Reggae got Blues
Introduction
No food on my table, no shoes to go on my feet
No food on my table and no shoes to go on my feet,
My children cry for mercy, Lord they ain't got no place to call their own.
The blues arose as both a social protest and a means for expression by the Afro-American slave. The institution of slavery had existed before the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but never before had a race suffered such discrimination; oppression and poverty as the West Africans have endured for the last four hundred years. " The African’s sole purpose in America was, for the most part, to provide the cheapest agricultural labor possible to procure"(Baraka, 3). Previous forms of slavery (Roman and Greek) utilized the intellectual capability of slaves, where as the institution of slavery in the Americas treated slaves like that of property, a master would relate to his slave as, ". if you twist the knob on your radio you expect it to play"(Baraka, 3). This, the non-human view of slaves that existed, viewed Africans as heathens and thought them to be primitive and inferior to the Euro-American. These so-called nonliterate peoples whose traditional histories were passed down generation to generation through oral tradition, were seen as primitive to the highly industrialized Euro-Americans. The profound beliefs and concepts of one culture (African) become absurd and intangible for a complete opposite culture (Euro-American)(Baraka, 7). Not only were the West Africans aliens to the their physical surroundings but aliens to a new "philosophical system"(Baraka, 7). With this in mind the West Africans who survived the western passage across the Atlantic to the Mississippi Delta had found a similar Jamaican Babylon and, " Lord they ain’t got no place to call there own". The blues are an extension of the West African oral tradition through spirituals, worksongs, seculars, and field hollers. From the late eighteen hundreds to the mid twentieth century afro- American’s have been slaves to King Cotton in the form of bound slavery, tenant farming and sharecropping. The endless cycle of debt, has Blues music centered on movement from oppression, and poverty while the protest may not always take serious form. I will examine the music of the Delta blues looking for connections to the mento/early reggae era in religious, social and lastly lyrical context.
RELIGION
African religions usually have a tight fit with a particular culture, language and belief system.
Hochschild concludes that the world must never forget the events of Leopold’s Congo. This event is evidence that it is the result of human greed that led to so much suffering, injustice, and corruption.
The rifle and the coveted shotgun, literally brought home the bacon. With sleek models such as the Winchester .44 in 1873, accurate targeting sights increased a hunter’s ability to take down his prey, even from large distances, often exceeding 200 yards. The other weapon of choice, the shotgun, did not boast a straight, clean shot, but had the capacity to tear anything to shreds in a single blast. A short barrel provided the advantage of a wider blast range and easier handling (Trachtman et al 50). In many battles, the shotguns were often preferred for their simplifying features.
Grief can arise from loss, whether large-scale or small, and may not be easily removed once it takes hold. Because of grief’s obstinate nature, many approaches have been developed in order to handle the repressive, and often painful, effects it can have on people’s lives. One of those approaches is Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’s theory, The Five Stages of Grief. In Sierra Skye Gemma’s essay, “The Wrong Way”, she juxtaposes her own personal experiences with grief against Kübler-Ross’s hypothesis. Gemma uses her confessional, combined with empirical evidence that contradicts the Five Stages of Grief, to demonstrate that feelings of grief are unique to the individual; therefore, there is no right way to mourn.
Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss. Although primarily focused on the emotional reaction to loss, it also carries a physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical connotation. Doctor Elisabeth Kübler-Ross introduced the idea of the stages of grief in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying. Although it has received much criticism since then, the Kübler-Ross model remains to be the most widely accepted model of grief today. However, as most psychological research conducted in the 20th century was based on people living in the North America and Western Europe, the Kübler-Ross model could be culturally biased. In the Laws of Absence, Ahmed El-Madini introduces the readers to grief and mourning in the Islamic culture. Through this journey with the narrator, the readers realize that despite cultural and chronological differences, human nature is essentially the same in regards to coming to terms with loss.
The River Flows On: Black Resistance, Culture and Identity Formation in Early America is a fascinating consideration of African culture and its effect on the history of slave resistance in North America. Walter Rucker seeks to establish that the effect was extensive; furthermore, he claims it to have been essential in the creation of a communal consciousness among enslaved peoples. One of his main objectives appears to be to impress upon his reader the important advancements that could continue to be made if greater significance was placed on slaves’ African roots. In doing so, he claims, one could “better grasp the convoluted complexities of slave life” . Not unlike the work of Michael Gomez, in which Rucker places great significance, The River Flows On rejects an “Americanist” approach to the study of slave culture in favour of one that embraces a unique African-American identity . Of those historians who take an “African-Americanist” position on the subject, R...
A majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increased in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Mi...
It is important that the culture is thoroughly researched so that it can be portrayed accurately. The historical context in which the culture is being described can affect the way the audience relates to the topic (Hall 272-273). The narrator tells the audience how his feelings towards his grandparents changed after he realized the truth about the world he lived in. The mistreatment of Africans and African Americans because of their skin color is shown throughout the novel. Even though some of the acts against them in the novel were horrendous, they were wronged far worse in the past. “I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed at myself for having at one time been ashamed. About eighty-five years ago they were told that they were free, united with others of our country in everything pertaining to the common good, and, in everything social, separate from the fingers of the hand. And they believed it. They exulted it. They stayed in their place, worked hard, and brought up my father to do the same” (Ellison 15). This novel takes places in the 1930’s and so the time period that narrator could be speaking about is the end of the civil war. The civil war ended slavery and made all African Americans free. Eighty-five years ago they were led to believe that they were just as free and would be treated as the whites had. They were told that they were equal with the whites when it came “the common good” and “everything social.” The dominant culture lied to them because it knew that if it made the African Americans feel welcome and feel part of the group, that it could manipulate them into acting how it wanted them to. African Americans wanted to show that they were equal to their white counter parts so they did exactly as they were told and made sure that they never fell out of line. It was
To begin, most Africans have come from societies with traditional African religious backgrounds unrelated to Islam or Christianity. As a whole, African religious traditions combine belief in a Supreme Being with the worship of other gods and ancestors and use ritual and magic to mediate between human beings, nature, and the gods. In many African languages, there is no word for God, because in their tradition every thing and place embodies God. Many African religions have common tenets. They share a belief in a community of deities, the idea that ancestors serve as a way to communicate with these deities. They also share the belief...
The article "“Whoever We Are, Loss Finds us and Defines Us”, by Anna Quindlen, invokes the necessary emotions needed to understand an agree with the notions stated about death and grief. Yes, Anna Quindlen succeeded in proving her position by her use of emotion, credibility as an accomplished writer, experiences with death and grief and her writing style. Some people live with grief for the rest of their lives, such as Anna Quindlen and some of her examples, while others can overcome the fight. Effectively using all three elements in this article, Quindlen started her engine, shifted this article into gear and ultimately won the race.
... capable of killing in small numbers. Now, however, they are able to destroy whole buildings. Politicians can and do use the power of the gun to force others to do what they want. Guns have become such an effective killing machine that they can kill anyone anywhere at anytime and, to fulfill any political cause.
No other weapon in my opinion has changed the face of the battlefield as has the machine gun. It's design and and association with mass death makes it a great and powerful weapon. Two men, Hiram Maxim and Richard Gatling, made huge impacts in the development of the Machine Gun and bringing it to use in the military. These two brilliant men designed capable and reliable versions of Machine guns in a time when everyone was making unreliable models. However before we get into discussion about the inventions of Hiram Maxim and Richard Gatling, it's important to understand how machine guns were developed.
American slaveholders dehumanized slaves through both psychological stress and physical forms of brutality. Despite the ambiguity in brutality, as this relative term can be perceived differently by different cultures’ tolerance to pain, slave holders attachment and monitoring of their slaves became an overwhelming obsession. The slaveholders’ continual micromanagement and overbearing obsession always left the slaves at fault. In “Dancing for Eels,” in Raising Cain: Blackface performance from Jim Crow to Hip Hop, by W.T. Lhamon, he informed the readers about the “ Great Negro Plot”. The name of the revolt vilified and gave the blame to slaves while the organization was hardly a “Negro” revolt (Lhamon 20). The intimate relationship became very intensive as slaveholders in America capitalized their right of possession over another being. Phrases such as ‘my slave’ or ‘our slaves’ were subtle forms of attachment. When slaves ran away, there were mixed feelings of anger, betrayal, and confusion among the slaveholders. They could not understand why an individual did not want to be enslaved. As a response, a hunting party for blacks known as Patty Roller characterized this extreme obsession as white men monitored slaves activities while enforcing discipline. In America, Whites were used to having black people immerse in their culture. When Black people left, their presence was
Grief can be defined as the natural reaction to loss. Grief is both a universal and personal experience (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Individual experiences of grief vary and are influenced by the nature of the loss (Mayo Clinic, 2014). There are multiple different theories that have attempted to explain the complex process of grief and loss. Theorists such as Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, William Worden and John Bowbly explain in their theories how they believe an individual deals with the grieving process. In this essay, I will be focusing on William Worden’s theory and will be discussing the process for a child aged nine to eleven.
In conclusion African religion provides a unique and vital support to their religion. Africans have a basic understanding of African religions will provide an awareness of African customs, the African view of death and life beyond
Black Consciousness movement is “revolution in consciousness that encompasses all black institutions, including the Black Church.”(2939) This movement was a much needed awakening in the conscious minds of Black people. For years they were subjected to dehumanization tactics, which resulted in loathing of self. Collectively, Black people are thought to have an immense dislike for everything which resembled that of the African. We were a “people who hated our African characteristics.” (2931) We hated our skin, we hated our hair, we hated our features, we found ourselves feeling imprisoned in our skin. Prisoners to an unjust society merely because of the hue of their skin. They were forever in bondage; no longer were they in physical chains, but now they were in mental chains. A shift in perspective in the 1960’s and 1970’s invoked a change in the mentality of the Black community. Their consciousness was roused with a “revolution” undertone. The people wanted change. They wanted an identity that no longer made them feel hostages in a foreign land, but one which embraced their h...