https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/9d2563405437f3b198a16775de1116d4.pdf 1ad35d6d5980763968fcc17cd7917904 PDF Text Text .AND UN1(110 1:JN BARDS 'o black and unknown b2.rds of long ago, How came your lips to touch the sacred fire? - -James We ldon Johnson J. Black Expression: G_ this ~ t e r , as in~~i_'i.{ ores, ~lack creativ@ mind ::i:: will attel'lpt to ple.ce •·•~·!:!!!:::l}:~~me-,1111:11-=••wi~•~~La...- wi tti~the spirit and letter ~rican-Americ Unfortunately, many~~• early scholars played down or ignor~d ~ African influ~nccs ei t he r1' • This was c ertainly of on brief every- mince most antholo vl!k:!t~~. . . . becausel\one will e of Black literature and poetry omit these items; and 'lc,_...,. hard-pressed to understan l:.J:! I a a rut 0 Dunbar use of folk matoria.fts(see,(J. ohiison, v Walker and others). Bronm, �(} wt 4 ~ olr! . a .J discussing <l/1- t h e origins of Black expression, . 12&£!g'?: + • 0 it,(, ment i on,,.,.illl!-lliiil(h~the role of the pre-industrial African(and other) societies . ~ grio . t s-s t ems f rom th e group o f ar t i. sans kn own as lillDi,: --=:-.-:--- h lore. -~ ._ a, ' r • • • • •.'· ~- • human1';'.:~•i~ of iMlll!IIIIIIII family and national~ ~ .. Originally ~ e d to recite--without flaw--the geneologies , eulogies, victories l. cal ami tie s~:m:f::::l:i::i:ee:::=ll:c:t::::i;J;1:::t;i11@1-e~~~mm- of the folk, the griot(like the •11111• lead his reportage with iiiilliim'ii"ftE singer of Spirituals) had to spice itementM.1~~.~ ,~;,,iµ~c,-,,~ iia:IB:i1111a~Hardly a Black younsgter grew up ( even in recent times) without input from a .Ac-et °(j griot(uncle , grandmother , big brother or sister , mother or ~ather, job preacher, etc) . The ,__,_ of the griot, like that of the mater-ceremonial . ~ t societies a#mistake drumrner;R wa s so , t). , i mportant that in many 4 ~ could sost~•---- life. 1· - very · j 7. early ~ -ef ~~,~~~.:~~~5£::1'.!l:lr~e . adjustment r. griot life his ii • nu mastery of technique and inf0rm- Like the drumm~r, he ------1.w•~ undevstud~eJ, ~ .l. a••••BY t(is trainingje,.a:;:t;;1.;ax:l,:-'!!!l!!'J!"'!!"'e-iiiei• a certain psychological '/, ~ to ;;,;gd J?eali!la'6ioP I i i !!Hlln the significance of his job-- o 11 contain(anr,1dvi~e o~ the and centuries passed, this heirloms 11 of the community. -Om. ~ A.s years 'factual" information wa s conve rted into a lore, cosmologyA web of racial consciousne ].¥-, and legend; it became a part of the vast emory. It became the legacy with which ev e ry new born bhild learly , then, the myth- a nd legend-building poet has a past to dip and a future to predict, project and protect. ~ ''.' any violation of the pas~present or future constitutes a serious crime against one 1 s ancestors--against one's parents, a gainst one's blood, against one I s god.;,'t that the poet --griot --}s not some haphazzardly ~ arrived hipster or slick-talk er P#fl J1!f1J simply l!!F6.c:w.w:i~tired old phrases. ~ To the/lgriot-sing er-poet the job of unra veling the complex network of his past and present-future worlds is a painful but rewarding labor of love. �.ttf J';(n· 1/,Ti, A: 1e B a.ck Experience n the United States continues via the African Continuum: a complex (~cJ,.-4) ~ · ) (5ee~ 1 ~ h ~ J . ) . of mythica\, linguistil' gestura\, psychological, sexual,M~ phvsical and religious forms. - 11 }l. This complex is e~idenced in M~4 the day-to-day attitudes~of Blacks: their sacred and secular (~ expressions, their physical appearances, their dress patterns and their family life. Jot only in the United States, but , in the Caribbean, lrtbe West Indies, in Latin America, in all WlrJitl IM\,~~ (J4 th t-l«' lM J) J-it'.l •. ~ r n,,..,..Jr,. ,.,_ - -tfiey areas of' tbel\ :t:ie:opePS.i'\~-~~-A£ri-ean--e-.xffae-tJ • ~ Aexbi bit �~~t~ ~ '-1 ( I ;r:; t characteristics peculiar to the nature of indigeno s Africans. /J • }..,,.,,.,._ -jJlllmu-J'!!. , 1 fl ac,-,-,pmtlm~ ~ eral Black 1/xP.ression~ 'fi~::· :; ,.. · "'/\Black ,ulture; and {-OfMl) p ft~) (Aiu r,'\ the art~st c "expression--tradi tional Black Jommifni ties did people·--is a more sophis- not separate ~ l i f e ticated form boned from the '""eneral "storehouse." No one bas yet put their hands on exactly what moment in time and where the first African sounds or movements were incorporated into nwhite" or Western frames of references or vice versa; but we do know that it did happen. Unfortunately, inept reporting on the Black Experience has muddied the waters so much that one is repulsed and horri.fied by eem:e- of the observations and conclusions of some Black and white 11 "" researchers.n In an unflinchingly brilliant analysis of Black African Oral Literature, presented at the First World Festival of Negro Arte4 (1966) in Dakar, Senegal, Basile-Juleat Fouda , noting that 11 oral literature is as old as creation, 11 Archival Literature of Gesture." revelations, Fouda said: 11 coined the phrase Concludinc his important "Thus in the Black Africa of tra- dition, literary art is an anonymous art because it is a social art; it is a social art because it is a functional -rtt; and it is functional because it is humanist. is not bounded by color. 11 t:t29J, ~esearch Black sociologist E. Franklin Frazier (Black Bour~eosis) h e i ~ there were no significant carry( ~ l.1/ t N\,ll.,~~TI.l,Q~ overs~from ~frica to tbe United States. (Slavery, Frazier said, "stripped" the African of his culture and "destroyed" his personality.) White anthropologist Melville Herskovits (The Myth of the Negro Past) proved without a doubt that 41 �there were African nsurvivalisms" operating daily in Black Ameri?ans culture. (fo (!J; lR'-9. t<,M,.., 1..J. ~. -To.. ?, 1,1,. 1 IvvA1, • I~ • •'f ) , 0 ..,.. ,.,.t _ w1.>.,".mt T>-J. •• >Vhlk oc ~ If ,, ,,.,,flu '1 , 6!8¼112:ft I -- p . ~ Rudimentary Black/x~ression~Na.... a~ ~ w erous . l folk forms it produced (field hollers, vendors shouts, chants, worksongs, Spirituals~teflues Gospels, JAzz, }{hythm 'n ,Blues, ~ '-.!~£~ ~oul Music) f~~ ases for,lBlackA:5cetry. S<>11~ ~ The N f":"' .;::,/ ,~~{ · r.f early tM-clstle~fo~Ms ~ere almost always accompanied b y what we have come to call __J.. _ .(J,,r1~ 11 \.!,I dramaticl ideogra1!1s "-ir-o~c~._ :1~.P:.:ld lr;-/-<rtk~. ~ three basic~ ar istil°"~odes/\lfu~ and Drum. ';; ~ ~ M.t li~ ~ " 4 . · Ol1 ~eans or communicati-, over distances, the dr~yed~ar?'-i~~ role in t ~ e s of traditional ,8") 1 . .i\.frican peoples. -1 The career drummer, like the BlacK~musician today, went through years of grueling practice and preparation-·learning not only drumming techniques but the legends, the myths, ' the ~P-~nin~s and symbols of which the drum was derivative. Dance always accompanied song--Fouda refers to the "acoustical phonetic alphabet 11 --sp that the complex web of ora.l nuances ~ was tµ h. IT~ate ,J. .. ,,.,J Obv1ously, when teaching or entertaining , the artist/teacher had to present his material in interesting make-up, props and i mportant subject matter. A Jn..t ~~, n<YtrtvicariousAbut one of the act and �'lche #8.m'i .time: T '-lile such a prospect boggles the mind, a serious study of these forms and the general tradition will \~ ~ye-opening for many a disbeliever. Early Black American oral and gestural art forms init.t ~ ~ LJ.u,., - • heri ed the~above mentioaed ~ri±t-t'e. In lang~~§e in (<.iui«, ) dance, and, more importantly, in points of view~toward time, -i,, . life and death, the cosmology of Africa ~ ('4~~~~-~4) "continue~in the Black efulture o- the Western Hemisphere. Specifically, in- 1 for mation was conveyed by~.a of aphorisms, riddles, parables, tales, enigmatic dances an jokes and poetry. 01,'.\~t ,>(.o(.(,' ) §o"'ill'ld~o J ··.nL'!O--·• que~utte ances, puzzles, t rfunt~ The pattern remains in tact today. -- .Jahn ments many examples of the African ncarryovers 11 and "survivalisms 11 operating in the Western Hemisphere. One can f nd the tradition -' ' · 4.t1-ni6' 1, 1/; ~ "vw 4(ru{t in Black poe s,~inistevs and~family,._,ga~herings. The scintillating Black po'et I'olson operates ~ 1 the old eni gmf'l t i c ( ~ ~ ~ frame when in "An Ex-Judge at the Bar 11 'be says: Bartender, make it straight and make it twoOne for the y~u in me and pn~.frp. tpe me in you. t" ~ N ~ i-fc · 'JI ,Ju.,kd t £ti.•, ~ . « > t.W Ar ·AIMlft~ ~ ..-.~~:.<, ~-. '', e''t. N _ I .1~ Tolsonl\.ends the poem~ ith n equallw en· gmat·c rn c : '~ <) Barte n er , make it straight and make it threeOne for the Negro ••• one for you and me. /, . ~UJ ' I n t he Sp rituals (t:5.e.:.:::~n~ml'?3"S't'ttmi /4 '~ Bi ..............,""-¥·) one finds s milar debts to the African tradition of song, dance and drum. ~ ::. r- So too in the shouts and hollers where (J f:.M n NOTe:it ~ actual African ·wor ds and phrases were iftnii,ie.11-, used. A Hence we can say that the traditional African phonology and ritual, modified on the anvil of slavery, were operating and continue ' . ~ " " " ~ ~;r nu.~~· [r;, to w 6 . . 9· ' �1t vi .lviJ 1.,, ~ ~ ' fA"t--- J for ms of Black American ,,E'xpression. The African slave, forced to acquire functional use of English and to re j ect surface aspects of his reli gion, went "underground tr so to speak and became bi-lingual and bi-psychical. Hence, while much of the thematic material of the Black /o1k tradition is taken from the harsh difficulties the sl ve encounte r ed in America, A:frican. tonal scale and the employment of the blue tone, the development of a distinct body o:f folklore and a rich language to convey the lore--all represent the African's resourcefulness. Cross-cultural ¢As however, in--for example--the Spirituals which, in many cases,.. ~~, were influenced by tbe English tiym t• j Other consicteratio~ .., include t h ~ e o~ European instruments ~araka points out in 1 Black Music, that the piano was the last ·, nstrument to be td' mastered by the Black musician!f The reason ous ht to be obvious.), the Black adaptation of songs beard in t h e 11 bi g house," the continual re-styling of American fads and the employment of B.blical imagery and language in songs and sermons. Langston Hughes noted that the Blues usually dealt with the theme of the re j ected lover and personal depression. Hughes/ first volume o:f poems, in fact, was entitled The Weary Blues. ~ however, the Blues, like the §pirituals, . ' I. , .,.,~• I ,,i,.ll J., l( r 1 ,f.x, 11 ,~ �I ., I . • �Rather, as 3 ~ and Howard Thurman (The Negro Spiritual Speaks of Life and Death) note, underneath the complaint is a "plaint": things must get better or change! For as the slave said: Freedom, ob Freedom, bow I love thee! Freedom, oh Freedom, how I love thee! And before I'll be a slave I'll be buried in my e;rave And go home to my aker and be Free! �I ,1) nA.,k. ;~ ..;--F"e, 11<!&1.4 __::j( t'w:,, , ~~~~ . . '\~ht / -- �"Tryin I to get home 11 -~~For many reasons , the use o~e word 11 spi r i tual 11 Black reli gi osity is a misnomer . Current h ·"'-U-vwcn..1 new information an rch into I': us that the entire BJa ck world i s 11 responsible to a tai~IIIMQ.....~ili::Bi•c~~~~•~ , ida~ 11 . spiri tua~ 11 : i . e ., informed by and hi~er orde r"--the order of God or the "gods . 11 The e.xhuberance , the spontaneity, the ecst a s , the trances , the t~lking and flair in tongues , the racial flavor/ in dress(church and nightclub) , al~ point up the interdependence and t h e integrat ion of v arious modes and points of view in the Black community . Professor\1'ork describeS • · 11 it as r this difference and this oneness . " The contemporary Black poet l2B1 11 Hayden understands this integration when, in a poem to Ma~lcolm X, he excf laims the "blazing oneness" of Allah. Further proof is seen in the emotional abandonment of church secula r picnics , socials and othe r events of merriment . One has only to "---:::-~a~lft~e~rJn~a~t~e~~~~~ listen to Arebha Fran lin -..-. Gospel and ~ pues to see this unity of expr") ssion pe rating todayf ...nd c ertumly it is cl ear in the , work_s, of t ~ ~ ~l .e.....s~ S""'infe::::.; ~w5d,Hawkins~ g e rs. a n ~ a !' fs a more vulga :r:dzed manner i n Blip \•ilson(Rev~ Leroy) . ,\_Btill , it mmportan and break-doi-m that we offer the tra ditiona :gortrait/of Black folk expression --so as not to confuse or invade notetJ4(chapt er II) W J ~· 1·~ ~~lll'!l!I...Q that t he most ( .liant\ intimately }influent i alQnd b ~ ~ Black poets have ;understood this a s pe ct of Black cu lture. Almost 11i thout exception(and Ke rlin, Br01.-m and others 1.mrn young Bl a ck writers to follow exarnnle) Black poets since the Civil Uar have avai led themse lve s of i n te gral folk rudime1 ts--even when they did not use them in poetry. It is still a fact that Black culturefdespi~e the r a cist and technolo gi cal barrages of the ~es t) still remains mo~"o/lt;_te at ed' than other JC I I: cultura l uni t ll in America. �5hou.lJ l �.' ��I I I ' J Chapter I :(.I insert(pl2) .... Professor Work 1 s 191.5 study was remains a l and mark in the study of African and Black American songs . His work provi des many.: answers to questions and issues that h a d b e&. z * been ( and contmnue to be) muddied by the waters of insensi ti v i ty and careless research . j P'f!o:cSr)::\;?,,. W;;; l I iii"- hi efforts , "undertaken for the the love of our fathers ' songs , " gives clear connections between the African ~nd Afro - American f olk song. ::::is main concerni.' is for the reltgious songs--although his s commen~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 spec ies of mus i c , the interest in which is intensifi ed by the rhythmical patting of hands rhythm and feet. This / !l\DlIXU is mout strikingly and accura tely broughtlll!IB out in their work songs . ' t 1 " " he emotionalism and uongifi ed ilat intensity of ~ Black Amerio ~ ays "He worships not s o much because he ought , the as be - I c ause he loves to wor@hip." Th "worship , " of course , is the kind we reintegration of into the ferred to earlier : the~!lliii.lQ~ id::u sensu e c stasy sweeping ritual is "as natural to the American Negro as his breath" : Indeed, it is a portrayal of his soul , and is as characteristic as a re his physical features. Hear him sing in his church, hear him preach, moan, and give 1 gravery 1 in his sermon , hear the washerwoman .' .. singing over her tub, hear the laborer singing his accompaninent to his toil, hear the child babbling an extemporaneous tune_aallfitl!!IIIM!,'1!!111~ been educated and who have been influenced by long study , find it difficult to express their musical selves in any other way . �.' possesses both pure song(the Black song , as is readily observable , verse ahd chorus plan) and chant(use of interjection s and expletives) qualities : Poor man Laz 1 rus, poor as I , Don't you see? Poor man La z 1 rus , Poor as I , Don ' t y)u see? 1:·Jhen he died he found a home on high , Be had a home in dat rock , Don ' t you see? the deeper , more psych?logicalf ..._, meaning of th es e songs , Professor Work ~ a s r;rw,,t. . " there are closer relati ons betwe en the soul and musi cal expression~ than have been satisfac tmrily explained. These relations can be felt , but any accurate description s ,:;ems beyond the grasp of man ' s mind . 11 Nevertheless this important study goes on to :pim..Rirrxm:mll classify and number th es e songs of : J oy , Sorrow, Sorrow with Note of ~oy , F aith , Hope , Love , Determination , Adora tion, Patience , Courage and Humility. Pir o f esso 1 U e !Fli:J k ke most scholars of the Spirituals , ~ i n t s out that the re is no hate , :fowe v e r , resentment or vi~dfct~r;rss i n them./Dr. Thurman , theologian and f p h i l o s o p h e r ~ ~ n n i n g s of turbulencetf:~drllll!ll::llllili!R ~ M WJA~~~He--lft'Tm~:;i!!tl;M'1311 , Dr . Thl2mna ¥gr the slave. Li of anxiety and fear , the slav ~ developed a rather stoic such an atmosphere attitude in which he saw death as inescapable a.nd as , possibly, the only remaining ____ p lant a tion lords ~ Vehicle for media ion · i th t h e ~. The s1 a ve could take his 01.m life , if ~ •ranted to--as he did many times in preference to slavery or separation f r om family andi or l oved ones . Dr . Thurman ' s brilliant analysis must be r ead by any serious student of Black thought a nd culture . �. /JI J Folk Seculars 1')wt I( insert ffl l I I wdi. Al 0:. II I I \l , 1 ~0, I, 1 I f;:'oLL--}-( ~ ive~~~~ll:9a~ observed t hat t he re is a thin line betwee secul a r world,._f a ck This is true for many reasons--some of t hem stemming from the African tradition of inter-rel a ting all aspects of life. As John M' Biti (African Heligions . < and Philosoph1 ) , Gabriel Bannerman-Richter and others point out, the African takes his religion(his beliefs) with him where ever he goes. eTls st -'ild~NliilQPii{ Jahn, 11T 1 Bi .L"frican ti and others) also remind us two languages a»e inseparable. Again ,...--,. the ways of i-i.frican peoples(see Mphahlele's i hi~lwind) i Black .8.rneri ca are expressed in 11 inte grated 11 terms . True, th7r'fl._.-;.,__~ tension between and religious communities-~but so often(and most different hats on different occasions. 0 tudy, Re v. Jesse Jackson or a rlev. I k e or a ,iC,t,n We have also observed tha 'T'ba t is, ,.., a gain, th e c as e of a Lev. Ada~ Clayton Powell J ' r (~ many motis;> o :~ip re ssion are interchangeable. song{, designed for -a....church or other reli gi ous be re-cu t(modified) for a s e cular--so ground has be en the training/a91!l!M.-.1Ai~ ~1:::~=~ if you will; see Frazier's The Negro Ch urch in .americ for most in Black popular music as well as for important orators, race le a devs an~ community businessmen. I Against the fore going al part of the ri ch storehouse of Black folklore. Through songs, aphorisms(my 1 y 11 You don't believe f a t meat s greasy. 1 and "If you grandmo ther!U e to ain't gon' do n othing get off the pot ! " ), f ables(see Aesop), jokes(s e e minstrelsy and the Black comed (over) tra~tion), blues and other enduring �..• insert for seculars p~l ! Then:e are numerous examples of the this practice. During the Civil rtights era, we would sing I woke up this mornin with my mind stayed on £reedom church though we were fully aware that olk szi-. were used to singing · this way: I woke up this mornin with my min~ stayed on Jesus strongly 's(and the Impressions') songs Many of Curtis songs sung in Black churches. Even Mayfield 1 s 11 1 f there, s A Hell Below") c 8 rry the Black church societal destruction, fla.-,vor--wi th their warnings, admonishments pleas for love(s e e also Nargin Gaye's pieces like 11 ::::iave The Wild 11 ) by the femptations ·sto ri cal theme of "searching" •~ p,r, ,, . ~~~1 Up This Mornin" is a blues idea expr e ssed above in the II ...~.iii!l:l!t!l:~&0 $~premes singing religious ~ 1# j the -i.;;.o.,;;;;..i.J,,W" Spiritual: "I Woke Up this mornin . 11 Stop in the Name of Love II we .,.,.t,a.C..,, "God. wanted to replace "~ove 11 with - 11 When ~ ,,_,.,111!'~!:f',ilorl--ti~t,Orte 11 .,.:s,. ' exchangeable and interahangeable words such as 11 Lord 11 and 11 "Baby" and "God"; "Sweet thing" a nd "Sweet Jesus"; and "God" and "Han." The reasons t "Mother"; Captain 11 and "Maker" ; for such usages, as we have stated , are deepllf enmeshed in the mythes of Blacks . Hichard Wright's "Bright and Morning .:>tar(in t h e Bible · lJI I ~ ld Jesus) becomes ,.,_son of ' ! t i n the s h ort story-,,,. by tha t name . The hero of The Man Who Cried I Am says 11 thank you man 11 to God after ~~~.::s:tl::l:Ig::::!:C:::mt.- • When we he a n a tune like ----~- ("when I heard my mother say 11 John A. William~ ) War's "Slipping into Darkness" we must understand the historical si gnfficance ; ,. ~tlfli:il•► and function of social art--just a s we must underst~=··= -= · onishe saac Hayes to D r,1/ ; 11 shet 11 in "~haft•1 �u seculars II form severe"&· tribulations, folk wisdom, joys and tra gedies, and the longings and hopes of Blacks during slavery more so than· the clues to the innertradi:.tion lie structure and Spirituals, ~omrnon workings of tne ack principles of folk psychology. It is, after all, back and forward to these folk materials that researchers will have to go if they are serious about de ·neating the feelin gs, emotions and t he ~ecul because ~jii5~;;i'i;;;:;r-t Ko.:1,i~_..,pe,e of Blacks. [ workin gs of the folk mind n0t as limited as th e 8pirituals,MU.±lJa:i::::e=mm$~a......lll._rtxlm:mu Bl a cks in the United bt a tes are aware of and have heard number ~ r::tihll..-"ill•~~ have had sust a ined the j to be informed entertainers to borrow freely from what they he a r-~~ while the folks "run and tell that" once of from the people are: M.a.I~-Q.~,.p....;tl::tf!:~ Pm~;cs:rr-t>--:cit::t::n T'~~""'f't--'t"l'-+-8"11'e'I'. song-S epithets borrowed directly James Brown's ''Brand New Bag, " "Licking Stick"(s e e "honey stick" in McKay's story ,,rr ruant 11 ) , "Give It Up or 'l 'urn It II Loose,'' "'l 'he Paybac and ''It's Hell"; !Ollte'11Ilmn•~ I"'l a!1!';in Gaye's "What 1 s and Going "Let I s Get it On•IIJ~W"; Curtis May field' s "Superfly"; the on:t," Jackson Five's "Get It 'fogether or Leave It Alone"; Flip Wilson's "What you ~ee is What You Get 11 (and the Dramatics' tune by the same name); Franklin's Aretha "Hespect" and "Run and Tell That"; and Jean Knight's "Mr. Big .:>tuff 11 --to name just a few. As with the Spirituals, whites(primarily abolitionists) were among the first to collect iecula of whatever type. Wil J iam Wells Brown, the pub1im edJ first Black nov e list and playwright, collected s anti-slave ry songs. (over) �seculars j Thomas ~1 entworth Higginson, writer and aboli tionistl who led a .black regiment in the Civil ~ ar, collected song s he heard among primar:ily con - his men around campfires and during marches. Though ce~ned with reli g~ song also - described some of the properties of general Black song delivery. One ofthe most important collections of these seculars ,ras put to g ethe r by Thomas \.i . Talley(of Fisk University, as was Professor Work). Professor Talley did pioneering work in the indentiftcati on a nd classification o f • • ~ Negro Folk Rhymes. Describing ~ ' the philos phy,za, struc~u::_ ~~ in some c a ses, origin of the~~as>-.~} ~ the Fisk sch ola r ~ ~ ~ e l l over 300 examples. Other important - -..__ 411¥1.,lll -44~ examp les end discussions of th e J3;r:l~W lroducts t~ ~~> secular folk life can be found int he works Oi:~wer, Spalding,,_ Chapman'# Brown(Negro Poetry), Abrahams(Deep Down in The JungleA and Bell(The Folk J Roots of C0 ntemporary Afro-American Poetry). Bell's work in recent(irom the ':;J:4'.P I r perspective C14,;tV~(l.CJ-/ ne B · · .tg 5 P£ u J F. au iii> ...._-h.~ Also valuable9 ~xamination .-.?~A iJb@1tii:Uitr[of '.li\laet:<7:se'. 3 k' -4'.eculars are a Ii regional works(such as Abrahams') including Dru..~s and ~hadows(§liiltG-eorgia and ~outh -....Life aucLb.rolina), Goldstein 1 s(ed.) BlackJ\Culture in the nited States, Lorenzo Dow ~ ~ f ,~ '6,N)uJt . Turner's work fn~Bttuliaff"'c;;~~and othe .s.(see biblio g raphy). By far -.. :1-l -~~c~u~l~a:f.r:._i!.~~~~~ the most#..~Tmc represent a tion of olk mate ials in the written poetry lJ iS fr-; in the war~ of Sterling Brown(see~outhern rload; especially Johnson~s introduction, and h i ~ e n t s in Ne g ro Poetry). Brown takes exception to Johnson's comment thB.t dialect poetry has only two stops--''humar and pathos,t.!.!- and E I trt implies that Black poets up until ~ his time had been remiss(or lazy) in not developing broaaJ.er uses and deepenini 1.....:.:-- th e meaning of Bl a ck life through the use of folk materials. The tradition of "tall" tale-telling is, oE course, submerged in the -- ' American mythos. So the Black nar:rator found iii C · tr a flexi b le atmosphere lover J �® f secular into which he c ould introduc e his own manner of storyt e lling and his 01.m tradi ti on of son1:s . As he had done in the ~? frituals, he gained a r esourcefulnes s i n th e the s ong or r• of language , ~ruments to accomp anf 'rg '- s t o r ~ l oped an a"?ili ty to seize u p on a good or amenable c ontext in 'll'h i ch t o ~ o ry ; ~ ::.or,~;:;..;;;:~~ ~om the v a ~ themesde a s/iai ethni c p oyp ourri of America. The grew up s ~ of b y - s i de wi t h t h e Spirituals . The Spirituals e ~ a t tempt • o f the sla ve to --~,, web to g ethe r his disparate (yetfmutual) wouib.ds. Spiritu a ls represent t he slave' preserverence and ~n man! ins t an c e s) hi s h ope and f a ith in mank ind. The 0 eculars, also '--lii!jiiilli~~!i in the shado ws o f the the nm,o= Bl a c k ~ ~·,u,, _-'- · 11 bi g h ouse , ( 11 r e flect t he soci a l life of ~~ / ~ ~ th e ~ In ~ song s a n d ditties , t he Black A er i c a n c ouche d h is l o ~ t t e r n e s s e s., but voiced hi& hopes and ~ c yni ci sms through the oblique, eliptical and en coded words an d s e emi ngl y unintel li gible ph onetic symbols . Th e se Afr ican fo rms(see Rappin' a n d Stylin • Out , Kochman) h a ve continued up to the pre s ent. Few Bl a c k y oung sters a re able to side - step the ri gorous ( and s ome time s pai nful) v e rbal dexte~rn@8 dema nde d :ft: I ha playmates aftd ee@88LM.1ttab&s du ring verbal s p a r ring matches t h a t inevit a bly tak e place. Ba rts :t;c;i U I I t I ~ forms of ~ b ehavior were "- might/ in tac t duri ng slavery--wh en a slav~rzTT, b e d i s cus sing a ma ster ' s or " old l a dy 11 during a ra t he r harmle s s " rap "(rhapso dy? moma " rapport?) with his Ula r ra ti ve) fe l low fiel d worke r s . F r ede ric k D0 u g l a ss repo r ts ,,,-....._ 11 c that sla ve 1128 over- seers t h ought sla ves sa11,,g p e c a use 4a l)v r()t.4, ~ ~~~~!!!£.. We know t hat · such Ha s n ot tne c a se~a nd that~~-~~l!flt'""'!"'e!M~-"'Uilllll~ i mpli ed "stea l i n g awayi' m 5 I •iFllli a lot more than wanting to r e ach t h e arms of 'l Jesus on the c ross . -:r enry Duma s ch roni cles similar"- o ~ in h is stortes d,f-~ and p o ems. An d iv1el Jat k ins (Amist a d2) d is c u ssed a n u pdate d vers i o~ of"-tn is ( o v e r) 16 �@ seculars . folk s i nger - h e ro phonenon in his article cl'l.lll•lllllJ••-lllliilZ!llli&a-ili&a on/James Bro~ . Tho @l he is•••l•m1 discussing a secular character, Watkins ' re v ela tions are Bhan Thurman ' s : that in the a bsurd context of similar to Dr. fRl · a f.1 I"') being o'W!le d.:f by someone el~ se, it i s £Ot l i fe or death that loom so importantly . One lives, ~ . (_IrMfr9dh .(J. ru; .t!,lli·son, su gp est:A, the day - to - day absurdity i n a sort of comic - tra g ic vice . Watkins says ~ James Brown's initmal ac ceptanc e by a b l a c k audien c e is fixed,, _.._ i n this crucial f a c tor. From t h e moment he sli, des onto the ..Ii :d ;tage, £ ~ whether unconsciously o r intentionally , his gestures , his facial expres si ons and even the sequential arrangement of his mate r ials ,-...,, external affirmat i ons of a shared a c ceptanc e of the absurd ore, more ing enously, of jiv ing . The impe c ably tai lored suits , whi ch he brandi shes at the outset, become meaningless ac coutrements j as his act pro g resses and, sweating and straining, he ge ts do ~m, lit e rally down on t h e floor , to wr ing the last drop '- of emotion from a song . . Wat k ins is ~ o r r e c t about the d r ess becoming 11 meaningle s s 11 to a Black audi ence ,~ s general thesi s i s ~ on targ et . b lsewhere i mp o rtanc e o f v erb a l a ili ~ Watkins , firmly understanding ef.. .in lare . IUac k-'./ says 1 r ap 1 or 1 11 it is common to hear bla c k women dis cussing a man ' s p r o g ram 1 on t he same level as they discuss his bank a ccount . 11 .._ gen~rallz_ Black:s ------ withhold t h eir judg,nent :fon ( o r a c e eptanc~ r fa ,r speak er or enter- tainer until he exhibits , in hi s dress - gesturet- rap , that · he , - . c:......:- underst and~ t he wellspring that produc ed the "Bl a ck and unk no'W!l b a rds . (over) 11 I �e f, ' ecula l'S Heturning ,XJ&Xmll briefly, to our historical a ssessment, we can . now see how th e fol k strain in Black wr itten a rt eveloved. F rom t h ~ "Song" recorded in the 1 8_5ors by Dou g lass, Dey gib#us de liquor, And say dat's good enough for t h e ni gg er. +.a t:Rl"f~ar of ~ 6a. " d e Cunjab Man" the latter part o f t h e 190 0 1 s, De Cunjah man, de Cunjah man, O ch illen run, de Cunjah man! the deceptively ~ as ~ " s i mple" employment o:f :folk expressionJ~vailed an i mp ortant antidote for the social mala~inherited by Blacks in the Western Remi s ph e re • ..., "De Cunjah man" is, of course, equivalent to the "thing s t h at go bum~ g in t h e night 11 i1 peg-leg, 11 11 bugga h -man"(lJunba r 1 s 11 0beah man. in Irela nd--and thus h~s olk sup e rstitions an d mytholo gy. But the r e aas - ~ ties also the 11 ~ " t i t t le Bt-01.m Baby"), t h e "rag ;nantl, raw-head and bloody bones II and( in places i k e Trinida d) the 1 ~lArA'l'JV' ~ Llt,l.lll'L'~ T.1ost of these superna t u ral characters -P1,itii!'!ll. .-i,M African 11 Blues and Gos p el Jubilee(held in Cliff Top, w. Va., in August and September of 1974) wa s "Tryin 1 to Get Home. 11 How ste a dfa stly the fol k tradition runs like a vein t h rough Black history, Ip the ~eculars(and the Spirituals) r::-, • f _, o.hAt;, ' stanza ;._;;;;> we .llliiil•b repeatedly he a r somethi~~the ,-;;~of illilllM{ "Rainbow Roun Mah !:>boulde r": I 1 m go n na bre a k ri '¥lt, break ri ght pas t h at sh ooter, . I' m go i n home, Lawd, I'm go in h ome. Again the u;e 0 f the word e,,...,,. n )d( { 11 Lawd " in a " s ecula r" song further bears out ~ . the A:integration of t h e fo lk expre ssion. Illfy"-si s ters often or exca.aim "Lord" or 11 Lawd" i n e v e ryday discussions about life. (over) interject � 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_07_24 Title A name given to the resource Draft of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Chapter II. The Black & Unknown Bards 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. Description An account of the resource Draft of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Chapter II. The Black & Unknown Bards, with addenda note 4 on page 7, an inserted page after page 12, and an insert for seculars after page 13.