Ma Rainey's Prove It On Me Blues
analytical Essay
1761 words
Black art forms have historically always been an avenue for the voice; from spirituals to work songs to ballads, pieces of literature are one way that the black community has consistently been able to express their opinions and communicate to society at large. One was this has been achieved is through civil disobedience meeting civil manners. In this case, it would be just acknowledging an issue through art and literature. On the other hand, there is art with a direct purpose - literature meant to spur action; to convey anger and shock; or to prompt empathy, based on a discontent with the status quo. That is, protest literature. Through the marriage of the personal and political voices in black poetry and music, the genre functions as a form …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains that black art forms have always been an avenue for the voice; from spirituals to work songs, pieces of literature are one way that the black community has consistently been able to express their opinions and communicate to society at large.
- Analyzes how the folktale "a flying fool" acts as a form of protest literature against the hypocrisy of white christianity and the brute force used by police and authority figures on the black community.
- Analyzes how ma rainey's "prove it on me blues" is a pioneering piece of protest literature as it is defiant against and in in resistance of gender and sexuality politics.
- Analyzes how ma rainey aligns herself directly with the speaker of "prove it on me blues" and uses her personal voice and political voice to challenge the ideals of the time.
- Analyzes how n.w.a's "fuck tha police" is an ideal piece of protest literature because it directly calls out the issues and is interwoven with personal experience of the rappers.
- Analyzes how ice cube's frustration is a combination of his personal experiences growing up in the city and the treatment of black youths.
- Explains that protest literature has been used by the african american diaspora for many years to acknowledge issues, comment on the current social and political climate, and call for direct action.
This is an interesting piece of protest literature because it is arguably about Gertrude “Ma” Rainey’s personal life and it creates an argument that can be disseminated into larger cultural issues related to gender and sexuality. This song is the first mention of black lesbianism in popular culture. Ma Rainey says, “The gal I was with was gone” (43) and goes on to frankly discuss her sexuality “Went out last night with a crowd of my friends/ They must’ve been women ‘cause I don’t like no men”(44) and her masculine style “It’s true I wear collar and a tie”(44). Ma Rainey uses this song to assert her dominance in expressing her gender and sexuality just as they were during a time when doing so would almost certainly end in physical violence. Not only was homosexuality and gender-bending socially and legally condemned in 1928 when this song was released, but it was also during a time when black women had next to no rights. With this song, Ma Rainey asserted her worth in a culture that tried to criminalize her very existence. Filled with explicit sexual references, it dares listeners to "find proof" of any immorality or illegality by singing, “’Cause they say I do it, ain’t nobody caught me” (44). Ma Rainey was deifying the idea that her life and her world were criminal. This can even be seen in the advertisement for the song1. Ma Rainey aligns herself directly with the speaker of the song; Rainey is shown in the ad enacting the lyrics to the song standing on a street corner dressed in a jacket, hat and tie, flirting with two women while a police officer looks on. Again, the image that she is putting out of herself makes an undeniable social and sexual statement. The lyrics of “Prove It on Me Blues” feature a lesbian heroine, but with this advertisement Rainey makes it clear that she is the person
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- Analyzes how langston hughes' poem, "you and your whole race", is about how african americans aren't equal and how people who agree with racism are ignorant.
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