The story of African American Music comes with four milestones (History Official Site of Negro Spirituals, antique Gospel Music):
• Before 1865
• 1865: The abolition of Slavery
• 1925: The Black renaissance
• 1985: The Dr. Martin Luther King’s day
Before 1865:
Almost all the first Africans who arrived the new world as slaves; they came from several regions of the African west coast. Their ways of living were described by slaves themselves, in some narrative. They worked in either plantations or in towns. Through out most of the colonial period, conflict to slavery among white was virtually imaginary. Settlers in the 17th and early 18th centuries came from sharply stratified societies in which wealthy savagely exploited members of the lower classes. Lacking a later generation’s belief in natural human equality, they saw little reason to question enslavement of Africans. As they sought to mold a docile labour force, planters resorted to harsh, repressive measures that include liberal use of whipping and branding (Chronology on the History Of Slavery 1619-1789, 2004).
Rural slaves used to stay after regular worship services, in churches or in plantation “praise houses:, for singing and dancing. But, slaveholders did not allow dancing and playing of the drums as they did in Africa. They had meeting place which were secretive referred to as (“camp meetings, or bush meetings”), because they needed to share their joys, pain, and hopes with others who understand what they were going through (History Official Site of Negro Spirituals, antique Gospel Music).
“… We cannot love that which we do not know”—Guinean Proverb (Floyd, 1995).
So to be able to love something we must know and understand the origin and roots. In spite of the quite apparent importance of African religion to the understanding of African rituals and its musical derivatives, music scholars have neglected to pay significant attention to it (Floyd, 1995).
“the objective of African Music is… to translate everyday experiences into living sound… to depict life, nature, or supernatural”—Frances Beby (Floyd, 1995)
In the term of understanding the nature of the African American music, it is essential to familiarise ourselves with the African religious practices.
To be able to find out about the african religion practices wait for the next entry!
Bibliography
Chronology on the History Of Slavery 1619-1789. (2004). Retrieved 03 14, 2012, from Chronology on the History Of Slavery 1619-1789: www.inncercity.org/holt/slavechron.htm
Floyd, S. A. (1995). The Power of Black Music: Interpreting Its History from Africa to the United States. (O. press, Ed.)
History Official Site of Negro Spirituals, antique Gospel Music. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 14, 2012, from History: www.negrospirituals.com/history.htm
• Before 1865
• 1865: The abolition of Slavery
• 1925: The Black renaissance
• 1985: The Dr. Martin Luther King’s day
Before 1865:
Almost all the first Africans who arrived the new world as slaves; they came from several regions of the African west coast. Their ways of living were described by slaves themselves, in some narrative. They worked in either plantations or in towns. Through out most of the colonial period, conflict to slavery among white was virtually imaginary. Settlers in the 17th and early 18th centuries came from sharply stratified societies in which wealthy savagely exploited members of the lower classes. Lacking a later generation’s belief in natural human equality, they saw little reason to question enslavement of Africans. As they sought to mold a docile labour force, planters resorted to harsh, repressive measures that include liberal use of whipping and branding (Chronology on the History Of Slavery 1619-1789, 2004).
Rural slaves used to stay after regular worship services, in churches or in plantation “praise houses:, for singing and dancing. But, slaveholders did not allow dancing and playing of the drums as they did in Africa. They had meeting place which were secretive referred to as (“camp meetings, or bush meetings”), because they needed to share their joys, pain, and hopes with others who understand what they were going through (History Official Site of Negro Spirituals, antique Gospel Music).
“… We cannot love that which we do not know”—Guinean Proverb (Floyd, 1995).
So to be able to love something we must know and understand the origin and roots. In spite of the quite apparent importance of African religion to the understanding of African rituals and its musical derivatives, music scholars have neglected to pay significant attention to it (Floyd, 1995).
“the objective of African Music is… to translate everyday experiences into living sound… to depict life, nature, or supernatural”—Frances Beby (Floyd, 1995)
In the term of understanding the nature of the African American music, it is essential to familiarise ourselves with the African religious practices.
To be able to find out about the african religion practices wait for the next entry!
Bibliography
Chronology on the History Of Slavery 1619-1789. (2004). Retrieved 03 14, 2012, from Chronology on the History Of Slavery 1619-1789: www.inncercity.org/holt/slavechron.htm
Floyd, S. A. (1995). The Power of Black Music: Interpreting Its History from Africa to the United States. (O. press, Ed.)
History Official Site of Negro Spirituals, antique Gospel Music. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 14, 2012, from History: www.negrospirituals.com/history.htm
Kind of hard to read but good topic choice!
ReplyDeleteinteresting and so true
ReplyDelete