https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/09392e375ba5f4f645b77a25a688eecf.pdf 28ba1292716a8624dac071b7f842193c PDF Text Text CHAPTER II THE BLACK AND UNKNOWN BARDS 0 black and unknown bards of long ago, How came your lips to touch the sacred fire? -- James Weldon Johnson I Origins of Black Expression In this chapter, as in subsequent ones, 9\-ew·u,g \3 LClc • empha.~1/s WtLL foe Orl ? ~~"tf..y ----. within the spirit and letter of the African-American cultural ;radition. Unfortunately, many early scholars either played down or ignored African influences. ~--,. . -....,. -Hic,u f.t Jliiillll!IIZ"Clllll!!IICll!ll&IJl&iilll!IIIIJ-&IIS•I• • • •· , ~'ls was certainly not true of all 0~11\ert\. For while some gloated over the nfindings n of "Southern white s 11 --pur porting to prove that the Spirituals were derived solely from English (Hymns and Psalms) sources-,q~t, ..T,, Johnson (Book of American Negro Spirituals, 192~, . . . . .iiliw:weslr Work (Folk Song of the American Negro, 1915), and others, displayed faultless proof of Africanisms existing in practically all Black American folk materials. 'ttlef'\). . ~o\~ '!11is chapteJ~ill e)(a..rn ,ne the Aphilosophical (' updating some of the thinking on traditional African found views and mannerisms~in Black America. 'i!iJ:aw. Srief consideration 'i will be given the major trunks of the folk poetry: • Spirituals and the Seculars (or religious folk poetry and everyday work, , -r LS and-play folk poetry). ~+ncludedA fair representation of the original folk poetry. 27 �Host anth ologies . . . . . .ll!!l!'!IIIWR!ll!J•••ll[III•..- omit Jvm ,-t b(t-t these i tems• · · · · •"wi thout a knowledge of isdtf'r,,gLt eiVte..i'he,(., devslo,omewf c,.,.. :t to understand,\tbe Black poet's iehe r o.. L.. use o t f'(tf. k cvi:. 4/ ~t, II I aI I ( see Dunbar, Johnson, Brown, Hugh es, Hayden, Walker and others). However, before discussing the ori gins of Black /Yt.01e r1, e. .,.ou. o F expression, we should •■••••••••••••A-- grioi}societies. or story tellel{--in pre-industrial African e110L11es The Black poet, as creator and chronicler, • • •Afrom t h e=;P oWJ.l ,1\qs --human~record~ 8f family and national • artisans lore. I · git ??w t rained to recite--without flaw--the geneI ologies, eulogies, victories and calamities of the folk, . . , griots (like f It J lead singers of Spirituals) bad to spice and with drama.- ~excitement . few -=- gr.w up (even in recent times) with out Ame~,, p.,..o,,., tfl ,' ncu,r ffion Blac\rAyoungsters .,,Jan ••••aAa sort of sister, motber1 • hus11e_,.1 The job of the ~ , in anden-t- Af:'f'(con socii't. ,, griot (uncle, grandmother, bi g brother) father, preacher, etc). --- · 411!1!' was so important t h at could cost him bis life. m o~f:A"l'>Jt griot be gan at a very early afOg~ ~n is~ • - information. ma~~ The technique and Like the~drummer, he understudied an elder statesman of the trade. His training demanded a certain psychological adjustment to the signi~icance of h is job-c.v,n,.,.4.(., which was to contain (and give advice on) t he,tbeirlooms" of the community. As years and centuries passed, t h is "f'actua1 11 information was r-'ituo__U 3ed into a lore, myt h ology, cosmology and legend; it became a part of the vast web of racial consc i ous- 28 �ness and memory. It became the legacy with which every new born child entered the world. Clearly, then, the myth-and legend-building Black poet has a past into which to dip and a future to predict, project and protect. And any violation of the past, present or future constitutes a serious crime against one's ancestors--against one's parents, against one's blood, against one's god. So it follows that the poet--griot-- is not some haphazlardly arrived~hipster or slick-talker i;,,.;.- simply mouthing tired old phrases. Am~lco.n To the BlackAgriot-singer- poet the job of unraveling the complex network of bis past and present-future worlds is a painful but rewarding labor of love. We can say, then, that the Black Experience in the United States continues via the African Continuum: 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, their physical appearances, their dress patterns and their family life. Not only in the United States, but in the Caribbean, in the West Indies, in Latin America, in all areas of the world where Blacks live in substantial numbers--they exhibit characteristics peculiar to the nature and culture of indigenous Africans. Naturally, general Black expression evolves from the myriad components of Black culture; and the artistic (song, poetry) expression--traditi~nal Black (African) 29 �communities did not separate life from art--is a more sophisticated f~m boned from the general "storehouse. 11 # No one has yet - i di nn~ied time c..., he"" t he first African sounds or movements were incorporated into ''1-1hi te II or Western frames of references or vice versa; but we do know that it did happen . Unf'ortunately, inept reporting on the Black Experience bas muddied the waters so • le.eo_J ~ .. " by1'1te • much that one is . OF, 1ie:t, S' ntc. Aobservations and Md.KV conclusions of" r I Jiimsl1 11Ali , 1 · bs "researchers. 11 In an unflinchingly brilliant analysis of Black African Oral Literature, presented at the First World Festival of Negro Arts (1966) in Dakar, Senegal, Basile-Juleat Fouda, noting that "oral literature is as old as creation, phrase ttArchival Literature of Gesture. important revelations, Fouda said: n 11 coined the Concluding his "Thus in the Black Africa of tradition, literary art is an anonymous art because it is a social art; it is a social art because it is a functional art; and it is func tional because it is humanist." research is not bounded by color . Good Black sociologist E. Franklin Frazier (Black Bourgeosit ) ( ~ t b a t there were no significant carryovers (cultural transplants) from Africa to the United States. (Slavery , Frazier said, "strippedn the African of his culture and 11 destroyed II bis personality. ) 'White anthropologist Melville Herskovits (The Myth of the Negro Past) proved without a doubt that there were African operating daily in Black American- culture. 30 (For 11 survivalisms 11 fv~~, ~e\~~ �~"""' ~e on this see Jahn•s Muntu,l\:iork•s findings, , memoirs of Katherine ~~ Dunham, works of Lorenzo Dow TurnerANegro Folk Music of Africa and America (Folkways, Lp). Rudimentary Black expression and the numerous folk forms it produced (field hollers, vendors' shouts, chants, worksongs, Spirituals, blues, Gospels, jazz, rhythm &:ldblues, soul music) form the linguistic and modal bases for most Black poetry. The early song and chant forms were almost always accompanied by what we have come to call "dramatic ideograms 11 --or dances. pance became one of the three basic artistic modes encapsulated by folk expression. The other two are/-ong and/4r~. Aside from being the first means of communicating over distances, the drum also played a major role in the social lives of traditional African people·s . The career drummer, like the Black American musician today, went through years of grueling practice and preparation--learning not only drumming techniques but the legends, the myths, the meanings and symbols of which the drum was derivative. Dance always accompanied song--Fouda refers to the "acoustical phonetic alphabet"--so that the complex web of oral nuances was illustrated vividly and graphical:.?7· Obviously, when teaching or entertaining, the artist/teacher bad to present bis material in interesting and exciting ways so as not to bore the audience. Thus repetition became a backbone of Black expression--a flexible, buoyant, repetition that was designed to reinforce and increase group participation. The three essential modes--drum, song and dance--heightened 31 �the immediate experience, which was ecstatic, therapeutic, spiritual, visceral and revelatory. Added to these intricate and varying modal patterns were the colorful costumes, make-up, props and important subject matter. The achievement was not -+"e..-t o F just ~the vicarious experience but one of the act and symbol being actualized together} While such a prospect boggles the mind, a serious study of these forms and the general tradition will prove eye-opening for many a disbeliever. Ohe. '<'e.e.d onLy he.c.owne.. enm~he.d \I'\ Ah'f 4S.p«:t O I- Bl4tk "'tue..~ LJ p, fi Kn• I.!!. AAd flAd«.-~:r.-~ 1tl1s. ,otnt • Early Black American oral and gestural art forms inherited the qualities described thus far. In language, in dance~ and, more importantly, in points of view {attitudes) toward time, life and death, the cosmology of Africa "continued" {with some modifications) in the Black culture of the Western Hemisphere. Specifically, information was conveyed by way of aphorisms, riddles, parables, tales, enigmatic dances and sounds (tonal scales)~ jokes and poetry. pblique and cryptic utterances, puzzles, The pattern remains irCtact today. II One For a brilliant and cogent statement on t h is aspect of (P~l v~sey) Black expression see Samuel Allen's /'The African Heritage II in (Ja.~.,,,1t1'1t) Black Worl~ Allen..-ll!l:=!!1111••--1. -- -- . _is an acknowledged authority on both African and Afro-American culture. In the article, he finds African "carryovers 11 in the Black American church (Baldwin), literature (Sterling Brown, Cleaver) and secular life. 32 • �find.Sthe tradition in Black poets, in the sermons of Black ministers and in family and other social gatherings. me.Lvth Tbe scintillating Black poetf¢olson operates in the old enigmatic (word-fencing) frame when in "An Ex-Judge at the Bar" he says: Bartender, make it straight and make it twoOne for tbe you in me and one for the me in you. Tolson (known to carry this Black nature into his teaching at Langston University where he reportedly gave a student an "F" to tbe 20th power) ends the poem with an equally enigmatic mock: Bartender, make it straight and make it threeOne for the Negro ••• one for you and me. In -the ASpirituals one finds similar debts to tbe African tradition of f-.ong, 1-fance and }'.!rum. So too in the shouts and hollers where actual African words and phrases were often used. 2 Hence we can say that 9a traditional African phonology and ritual, modified on tbe anvil of slavery, were operating and continue to be represented in different forms of Black American expression. Tbe African slave, forced to acquire functional use of English and to reject surface aspects of his religion., went "underground" so to speak and became bi-lingual and bi-physical. 2. 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 Black folk tradition is taken from the harsh difficulties the slave encountered in America, the form, spirit and phonology were essentially African. The use of poly-rhythms 3 and the introduction of syncopation, the reliance on various rhythmic instruments {drum-related and sometimes invented) , the adherence to a non-European tonal scale and the employment of the blue tone, the development of a distinct body of folklore and a rich language to convey the lore--all represent the African's resourcefulness. Cross-cultural inputs are also evident..i••-'111111•••=-• • 1)1 the Spirituals which, in many cases, were influenced by the English Hymn and the Psalm. Other considerations inO.t,,i o.,c.et-~ Tb J)Kawau elude the slave's use of~European instruments (I3araka out, in Black Music, that the piano was the last instrument to be mastered by the Black musician.4)i:=F~UMlf!a.ualll!l!!i!M;,,-iil~ 1 &:; house, 11 ·• ~ Black adaptation of songs heard in the "big the continual re-styling of American fads and the vocabulary. See bibliography for more on 1h11 little known area of scholarship. 3. l composer-band director in Isaac Faggett, a young $ . "''c,.. Sacramento, Califr: has said that the word 11 poly-rbythmtt (i.e., many rhythms overlapping each other) should perhaps be replaced by or alternated with the words 4. 11 poly-meter 11 or "poly-metrics." Eileen Southern, in The Music of Black Americans, sets forth a thorough and accurate discussion of these points. 34 She �employment of Biblical imagery and language in songs and sermons. Langston Hughes noted that the jlues usually dealt with the theme of the rejected lover and personal depression. Hughes' first volume of poems, in fact, was entitled The Weary Blues. However, the/lues, like the Spirituals, do not simp11" preach resignation or submissiveness. _!D '"Munl!L Rather, as Jau,r~~andHoward Thurman (The Negro Spiritual Speaks of Life and Death) note, underneath the complaint is a "plaint": or change ! things must get better For as the slave said: Freedom, oh Freedom, how I love thee! Freedom, oh Freedom, how I love thee! And before I'll be a slave I'll be buried in my grave And go home to my Maker and be Free! II Black Folk Roots in America nGet it together or leave it alone" --Jackson Five Black poets have been writing in the English literary tradition since the middle of the eighteenth century. But notes with some detail how the Africans (made slaves) had to learn to use the instruments of the New World. Professor Southern also relates bow Black music inf'luenced whites in the early days of America. 35 �it is the folk literature--those productions of the everyday people--wbich must be examined before a literary or poetic tradition can be viewed in its entirety. Tbere are few persons in the United States who have not been touched or influenced (in one way or another) by the folk expression of Black America. Wbite Americans began collecting Black folk lyrics and stories in the early ~ars of t h e nineteenth century (see bibliography). In the same century, this aspect of Black culture reached wide audiences via at least three major vehicles. Tbe first was the abolitionist movement which featured Black poets (Francis E.W. Harper, James Wbitfield, Benjamin Clark, and others), orators and prose writers (David a ), Walker, Frederick Douglas:: Ji ii Russwurm ). and journalists ( John Tbe second vehicle was the national and European tours (in the 1870 1 s) of student choirs from Hampton Institute and Fisk r Jubilee Singer~ University '~_JThe abolitionist movement popularized anti-slavery and freedom songs and the college choirs gave wide exposure to the Spirituals, considered by most scbolars (of Black culture) to be the first authentic poetry of Black America. The third major vehicle was the publication (in the late nineteenth century) of Brer Rabbit tales by Joel Chandler Harris. In studies and writings, Harris recognized the mythi c worth in Black folktales and exposed readers to such characters as Brer Terrapin, Brer Bear, Brer Fox, Brer ·vrolf and others. Many of these tales and characters have African counterparts. 36 �III Spirituals: 11 Use of the word 11 Tryin I to get home 11 spiritual 11 to describe or identify Black religious or church life is, in many ways, a corruption of the modal adaptations of African life in the United States. Learned interpretations, outlined against new information and empirical tenacity, reveal the entire Black world as "spiritual": i.e., informed by and responsible to a "higher order"--the order of God or the "gods." This spiri tua l ity drapes the interdependence and integration of various modes and points of view flowing through and evolving from the community Such a 11 feel 11 and 11 sense 11 is wit- nessed in 11'1 ~ exuberance, spontaneity, ecstasy, trance, tonguetalking, racial flavor and flair in dress(church or nightclub), and songified communications systems which are the backbone of Afro-American life. Work describes this phenomena as "this difference and this oneness. " of\~ - Robert Hayden epiploys an understanding =-when, in a poem to Malcolm X, he exclaims 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 Gospel-blues alternation in the unity of expression.b And it is found, without a doubt, in the works of ---------------.;::,- 6. Let observe that the most brilliant and influential vnderS1ifJd Black 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 more vulgarized manner in Flip WilsodS Rev. Leroy. or one brother, 11 In the words the preacher and the pimp style out heavy." Still, it is important that we orrer the traditional portrait and break-down or Black fo~k expression•~••:•1•1••••t•s11111e~s~t~H~&•s~o~ The Spirituals have been the source of continuing debate among scholars: Are they completely African in origin? Are o-rlve oP -----. they primarilyAEnglish (Methodist, Wesleyan• • · ) Sovv-ce{. b-4.~•" f Or do they represent the co-joining of African/European themes and rel.igiosity? ~n-iei (Nel.do"''fl<.Jt±tsa !l:t1t! t'.te1.J!!be s ana 1 e1111 iii eieae Jus i ens of tihu iar eun. I\ Johnson · and his brother, J. Rosamond put together the best known collection or these songs in The Book of American Negro Spirituals (1925), and The Second Book of American Negro Spirituals (1926). The Spirituals usually deal with physical or figurative contact between the singer or congregation · and God. (Early Afro-Americans often used the words God, Jesus, Savior, and Lord interchangeably. For a more thorough discussion of this see Benjamin Mayst The Negrots God.) The songs also deal with others warn young Black writers to follow example) Black poets since the Civil War have availed themselves of integral folk rudiments--even when they did not use them in poetry. It is still a fact that Black culture (despite the racist and techno- 38 �a longing for rest and the overcoming of formidable obstacles or adversaries. Work's 1915 study was seminal and remains a landfol\(. mark re¢e-l"et"lcewo~IC,,o~ African and Black American~songs. His work provides many answers to questions a_nd issues that had been (and continue to be) muddied by the waters of insensi■II•• "Undertaken for tivity and careless research. :tlte~dy - Ji f J song. His main tf')ie,t1eS'T is the love of our fathers' songs,"A.gives clear connections between the African and Afro-American • In religious songs--altbougb bis comments on form and style are of general value: In America we hear it (the song) and see it acted in the barn dance, on the stage, in the streets among the children; in fact, many an occasion is enlivened by this species of music, the interest in which is intensified by the rhythmical patting of bands and feet. This rhythm is most strikingly and accurately brought out in their work songs. Citing the emotionalism and songified intensity of the Black American, Professor Work says "He worships not so much because he ought, as because be loves to worship." This "worship," of course, is the kind we referred to earlier: the integration logical barrages of the West) still remains more consciously "integrated" than other cultural unit in America. 39 �of sensuality and ecstasy into the sweeping ritual of live and immediate dram4. 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 characteristic as are his physical features. Hear bim sing in bis church, bear bim preach, moan, and give 'gravery' in h is sermon, hear t h e wash erwoman singing over her tub, hear the laborer singing his accompaninent to his toil, hear the child babbling an extemporaneous tune ••• Even those Negroes who have been educated and wh o have been influenced by long study, find it difficult 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? Poor man Laz'rus, poor as I, Don't you see? When he died he found a home on h i gh, He had a home in dat rock, Don't you see? Alluding to the deeper, more psychological, meaning of these songs, Professor Work says "there are closer relations b etween 40 �be.e"' the soul and musical expressions than have~satisfactorily explained. These relations can be felt, but any accurate description seems beyond the grasp of man 1 s mind. n Never- theless this i mportant study goes on to classify and number these songs of Joy, Sorrow, Sorrow with Note of Joy, Faith, Hope, Love, Determination, Adoration, Patience, Courage and Humility. Like most scholars of the Spirituals, this one points out that there is no bate, resentment or vindictiveness in them. t-\owo."'Cl However, ~ Thurman, theologian and philosopher, has excavated underpinnings of turbulence. Spiritual, ~ In The Negro Thurman tells us death was i mmediate and ever-present for the slave. In such an atmosphere of anxiety and fear, the slave developed a rather stoic attitude in which be saw death as inescapable arrl as, possibly, the only remaining vehicle for mediation with the plantation lords. The slave could take his own life, if he wanted to--as h e did many times in preference to slavery or separation fro n family and/or loved ones. :a.. Thurman's brilliant analysis must be read by any serious student of Black thought and culture. Johnson (who also classified the songs) 7said a hierarchy of poets for the Spirituals included the song-maker (writer) and the song-leader. '1/,. The leader had to remember leading lines, Johnson, Brown, Kerlin and Ills Thurman also give con- sideration to the rtpoetic" content of the Spirituals. and ? 3 Joh nson Work discuss the preservation and promotion of 41 �pitch tunes true and possess a powerful voice. Johnson, wh o (like Professor Work) believes the earliest Black American songs were built on the common African form, says the Spirituals were written by individuals and set to tre moods of groups. Like the blues, their secular and structural cousins, the Spirituals incorporated antiphony or call-and-response which allowed for audience (congregation) participation (either by alternating, or intermingling, with the leader): Leader: Oh, de Ribber of Jordan is deep and wide, Congregation: One mo' ribber to cross. Leader: I don't know bow to get on de other side, Congregation: One mo' ribber to cross. Heavily influenced by Christian imagery and mythology, the creators of the Spirituals often chose 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,efcontrast biblical themes and characters to the Spirituals. Certainly there is need to ex- amine the English Hymns and Psalms in the framework of such a study. and The Spirituals should also be compared~contrasted to the Black literary verse of the period during which they these songs through archival holdings, choir concert tours and the attention paid to them by composers. �were forged--especially tbe work of .Jupiter Hammon, Phillis Wheatley and George Moses Horton. IV Folk Seculars Don wid massa ' s bollerin'; Don wid massa's bollerin'; Don wid massa ' s bollerin• Roll .Jordan roll. We observed that tbere is a thin line between religious and secular worlds. Black Tbis is true for many reasons-- some of them stemming from the African tradition of i nterrelating all aspects of life. As .John M'Biti (African Religions and Pbilosophies), Gabriel Bannerman-Richter and others point out, the African takes bis religion (h is beliefs) with him whereever he goes. Means Lue t @ t h ■ l labn, @1§3£3 eh& bfbdtbt,4!he.7 also remind us that most Af'rican languages have no word for religion or art. The two are inseparable. Again the ways of Af'rican peoples (see Mphahlele's Whirlwind) are expressed in uintegrated" terms. True., in Black America there is some tension between secular and religious communities--but so o:f'ten ( and most Blacks understand ·this well though they do ndt always admit it) they are the same: wearing dif:f'erent hats ~ on different occasions. Study., af ain, the case of a Rev~ .Jesse ew-en' .Jackson or a ReJf Ike or a Ref ~dam Clayton Powell"1 t,. ~ h\Al'Tl~G,~ We have also observed that many motifs and components of Black expression are interchangeable. 43 That is, songs and ab }1 �speeches designed for church or other religious activity are "' often re-cut (modified) for a secular-lsocial af'fair. - are numerous examples of t h :l.s practice. There During the fti vil ,Rights era, we would sing: ~l I woke up this mornin' with my mind stayed on freedom Ir ) though we were fully aware that church folk were used to singing it this way: 11 H I woke up this mormin' with my mind stayed on .Jesus •••• v- eLo"'c\,"C\ M.fst-Comporei-- Nany ofACurfls Hayfield's (and the I mpressions•) songs rely strongly on the material of songs sung in Black churches. Even Mayfield's more recent tunes (see "If There's A Hell Below") carry the Black church flavor--with their warnings, admonishments, threats of societal destruction, and pleas for love e (&11111Palso Marvin Gay~s pieces like "Save The Children"). Some works by the Temptations ( uRun Away Child Running Wild") reflect the historical theme of "searching" found in Black religious songs. This same group's "Poppa Was A Rolling Stone" describes poppa 1'stealing in the name of the Lord. n B.B. King rs ''Woke Up This Mernin" is a blues treatment of the idea expressed above in the Spiritual: we. "I Woke Up This Mernin. n When~neard the old Supremes singing "Stop in the Name of Loven we IC4i22£2 to replace nlove" with "God." ~1ed. Often the songs contain exchangeable and interchangeable words such as "Lord" and "Mother 11 ; ''Bapy 11 and "God"; "Sweet thing" and "Sweet .Jesus"; . . "Captain" and ttMa.ker rr; and "God" and "Man". The reasons for such usages, as we have stated, a.re deeply enmeshed in the 44 �mythos of Blacks. Richard Wright's "Bright and Morning Star" (in the /ible, a metaphor for Jesus) becomes the son of old Aunt Sue in the short story by that name. The hero of John A. Williams' novel, The Nan Wbo Cried I Am, says "thank you manrr to God after a sex act. When we hear a tune like War's "Slipping into Darkness" ("when I beard my mother say") we must understand tl:ehistorical significance and function of social (therapeutic) art--just as we must understand the function of the mother-like voice that admonishes Isaac Hayes to "shet yo mouf" in "Shaft." When conservative Black Christians complained of Duke Ellington's use of religious themes in jazz, he replied "I'm just a ecumenical cat"--meaning he avoided fine distinctions in where or to whom he played. The church bas been the training ground (academy, if you will; see Frazier's The Negro Church in America) for most of the big (vocal) names in Black popular music as well as for important orators, race leaders and community businessmen. l>r-e v ( o os Against the ~• as· ur~iscussion we can view the Folk Seculars in their right perspective as a vital part of the rich storehouse of Black folklore. (my own grandmother: Through songs, aphorisms ''You don't believe fat meat's greasy! 11 and "If you ain't gon' do nothing get off the pot!"), fables (see Aesop), jokes ( minstrelsy and the Black comedy tra- dition), blues and o~her enduring forms)Blacks capture severe hardships and tribulations, folk wisdom, joys and tragedies, and ~ longings and hopes of BJ 45 during s ftertl•_.· �/, The Seculars, mor£_.,SO than the Spirituals, give important clues to the inner-workings of tbe common Black mind. And a closer look at the total folk tradition will reveal the structure and principles of folk psychology. It is, after Si bq these folk materials tbat researchers all, • a ,~vesTi~~-re will have t i if they are serious about delineating the feelings, emotions and thought patterns of Blacks. The Seculars are surer indices to the workings of tbe folk mind because they are not as limited as the Spirituals. Though most Blacks in the United States are aware of and have beard 19' Spirituals, an even larger number have bad sustained exposure (directly or indirectly) to the secular vocalizations and gestures of Black culture. Contemporary Black popular music and culture con- tinue to be informed by 4llllt street and home utterances. An exciting reciprocity allows entertainers to borrow 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 the people are: New Bag, 11 James Brown's ''Brand "Licking Stick" (see nboney stick" in McKay 's story uTruantn), "Give It Up or Turn It Loose," "The Payback" and "It's Hell"; Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and it On"; Curtis M.ayfield 's 11 Let's Get 11 Superfly 11 ; the Jackson Five's "Get It Together or Leave It Alone 11 ; Flip Wilson's ''Wbat You See is What You Get" (and the Dramatics' tune by the same name); Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and "Run and Tell That"; and Jean Knight• s "Mr. Big Stuff "--to name just a few. 46 �As with the Spirituals, whites (primarily abolitionists) were among the first to collect Seculars of whatever type. William Wells Brown, the first published Black novelist and playwright, collected "anti-slavery" songs. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, writer and abolitionist who led a Black regiment in the Civil War, collected songs he beard among his men around campfires and during marches . Though primarily con- cerned with religious songs, he also described some of the Properties of general Black song delivery. One of the most important collections of these seculars was put together by Thomas w. I Talley of Fisk University, (l. <oLLe.~ve o; ~~htt <.vo~ k Talley did pioneering work in the identification and classification of Negro Folk Rhymes. s I ];17 sazss; sa s I & as ht& 5 £ I i . of g J it.~~ Fisk scholar collected well over 300 examples. important examples and discussions of the artistic products secular folk life can be found in the works of Hughes and Bontemps, Brewer, Spalding, Dodson, Chapman, Brown (Negro Poetri), Abrahams (Deep Down in The Jungle) and Bell (The Folk Roots of Contemporary Afro-American Poetry). ( work -t:ece:;!f 1 ii it Bell's i is somewhat vague in perspective as a result of an imposed ("foreign") construct. Also valuable to an examination of the Seculars are regional works (such as Abrahams') including Drums and Shadows (Georgia and South Carolina), Goldstein's - 47 Black Life 4 �and Culture in the United States, Lorenzo Dow Turner's work in tbe Gullah culture, Dorson•s Negro Folktales in Hicbigan, and others (see bibliography). By far the most faithful representation of secular or religious folk materials in the written poetry is in the work of Sterling Brown (see his Southern Road, especially Johnson's introduction, and bis critical comments in Negro Poetry). Brown takes exception to Johnson's comment that dialect poetry bas only two stops-11humor and pathos"--and implies that Black poets up until bis time had been remiss (or lazy) in not developing broader uses and deepening the meaning of Black life through the use of folk materials. The tradition of "tall 11 tale-telling is, of course, submerged in the American mytbos. So the Black narrator found a flexible atmosphere into which be could introduce his own manner of storytelling and bis own tradition of song. As he had done in the Spirituals, he gained a resourcefulness in the use of language, acquired instruments to accompany the song or story, and de_veloped an ability to seize upon a good or amenable context in which to tell or sing his story; be also made use of themes and ideas from tbe vast ethnic potpourri of America. the Spirituals. The Seculars grew up side-by-side with The Spirituals emerged from the attempt of the slave to web together bis disparate (yet mutual) wounds. Spirituals represent the slave's perserverence and (in many instances) his hope and faith in mankind. 48 The Seculars, also �developing in the shadows of the 11 big house," reflect the social life of the Black American on the plantation and later. In songs and ditties, the Black American couched his longings and bitternesses, but voiced his hopes and cynicisms through the oblique, eliptical and encoded words and seemingly unintelligible phonetic symbols. These African forms (see Rappin' and Stylin' Out, Kochman) have continued up to the present. Few Black youngsters are able to side-step the rigorous (and sometimes painful) verbal C,~CLL deX~erity demanded by playmates during n that inevitably take place. )q) sparring matches The forms of such behavior were in tact during slavery--when a slave might be discussing a mast er's "moma" or rrold lady" during a rather harmless "rap" (rhapsoC,\j? rapport?) with bis fellow field workers. Frederick I It\ his CMJTobi o q.,. • plu'c. a l Douglass reports l\._Narra£ive that slave over-seers thought slaves sang bec ause they were happy. We know that such was not the case (s<(DuBois' Souls of Black Folks) and that such refrains as "st,e aling away" implied a lot more than wanting u.;k~te. · to reach the arms of ,;,£fesus on the 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 this pJ,e,nomenon in his article on folk singer-hero James Brown. Though be is discussing a secular character, Watkins' revelations are similar to ~ Thurman's: that in the absurd context of being owned by someone else, it is not life or death that loom so importantly. One lives, Ellison suggests (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 audience is fixed in this crucial factor. From the moment he slides onto the stage, whether unconsciously or intentionally, his gestures, his facial expressions and even the sequential arrangement of his materials are external affirmations of a shared acceptance of the absurd or, more ingenously, of jiving. The impe4bly tailored suits, which he brandishes at the outset, become meaningless accoutrements as bis act progresses and, sweating and straining, he gets down, literally down on the floor, to wring the last drop of emotion from a song. Watkins is incorrect about the dress becoming nmeaningless" to a Black audience, but his general thesis is on target. Elsewhere Watkins, firmly understanding the importance of verbal agility among Blacks, says "it is com.men to hear black women discussing a man 's 'rap' or 'program' on the same level -ttJc 1 · ..;.they discuss his bank account. 11 Blacks generally withhold their judgment on (or acceptance) of a speaker or entertainer until be exhibits, in _1is dress-cesture-rap, that he understands t'~e wellspring that produced the bards. 11 Black and unknown 11 Returning briefly, to our historical assessment, we can now see hoH the folk strain in Black written art evolved. 50 �From this 11 song" recorded in t1e 1850's by Douglass, Dey gib us de liquor, And say datts good enough for the nigger. 11 to the fear of de Cun jab Han II captured in "Gullah II y Campbell in the latter part of the 190Drs, De Cunjab man, de Cunjah man, 0 chillen run, de Cunjab man! the deceptively 11 simple 11 employment of folk expressions bave prevailed as an important antidote for the social male.dies inherited by Blacks in the Western Hemisphere. ttDe Cunjah !-lan" is, of course, equivalent to the "things that go umpint.; in the night" in Ireland--and thus bas ties to general folk superstitions and mythology . But there was also the "uggab- man" (Dun arts "Little Brown Baby"), the "rag man", "peg-leg, "raw-bead and bloody bones" and (in "obeah man .n 1"'1~ We<.at Jnd(e.S 11 ) the Most of these supernatural characters are throw backs to various African religious and ritual practices. Of' the new generation of' poets, Ishmael Reed (Catechism of a neoamerican hoodoo church) is the innovator in the use of' C.ht.l~,-te~!. supernatural themes1 f\and vocabulary. Tbe theme of the 2nd Annual .John Henry Memoria} .Authentic Blues and Gospel .Jubilee i ··••ccliff Top, /f r VI\~ ~o.\w\'"' · ·q :I g JlJ Ssntsrbsr rt 1974) was nTryin' to Get Home." How stead- fastly the folk tradition runs like a vein through Black history. In the Seculars (and the Spirituals) we repeatedly hear something similar to the last stanza of "Rainbow Roun Mah Shoulder": 51 �I'm gonna break right, break right pas that shooter, I'm goin ome, Lawd, I 1 m goin home. Again the use of the word "Lawd II in a "secular" song further aw.ks bears out the communal integration of the folk;::J_ression. ~• \"eqvlo..Y•Ly .-....... interject or exclaim "Lord" •t\ nLawd II in everyday discussions . It is next to impossible to list all (or each type) of the Seculars. We have mentioned Professor Talley's pioneering efforts at classifying them. But many obstacles lay in the way of recorders of secular folk life. of censuresbip of language. One problem was that Such censuring marked all types of Black creativity, from the slave narratives to religious songs. Hence the more "protesting" aspects of the works were deleted as were "offensive words." Anyone who bas h eard "authentic 11 Black folk songs knows that they reflect t he convergence of madness, absurdity and hope in the Black body. Subsequently what are known as "curse" or "obscene" words are sprinkled throughout much of.' the nsecular" lore. Brown dis- cusses the "realism II in the folk rhymes along with an attempt to &las sify at least some of them ("fiddle-sings," "corn-songs," 11 jig-tunes,n "upstart crows"): Ballads: Negro Heroes, John Henry (folkified in song), Work Songs, The Blues, Irony and Protest. Irony and protest, of course, run through Black folk and literary poetry from the earliest days (Whitfield, Harper, anti-slavery songs) to the most recent times (Josh White, �. Leon Thomas, Don L. Lee, John Ec~els, Johnt~ Scott). Some observers have pointed to the silliness of many researchers who, white as ever, appeared in person to ask Black folk song writers at:d singers if they endorsed "protest, away satisfied with a "no" answer. 11 then went Given the nature and history of race relations one can understand the reluctance 11 on the parts of Blacks to tell whites the truth about let alone about such a sensitive area as nprotest." anything 11 Yet in the dog-eat-dog world of survival, the folk person knows that "If he dies, I'll eat his co'n; An' if be lives, I'll ride 'im on." In summary we can say that unlike other ethnic immigrant groups ( the Afro-American was not a willing immigrant!), the Black 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 bis phonology, style and spirit were informed by tbe African tradition. The student of Black folk poetry will want to compare and contrast the Seculars to other ethnic stories and songs. Boasting or "lying, 11 for example, is one ingredient of the "tall" tale. "Shine, 11 11 How does the Black song or story (i.e., S ignifying Monkey , etc.) fit this motif? 11 11 Dolemi te, u "Frankie and Johnnie, How does it conceal deeper meanings on the issues of slavery, inhuman work conditions, or contradictions in Christianity? What a.re the similarities between the Seculars and the Spirituals? 53 Between the Seculars and 11 �the literary poetry? These and other questions (on Black heroes, cultural motifs, blues themes, language and endurance) will lead one through exciting corridors of Black folk creativity and thought. SPIRITUALS GO DOWN, MOSES Go de¼, Moses, Way down in Egyptland Tell old Pharaoh To let my people go. When Israel was in Egyptland Let my people go Oppressed so hard they could not stand Let my people go. Go down, Moses, Way down in Egyptland Tell old Pharaoh "Let my people go." "Thus saith the Lord,u bold Moses said, "Let my people: If not I'll smite your first-born dead Let my people go.tr 54 �11 No more shall they in bondage toil, Let my people go; Let them come out with Egypt's spoil, Let my people go. " The Lord told Moses what to do Let my people go; To lead the children of Israel through, Let my people go. Go down, Moses, Way down in Egyptland, Tell old Pharaoh, "Let my people go! 11 SLAVERY CHAIN Slavery chain done broke at last, broke at last, broke at last, Slavery chain done broke at last, Going to praise God till I die. Way down in-a dat valley, Praying on my knees; Told God about my troubles, And to help me ef-a He please. I did tell him how I suffer, In de dungeon and de chain, And de days I went with head bowed down, And my broken flesh and pain. 55 �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) Slavery chain done broke at last, broke at last, 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, "Rise my child, your chillun, And you too shall be free. "I done 'p'int one mighty captain For to marshall all my hosts, And to bring my bleeding ones to me, And not one shall be lost." Slavery chain done broke at last, broke at last, 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, No more, no more, No more auction block for me, Many thousand gone. No 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 sal·t 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 thousand gone. 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 the tree! Shout along, chillen! Shout along, chillen! Hear the dying Lamb! SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home, Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home. 57 �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 you 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. 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 here. 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. 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, that land, where all is peace? Deep river, my home is over Jordan, Deep river, Lord; I want to cross over into camp ground. got a borne in you see? I ant sky, Th ough t I You got cry, in dat rock, Don't y u see? Poor an Laz'rus, ~ or as I, Do •t you see? Boo~ ma n Laz'rus, poor as I, 59 �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) f'air, e my wings and cleave de got , don•t you One of' o'clock, Dis ole rock, \ \ Pharaoh's mother wants to stay hertfuh, Dis ole world tt been no friend to huh , Pharaoh ts arm Oh }'.fary, Oh Mary , you don't you moan , Oh Mary, you you moan, army got you weep. VI FOLK SECULARS HE IS MY HORSE One day as I wus a-ridin' by, Said dey: "Ole man, yo' boss will die." "If' he dies, he is my loss; And if' he lives, he is my boss ." �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) Nex• day w1 en I come a'ridin' by, Dey said: "Ole man, yo' boss may die. " "If he dies, I'll tan 'is skin; An' if he lives, I'll ride 'im ag'in." Den ag'in w1 en I come a-ridinf by , Said dey: nole man, yo f boss mougbt die. n "If be dies, I'll eat bis co 1 n; An' if be lives, I'll ride 'im on.n DID YOU FEED MY COW? 11 Did yer feed my cow?" "Will yer tell me bow?" ''Yes, Mam!n "Yes, Mam!" "Ob, w'at did yer give 'er? 11 11 "Oh, w'at did yer give 'er? 11 "Cawn an bay. 'Yes, }:Iam!" Did yer do lak yer should? 11 11 0h, bow did yer milk 'er?" Swish! nYes, Mam!" nswisb! Swish! 11 "Did dat cow git sick?n "Yes, Ham!" ''t1us sbe kivered wid tick?n "Yes, Mam!n "Oh, bow wus she sick?" "All bloated up. II 11 11 " 0h, how wus she sick?" ft 1 "Did yer milk 'er good?" 11 Cawn an bay. " .All bloated up. �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) SONG (From Frederick Douglass, J\1y Bondage and Hy Freedom, 1853) We raise de wheat, Dey gib us de corn: He bake de bread, Dey gib us de crust; We sif de meal , Dey gib us de buss; He peel de meat , Dey gib us de skin; And dat's de way Dey take us in; ·le skim de pot, Dey gib us de liquor, And say dat•s good enough for nigger. SONG (From Hartin R. DelanY, 11Blake; or, merica , 11 in The An o-Africa.n 1aga.zine, June 1059) The rethren, While the take a rest, and clear; , Old And lias gone Old master's d lying in his grave; And our to flow; He will neck of the slave, For he ' s g o! �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) on the utha sho. MANY A THOUSAND DIE No more driver call for me, No more driver call; No more driver call for me, Many a thousand die; No more peck of corn for me, No more peck of corn; No more peck o:f corn for me, J".1any a thousand die! No more hundred lash for me., No more hundred lash; No more hundred lash for me, Many a thousand die! FREEDOM Abe Lincoln freed the nigger, Wid da gun and wid da trigger, An I ain't ginna git whipped no mo. Ah got mah ticket Out of dis heab thicket, An I'm headin for da golden sbo. 0 freedom, 0 freedom, �FOLK SECULARS (conttd) 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. Tberefll be no more moaning, no more moaning, No more moaning 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. 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 before I 1 d be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave, And go home to my Lord and be free. There'll be shouting, there'll be shouting, There'll be shouting 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. E FREE We'll sooq be free, �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) RAINBOW ROUN MAH SHOUI.DER Evahwbuh I, -hub I look dis mawnin, Looks lak rain, looks lak rain. I gotta rainbow, tied all roun mah shoulder, Ain gonna rain, ain gonna rain. I don walk till, walk till mah feets gone to rollin, Jes lak a wheel, jes lak a sbeel. Evab mailday, I gets a letter, ":My son come home, my son come home. u Dat ol letter read about dyin, Mab tears run down, mah tears run down. I 1 m gonna break right, break right pas dat shooter, I 1 m goin home, Lawd, I 1 m goin home. ah sboly Stan on da gon. Ab Ef Square, ketch you �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) Lawdy, For Nobody For JOHN HENRY HAMMER SONG 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 him I'm gone. Ef be axe you, Was I running Tell him how fast, baby, Tell him bow fast. Ef he axe you Any mo' questions, Tell him you don't know, baby, You don't know. Every ma il day, Gits a letter, �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) 11 S on, come bome, baby, Son come bome. 11 Been all night long Backing up timber, Want to go borne, baby, Want to go bome. Jes• wait till I make Dese few days I started I'm going home, baby, I'm 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 ole hammer Ring lak silver, Shine lak gold. Take dis hammer �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) Throw it in de river, It'll ring right on, baby, Ring right on. Captain, did you hear 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 Shine ck, told the Captain, "Please, The water i oom is up to my knees." Captain said, black self on back down there' I got a hundred- keep the boiler room clear." Shine went back shovelling coal, Singing, "Lord, 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 water out." "Your words But this is ne time, Cap, your wo 61 s won't do. 11 �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) fip&:\; in Che middle, ~ from side BACEDOOR BLUES my baby standin in the back door cryin' Yes, I left rrry baby standin in the back door cryin' She said, baby , you gotta home jus as long as I got mine. A BIG FAT MAMA I'm a big fat mama, got the meat shakin on mah ones, I'm a big fat mama, got the meat shakin on mah bones, And every time I shakes, some skinny girl loses huh home. HOW LONG BLUES How long, how long, hast at evening train How long, how long, baby, how long? Had a gal lived up on the hill If she's there, she loves me still Baby, bow long, how long, how long? Standin at the station, watch my baby go Feel dis gusted , blue, mean an low How long, how long, aby, how long? in gone? � 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. Text Any textual data included in the document 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_08_21 Title A name given to the resource First typed draft of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Chapter II. The Black and Unknown Bards, p. 27-69, typed with handwritten edits 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> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B.