Esailama G. A. Diouf
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042959
- eISBN:
- 9780252051814
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042959.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
Esailama Diouf delves deep into history and genealogy to detail the significant politico-cultural figures, dance artists, institutions, and cultural nationalist positions that allowed for a reclaimed ...
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Esailama Diouf delves deep into history and genealogy to detail the significant politico-cultural figures, dance artists, institutions, and cultural nationalist positions that allowed for a reclaimed connection between African diasporic dance forms and spirit knowing. Dismantling still lingering European and North American notions of Africa and African dance and drumming, which permeate the early history of dance in the Americas, Diouf points to restoring notions of genetic birthrights and culture transmission for African Americans through a renaissance of West African dance and music on the West Coast, specifically in California. Her findings give dancers more awareness and understanding and thereby, the chance to embody their claim to spirit through communal African dance and musicLess
Esailama Diouf delves deep into history and genealogy to detail the significant politico-cultural figures, dance artists, institutions, and cultural nationalist positions that allowed for a reclaimed connection between African diasporic dance forms and spirit knowing. Dismantling still lingering European and North American notions of Africa and African dance and drumming, which permeate the early history of dance in the Americas, Diouf points to restoring notions of genetic birthrights and culture transmission for African Americans through a renaissance of West African dance and music on the West Coast, specifically in California. Her findings give dancers more awareness and understanding and thereby, the chance to embody their claim to spirit through communal African dance and music
Halifu Osumare
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042959
- eISBN:
- 9780252051814
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042959.003.0010
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
Naomi Diouf highlights the inadequacies of the vocabulary many North American and European dance critics use in reviewing African dance works by introducing a set of stylistic descriptors to help ...
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Naomi Diouf highlights the inadequacies of the vocabulary many North American and European dance critics use in reviewing African dance works by introducing a set of stylistic descriptors to help critics and choreographers alike in discussing African dance performances in an intellectually sound manner. Additionally, Diouf explores the philosophical underpinnings of African dance forms, juxtaposing them against those outside of Africa. She then artfully links that philosophical discussion to the physical demands of African dance traditions, describing African movements as demonstrative of daily traditional life. To further address this linkage of philosophy and physicality, Diouf analyzes a choreographed production, JUSAT, which portrays commonly shared community events, such as birth, initiatory rituals, warfare, and death, in an African context.Less
Naomi Diouf highlights the inadequacies of the vocabulary many North American and European dance critics use in reviewing African dance works by introducing a set of stylistic descriptors to help critics and choreographers alike in discussing African dance performances in an intellectually sound manner. Additionally, Diouf explores the philosophical underpinnings of African dance forms, juxtaposing them against those outside of Africa. She then artfully links that philosophical discussion to the physical demands of African dance traditions, describing African movements as demonstrative of daily traditional life. To further address this linkage of philosophy and physicality, Diouf analyzes a choreographed production, JUSAT, which portrays commonly shared community events, such as birth, initiatory rituals, warfare, and death, in an African context.
Frederick Cooper
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161310
- eISBN:
- 9781400850280
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161310.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, African History
This chapter begins by considering Léopold Sédar Senghor's argument that French West Africans should unite in a “primary federation” that would in turn be part of a confederation of equal nations, ...
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This chapter begins by considering Léopold Sédar Senghor's argument that French West Africans should unite in a “primary federation” that would in turn be part of a confederation of equal nations, including European France. Not all in Africa agreed with Senghor, but by 1958, the cry of “African Unity” had become practically ubiquitous. However, African political leaders faced a double problem in reconciling African unity with the realities of post-loi-cadre Africa. The tensions between a political reality in which territory played a large part and an ideal of a strong and united Africa taking its place in the world would frame political debates among African political elites for the next several years.Less
This chapter begins by considering Léopold Sédar Senghor's argument that French West Africans should unite in a “primary federation” that would in turn be part of a confederation of equal nations, including European France. Not all in Africa agreed with Senghor, but by 1958, the cry of “African Unity” had become practically ubiquitous. However, African political leaders faced a double problem in reconciling African unity with the realities of post-loi-cadre Africa. The tensions between a political reality in which territory played a large part and an ideal of a strong and united Africa taking its place in the world would frame political debates among African political elites for the next several years.
Julie B. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042959
- eISBN:
- 9780252051814
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042959.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
From an experiential perspective, Julie B. Johnson charts the five main components of a West African dance class in West Philadelphia as a lens through which to explore the varied understandings of ...
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From an experiential perspective, Julie B. Johnson charts the five main components of a West African dance class in West Philadelphia as a lens through which to explore the varied understandings of community that can emerge through engagement with African dance traditions. Each component – the warm up, the lesson, dancing down the floor, the circle, and the concluding ritual to honor the musicians (Dobale) – outlines a narrative through which students construct shared understandings of community through collective experiences at each phase of the class’s procedural structure. Employing poetry and vignettes, Johnson provides a participatory ethnography of African dance in Philadelphia rooted in scholarship and first-hand experience.Less
From an experiential perspective, Julie B. Johnson charts the five main components of a West African dance class in West Philadelphia as a lens through which to explore the varied understandings of community that can emerge through engagement with African dance traditions. Each component – the warm up, the lesson, dancing down the floor, the circle, and the concluding ritual to honor the musicians (Dobale) – outlines a narrative through which students construct shared understandings of community through collective experiences at each phase of the class’s procedural structure. Employing poetry and vignettes, Johnson provides a participatory ethnography of African dance in Philadelphia rooted in scholarship and first-hand experience.
Paul Christopher Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195150582
- eISBN:
- 9780199834358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195150589.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Presents conceptions of secrecy West Africans brought with them to Brazil: the interpretive separation of superficial appearance from “deep knowledge,” the face presented in public (ori ode) versus ...
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Presents conceptions of secrecy West Africans brought with them to Brazil: the interpretive separation of superficial appearance from “deep knowledge,” the face presented in public (ori ode) versus the inner head (ori inu), the layered nature of knowledge, which is ultimately bottomless, and the secret society of the Ogboni earth cult among the Yoruba. Additionally, the chapter recounts the nineteenth‐century context and motivations for a second historical layer of secrecy generated in response to repressive slave laws and policing, and the construal of Candomblé as illegal sorcery. Candomblé is interpreted as a secret society that was both built upon West African ideals of secrecy and constructed in Brazil as a religion that was seen, but not penetrated, and whose members concealed their affiliations with the orixás. Finally, in a third use of secrecy, the chapter demonstrates how masters with reason to fear it attributed extraordinary powers to exotic Candomblé.Less
Presents conceptions of secrecy West Africans brought with them to Brazil: the interpretive separation of superficial appearance from “deep knowledge,” the face presented in public (ori ode) versus the inner head (ori inu), the layered nature of knowledge, which is ultimately bottomless, and the secret society of the Ogboni earth cult among the Yoruba. Additionally, the chapter recounts the nineteenth‐century context and motivations for a second historical layer of secrecy generated in response to repressive slave laws and policing, and the construal of Candomblé as illegal sorcery. Candomblé is interpreted as a secret society that was both built upon West African ideals of secrecy and constructed in Brazil as a religion that was seen, but not penetrated, and whose members concealed their affiliations with the orixás. Finally, in a third use of secrecy, the chapter demonstrates how masters with reason to fear it attributed extraordinary powers to exotic Candomblé.
Kariamu Welsh
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042959
- eISBN:
- 9780252051814
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042959.003.0006
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
William Serrano-Franklin presents an interview with Assane Konte, the co-founder of a Washington, D.C. dance institution, Kankouran West African Dance Company (KWADC). Accompanied by a series of ...
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William Serrano-Franklin presents an interview with Assane Konte, the co-founder of a Washington, D.C. dance institution, Kankouran West African Dance Company (KWADC). Accompanied by a series of historical photographs, Serrano-Franklin documents Konte’s desire to reintroduce black Americans to West African culture through the medium of dance. Konte’s personal direction and the spirit of Kankouran have guided the development of dynamic community engagement practices with benefits beyond dance as an art form.Less
William Serrano-Franklin presents an interview with Assane Konte, the co-founder of a Washington, D.C. dance institution, Kankouran West African Dance Company (KWADC). Accompanied by a series of historical photographs, Serrano-Franklin documents Konte’s desire to reintroduce black Americans to West African culture through the medium of dance. Konte’s personal direction and the spirit of Kankouran have guided the development of dynamic community engagement practices with benefits beyond dance as an art form.
Marilyn Halter and Violet Showers Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814760581
- eISBN:
- 9780814789254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814760581.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This book chronicles the experiences of first and second generation West African immigrants and refugees in the United States during the last four decades. Drawing on field work and oral histories of ...
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This book chronicles the experiences of first and second generation West African immigrants and refugees in the United States during the last four decades. Drawing on field work and oral histories of West African immigrants aggregated in various locations from West Africa to the West Indies to destinations like metropolitan Atlanta, the book examines how significant segments of black America are forging new meanings and interpretive frameworks for understanding the paradigm of the Atlantic World. More specifically, it explores the transfiguration in the diversity and complexity of the role of the new West African diaspora in the recent history of the black Atlantic. It considers the intricate patterns of adaptation and incorporation among the immigrants and their children, along with the impact of the recent postcolonial and voluntary immigration of West Africans on the changing meanings of “African Americanness.” It also tackles issues of cultural identity formation and socioeconomic incorporation among immigrants and refugees from West Africa, and whether these migrants will become the newest African Americans.Less
This book chronicles the experiences of first and second generation West African immigrants and refugees in the United States during the last four decades. Drawing on field work and oral histories of West African immigrants aggregated in various locations from West Africa to the West Indies to destinations like metropolitan Atlanta, the book examines how significant segments of black America are forging new meanings and interpretive frameworks for understanding the paradigm of the Atlantic World. More specifically, it explores the transfiguration in the diversity and complexity of the role of the new West African diaspora in the recent history of the black Atlantic. It considers the intricate patterns of adaptation and incorporation among the immigrants and their children, along with the impact of the recent postcolonial and voluntary immigration of West Africans on the changing meanings of “African Americanness.” It also tackles issues of cultural identity formation and socioeconomic incorporation among immigrants and refugees from West Africa, and whether these migrants will become the newest African Americans.
Marilyn Halter and Violet Showers Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814760581
- eISBN:
- 9780814789254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814760581.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter examines the trajectory of West African immigrants' experience in the United States by focusing on the complexities of their premigration history. It begins by tracing the precolonial ...
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This chapter examines the trajectory of West African immigrants' experience in the United States by focusing on the complexities of their premigration history. It begins by tracing the precolonial origins of regionalism in West Africa, with particular emphasis on the peoples who lived in the West African region before the colonial era and how they interacted with each other and began to carve the characteristics of the region. It then discusses the most influential developments that shaped and illustrated the interconnectedness of the peoples of West Africa, including the Islamic Revolution or jihads of the nineteenth century. It also considers how the interplay between European imperial nationality and African ethnicity affected the history of West Africa and West Africans, as well as the ways in which the Africans moved toward developing a sense of nationhood and citizenship in relation to ethnicity and postcolonial regionalism. Finally, it explores the impact of intraregional migration on West Africa and West Africans and the migration of West Africans to the United States during the 1960s and 1970s.Less
This chapter examines the trajectory of West African immigrants' experience in the United States by focusing on the complexities of their premigration history. It begins by tracing the precolonial origins of regionalism in West Africa, with particular emphasis on the peoples who lived in the West African region before the colonial era and how they interacted with each other and began to carve the characteristics of the region. It then discusses the most influential developments that shaped and illustrated the interconnectedness of the peoples of West Africa, including the Islamic Revolution or jihads of the nineteenth century. It also considers how the interplay between European imperial nationality and African ethnicity affected the history of West Africa and West Africans, as well as the ways in which the Africans moved toward developing a sense of nationhood and citizenship in relation to ethnicity and postcolonial regionalism. Finally, it explores the impact of intraregional migration on West Africa and West Africans and the migration of West Africans to the United States during the 1960s and 1970s.
Kariamu Welsh, Esailama G.A. Diouf, and Yvonne Daniel (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042959
- eISBN:
- 9780252051814
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042959.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
The popularity and profile of African dance have exploded across the African diaspora in the last fifty years. Hot Feet and Social Change presents traditionalists, neo-traditionalists, and ...
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The popularity and profile of African dance have exploded across the African diaspora in the last fifty years. Hot Feet and Social Change presents traditionalists, neo-traditionalists, and contemporary artists, teachers, and scholars telling some of the thousands of stories lived and learned by people in the field. Concentrating on eight major cities in the United States, the essays explode myths about African dance while demonstrating its power to awaken identity, self-worth, and community respect. These voices of experience share personal accounts of living African traditions, their first encounters with and ultimate embrace of dance, and what teaching African-based dance have meant to them and their communities. Throughout, the editors alert readers to established and ongoing research, and provide links to critical contributions by African and Caribbean dance experts.Contributors: Ausettua Amor Amenkum, Abby Carlozzo, Steven Cornelius, Yvonne Daniel, Charles “Chuck” Davis, Esailama G. A. Diouf, Indira Etwaroo, Habib Iddrisu, Julie B. Johnson, C. Kemal Nance, Halifu Osumare, Amaniyea Payne, William Serrano-Franklin, and Kariamu WelshLess
The popularity and profile of African dance have exploded across the African diaspora in the last fifty years. Hot Feet and Social Change presents traditionalists, neo-traditionalists, and contemporary artists, teachers, and scholars telling some of the thousands of stories lived and learned by people in the field. Concentrating on eight major cities in the United States, the essays explode myths about African dance while demonstrating its power to awaken identity, self-worth, and community respect. These voices of experience share personal accounts of living African traditions, their first encounters with and ultimate embrace of dance, and what teaching African-based dance have meant to them and their communities. Throughout, the editors alert readers to established and ongoing research, and provide links to critical contributions by African and Caribbean dance experts.Contributors: Ausettua Amor Amenkum, Abby Carlozzo, Steven Cornelius, Yvonne Daniel, Charles “Chuck” Davis, Esailama G. A. Diouf, Indira Etwaroo, Habib Iddrisu, Julie B. Johnson, C. Kemal Nance, Halifu Osumare, Amaniyea Payne, William Serrano-Franklin, and Kariamu Welsh
Sarah Stockwell
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208488
- eISBN:
- 9780191678035
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208488.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
In 1957, Ghana gained independence, completing its rapid political progress from a British colony to one of the first African nations to secure its freedom from European rule. For British ...
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In 1957, Ghana gained independence, completing its rapid political progress from a British colony to one of the first African nations to secure its freedom from European rule. For British businessmen, their presence at the celebrations represented a further dimension of public relations policies and other political and business strategies undertaken in response to the development of African nationalism and the transfer of political power in the Gold Coast. As early as 1941, members of the Association of West African Merchants (AWAM) had begun discussing the future role of business associations in promoting company interests, in part prompted by opposition from non-European traders to the prominent wartime role of AWAM. In the gold mining industry, the 1945 strike provoked a conviction at Ashanti Goldfields Corporation that the company needed to be better equipped to cope with an uncertain future. This book has demonstrated the importance of incorporating politics into studies of business during the period of decolonization.Less
In 1957, Ghana gained independence, completing its rapid political progress from a British colony to one of the first African nations to secure its freedom from European rule. For British businessmen, their presence at the celebrations represented a further dimension of public relations policies and other political and business strategies undertaken in response to the development of African nationalism and the transfer of political power in the Gold Coast. As early as 1941, members of the Association of West African Merchants (AWAM) had begun discussing the future role of business associations in promoting company interests, in part prompted by opposition from non-European traders to the prominent wartime role of AWAM. In the gold mining industry, the 1945 strike provoked a conviction at Ashanti Goldfields Corporation that the company needed to be better equipped to cope with an uncertain future. This book has demonstrated the importance of incorporating politics into studies of business during the period of decolonization.
Marilyn Halter and Violet Showers Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814760581
- eISBN:
- 9780814789254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814760581.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter examines the different approaches and outcomes that shape the West African immigrant employment experience in America. In particular, it analyzes the kinds of occupations performed by ...
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This chapter examines the different approaches and outcomes that shape the West African immigrant employment experience in America. In particular, it analyzes the kinds of occupations performed by West African immigrants in the United States, as well as the detours that underlie these patterns of work and socioeconomic mobility among the newcomers. More often than not, the positions the immigrants were trained for and held at home are not available options for them in the United States. The jobs that West Africans find themselves doing in their new settings represent what is termed an “occupational detour.” This chapter considers the aspirations, qualifications, and accomplishments of West Africans and their children for the American labor market. It also discusses the employment detours of West African immigrants as they make their way into a variety of sectors of the U.S. labor force, with particular emphasis on the experiences of nurses and taxi drivers.Less
This chapter examines the different approaches and outcomes that shape the West African immigrant employment experience in America. In particular, it analyzes the kinds of occupations performed by West African immigrants in the United States, as well as the detours that underlie these patterns of work and socioeconomic mobility among the newcomers. More often than not, the positions the immigrants were trained for and held at home are not available options for them in the United States. The jobs that West Africans find themselves doing in their new settings represent what is termed an “occupational detour.” This chapter considers the aspirations, qualifications, and accomplishments of West Africans and their children for the American labor market. It also discusses the employment detours of West African immigrants as they make their way into a variety of sectors of the U.S. labor force, with particular emphasis on the experiences of nurses and taxi drivers.
Marilyn Halter and Violet Showers Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814760581
- eISBN:
- 9780814789254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814760581.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter examines the success of young West African immigrants and refugees as well as the 1.5 and second generations in the United States. It begins with an overview of the “student-immigrant” ...
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This chapter examines the success of young West African immigrants and refugees as well as the 1.5 and second generations in the United States. It begins with an overview of the “student-immigrant” tradition as a key element in the West African narrative of success and goes on to discuss the role of education in the upward mobility and achievement of the adult immigrant generation from West Africa. It then considers the so-called “second generation advantage,” based in part on the newcomers' ability to capitalize on the dexterity of their “in-between” status. It also describes the creative ways that young West Africans blend the different cultural components of their fluid ethnic affiliations especially with regards to music, food, fashion, and festive culture. Finally, it explores how the young newcomers develop social relationships not only with other West Africans but also with members of other minority populations such as those from the Caribbean and Latin America.Less
This chapter examines the success of young West African immigrants and refugees as well as the 1.5 and second generations in the United States. It begins with an overview of the “student-immigrant” tradition as a key element in the West African narrative of success and goes on to discuss the role of education in the upward mobility and achievement of the adult immigrant generation from West Africa. It then considers the so-called “second generation advantage,” based in part on the newcomers' ability to capitalize on the dexterity of their “in-between” status. It also describes the creative ways that young West Africans blend the different cultural components of their fluid ethnic affiliations especially with regards to music, food, fashion, and festive culture. Finally, it explores how the young newcomers develop social relationships not only with other West Africans but also with members of other minority populations such as those from the Caribbean and Latin America.
John Kent
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203025
- eISBN:
- 9780191675669
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203025.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
The new post-war commitment of Colonial Offices in France and Britain to economic development and social welfare emerged alongside a growing African interest in political and constitutional change. ...
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The new post-war commitment of Colonial Offices in France and Britain to economic development and social welfare emerged alongside a growing African interest in political and constitutional change. The politicisation of more sections of West African society was bound to have an impact on colonial policy-makers seeking to redefine their links with the non-self governing territories. In this difficult process, the efforts of the French and British to co-operate in order to influence future developments had, by 1949, become more problematic. There are differences between British and French attitudes to the use of constitutional change to retain control and influence over these interest groups or ‘nationalist’ movements seeking political power or economic advancement. The key issue which revealed these differences was the demands of the Ewes for some form of national self-determination.Less
The new post-war commitment of Colonial Offices in France and Britain to economic development and social welfare emerged alongside a growing African interest in political and constitutional change. The politicisation of more sections of West African society was bound to have an impact on colonial policy-makers seeking to redefine their links with the non-self governing territories. In this difficult process, the efforts of the French and British to co-operate in order to influence future developments had, by 1949, become more problematic. There are differences between British and French attitudes to the use of constitutional change to retain control and influence over these interest groups or ‘nationalist’ movements seeking political power or economic advancement. The key issue which revealed these differences was the demands of the Ewes for some form of national self-determination.
George Worlasi Kwasi Dor
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617039140
- eISBN:
- 9781621039952
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617039140.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
More than twenty universities and twenty other colleges in North America (USA and Canada) offer performance courses on West African ethnic dance drumming. Since its inception in 1964 at both UCLA and ...
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More than twenty universities and twenty other colleges in North America (USA and Canada) offer performance courses on West African ethnic dance drumming. Since its inception in 1964 at both UCLA and Columbia, West African drumming and dance has gradually developed into a vibrant campus subculture in North America. The dances most practiced in the American academy come from the ethnic groups Ewe, Akan, Ga, Dagbamba, Mande, and Wolof, thereby privileging dances mostly from Ghana, Togo, Benin, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso. This strong presence of a world music ensemble in the diaspora has captured and engaged the interest of scholars, musicians, dancers, and audiences. In the first-ever ethnographic study of West African drumming and dance in North American universities the author documents and acknowledges ethnomusicologists, ensemble directors, students, administrators, and academic institutions for their key roles in the histories of their respective ensembles. Dor collates and shares perspectives including debates on pedagogical approaches that may be instructive as models for both current and future ensemble directors and reveals the multiple impacts that participation in an ensemble or class offers students. He also examines the interplay among historically situated structures and systems, discourse, and practice, and explores the multiple meanings that individuals and various groups of people construct from this campus activity. The study will be of value to students, directors, and scholars as an ethnographic study and as a text for teaching relevant courses in African music, African studies, ethnomusicology/world music, African diaspora studies, and other related disciplines.Less
More than twenty universities and twenty other colleges in North America (USA and Canada) offer performance courses on West African ethnic dance drumming. Since its inception in 1964 at both UCLA and Columbia, West African drumming and dance has gradually developed into a vibrant campus subculture in North America. The dances most practiced in the American academy come from the ethnic groups Ewe, Akan, Ga, Dagbamba, Mande, and Wolof, thereby privileging dances mostly from Ghana, Togo, Benin, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso. This strong presence of a world music ensemble in the diaspora has captured and engaged the interest of scholars, musicians, dancers, and audiences. In the first-ever ethnographic study of West African drumming and dance in North American universities the author documents and acknowledges ethnomusicologists, ensemble directors, students, administrators, and academic institutions for their key roles in the histories of their respective ensembles. Dor collates and shares perspectives including debates on pedagogical approaches that may be instructive as models for both current and future ensemble directors and reveals the multiple impacts that participation in an ensemble or class offers students. He also examines the interplay among historically situated structures and systems, discourse, and practice, and explores the multiple meanings that individuals and various groups of people construct from this campus activity. The study will be of value to students, directors, and scholars as an ethnographic study and as a text for teaching relevant courses in African music, African studies, ethnomusicology/world music, African diaspora studies, and other related disciplines.
Katrina Dyonne Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038259
- eISBN:
- 9780252096112
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038259.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, Performing Practice/Studies
This chapter examines seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European and American travel journals to reveal the manner in which they portrayed West Africans in order to create the moral and social ...
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This chapter examines seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European and American travel journals to reveal the manner in which they portrayed West Africans in order to create the moral and social justifications for slavery and racial stereotypes. It argues that European travelers often ignored the ritualistic purpose of West African music and dance and instead reduced West Africans to servants, prostitutes, and entertainers. These societal positions were developed on the premise of European hegemony and aimed to create an African commodity. Throughout West Africa, music, song, and dance were important cultural expressions. However, from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, European and American travelers distorted these expressions in order to project and fulfill their own desires. This chapter shows how travel narratives presented the identity of West Africans as malleable and capable of being shaped according to the desired purpose of the gazer. Through their creation of the innate dancers and singers, it contends that travel journals contributed to the subjugation and reconfiguration of the black body through its neglect of the actual culture and tradition of the performing arts.Less
This chapter examines seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European and American travel journals to reveal the manner in which they portrayed West Africans in order to create the moral and social justifications for slavery and racial stereotypes. It argues that European travelers often ignored the ritualistic purpose of West African music and dance and instead reduced West Africans to servants, prostitutes, and entertainers. These societal positions were developed on the premise of European hegemony and aimed to create an African commodity. Throughout West Africa, music, song, and dance were important cultural expressions. However, from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, European and American travelers distorted these expressions in order to project and fulfill their own desires. This chapter shows how travel narratives presented the identity of West Africans as malleable and capable of being shaped according to the desired purpose of the gazer. Through their creation of the innate dancers and singers, it contends that travel journals contributed to the subjugation and reconfiguration of the black body through its neglect of the actual culture and tradition of the performing arts.
Marilyn Halter and Violet Showers Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814760581
- eISBN:
- 9780814789254
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814760581.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This book tells the story of the much overlooked experience of first and second generation West African immigrants and refugees in the United States during the last forty years. Interrogating the ...
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This book tells the story of the much overlooked experience of first and second generation West African immigrants and refugees in the United States during the last forty years. Interrogating the complex role of post-colonialism in the recent history of black America, the book highlights the intricate patterns of emigrant work and family adaptation, the evolving global ties with Africa and Europe, and the translocal connections among the West African enclaves in the United States. The book explores issues of cultural identity formation and socioeconomic incorporation among this new West African diaspora. Bringing the experiences of those of recent African ancestry from the periphery to the center of current debates in the fields of immigration, ethnic, and African American studies, the book examines the impact this community has had on the changing meaning of “African Americanness” and addresses the provocative question of whether West African immigrants are becoming the newest African Americans.Less
This book tells the story of the much overlooked experience of first and second generation West African immigrants and refugees in the United States during the last forty years. Interrogating the complex role of post-colonialism in the recent history of black America, the book highlights the intricate patterns of emigrant work and family adaptation, the evolving global ties with Africa and Europe, and the translocal connections among the West African enclaves in the United States. The book explores issues of cultural identity formation and socioeconomic incorporation among this new West African diaspora. Bringing the experiences of those of recent African ancestry from the periphery to the center of current debates in the fields of immigration, ethnic, and African American studies, the book examines the impact this community has had on the changing meaning of “African Americanness” and addresses the provocative question of whether West African immigrants are becoming the newest African Americans.
Marilyn Halter and Violet Showers Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814760581
- eISBN:
- 9780814789254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814760581.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter examines the contentious relationship between West African immigrants and African Americans. West Africans, like other black immigrants, have adapted and assimilated in three main ...
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This chapter examines the contentious relationship between West African immigrants and African Americans. West Africans, like other black immigrants, have adapted and assimilated in three main domains: within the reconfigured African ethnicities, within the milieu of African Americans, and within mainstream America. The newcomers have benefited from the dividends of the civil rights movement since the post-1965 wave came to America. The complicated face of race in the United States nonetheless has been lost on many of the West African diaspora, who instead see only a postracial America. This chapter first considers the divide between West African and African American Islam and goes on to discuss the killing of Amadou Diallo as the turning point in the public's awareness of a growing West African presence in America. It then explores racial politics and alliances between black immigrants and African Americans and concludes with an assessment of how West African immigrants' increasing interactions with the native-born continuously redefine the meanings of African American race and culture.Less
This chapter examines the contentious relationship between West African immigrants and African Americans. West Africans, like other black immigrants, have adapted and assimilated in three main domains: within the reconfigured African ethnicities, within the milieu of African Americans, and within mainstream America. The newcomers have benefited from the dividends of the civil rights movement since the post-1965 wave came to America. The complicated face of race in the United States nonetheless has been lost on many of the West African diaspora, who instead see only a postracial America. This chapter first considers the divide between West African and African American Islam and goes on to discuss the killing of Amadou Diallo as the turning point in the public's awareness of a growing West African presence in America. It then explores racial politics and alliances between black immigrants and African Americans and concludes with an assessment of how West African immigrants' increasing interactions with the native-born continuously redefine the meanings of African American race and culture.
Michael K. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617039287
- eISBN:
- 9781626740013
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617039287.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Hoo-Doo Cowboys and Bronze Buckaroos undertakes an interdisciplinary exploration of the African American West through close readings of select texts from a variety of media. This approach allows for ...
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Hoo-Doo Cowboys and Bronze Buckaroos undertakes an interdisciplinary exploration of the African American West through close readings of select texts from a variety of media. This approach allows for both an in-depth analysis of individual texts and a discussion of material often left out or under-represented in studies focused only on traditional literary material: heretofore unexamined writing by Rose Gordon, who wrote for local western publications rather than for a national audience; memoirs and letters of musicians, performers, and singers (such as W. C. Handy) who lived in or wrote about touring the American West; Percival Everett’s fiction addressing contemporary black western experience; the novels and films of Oscar Micheaux; black-cast westerns starring Herb Jeffries; largely unappreciated and unexamined episodes from the “golden age of western television” that feature African American actors; film and television westerns that use science fiction settings to imagine a “post-racial” or “post-soul” frontier. Despite recent interest in the history of the African American West, we know very little about how the African American past in the West has been depicted in a full range of imaginative forms. Hoo-Doo Cowboys and Bronze Buckaroos takes us another step further in the journey of discovering how the African American West has been experienced, imagined, and performed.Less
Hoo-Doo Cowboys and Bronze Buckaroos undertakes an interdisciplinary exploration of the African American West through close readings of select texts from a variety of media. This approach allows for both an in-depth analysis of individual texts and a discussion of material often left out or under-represented in studies focused only on traditional literary material: heretofore unexamined writing by Rose Gordon, who wrote for local western publications rather than for a national audience; memoirs and letters of musicians, performers, and singers (such as W. C. Handy) who lived in or wrote about touring the American West; Percival Everett’s fiction addressing contemporary black western experience; the novels and films of Oscar Micheaux; black-cast westerns starring Herb Jeffries; largely unappreciated and unexamined episodes from the “golden age of western television” that feature African American actors; film and television westerns that use science fiction settings to imagine a “post-racial” or “post-soul” frontier. Despite recent interest in the history of the African American West, we know very little about how the African American past in the West has been depicted in a full range of imaginative forms. Hoo-Doo Cowboys and Bronze Buckaroos takes us another step further in the journey of discovering how the African American West has been experienced, imagined, and performed.
Marilyn Halter and Violet Showers Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814760581
- eISBN:
- 9780814789254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814760581.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter examines how transnationalism emerged as a vital component of West African immigrants' everyday life in the United States. More specifically, it considers how West Africans ...
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This chapter examines how transnationalism emerged as a vital component of West African immigrants' everyday life in the United States. More specifically, it considers how West Africans systematically maintained homeland ties and transoceanic connections. It first discusses the different patterns of West African transnationalism, such as sustaining solid bonds between America and their African homelands through visits for vacations, weddings, burials, and the temporary relocation of American-born children. It then explores how the immigrants strive for “comfortable homes” in the United States while sustaining and enhancing ties across nationalities, ethnicities, continents, and American states and cities. It also describes the virtual and actual boundary crossings that reflect connections beyond a singular link between homeland and host societies. Finally, it explains how transnational networks enabled the newcomers, through their homes of origin and other locations of the West African diaspora, to shape their American experiences.Less
This chapter examines how transnationalism emerged as a vital component of West African immigrants' everyday life in the United States. More specifically, it considers how West Africans systematically maintained homeland ties and transoceanic connections. It first discusses the different patterns of West African transnationalism, such as sustaining solid bonds between America and their African homelands through visits for vacations, weddings, burials, and the temporary relocation of American-born children. It then explores how the immigrants strive for “comfortable homes” in the United States while sustaining and enhancing ties across nationalities, ethnicities, continents, and American states and cities. It also describes the virtual and actual boundary crossings that reflect connections beyond a singular link between homeland and host societies. Finally, it explains how transnational networks enabled the newcomers, through their homes of origin and other locations of the West African diaspora, to shape their American experiences.
John Belchem
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781846319679
- eISBN:
- 9781781387153
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781846319679.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The ‘peaceful invasion’ of refugees and allies during the Second World War included significant numbers of ‘coloured’ colonials responding to the needs of the merchant marine, munitions factories and ...
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The ‘peaceful invasion’ of refugees and allies during the Second World War included significant numbers of ‘coloured’ colonials responding to the needs of the merchant marine, munitions factories and armed services. It became apparent that war-time accommodation, hospitality and recreation for the new ‘coloured’ arrivals, primarily from the West Indies, could not be provided in discrete self-contained manner. Account had also to be taken of the long-term disadvantage and discrimination endured by the resident ‘coloured’ population, mainly West African. The League of Coloured Peoples and the recently formed Colonial Office Welfare Department both established a presence in Liverpool (where tensions were heightened by the arrival of black US troops) and extended their respective remits to consider the needs of long-term residents. The priority for both agencies remained colonial development, a project not to be hindered by adverse experience of the ‘colour bar’ for those in Liverpool, whether temporarily or permanently.Less
The ‘peaceful invasion’ of refugees and allies during the Second World War included significant numbers of ‘coloured’ colonials responding to the needs of the merchant marine, munitions factories and armed services. It became apparent that war-time accommodation, hospitality and recreation for the new ‘coloured’ arrivals, primarily from the West Indies, could not be provided in discrete self-contained manner. Account had also to be taken of the long-term disadvantage and discrimination endured by the resident ‘coloured’ population, mainly West African. The League of Coloured Peoples and the recently formed Colonial Office Welfare Department both established a presence in Liverpool (where tensions were heightened by the arrival of black US troops) and extended their respective remits to consider the needs of long-term residents. The priority for both agencies remained colonial development, a project not to be hindered by adverse experience of the ‘colour bar’ for those in Liverpool, whether temporarily or permanently.
