Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 15:48:06 -0400 Subject: le peuple noir americain (was: more from paris) From: Larissa Parson To: johnny at charm.net Ms. Bonning writes: > In both Germany, where I spent a summer several years ago, and in > Paris, > there seems to be a general fascination with and interest in the > culture > of black Americans, and in particular an insatiable appetite for gospel > and spiritual music. I don't see the same type of interest in hip hop, > though those acts tour here and seem to be popular. But one doesn't > quite > see them advertised as a look into the soul and culture of le peuple > noir > americain. > [Warning: there is no rigorous argument here, just some impressions, still in need of thought and revision.] Oddly enough, this is a subject i've been discussing a lot recently. On Sunday, I was talking to a French acquaintance of mine, who said, comparing French hip-hop to American hip-hop, that there is a unified history and distinct identity (pride even) to African-Americans, which the Afro-French hip hoppers can't quite convincingly portray. Similarly, a Bosnian friend of mine says that without black people, America would be dull (context: the park last week, where the cornellians don't venture, many black families bbqing with many car stereos blasting, a quasi- stereotypical scene); what he said was so beautiful, was that a certain color (in the sense of spirit, i think) was constantly a part of the lives of black people, no matter how poor. Both of them expressed a sense of wonder at the culture of black America, at the pride in the culture. I found this particularly striking; I admit, it had never occurred to me how the culture is viewed from a non-american point of view. What is it that my european friends see in black culture that americans as a whole don't? My guess is that you have a group of people, who have been marginalized by skin color for hundreds of years, but who despite the best efforts of both american society and the culture of poverty to undermine the soul of black people, have persisted in maintaining certain aspects of identity and even grown stronger as a community, by creating as much beauty as we can with what (little) we're given to work with. What is that identity, though? It seems like the identity/culture which is being admired is not that of fully assimilated blacks, who are indistinguishable in all respects but skin color from any other upper-middle-class people. Much of that culture would be referred to by many as "stereotypical" -- the Baptist preachers calling for 'amens' (the art of call-and-response preaching remains a mystery to me, with my Anglican upbringing, but I can certainly feel the power of it); the block parties, complete with cookout and stoop-sitting; the loud thump thump of the lowrider next to you rattling your own windows; dancing; basketball; the art of doing nothing, just chillin' and telling stories all day long. The last of these is something that is vital for remembering where one comes from, and it is, at least in my experience, what you do when you're with family and friends. For me, trying to find an identity that is not wholly determined by the two color lines i walk between, it is shocking to hear some of my fellow-choristers complain (complain!?) about having to sing yet *another* spiritual. to me, there is just so much, soul, so much passion in the words, so much rhythm in the music, how can you not feel something wonderful about the songs? I saw the Fisk Jubilee Singers here at Cornell a month ago, and was moved almost to tears -- the quality of the singing was magnificent, but also the songs themselves. Not that, say, Palestrina, isn't also beautiful and transcendent, but I can certainly say that I "feel" the spirituals somewhere deeper. So is this identity that is admired then also the collective memory and awareness of (due to its relatively recent history) the struggle to be recognized as human beings, then as citizens of this country, then as real contributors to the cultural history of the country (let's not forget where the blues and thus rock n' roll came from)? So that, in the end, a boy like Eminem can be absorbed by this culture to the point of transcending the historically racial barriers of rap? I wonder, actually, what my French friend thinks of Eminem. What is the "authentic" face of black culture in his eyes? Who qualifies? Do gay rappers count (yes, they do exists, and yes, they can flow with the best of them)? To hip hoppers, music is empowerment, a way to fight against the system which forces so many black men into selling drugs and going to prison or killing each other (don't get me started on gangsta rap, which with so much self-hating only makes matters worse). The text and texture of the music is informed by a fight against 400 years of oppression, by a longing for placing ourselves in a context that belongs to us. The best hip hop (in my not at all humble) combines the message of self-originating freedom and peace among all people (but particularly within the black community) with excellent beats and mad rhymes. Not that I'm some sort of authority on any of this. But it is strange, you see, to see that the culture of difference, the reaction to internal and external oppression, is seen as a culture with sublimity. I think it's great. Larissa Parson, A '98 "I feel the rage of a million niggaz locked inside a cage At exactly which point do you start to realize That life without knowledge is, death in disguise? That's why, Knowledge Of Self is like life after death Apply it, to your life, let destiny manifest Different day, same confusion, we're gonna take this hip-hop shit and keep it movin, shed a little light..." -- Talib Kweli/Mos Def (Black Star), "K.O.S. (Determination)