Short Thread. They sound good, but there is a reason this doesn’t sit well with some Black Americans. Historically, we have always been inclusive with our musical traditions, which has lead to whitewashing/erasure. Our music is sacred to us, we have the right to gatekeep. 1926 twitter.com/i/web/status/1… People try to bash Black Americans by jealously saying we have “no culture,” but when we go up about aspects of our culture that are sacred to us, we get told to be quiet. People in the comments not understanding and dismissing our concerns. It’s something we know too well.

https://twitter.com/blackpowerba/status/1387152053231931398

There is NOTHING wrong with the celebration of their cultures. It’s beautiful. Embrace that uniqueness. The problem is the hypocrisy when using “African” in this way while many of the same people get upset that we use “Black” exclusively at times. Some quick thoughts…

https://twitter.com/Treshiq/status/1498844231502344202

This is at an HBCU, a college solidified in Black American history and culture. Pan Africans will tell everyone to claim “African.” However this kind of thing challenges that. “African” here, means something specific. But ain’t we “all African?” Not always, right? I get it.

Black Americans have a long history of “music competition.” Old traditions like The Dozens, Toasting, and “Blues/Jazz Cutting” all influenced our music battle culture. A “cutting contest” in the 1920s-40s was a joust of skill between musicians to see who was best. Example

https://twitter.com/verzuzonline/status/1495182087816503297

Here is a depiction of Scott Joplin in a Piano cut contest. The objective was to play faster and louder, introduce new rhythms, while being more skillful and showing off new techniques. And don’t forget to keep the crowd moving. If you stumble, you lose.

The influence that Black American 🇺🇸 Soul on 🇧🇷 in the mid 60s and 70s is larger than you’d think. I briefly touched on this with my thread on the global reach of Black Power. But there’s much more to the story.

https://twitter.com/blackpowerba/status/1414022190119464961

In the 70s Soul Music was a key factor in the spreading of “Blackness” throughout Latin America. Soul music was monumental in carrying messages of Black Pride and Power across South America. Soul music and philosophies would hit Brazil the hardest.

Louis Armstrong in 1956 on his first trip to Ghana. He performed in front of a crowd of 100,000. The Gold Coast record and world record of that time. Many Ghanaians, except for people “in the know” were not familiar with the sounds of Black American Jazz music. In front of a smaller crowd, Louis Armstrong wants to see people dance. It took them a while but they slowly started getting in the groove and feeling the rhythms.

An early example of the Black American cultural tradition, called “Playing the Dozens.” A game y’all probably know as “Scoring,” “Gunning,” “cutting” “Lookin boy” etc. Jelly Roll Morton’s “The Dirty Dozen” recorded in the mid 30s. He first heard it played in Chicago around 1908 This is game and tradition is at the very root of the Black American rap and “jive” traditions. “Capping” and “Toasting” come from these roots. Memphis Minnie “The New Dirty Dozen” 1930.

We should never forget the contribution of Black American traditions in Double Dutch and Hand Games when it comes to the inceptions of rapping. The cadence, the rhymes, etc had a major impact on Jive (rap). These aspects of the culture were DOMINATED by Soul Black American women. Amazing.

The global adoption of Black American “Black Power” has a fascinating history. US civil rights/Black Pride movements of the 50s and 60s inspired many people to adopt the Black American self identification of “Black” and apply our philosophies to their struggles. A few examples. West Indians in London adopted “being black” and philosophies of Blackness in the early 70s due to US Black Pride movements. They started screaming “Black Power.” And gained a new sense of Black Pride that they didn’t have in the West Indies