of t hem s temming from the African tradition of i nteri, relati ng all aspects of life. As John M'Biti (Afr ican Rel igions and Philosophies ), Gabriel Bannerman-Richter and oth ers point out, t h e African takes his religion (his beliefs) with h i m where~ ever he goes . :rems i:aee IZQI n• l iahn. @1§3£3 end bfb&SE ►1'1e.7 also remind us that most African languages have no word for religion or art. The two are inseparable. Again the ways of African peoples (see Hphahlele 's 'W hirlwind) are expressed in nintegrated" terms. True, in/ lack America there is some tension between secular and religious communities ~ but so r, often { and most Blacks understand this well though they do nest always admit it) they are the same: on dti'ferent oc?nons. - wearing different hats ~ Stud:.:.,.:rain, the case of a Re , Jesse ,,; , vi Jackson or a Re\! . Ike or a RefioAdam Cla ~on Powell"1t,..~r,tdl'irn4~ We have also observed that many motifs and components of ) lack expression are interchangeable. 43 That 1s, songs and ab . l, �speeches designed for church or other religious activity are often re$ ut (modified) for a secular-t3ocial affair. are numerous examples of t h i.s practice. There During the ,iiv i l ,,/(igh ts era., we would .sing: \t I woke up this mornin' with my mind stayed on freedom ) Ir though 1ve were fully aware that church folk were used to singing it this way: ~ 11 1r I woke up this morain' w1 th my mind stayed on Jesus •••• v- el.c:H~'"C\ AA.Ts t-CompoS'e ... Hany ofACurf'is Hayfield's (and the Impressions') songs rely strongly on the material of songs sung in ~ la ck churches. Ma.yf'ield 1 s more recent tunes (see "If There's / Even Hell Below") carry the f l ack church flavor-l with their !_Rrnl ng~ admonish~ ments., thr a.ts of societal destruction., and ple,,as for love ~ ~ B - (SIIIIP also/\ :Marvin Gay,.tita. pieces ~ . "Save e Children"). Some ~ 1\ w9-y Child Running Wild") reflect works by the Temptations ( "Run the historical theme of "searching" found in / lack religious songs. -Up This same group I s "Poppa Was / Rolling Stone" describes in the name of the Lord." :::::. B•r• King s 1 "Woke This Morn n" is a blues treatment o 1 above in the/ Piri tua~~ "I Wolce Up This Morn the old Supremes singing "Stop in the Name of Loven -.; we to replace "love" with "God." "Mothe~ "i ''Bapy" and ''Goq, ~ "Captain" and "Maker7 . . "t t we When~heard ~1ed. Often the songs contain words such as "Lord" and "Sweet thing" and "Sweet Jesu~ " and "God" and "Ma ' • . The reasons for ' such usages, as we have stated, are deeply enmeshed in the 44 t �mythos of Blacks. Richard Wright's "Bright and .1 Iorning Star" (in the Jible, a metaphor for Jesus) becomes t he son of old Aunt Sue in the short story by that name. ~ Th e b ero of Joh n A. Williams I novel{ The Man Who Cried I Ami say s, "~hank, youJ - v - - _TJJB-n" to God after a sex act. "Slipping into Darkness 11 ( When we hear a tune lik~ '"~hen I heard my mother say " ~ we must understand tre\historic;l significance and function of social (therapeutic) art J just as we must understand t h e function of the mother like voice that admonishes Isaac Hayes to "shet yo mouf" ft~t. 11 When conservative J1ack Christians complained of Duke Ellington's use of religious themes in jazz, be replien "I'm just a ecumenical cat "-'- meaning he avoided fine J _ . fl\ distinctions in where or to whom he played. Tbe church has been the training ground (acade~ if you ~ ~ : r • s 1 The Negro Church in America) for most •£ 91, _~ t t t s,144~....s~, · J lack popular~ usic~as ~ell as for i•p11~a8t orators, race leaders and community businessmen. '\)\-e." ( o o.s Against the ~, 23 • ti@"discussion we can view the f olk jeculars in their ri ght perspective as a vital part of t he rich storehouse of / lack folklore. Through songs, aphorisms (my own grandmother: .._ ''You don't believe fat meat's greasy!" and "If you ain't gon' do nothing> get off the pot!"), fables ~ (see Aesop), jokes (_. minstrelsy and the J31-ack comedy tr _..., dition), blues and other enduring forms>\13lacks capture severe hardships and tribulations, folk wisdom, joys and tragedies, -~-.a~nd __J and '@_, longings and h opes cf BJ ;l during/siaver~ aftg Jr 45 O( �The/ eculars, mortso than the fipirituals, give important clues to t h e inner~workings of t he common~lack mind. And a closer look at the total folk tradition will reveal the structure and principles of folk psychology. all, liiii It is, after Si . . t hese folk materials that researcher s \1've.sTi~£1e will have t i • if they are serious about delineating t he feelings, emotions and thought patterns of Blacks. The/eculars are surer ind~ es to the workings of the folk mine'!, because t h ey are not as limited as the~pirituals. Though most Blacks in the United States are aware of and have heard ~ / pirituals, an even larger number h ave b ad sustained exposure (directly or indirectly ) to t h e secular vocalizations and gestures 01/lack culture. Contemporary ;i'iack popular music and culture cont tinue to be informed by 4lt ~ street and home utterances. An exciting reciprocity allows entertainers to b orrow freely from what they hear while the folks "run and tell that" once it's recorded. Some examples of songs, titles and other epithets borrowed directly from t h e people are: New Bag , 11 "Licking Stick" (see "honey stick" in McKay 's story "Truant"), "Give It Up or Turn It Loose, 11 James Brown's ''Brand 11 "The Payback" and It's Hell"; Harvin Gaye' s "What's Gong On" and "Let's Get i t On"; Curtis Hayfi eld' s "Superfl y"; t h e .Jackson Five's "Get It Together or Leave It Alone "; Fli p Wilson 's "What You See J.s What You Get" (and the Dramati cs' tune by the same name); Aretha Frankl in 's "Respect" and "Run and Tell That"; and Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff" /Y1 to name just a few. 46 �As with the ..Zpiri tuals, whites ( primarily abolitionists) were a mong the first to collect/ eculars of whatever type. William Wells Brown, the first publishe<;llack novelist and playwright, collected "anti-slavery" songs. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, writer and abolitionist who led a/ lack re gi ment in the Civil War, collected songs be heard among his me n around campfires and during marches. Though primarily co ni, cerned with religious songs, h e also describ ed some of t he Properties of general .Jnack song delivery. One of the most important collections of these seculars was put together by Thomas w. Talley '--"of Fisk University, <l oLLe.~c,e, "; ~~htt wo.-.k 4 I Talley did pioneering work in t he identifi cation a nd -----_ ./ classilication of Negro Folk Rhymes.~ 1 f) g 1.l s 1l1s sl2act£SJ t &2!£32) ~ o t 1il Fisk scholar collected well over @ examples. §) i- g; cb'tfr examples and discussions of t h e artistic products of i??t11,~ .I. i mportan! secular fol k life can be found i n t h e works of Hugh es and Bontemps, Brewer , Spalding, Dodson, Ch apman, Brown (Negro Poetry), A ra"1ar.is (Deep Down in ,.1he Jungle) and Bell (The > Folk Roots of ontemp orary Afro-Ame rican Poetry ). ( work - {:'e ce::.;r I'------ I I ) --I ila Bell's J is somewhat vague in perspective as a result of an · i mposed ("foreign ") - i-I · ,, ~ct~ ~~ {.:J ~ Also valuable to an examination of t h e/ eculars are regi onal ·w orks ( such as Abrah a ms') including Drums and Shadows (Georgia and South Carolina), Goldstein's - ........_,,, 47 Black Life csn_ ~ �and Culture in the United States , Lorenzo Dow Tur ner's 1-1ork in the Gullah culture, Dorson's Negr o Folktales in Hich i gan, and others ( see b ibliography ). By far the most faithful representatio n of secular or religious fol k materials in t b e written poetry is in t h e work of Sterling Br own (see h is Southern Road, especially Johnson's introductio n , and h is critical comments in Negro Poetry ). Brown takes exception to Johnson's comment that dialect poetry h as only two stops /4 "humor and pathos "-/4- and i mplies that.f1ack poets up until h is time had been remi ss (or lazy) in not developing broader uses and deepening the meaning of.J'lac k life t hrou gh t h e use of folk materials. The tradition of "tall" tale} telling is, of course, s uo.t merged in the American my thos. So t he/ lack narrator fo und a flexible atmosphere into which he could introduce hi s own manner of storytelling and his own tradition of song . As he had do ne in the/ pirituals, he gained a resourceful ness in the use of language, acquired i nstruments to accompany t he song or story, and developed an a'!J ility to seize upon a good or amenable context in which to tell or sing h is story ; be also made use of t h eme s and ideas from the vast ethni c pot-t, pourri of America. the ji,irituals. Tbe j eculars grew up side t by side wi t b Tbe/ pirituals emerged from t h e attempt of the slave to web together h is disparate (ye ___ ) wound s. Spirituals represent the slave's persei verence and (in many instances) h is hope and faith in mankind. 48 The / eculars, also �developing in t he shadows of the "big house," reflect the social life of the/ lack American on t he plantation and later. In songs and ditties, the J lack American couched bis longings and bitternessesJ but voiced bis hopes and cynicisms through the oblique, e)-i tical and encoded words and seemingly unini, telligible phonetic symb ols. These African forms (see Rappin' and Stylin' Out, Kochman) have continued up to the present. Few,Jflack youngsters are "~,, able to sidef step the rigorous (and sometimes painful) verbal deX~ erity demanded by playmates during that inevitably take place. sparring matches The forms of such behavior were in~tact during slavery -when a slave might be discussing a ,__, M master's "moma" or "old lady " during a rather harmless "rap" (rhapsod~? rapport?) with his fellow field workers. Frederick I '" hisouTo\:,ioq..,•pl11'c. a{ .-:h Douglass reports '\_Narra£ive ~that slave over~ eers t h ough t . slaves sang because they were happy . not the case (s~Df ois We . know that such was ouls of Black Folki ) and t hat such refrains as "stealing away" implied a lot more than wanting 1.1,h~ti - to reach t he arms of~esus on t he cross. similar codes in his stories and poems. Henry Dumas chronicles And Mel Watkins (Amistad 2) discussed an updated version of at least part of t h is _ phfLr>omenon in _is article on f olk singer-hero James Brown. Though b e is discussing a secular character, Watkins ' revelations are similar - to ~ Thurman's: ~that in the absurd context of being owned by someone else, 1 t is not life or death that looms\so importantly. One lives, Ellison sugges ts (Invisible Man}, the day-to-day 49 �absurdity in a sort of comic-tragic vi~e. Watkins says: James Brown's initial acceptance by a black audie nce is fixed in this crucial factor. From the moment be slides onto the stage, whether unconsciously or intentionally, his gestures, his facial exf pressions and even the sequential arrangement of _is materials are external affirmations of a shared ' acceptance of t h e absurd or, more ingerf(>usly, of jiving. The i mpe4i,bly tailored suits, whic'h b e brandishes at the outset, become meaninGless accoutrements as his act progresses and, sweati n; and straining, he gets down, literall:r down on t he floor, to wring t ":1 e last drop of emotion fro .. a son3 . Watkins is incorrect ab out t h e dress becoming "meanin.s;less" to a / lack audie nce, but his general thesis is on target. Elsewhere Watkins, firmly understanding the i mportance of verbal agility a mong Blacks, sa:rsJ "f t is cor.1mon to _ ear hla.ck women discussins a ma n 's 'rap' or 'program' on t he same level ,ri,4.1 •~hey di s cuss h is ba nk account." Blacks ge nerally wi t h~old their judg , ent on ( or acc eptance) of a speaker or e ntertainer unti 1 '!-: e ex:~ i b i ts, i n b is dr es s- .::;esture-rap, t 1: at : ,e , r1de r+ stands t'-:e -: cllspri ng t l"} a t ~, r oduced the ';Z(lac k and t~~1known bard s . 11 J.c tur nin 6 hrieflyi to our h istorical assess ment, we can now see h oH t h e folk strain i :;}5lack written art e•rol ved. 50 �From t h is "s o ng " r ecord ed in t ~J e 1 '350t s ' y Dougl a ss, Dey g i c us de liquor, ..---.., And say dat 's good enoug~ for ..___ :e:1 ~ · gge r > to t h e fear of "de Cunjah Han" captured in nGullab II by Ca:apbell in t he l a tter part of the 1906,'s, __, @ De Cunjah man, de Ctrnjah man, 0 ch illen run, de Cunjah man! the dece ptively 11 s simple II eMplo:rment of folk express ions "ha ""6- prevailed as an i n portant antidote for the social maladies inherited by Blacks in the Western Hemispbere. rtne Cunjah Han" is, of course, equivalent to the rrtbing s that g o bump ~ in the ni gh t" in Ireland~ and tbus has ties to ge neral fol k supe1"sti tions and mythology. But there was also t h e rr1Ju ggah-: man 11 (Dun~ar 's "Little Brown Baby 11 ) , the "raw-head and bloody bones" and 11 obeah man. 11 11 rag -:na rfr&J "peg=le g , (in -tit" We~t-rV\dte.S 11 r) ) t h e '--' Most of these supernatural characters a.re t h r ow __. - b acks to various African religious and ritual practices. Of \ the new generation of poets, Ish mael Reed (/atechism of a ~~U I r,--• neoamerican h oodoo church ) is the innovator in the use of 2'.h.tL~<.i=e~~ super natural t h em-6s;~and v ocabulary. The t h eme of the 2nd Annual John Henr:r Memorial .Auth entic -- lues and Gospel .Jubilee ~ i Sartsrl?Sr < 1974) was ~ 1t°''"'"""' Vt\~ ·::1 _p!,f _2f!Jit{cliff Top, ltJi 11 Tryin' to Get Home. 11 t g J'f How stead t fastly the folk tradition runs like a vein througbj'lack h istory ! In the ~ , culars ( and the / piri tuals ) we repeatedly hear some,l thing si milar to the last stanza of 51 11 Ra1nbow ou Mab Shouldern: �gonna break ri ght , break ri gh t pas t hat s h ooter, goin :'1 ome, Lawd, I'm goi home. Agai ~ the use of the word "Lawdn in a "secular" song furt her bears out the communal integration of the folk::J.ression. Bu..t. J:S n.• v,.eqvLo..rly-----.. interject or exclaim "Lord" •t\nLawd" in every ay discussions. d I 111 ! 7 It is next to impossible to list all {or each type) of the ,/eculars. We have mentioned Professor Talley's pioneering efforts at classifying t h em. But many o?stacles lay in the way of recorders of secular folk life. of censureship of language. One problem was t h at Such censuring marked all types of )Slack creativity, from the slave narratives to reli gious songs. Hence the more "protesting" aspects of tbe works were deleted, as were "authentic 1~ 11 offensi ve words. 11 Anyone wh o bas h eard ack folk songs knows t hat t h ey reflect t he cont, vergence of madness, absurdity and h ope in the J'lack body . Subsequently what are known as trcurse" or "obscene" words are sprinkled throughout much of the "secular II lore. cusses the 11 Brown dist realismtr in t h e folk rhymes along with an attempt r, ., 11 to · tlassify at least some of them { fiddle- ~ hgs," "corn-songs, 11 "jig-tunes, 11 11 upstart crows 11 ) : 4l.!S!2!!S Ballads: Negro Heroes, John Henry (fol kified in song ), Work Songs, The Blues, Irony and Protest. Irony and protest, of course, run through j 1ack folk and literary poetry from the earliest days (Whitfield, Harper, anti-slavery songs) to the most recent times (Josh White, 52 • �. eon Thomas , Don L. Lee, John Ectels, \Johnie. Scott). Some observers have pointed to the silliness of nany researchers who, white as ever, appeared in person to as i jlack folk~song writers arrl singers if they endorsed "protest,n then went away satisfied with a "no" answer. Given the nature and history of race relation~ one can understand the reluctance on the partf of Blacks to tell whites the truth about " let alone about such a sensitive area as "protest." 11 anything 11 Yet in the dog-eat-dog world of survival, the folk person knows that e "If he dies, I'll eat bis co'n; An' if he lives, I'll ride 'im on." In summary we can say that unlike other ethnic i mmigrant ,, groups ( ~the Afro-American was not a willing immigrant!), the f lack American did not simply transplant bis stories ~ keeping them in their exact same form. He found American or European language counterparts for his themes and vocabularies. But his phonology, style and spirit were informed by the African tradition. The stude.n t of_)3lack folk poetry ·will want to compare and contrast the..)'feculars to other ethnic stories and songs. Boasting or "lying," for example, is one ingredient of the "tall" tale. 1 , Jl ·'(-1 How does the J lack song or story ( b o , , "Shine,i' "Signifying Monkey," "Dol~ iite, etc.) fit this motif? 11 "Frankie and Johnnie," How does it conceal deeper meanings on the issues of slavery, inhuman work conditions, or contr~ dictions in Christianity? What are the similarities between the _,z'e culars and the / pirituals? 53 Between the/ eculars and �the literary poetry? These and oth er questions (o ~ lack heroes, cultural motifs, blues themes, language and endurance) will lead one through exciting corridors of_/lack folk creativi ty and thought. ~ - (i) PottA~it,o (i2 SPIRITUALS G ,1 $e·!Til~ (>lkYl ple) GO DOWN, MOSES Go d~, Moses, Way down in Egyptlandj Tell old Pharaoh To let my people go . _i z._ When Israel was in EgyptlandJ Let my people go0 Oppressed so hard they could not stand/ Let my people go. ,J. 2 Go down, Moses, . Way down in Egyptlandj Tell old Pharaoh, nLet my people go." ,-I z-. "Thus saith t he Lord," bold Hoses said, qtJ "Let my people. If not I'll smite your first-born dea~ Let my people go." 54 �I p-,,.,J 11 No more shall they in bondage toil, £J Let my people go; Let t hem come out with Egypt's spoil, □ Let /p-,,v- }svv> my people go." The Lord told Moses what to do; D Let my people go; To lead the children of Israel through , .cJ Let my people go. Go down, Hoses , CJ Way down in Egyptland; Tell old Pharaoh, 0 "Let my people gol 11 (i) SLAVERY CHAIN ,_y Slavery chain done broke at last, broke at last, I .0 bro ke at last, /~ I ,Y""" -, Slavery chain done broke at last, Going to praise God till I die. Way down i n-a dat valley, Praying on my knees; Told God ab out my troubles, And to help me et-a He please. I did tell h im how I suffer, In de dungeon and de chain, And de days I went with h ead bowed down, And my broken fles h and pain. 55 �~ ___., PIRI.TUA~-ont+d-: Slavery chain done broke at last, broke at last, LJ broke at last, Slavery chain done broke at last, Going to praise God till I die. I did know my Jesus heard me, 'Cause de spirit spoke to me, And said, "Ri ~ ' y child, your chillun And you tJ / be free. nr done 'p' int one mighty captain For to marshalt all my h osts, - And to bring my bleeding ones to me, And not one shall be lost." Slavery chain done broke at last, broke at last, CJ broke at last, Slavery chain done broke at last, Going to praise God till I die. @ NO MORE AUCTION BLOCK No more auction block for me, J o more, no more, No more auction block for me, 1-1.a ny thousand gone. n o more peck of' corn for me, No more, no more, 56 �/ ~ .,;;:;::;:.:. SPIRITUALS (cont'd) ~ No more peck of corn for me, Many thousand gone. No more pint of salt for me, No more, no more, No more pint of salt for me, Many thousand gone. No more driver's lash for me, No more, no more, No more driver's lash for me, Many t housand gone. (v SHOUT ALONG, ,, CHILLEN Shout along, chillen! Shout along, chillen! _ Hear the dying Lamb: Oh! take your nets and follow me For I died for you upon tbe tree! L Shout along, chillen! Shout along, chillen! ~ Hear the dying Lamb! vJ, SW.!:iliT / low, lV Swing Coming for sweet ch ario , to carry me home , Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home. 57 HARIOT �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) I looked over Jordan and what did I see Coming for to carry me home, A band of angels, coming after me, Coming for to carry me home. If y ou get there before I do, Coming for to carry me home, Tell all my friends I' m coming too, Coming for to carry me home. Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home, Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home. @ (f) STEAL AWAY Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus, Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here. My Lord, He calls me, He calls me by the thunder, The trumpet sounds within-a my soul, I ain't got long to stay here. Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus, Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay h ere. 58 �/ ' \ / SPIRITUALS (cont•d) Green trees a-bending, Po' sinner stands a-trembling The trumpet sounds. within-a my soul, I ain't got long to stay here. J (CJ DEEP RIVER Deep river, my home is over Jordan, Deep river, Lord; I want to cross over into camp ground. 0 children, O, don't you want to go to that gospel feast, That promised land, tbat land, where all is peace? Deep river, my hone is over Jordan, Deep river, Lord; I want to cross over into camp ground. I GOT A H,9HE IN DAT ROCK ~ got a home in dat J76ck, D~ 1 t you see? 1 / . I go..,_t a home in ~at rock, Don't rou see?/ ' Between 'ae eJth an' sky, Thought I \ ~rd my Sa vi our cry, You got a/2:~~ in· dat rock, I • Don't y/u see? \ / \\ \, Poor . an Laz•rus, P\or as I, Do . •t you see? Boo~ man Laz'rus, poor ai I, 59 , �• \ got \ \ \ don't you \ \ One of mornings, \ I Dis ole rock, \ '\ ___Q_ . Pharaoh •s I wants to stay he~fuh, Dis ole world 't been no friend to huh , I Pharaoh's arm I Oh Mary, Oh Hary, you don't ~rou moan, Oh Nary, you you moan, army got you weep. G VI ..__.,,, F OLK SECULARS Q a HE I.S MY HORSE One day as I wus a-ridin' by, Said dey: "Ole man, yo' boss will die." CJL:J "Ir he dies, he is my loss; And if' he lives, h e is my boss." I �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) Nex' day w'en I come a'ridi n ' by , Dey said: "Ole man, yo' boss may die. 11 OLJ 11If' he dies, I'll tan 'is skin; An' if' he lives, I'll ride 'im ag 'in ." Den ag ' in w'en I come a-rid i n ' by, Said dey: ,CJ 11 0le man, yo' b oss mougbt die. L.J ' nrf' he dies, I'll eat h is co' n ; I. 1An' if' he lives, I'll ride 'im on . -- {! -DID~ II II O, FEED i1Y Cffi-J'? ''Did yer fe ed my cow?" "Will yer tell me h ow?" ''Yes, Mam!" "Yes, Mam!" "Oh , w'at did yer give 'er? 11 "Cawn an h ay . II "Oh , w'at did yer gi ve 'er?" "Cawn an hay . II "Did y er milk 'er good?" ''Yes, Ma m!" "Did yer do lak yer sh ould?" "Oh , h ow did yer r.iilk ' er ?" ''Yes, Ham!" "Swish ! Swish ! [J L.J Swish !" Did dat cow git sick ? '' 11 "Yes, }fam ! II rtwus sh e kivered wid tic k ? " '~es, Ha m!" "Oh , how wus she sick ?" "All bloated up. II "Oh , how wus she sick? 11 "All bloated up. II �FOLK SEC1JI:..A.~S (cont ' d) SONG (From Frederick ;;:_ D...:.o...:.u~ ..a.-........-. riy Bondaee and H:r Freedom, 1353) We rai se de wheat , Dey gib us de corn: We bake de bread , Dey gib us de crust; We sif de meal, Dey g i b us d hu~ ; We peel de :neat , Dey gi b us de skin; And dat ' s de wa: Dey take us in; We skim de pot, Dey gib us de liquor, V And say dat ' s go od enou8!1 for nis ger. som (Fro:n :Martin R. Delanv The r.1erica, 11 bret'hr e n, :-Jhile t 'b. e L. "Blake; or, in The An . - o-African 11a n' azine, June 1 : 5 , ) take a rest, a nd clear; Old And : as gone Old :~1as ter ' s d l:ri ng in b is gra·rn; And our to flow; He will ne ck of the slave , For he ' s O' go! �------- toLK SECULARS ( c.Ql1 t f d ) ~ on the utha sbo. r CJ MA.NY A THOUSAND DIE No n ore driver call for me, CJ No more driver call; No more driver call for me , CJ I1any a thousand di ef} ! No more peck of corn for me, 0 No more peck of corn; . No more peck of corn for me, 0 }!any a t h ousand die! No more .. undred lash f'or me, CJ no more hundred lash ; No more hundred lash f'or me, 0 Many a thousand die! @ FREEDOM Abe Lincoln freed t~e nigger, Wid da gun and wid da trigger, An I a1nft 1\?-na git whipped no mo. Ah got mah ticket Ou of' dis heah t h icket, 1 Afh I'm headin for da golden sho. 0 f'reedo m, 0 freedo m, " -- - .,. �FOLK SECULARS con f ) 0 freedom after a while, And before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave, And go home to my Lord and be free. There'll be no more moaning, no more moaning, No more moaning after a wh ile, And before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave, And go home to my Lord and be free. No more weeping, no more crying, No more weeping after a while, And before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave , And go home to my Lord and be free. There'll be no more kneeling, no more bowing, No more kneeling after a while, And b efore I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave, And go h ome to my Lord and be free. There'll be shouting, there'll be shouting , There'll be shouting after a while, And b efore I'd be a slave, I 1 d be buried in my grave, And go home to my Lord and be free. �FOLK -SEOOLAE {j) (cont f-d-t-RAI11BOW ROUN I-IAH SHOULDER Evahwhuh I, ~huh I look dis mawnin, Looks lak rain, looks lak rain . I gotta rainbow, tied all rou n mah s h oulder, Ain go nna rain, ai n gonna rai n. I don walk till, walk till mah feets gone to rollin, Jes lak a wheel, jes lak a sheel. Evah mailday, I gets a letter, "My son come home, my son come h ome." Dat ol letter r ead ab out dyin , .Mah tears run down, mah tears run down. I'm gonna break ri gh t, break ri gh t pas dat sh ooter, I' m goin b orne, Lawd, I' m goin h ome. RAILROAD SECTI 0" LEADER t S Stan on da gon. Ah Ef i n Jenni ee Square, easy , l~ketch you �Lawdy, nobody For Nobody For {I> -JOHN HENRY HAMMER S ON'G Dis is de hammer Killt John Henry, Twon•t kill me, baby, Twon't kill me. Take dis hammer, Carry it to de captain Tell him I'm gone, baby, Tell h im I'm gone. E:f h e axe you, Was I running Tell him bow fast, baby, Tell h i m how fast. E:f h e axe you Any mo' questions, Tell him you don't know, baby, You don't know. Every mail day, Gits a letter, �ECULARS (contd"Son, come h ome, baby , Son come home. 11 Been all ni ght long Backing up timber, Want to go home, baby, Want to go home. Jes' wait till I make Dese few days I started I'm going home, baby, . r'rn going home. Everywhere I Look dis morning Look lak rain, baby, Look lak rain. I got a rainbow Tied 'round my shoulder, Ain't gonna rain, baby , Ain't gonna rain. Dis o le hammer Ring lak silver, Shine lak gold. Take dis hammer 61 �,..---F-G±sK-SECULAR ~ ( e G nt..!.d-) Throw it in de river, It'll ring ri gb t on, baby, Ring rigbt on. Captain, did you bear All yo' men gonna leave you, Next pay day , baby, Next pay day? SHINE AND THE TITANIC 1912 when the awful e great Titanic was "Please, Shine my knees." The water i black self on back down there' Captain said, keep t h e boiler room clear." I got a hundred- Shine sh ovelling coal, Si nging, "Lord, h my soul!" mped across the boiler room deck. Shine yelled to the Captaf, "The water's round my neck!" Captain said, 'Go back! Neit, er fear nor doubt! I got more pumps to out." ''Your words But this is ne time, Cap, y our wo s won't do . �FOLK SECULA.i.~S ( cont'd) He,..,,,sa1d fjpst 1t1 Cue r.iiddle , ~ fro m BACIIDOOR BLUES my baby standin i n the back door cryin' left my baby standin in the back door cryin' She said, baby , you gotta h ome jus as long as I cot mine . ( c,, A BIG FAT HA.r-IA I' m a b i g fat mama , got t he :neat sb akin on mah b ones, I'm a big fat ma ma , got t h e meat shaki n on mab bones, And every time I shakes, some skinny girl loses hu~ 1ome. ( HOU LONG BLUES How long, how lon 6 , has that e ven ing train Jin gone? How lo n3 , 'how long, b ay, h ow long ? Had a s al lived up on t h e hill If she' c t here, sh e loves r.e still Baby, ':1ow long , how lo ng , bow loni:; ? Standin at the station, watch my baby go Feel dis s usted, blue, mean an low How lone , !.') OW lone::; , ';:;a:Ty , ~. mr ~ long? � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_09_05 Title A name given to the resource Editors proof, Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Chapter II. The Black and Unknown Bards, typed with handwritten edits, p. 27-69 Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B.