In my opinion, slavery or enslaved objects fit right into the discourses of modernity. Paul Gilroy quoted Hegel in The Black Atlantic. “This condition is capable of no development or Culture, and as we see them at this day, such they have always been” (Gilroy 41). That is saying that blacks never have or will contribute to anything in the world. That was another reason for slave owners to treat slaves like the scum on the bottom of their shoe. If blacks aren’t doing anything to benefit us in any type of way, what’s the point of treating them like human beings? That’s probably how slave owners thought and they had a reason. If blacks weren’t getting any credit for anything and all the credit has been and will always be given to the whites, …show more content…
Blacks always found themselves resisting physical, political and economic domination. For that specific reason, Gilroy argues that nation as an organizing historical principal lacks accuracy because it only shows the negative side of everything. Gilroy shows how it is represented in black music.”This fundamental dislocation of black culture is especially important in recent history of black musics which, produced out of racial slavery which made modern western civilization possible, now dominate its popular cultures” (Gilroy 80).
Du Bois agrees with Gilroy about the "sorrow songs." In The Souls of Black Folk Du Bois thinks that sorrow songs are a show of the achievements of African descendants in America. The songs have been passed down from generation to generation. The songs are just like their composers, have been polished by the fires of American slavery, inequality, and cruelty. These songs are the "music of an unhappy people," and the creations of "children of disappointment;" and yet, they are also prayers which breathe hope and "a faith in the ultimate justice of things" (Du Bois 157). The sorrow songs are a way for slaves to speak to the world in their own special way.
Du Bois begins every single chapter with a piece of religious music. That in itself shows how important the sorrow songs are. Slaves intentionally hold on to their troubles to use as motivation for overcoming future obstacles. Sorrow songs are the greatest
The rise of Soul music was a product of the particular environment of that time in which the musicians who created it lived, a period much paralleled with the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) and Black Power Movement (BPM) (Maultsby, 1983, 54). The objective of this research was to examine any existence of political and social messages delivered in Soul music around the civil rights movement era in America, which would lead to a better understanding of the role of Soul music having served in the process of political and social changes in the country.
Popular singer Elton John once said; “music has healing power; it has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours”, and for most, music is the portal to an out of body experience. African American lyricists especially have been found to use the art of music to escape the real world, commencing from the slavery era and onward. The blues song titled The Tracks of My Tears does just that; expresses the ability to remove your soul from a treacherous reality. Similarly, the lyrics from popular modern songs, written by black artists, speak volumes about what is presently going on in the country, parallel to the way African American slavery songs did. Music written at an earlier period have been found to correlate to music of the past through providing strong emotion toward present day commentary.
The story “Sonny’s Blues” By James Baldwin is about a jazz musician and his brother in 1950’s Harlem. The story centers on Sonny who uses jazz music as an escape from his depression. James Baldwin captures the art of jazz during this time period. The themes in this short story are perhaps varied, but all of them revolve around some form of suffering. One theme shows how music can promote change and understanding within relationships. A second theme reveals suffering caused by guilt. Yet another theme references the results of suffering brought about by searching for ones’ identity and how that leads to misunderstanding. There are also subthemes concerning racism and poverty.
African American influence in music has been an ever present and controversial subject in American history. Stemming from many different cultures, religions and backgrounds, large portions of American music was introduced by, and credited to African Americans. Although in many cases, this music was used for entertainment by the masses or majority, contrary to popular belief, black music served a greater purpose than just recreation. Dating all the way back to the beginning of slavery in the U.S. during the 17th century, music has been used to make a statement and send a message. As African American music progressed over the years, there were common themes expressed as the genres evolved. It has been an open letter to the world, documenting and protesting the ongoing oppression faced by blacks in the United States, as well as an outlet for frustration. For many African Americans, the music gave them the only voice that couldn’t be silenced by their oppressors.
Slavery has been around for a very long time. However, it is not always how it seems or put out to be. Like the Barbarians, a Greek slave, for example. Their inability to speak Greek indicated their slave status because it kept them from talking back to their masters. This has lead the Greeks to consider otherness a characteristic of slaves. And in the 18th century, slave trade is just another trade for merchants and people involved, like the fact Europeans actually obtained African slaves by trading for them in exchange for goods; usually like guns or metal tools; and for those Africans, slaves were a form of property and a very valuable one.
In his narrative, Douglass expresses incredulity at the fact that onlookers could hear anything but the deepest sadness in these slave songs. Writes Douglass, “I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake.” As suggested
Researchers found that more than ten thousand people are in forced labor across 90 US cities. These people are forced to work in sweatshops, clean homes, work on farms, or work as prostitutes or strippers. Many of these cases are accumulated in areas with large immigrant populations, like California, New York, and Florida. Most of the victims of forced labor are “imported” from 38 different countries. China, Mexico, and Vietnam top this list of countries (Gilmore 1).
In his short story Sonny’s Blues, James Baldwin uses the motif of music and light and dark to reveal and reinforce the theme of suffering transforming people into their better selves.
In some cases, the songs sung by the slaves do portray happiness, but this is very temporary. When beginning to explain the songs that he is hearing he say that the songs can
Songs were used in everyday life by African slaves. The slaves called these songs negro spirituals. People such as Harriet Tubman and others used songs as a means for communication amongst each other in their fight to gain freedom. Many slaves knew the secret meanings of words from the negro spirituals, so they could be used to signal many things. For example, Harriet Tubman used the song “Wade in the Water” to tell slaves who were trying to escape to get off the trail and go into the water. This made sure that the dogs slavecatchers couldn’t sniff out their trail. Other slaves used songs as signals. For example, the Virginia slave Nat Turner, who organized a revolt against slave owners, used the song “Steal Away” as a signal to call people together to talk about their plans (“Joe Carter and the Legacy of African American Spirituals.”)
Douglass corrects white reader’s misconceptions about the slave’s assumed happiness by illustrating the song’s true meaning through his personal experience “within the circle.” Douglass is astounded that northerners believed they were singing songs out of happiness; he says, “I have often been astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake” (26). Douglass explains that the songs create a common experience among all slaves. Therefore, those outside the circle are ignorant to believe that their songs are out of happiness or contempt. In actuality, “slaves sing most when they are the most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears” (26). Douglass makes it clear that slaves are actually evident on a sub-conscious level of deep unhappiness. The singing is a coping mechanism, per say, to the aching hearts. The songs are not a pastime
Through studying the origin and development of the slave trade and how music was altered during the past four hundred years, it sheds light to understand how musical features of African origin became a dominant part of American music and how its tradition retained its essence without being assimilated during the process. It gives us a different perspective in viewing the gradual change in multi-cultural acceptance in America in the context of musical development. The product from the hybridization of Black and White Americans gave birth to music that ever unattainable from any side alone, which became of the leading icon of popular music across the globe. This sheds light onto the potential humans can achieve if they could give proper respect and understanding to different cultures and
In order to fully understand the explosion in popularity of black music in the years following World War II, one must understand the social conditions in which blacks and whites lived in the American South. An article entitled “Not Just the Same Old Show on my Radio” delves into the very issues behind racism. The article names aspects necessary for social segregation to exist:
The power of song helped slaves through their dehumanized lives. They created unity in songs of religion and denounced the power their masters held over them. They were going to rebel in all facets of life. Slaves knew “that a happy slave is an extinct man” (p.33). The meanings of these songs can not be overstated. One who knew the importance of song was Frederick Douglass. “They told a tale of woe...they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the
One of the most prominent forms of music that was incorporated by slaves in their daily lives was religious music. Another one of the most influential forms of musical expression among the slaves were slave songs, and these were songs of sorrow and misery. Some slave songs were joyful and cheerful, but others were sorrowful but were all deeply expressive. These songs were used by slaves as a means of communicating their true feelings and emotions, due to the brutal and repressive society that they resided in.