Bebo Valdes at the Intersection of Cuba and Haiti

Unearthed a gem of Haitian-inspired Cuban music by the legendary pianist and bandleader, Bebo Valdes. He spent some time in Haiti and recorded a Haitian meringue I blogged about in the past but also recorded this "Hot in Haiti" which sounds so much like 1950s and early 1960s Haitian kompa. Valdes spent some time in Haiti in the 1940s and clearly never quite forgot the intricacies of the Haitian meringue and the particularly repetitive, percussive brass essential to the music. Nevertheless, Valdes retains a uniquely Cuban solo voice for the band's horns, US jazz influences, and a little percussion solo. 

Check out "Merengue A La Moore." which is similar to "Hot in Haiti" for illustrating how adept Valdes was in fusing his knowledge of Haitian music with his Cuban base. Indeed, this music is fascinating for showing how musical influences flowed, surprisinglyh, from Haiti to Cuba in the 1950s despite the overwhelming influence of Cuban music in Haiti and the rest of the Caribbean and Africa during this period. In the spirit of encouraging further pan-Caribbean musical collaborations, enjoy a stirring tribute to a key figure in the development of Haitian music during La Belle Epoque, Issa El Saieh! Rest in peace, Valdes and Saieh. 

Danzas from Haiti and Puerto Rico

Came across this wonderful video featuring some danzas by Ludovic Lamothe. My favorite is "Danza No. 4 in A minor" and the first piece. It is so magical to hear more black classical composers' music from Haiti online, particularly the "Black Chopin" Lamothe! There are hints of the Caribbean in the music, but it's not as self-evident as Lamothe's other work. Regardless, it recalls the stately danza of Puerto Rico at times, particularly compositions by Juan Morel Campos, an Afro-Boricua who wrote gems such as "Mi perla," "Consuelo," and "Maldito Amor." Of course, any similarities in the danza of Puerto Rico and Haitian mereng and other genres can probably be traced to Cuban influences in the second half of the 19th century, as well as an obvious shared Afro-Caribbean past and musical legacy. Before you leave, check out "Margarita," too, one of the most beautiful danzas of Puerto Rico and composed by a 'father' of the genre in the 19th century (this is a great version and so is this one as well as this one featuring Julita Ross). 

Experiencing Blackness in South Africa: A Black American Perspective

One of the strangest things for me about being in South Africa was that my blackness was often not seen, or perhaps being from a wealthy country made it less conspicuous. Indeed, coming from a powerful, comparatively rich and imperialist society probably made me resemble the white Europeans passing through Cape Town much more than I care to admit. Perhaps a certain degree of 'racial ambiguity' contributed to the pattern, too. In fact, that very same 'ambiguity' works in the US among African-Americans I work with and serve at my low-wage job. They're always asking what nationality or race are you, too! But back to South Africa, one gay or bisexual European living next door and dating a black South Africa thought I was Israeli! His second and third guess were Pakistani and Indian. Even Brazilian! A black South African friend of mine from Mpumalanga was not quite sure what I was and somewhat surprised when he initially heard me refer to myself as African-American. 

Others thought I was of Indian descent (such as the black middle-class South African with an adorable baby living in Soweto, who basically said I looked like the Indian nerd from The Big Bang Theory) or Coloured, including my Haitian-American friend or the immature Coloured fool of a man I stayed with in Johannesburg for a few days telling me that I could be his brother multiple times. Others thought I was African, such as two drunken white students from Wits University in Jo'burg, although some could not quite tell. In short, if I did not open my mouth, I could blend in quite easily, such as the time a Coloured man on Main Road in Cape Town asked me for directions in Afrikaans. 

However, my 'blackness' was never quite forgotten by others, including the racist and just generally disgusting white landlord, a vain and ignorant woman who actually called herself an anti-apartheid activist! The woman has an underpaid black woman fluent in multiple languages as a domestic at her properties (and that of her daughter!) and she spoke to the woman in the most condescending and disgusting ways by keeping tabs on her, telling my housemates and neighbors that the cleaning lady could not speak English well and treating her and her husband as if they were dumb slaves. I assume that my being from the US probably made her less racist towards me, because I am one of the 'civilized' blacks from a wealthy country, but the landlord once awkwardly told me she recognized me sitting on the couch from a long distance because my visible foot hanging over the side was brown. 

Needless to say, it was a very awkward moment, though not as horrible as the many times the woman invaded the privacy of the house, mistreated her cleaning lady in our presence, and was just generally dishonest and condescending. Like most older, liberal white South Africans who grew up under apartheid, she presumably has some amount of white guilt and shame, but her racism and disregard for the humanity of the black South Africans working for her was callous and quite revealing of her pseudo-liberal character. If there's any hope for South Africa, it will be in people like her dying off and being replaced by genuinely anti-racist, anti-classist individuals working against the legacies of apartheid and decades of racial subordination. 

Besides her, some racist and classist Europeans were always around, such as one European who warned me to not 'pick up nasty African habits' like littering (as if only Africans litter!) or hearing people say racist jokes about blacks being incapable of running restaurants well (as well as a plethora of other offensive, racist, and white settler fantasy myths). Some US whites were, unsurprisingly, quite ignorant and racist, too. But these white folks were not South Africans. The racist white ones who were most visibly disturbed and displayed hate and disdain in their eyes were older Afrikaners, such as the ones on the train I took to and from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Some of those old crackers were looking at me as if I was the worst thing to happen to them and about to rape their wives, sisters, and daughters! But fortunately, such disgusting encounters were few and there were some very nice Afrikaners, such as one guy from the Eastern Cape (East London, perhaps, I can't remember) who I sat next to on a flight from Johannesburg to Germany. 

Now, it seemed to me like nearly every racial and/or ethnic group in South Africa, much like groups in the US, relied on stereotypes and vast generalizations to describe others, such as the otherwise amazing and beautiful, educated black couple who showed us around parts of Soweto and Jo'burg. They claimed Coloureds are essentially alcoholics (well, not quite, but they certainly left the impression that they believe Coloureds drink substantively more and were quite violent in their 'areas' of Johannesburg and Gauteng. Yet, at the same time, I witnessed positive interactions at the University of Cape Town (though it is majority white and still very segregated) and among some of the poor and working-class blacks and Coloureds in the streets of Cape Town. In addition, the very same aforementioned middle-class Black South African who thought I was Indian was about to marry a Zulu-Indian woman!

So, what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to generalize negatively and therefore stereotype South Africans on their own views. For instance, people talk much of xenophobia and violence against African immigrants, such as Somali shopkeepers and others in predominantly black neighborhoods and townships. There is certainly a degree of truth to that, but, from what I saw in Cape Town, the Somali shopkeepers who ran numerous cornerstores in Mowbray (the neighborhood I stayed in, which was probably going through a streak of high crime for quite a while until maybe a few years before I resided in the neighborhood) were mostly treated respectfully and engaged in cordial and friendly relationships with their clientele.

My experience with Indians (most multi-generational South Africans, and one fascinating postgraduate student directly from India who told me he prefers Cape Town because the streets are not so densely packed as overcrowded Indian cities), blacks (native South Africans and black immigrants), and Coloureds were mostly positive (although a homeless Coloured man of partial Chinese ancestry had no problem sharing with me his hatred of kaffirs for ruining South Africa and causing an exodus of whites to Australia, New Zealand and other shores). Of course, he had no problem taking money from black South Africans who bought him food or gave him some rands! But I am not sure he knew or thought of me as black, because of my allegedly "Indian" or "Coloured" looks and my American accent. Indeed, as in the apartheid era, blacks from the US could become 'honorary whites' (white reception of The Cosby Show in the apartheid years reveals a certain pattern). Historically, black immigrants, such as West Indians in late 19th century Cape Town, could also merge into the Coloured 'race.'

One strange encounter I shall never forget was meeting an uncouth, uneducated but well-intentioned Colored man married to the cleaning lady at a house on my block. They're both nice people (and the wife thought I was Muslim or Indian when she first met me, too!), but when dining with them over a decent home-cooked meal of curry with roti (the cleaning lady is a Coloured woman who lived in Cape Town all her life, with brown skin and would probably be considered 'black' or "Latino' in the US racial order), her husband called me a 'nigger' multiple times. He thought African-Americans always refer to each other as nigger (again, the pervasive and negative influence of white-dominated media caricatures of blackness in the US has transcended national borders and seas for a long time). Despite me telling him otherwise, he did not seem to understand (and was probably drunk). I noticed that a lot in South Africa, the spread of African-American culture and stereotypes of blackness globally. From hearing a South African friend call me "ninja" and speak of how back in the day people used to call each other that as a play on 'nigga' was certainly an experience.

Based on my conversations with folks, it would seem most did not have a deep or significant understanding of the history of African-Americans. One young woman who grew up both in the Greater Johannesburg area and Gabon (her mother worked there for years) was educated, fluent in Spanish, and knew quite a bit about Haiti and the US, and certainly Pan-Africanist ideas and the popularity of hip-hop, R&B, jazz, and reggae (as well as large African immigrant communities in South Africa) certainly demonstrates some transnational links in blackness. Some educated South Africans with more radical affiliations remained dedicated to Pan-Africanism and understood the links between blacks in the US and their own lot in South Africa, such as an old, Coloured tour guide at the District Six Museum in Cape Town. Indeed, he was quite vocal about his ancestor's enslavement in colonial Cape Society and, when discussing slavery in the Americas, asked if I was a descendant of slaves, too. Sure, it was a strange question, and the man seemed to enjoy making the whites in the group feel uncomfortable emphasizing slavery (which I thought hilarious), but he was actually tying his own people's history in South Africa to a broader 'black' history of struggle, speaking very highly of Pan-Africanist ideals in ways that shattered stereotypes of Coloured people's alleged animosity towards blacks.

 Indeed, the whole history of slavery, colonialism, and racial apartheid is definitely something folks know about, but beyond the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, and Barack Obama and some well-known icons and symbols of black popular culture in the US (Rihanna, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and their ilk), there was something missing. But then again, how much do blacks in the US know about South Africa beyond Nelson Mandela, the history of apartheid, and perhaps Miriam Makeba? Perhaps I am too critical of the influence of US culture in South Africa, too. Corporate media unquestionably contributes to the proliferation of stereotypes and flawed representations of Black America, but there is something interesting for academics about the homogeneity of popular culture among youths, which is probably over-exaggerated anyway (despite meeting young, middle-class black students from Johannesburg and 'clubbing' with them one night while hearing all about their love for the US, particularly California and New York).

As for the experience of other Black Americans I met in South Africa, it's quite hard for me to say. After all, I am not a spokesman for my race, haha! There were quite a few Black American students of Ethiopian and Eritrean descent, a handful of Afro-Latinos, a few African-Americans, and some other ones, but they either largely stuck with white American and European social circles (again, coming from wealthy Western countries can do that to you). Two African-Americans whose company I really enjoyed made friends with lcoals, including a brotha from Botswana but of Somali roots and other folks. They were good company, enjoyed jazz, and provided positive space for 'debriefing.' I got the vibe that one of them was one of those guys who has 'dear white friends' but aint interested in putting up with BS from people and largely socialized with black folks or spent time alone. Who knows, perhaps if more African-American students were able to participate in and afford study abroad programs, all of our experiences would have been drastically different and Black American students could have some forum or something to discuss these issues with South Africans.

Overall, I would say my 'blackness' was largely rendered secondary to my status as American, at least to those who could tell I was from the US or knew me well enough. But I certainly had some 'interesting' experiences with people from all over in South Africa, some of which was unbearably annoying or uncomfortable to witness. One of the many times I felt out of place was actually when going to upscale and bourgie restaurants and nightlife areas of Cape Town, because, besides the handful of blacks also sitting at tables or getting down with the sea of whiteness in the clubs, all the other blacks were servers or in menial positions. Oh, the joys of being black in South Africa! It's quite the experience, but I enjoy reading about other's experiences as "Black in Japan," for instance, or "African in China."

I apologize for the length of this post. Hope it's readable!

That Time I Went to Mzoli's

One of my better dining experiences in South Africa was visiting Mzoli's with a group consisting of a Ugandan postgraduate student, a South African graduate student, a Jamaican-American woman working in Ethiopia who flew down to Cape Town to see her old friend, my Haitian-American friend, and a South African postgraduate student and member of South Africa's black middle class from Johannesburg or thereabout (if I remember correctly, her father was a diplomat and the young woman had spent a lot of time in other African countries and is multi-lingual). I felt sorry for the young woman traveling from Ethiopia, she does not eat meat (Mzoli's is best known for its delicious and succulent braai, which is similar to barbecues in the United States or asados in Argentina) and she was exhausted after her long flight (from Addis to Dubai and then South Africa) yet she had no time to rest because we all squeezed into the same cab she took from the airport in Cape Town to get to Mzoli's in Gugulethu, a township.

Now, the only township near Cape Town I really ever spent a significant amount of time in was Athlone, which is a predominantly Coloured and decent place with lots of working-class and some middle-class households. Though it was not nearly as nice as the wealthier areas of Soweto, Athlone looked like some of the neighborhoods inside the city proper of Cape Town. As for Gugulethu, I unfortunately barely saw it, just taking the taxi to Mzoli's and back. I would have loved to spend some time there, but since I didn't have local connections there and transportation ain't easy (and fears of crime and how gangsters have taken control of the minibus public transportation system, apparently engaging in shootouts on the freeway connecting the Cape Flats to Cape Town, if one can believe my former professor at the University of Cape Town), I spent very little time in the Cape Flats (probably for the best, despite looking like someone who could be South African, I probably stood out because of the way I dress and walk).

Moving on, we got out of the cab in a very busy, dusty road full of traffic and pedestrians, including residents of Gugulethu and other townships peddling junk to wealthy and privileged students from the University of Cape Town and tourists. I am not sure how the community of Gugulethu feels about Mzoli's, but it certainly brings a lot of people into Gugulethu (though most of those folks probably only go to Mzoli's and spend there money there, occasionally buying tourist trap goods and other things from the persistent and sometimes annoying misogynistic men selling junk). Many white faces can be seen at Mzoli's, surely a rarity in most of the Cape Flats. Most of the folks I saw at the braai joint appeared young, too, no surprise given the blaring music they played (which was house and electronic, European-influenced garbage I mostly dislike. They did play that one song popular when I was in South Africa, something named after Orlando in Soweto, which was not hilarious and had the South African woman in our group dancing like a fool (which was what most people were doing while waiting for their food at tables under a protected area that essentially was a club and seating area.

Folks could bring in their own alcohol and go crazy, so I saw hordes of mostly educated and privileged young people and students from the University of Cape Town dancing, grinding on each other, consuming copious amounts of alcohol (the group I was in brought alcohol, too, but I am not into much of youth culture or drinking culture, so I just ate my delicious braai and observed while speaking to the young woman from Brooklyn and South Florida about her experience in Ethiopia. Long story short, she, despite her family's (as well as Jamaica's) penchant for Ethiopianism, she had horror stories about colorism in Ethiopia and how the Amhara and northern Ethiopians marginalize non-Amhara and darker-skinned peoples of Ethiopia. Moreover, she was afraid for her teeth's health, since people in Ethiopia drink a lot of coffee. Since she works in a small Ethiopian village, she does not spend too much time in Addis Ababa, where she said you always have to watch your back fro pickpockets and the chaotic street layout). It was a little sad to hear how unhappy and disappointed she was by so much of her experience in Ethiopia, but she was very interesting and enjoyed The Boondocks and The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, just like me!

After waiting for about 20 or 30 minutes for our braai (how it works is you wait in a usually crowded line, pick your choice of meat at the butchery (and if you like sides, such as delicious pap), take it to another line where you can pay someone to cook the meat for you (and if you pay a little extra, the cooks will accept your bribe and get your food out faster, which is what we did), and then you just eat, dance, drink, etc. I found myself engorging on boerewors, these nasty-looking beef sausages that were so succulent, well marinated, and outright addictive! The delicious other braai meats, all beef, were so juicy, well-spiced, and not dry or fake, processed meat like so much of what we consume in the US. I must say, eating meat like that in South Africa removed any silly notions of vegetarianism to me. Eating braai from a street grill in Johannesburg was also heavenly, particularly when combined with the peri-peri spice to keep it funky. Despite being a tourist thing for wealthy and middle-class South Africans, UCT students, and tourists to be somewhere 'cool' in the midst of severe poverty and inequality, Mzoli's is worth it.

We were probably there for about two hours, maybe a little more, or a little less. My Ugandan friend probably drink a little too much and also seemed obsessed with a chunky, unattractive German woman who was sitting at our table. I think his friend was in her group, as well as a beautiful Brazilian woman. They all seemed like nice people, but I spent most of my time discussing Ethiopia with my Haitian sister's Jamaican-American friend. And talking more to the bubbly South African woman, about her experiences in South Africa, her interest in gender studies and sexual violence in South Africa, her time in other African countries, and her own Tswana background (I hate admitting it, but I was probably trying to impress her with what I knew of precolonial southern Africa and current South African events).

After finishing our feasting, we called the taxi driver, and, because my Ugandan brother probably had too much to drink, he acted a fool in the car and made things a little awkward. He's a great guy, but despite being almost 30, he remains a child at heart. We dropped folks off and parted ways, with me thinking this was, for the most part, my best dining experience in South Africa. I will have to write a post about the Addis in Cape Ethiopian restaurant for my next post. Dining with an interesting and diverse group of people of Caribbean-American and African roots was far more stimulating than my other dining experiences with Europeans.

Lalo Alcaraz, La Cucaracha, and Politics

Because my precious Boondocks has been out of the papers for years and the TV show lacks the current news satire that I so desperately need, I turn to Lalo Alcaraz semi-regularly. What initially drew me to him was the Mexican-American artist's Beandocks series, an Afro-Latino version of The Boondocks with Huey and Caesar discussing politics and current events. Sure, it's not really funny compared to Aaron McGruder's Boondocks, but it's something! Unfortunately, we can't wake up every morning and read the rantings of an angry black kid in the newspapers like we used to, but this ain't the worst.

Anywho, upon discovering Alcaraz's homage to The Boondocks, I began reading La Cucaracha online at gocomics.com. From what I can tell, the series relies too heavily on it being 'new' and accessible to the growing Latino population in the United States. Indeed, with a name like cucaracha and mostly Latino (Mexicans, to be precise), the series often features some rather lame or generic 'ethnic humor' or repetitive references to anti-Mexican, anti-immigrant, and racist comments from Republicans. Unlike Aaron McGruder, Alcaraz is seemingly incapable of poking fun at the insanity of the two-party system of two parties with remarkably more in common than one would think. 

Though I still enjoy some of his work, Alcaraz must move beyond simply criticizing Republicans (it's not like Republicans are the only ones who hate brown people in America, wake up!). Ultimately, without a deeper analysis of the structural issues plaguing US society, Alcaraz can be seen as a run of the mill liberal Latino invested in the Democratic system. Yes, you can and should mock and deride and call out Republicans, but without doing the same for Obama and the Dems, La Cucaracha becomes explicitly pro-Democrat. It's like watching MSNBC, they spend so much time criticizing the Republicans without any real substantive critiques of Obama, thus falling into the trap of the two-party system.

Moreover, if Alcaraz watches the television version of Huey Freeman, he would know Huey was rightfully skeptical of any change in the US racial order occurring because of Obama's election. I wish his Beandocks characters could shift to a more radical political orientation and eschew some of the preconceived notions of US politics of today. You know, think outside the box and look to 'radical' alternatives to the status quo. Even if part of the reason we laughed while reading about the black nationalist and socialist views of Huey (or his conspiracy theories, such as an anti-Santa concoction linking him to the War on Drugs, spying, and alien technology), at least McGruder provided some radical perspective in mainstream newspapers that, such as in the 2000 election, led to Huey endorsing Ralph Nader, or, in other cases, criticizing the Democrats for running weak candidates in 2000 and 2004 (as well as generally lacking spines and pursuing similar policies as right-wingers).

In case we forget, Huey also quite ostensibly advocated for socialist and black nationalist perspectives on racial inequality, the media, capitalism, protecting the environment, and education. Alacaraz, on the other hand, offers simpler satire on issues such as the emphasis on testing and other 'education reform' initiatives that hinder learning for Latino schoolchildren. Huey is by far a more interesting, progressive, and captivating voice in the history of American newspaper strips than anything in the oeuvre of Alcaraz. However, Alcaraz does do something innovative with such an open and out pro-Latino, Mexican-centered comic that is not afraid to call out racism and xenophobia. It's refreshing to see that necessary voice in the comics so Latinos, now the largest 'minority,' are not silenced in the black-white racial dichotomy folks like myself tend to focus on. If only the series featured some characters who were not Mexican-Americans to illustrate the diversity of the 'Latino' experience in the US. I suppose one could say that the Afro-Latino Beandocks kinda does that, right?

Alcaraz, to his credit, demonstrates how race is much bigger than blacks or whites in the US, and clearly reveals his allegiance to a sometimes poorly conceived notion of a broad people of color alliance that is generally tied to Democrats, liberals, and the left. Of course, such a belief ignores the plethora of evidence of conservative-leaning Latinos, such as Cuban-Americans or many 'white Latinos' (Latino is really a 'race' if you read US Census data), but the naive idealism can be comforting and unity among people of color is generally a goal I admire. We face similar struggles, might as well come together if we can to promote our mutual interests, at least to the degree cross-racial collaboration can be fruitful. Certainly the question of Afro-Latinos is of special pertinence to African-Americans and other folks of African descent, and could perhaps be one of many bridges to foster solidarity between Latinos and blacks.

All things considered, I will continue to read Alcaraz semi-regularly. His liberal presence with a Latino emphasis contributes to the diversity of political opinions in the media (even if it's not quite as revolutionary as I would like) as well as the significance of  Every once in a while he will make you laugh, as in the above strip during the recent government shutdown. The Republicans, Tea Party supporters, and many folks in general don't know a thing about the Affordable Care Act, but if you label it Obamacare, it becomes this evil act of socialism or slavery. I don't care for Obama or the black misleadership class, but it's hard not to laugh at the absurdity of the right and the white backlash against the First Black Prez. 

One of My Worst Dining Experiences: The Africa Cafe in Cape Town

One of my worst restaurant experiences was undoubtedly at The Africa Cafe in Cape Town, South Africa. I only went because my mostly European housemates and neighbors planned it, and had I known better (or perhaps possessed more commonsense), I would have chosen to not go. Moving on, the restaurant itself featured various dishes from different regions of Africa, including some decent Ethiopian food and a delicious mango chicken dish from Tanzania. In addition to various dishes from each corner of the African continent, I had the misfortune of witnessing the underpaid waiters being forced to 'sing African songs' and dance for the overwhelmingly white clientele. 

It was offensive. No explanations about what language the 'African music' was sung in or specific cultural/ethnic origins for the stereotypical monolithic 'African culture' put on display, such as "African face paint" the servers offered to  do for customers. Of course, a restaurant like The Africa Cafe is meant to appeal to ignorant tourists who likely know very little about Africa (beyond media generalizations), but it was just horrendous. Again, the food was good (super expensive, but endless rounds, though lacking in vegetarian options for some of my party), but the problem of a presentation of a monolithic Africa was disgusting. It would be akin to going to a Europe Cafe in Paris, Berlin, or Rome featuring Bavarian dancing, Portuguese folk music, and Italian opera all thrown together with dishes ranging from ratatouille to borscht. The fact that such resturants don't exist in Europe reveals the persistence of stereotypical and ill-informed narratives of the African continent and its vast diversity, history, cultures.

In addition to my discomfort surrounding the above, a tragic mulatta Dominican-American young woman felt the need to point out my blackness (even though herself, her mother and other siblings, based on photos, all look black or mixed) since, besides the restaurant staff, I was the darkest person in the restaurant. To be more specific, she asked, "Why are you so black?" (Apparently the African sun had darkened my skin a few shades, too, so that likely contributed to her anti-black stance and discomfort. Perhaps I reminded her too much of her mother's African heritage and she couldn't stand to be reminded of it in the presence of white Europeans?) At first I misheard her, but the tragic mulatta repeated herself and what proceeded was certainly one of the strangest restaurant experiences.

 I was initially shocked, and, in retrospect, should have left immediately, but perhaps moved by pity for the tragic mulattoes I have encountered nearly everywhere, I somehow did not tell her off. It's such a pity, too, the young woman's mother is clearly of Afro-Dominican descent and if you saw her walking down the street in the US, one would probably assume she was African-American. And on other occasions she would play up her 'minority card' and "Latino" identity by asserting a connection to a large East Coast city even though she's from a comfortable suburban background. It was clear she struggles with her identity and, depending on the time and place, would cling to stereotypical notions of Dominican and people of color identities while distancing herself from blackness and its disadvantages. Indeed, much like white folks emulating what they see as black youth culture, she wants the 'coolness' of blackness without any of the burden and difficulties because of racism.

But hey, defensive othering is key to so much of Dominican othering of Haiti and Haitians. In order to put on airs and presumably make herself fit in well with our white European dining partners, she had to make jokes about blacks to make herself feel better, distinct, and closer to the elusive whiteness she can't quite grasp. It's really quite pathetic, and though it seemed like some of the Europeans at the table were a little uncomfortable with it (even the proponents of a type of colorblindness ideology prevalent among some whites in Germany and France), nobody said anything.

 But this is the reason I find myself so bored and more than slightly annoyed by tragic mulatto types. Most of them and their obsession with identifying with 'whiteness' and their 'white roots' is really about hiding from blackness and entering into a broadened ideal of whiteness that is on the rise in the US, honorary whiteness. If Bonilla-Silva and other sociologists are correct, honorary whiteness  and the acceptance of such groups under that label by elites and middle-class America will include many light-skinned and 'successful' biracials, light-skinned Latinos, East Asians, and perhaps Arabs and South Asians who aren't too visibly Muslim in today's post-9/11 AmeriKKKa. So, with this expansion of 'whiteness' in American race relations, the multiracial movement reveals its ultimate aim of gaining entry through the gates into their beloved whiteness. 

Oh well, predominantly white tourists can continue reveling in their ignorance and confused and self-hating Dominicans and 'multiracial' Americans can engage in defensive othering in a seemingly endless game for the foreseeable future. All's I'm saying is I am done with awkward and racist dinners and restaurant experiences. Just say no, or get the hell up and go!

Work Out

Finally found an old song I heard at a birthday party two years ago! J. Cole's "Work Out" has a catchy beat and worth a listen, though nothing spectacular. It's nice that he sampled Kanye on this, too! 

Music of Puerto Rico

Lately I have been trying to expand my Caribbean musical palette, so Puerto Rico is my new music obsession! Also, I might as well learn more about my other ancestral homeland's music, beyond my boogaloo craze last year and slight salsa interests. As of now, I am loving my Afro-Boricua brother, Ismael Rivera, an excellent singer who was quite proud and explicitly pro-black (this essay about his relationship with Rafael Cortijo is quite useful and interesting). Also, did I mention the two covered one of my favorite samba/bossa nova songs from Jorge Ben's first album? My Youtube playlist is currently quite underdeveloped, but I am expanding it over the next week or two.

What I have noticed so far from listening to Puerto Rican danza music is how remarkably similar it is to Cuban danzon, Haitian meringue, and Dominican merengue (of course, I refer to the 'art' and salon forms of these genres), which isn't too surprising after perusing Asterlitz's book on merengue or another on creolization of contradanse. Indeed, listening to the famous Figueroa musical family, one cannot help but notice how similar so much of these elite nationalist music genres of the Caribbean were (the presence of the cinquillo/quintolet certainly indicates the common Afro-Caribbean background influences in each island). Or check out Graciela Rivera, a famous Puerto Rican singer, whose danza sounds so much like some of the formal and elite-led 'national' musics of Cuba or Haiti. She even sings some danzas composed by a prominent Afro-Puerto Rican composer, Juan Morel Campo. There is so much grace to be found in this form of Puerto Rican music, such as in this.  Or this old Puerto Rican orchestra's danza? Of course, all these danzas are also influenced by Cuban habanera and other influences, as well. Beautiful, just beautiful.

Anywho, based on my greater interest salsa and other genres of Puerto Rican music, I shall endeavor to discover other great artists such as Cortijo and Rivera. Who knows, perhaps if I keep at it, I'll become obsessed with Puerto Rican music in the way I was so taken by South African and Congolese music.

Haiti, Soulouque, and US and French Political Cartoons and Caricatures

Political cartoon from 1839 satirizing the 'gag rule' in Congress which prohibited discussion of slavery and abolition. Obviously that didn't quite pan out in the end, but here John Quincy Adams is shown cowering at the frown of a Whig supporter of slavery. Adams is shown with abolitionist newspapers and a resolution to recognize Haiti.See, Haiti appears in US political culture throughout the 19th century. Note to self, read more about Adams and his support for abolitionist causes and recognition of Haiti. 

Source: http://primarysourcenexus.org/2012/04/featured-image-abolition-frowned-down/

"Horizontal print caricaturing the self-made emperor of Haiti and his court. Soulouque wears an elaborate military uniform and a crown. He holds a sword in his right hand and beckons to another man with his left, saying, "Come along niggar, come along, dont be affraid, we's flesh & blood like youself ... now den, I Soloque emqeror [sic] ob Hayti by de autoity in my west do create de, grand duke ob de emqire [sic]." The future grand duke, also in elaborate uniform with large plumes, bows before him as a member of the audience encourages him to bow lower. At right, three figures identified below the image as resident English, American, and French men complain of the smell, the Englishman holding a scent bottle to his nose and the Frenchman retching, and discuss the preference of "colored people" for "monarchial forms & ceremony." At right, a woman identified as the empress slouches low on her throne. A young man in cap and gown is identified as the prime minister."

American caricature of Soulouque and his nobility. In truth, Soulouque's nobility was preposterous, but the racist discourse attributed to Soulouque's faction (which seems to draw on stereotypes of African-American vernacular english in 1849 or 1850) clearly reveals how, to US whites, all blacks are the same: equally inferior. Blacks, according to the English, French, and American at the right in the image smell bad and prefer a monarchical form of government, presumably due to some racist myths about blacks being too dumb or savage to understand democracy and restraint. See, part of the reason I am fascinated by Haitian history is how well it parallels 20th and 21st century Western discourse on post-colonial Africa. Much like Mobutu's Congo/Zaire or more recently, Mugabe's Zimbabwe, whites in Europe and North America use their media (which of course includes political cartoons) to ridicule and perpetuate racist exaggerations and beliefs about the incapacity for blacks to, for instance, build democratic states, or a play on the ludicrous monarchical or imperial titles of ex-slaves and their descendants. You know, things haven't changed much since the mid-19th century, Western discourse and media coverage on Africa or predominantly black countries continues to rely on similar tactics and stereotypes.

Source: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661810/

http://www.worldcat.org/title/soloque-emperor-of-hayti-creating-a-grand-duke/oclc/191120462

French caricaturist Daumier loved to insult Soulouque, comparing him quite obviously to apes in the timeless white tradition of anti-black racism for the last few centuries. Like my post on orangutans, black women, and Bushmen explains, the growing influence of scientific racism and other pseudoscience helped promote such vile and offensive portrayals of we people who are darker than blue. 

Source: http://bir.brandeis.edu/handle/10192/3577

Another Daumier piece from the same site as the above image. Self-explanatory and clearly satirical, since Soulouque would likely never have gotten away with or dared try to force a European journalist into a cauldron. This image is from 1850 while the above is from 1856, which, if I remember correctly, was one year after Soulouque's failed second invasion of the Dominican Republic. 

Anti-Haitianismo in the DR

Came across Myriam Chancy's piece from her blog on the recent Dominican ruling stripping Dominicans of Haitian ancestry of their citizenship. It's a decent overview of the crisis and worth a read. One wonders if such a court ruling had passed in the 1920s or 1930s, would Trujillo himself lost his citizenship! Anyway, in the hopes of moving beyond nationalist and racist measures taken to separate two halves of the same island, let's enjoy a fusion of Haitian and Dominican music in this rendition of the lively "Bobine." 

Puerto Rican Colonial Population Estimates and Race

Table taken from "The Politics of Taino Revivalism" by Gabriel Haslip-Viera

The estimates of the colonial Puerto Rican population from 1530 to 1897 are quite revealing of the history of the island before US conquest. First, it reveals the overwhelmingly African and European heritage of Puerto Rico and the disappearance of most indigenous-descended people. Indeed, by 1530, the local Taino population was already dying out/absorbed into the rapidly expanding African and European population, though indigenous peoples from other parts of the Americas were brought to Puerto Rico and Hispaniola as slaves before the Spanish completely shifted their focus to the more wealthy and larger territorial conquests in Mexico, Peru, and the rest of the mainland. Moreover, the table indicates the rise, over time, of a free mulato/pardo and free black population that outnumbered slaves probably well before 1765, when slaves comprised 11.2% of the total population of 44,883. The low population of the colony and the very small slave minority indicates the main interests of the Spanish colonial empire in other regions of their vast empire.

Like the rest of the Hispanic Caribbean, Puerto Rico was a colonial backwater and largely ignored, although Cuba would become exceptional after the Haitian Revolution as an exporter of sugar (which also meant skyrocketing rates of African slave imports that turned late 18th century and 19th century Cuba into far more of a slave society than colonial Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo ever were. However, the increase of the Puerto Rican population from 44,883 in 1765 to 163,192 by 1802 is amazing growth, probably more attributable to natural increase in the population and immigration (from Europe, the Canary Islands, runaway slaves from other Caribbean islands, as well as Spanish Creoles from Santo Domingo and French and Saint Dominguan planters and their slaves fleeing Hispaniola, although there is no direct data I could find on the numbers of these groups coming to Puerto Rico). Interestingly, the reemergence of "Indians" in the second half of the 18th century could reflect the presence of indigenous laborers from Mexico or elsewhere brought by the colonial government, though their numbers are very small, never more than 2.5% of the population in the second half of the 18th century.

The real mystery is the process of whitening of Puerto Rico. Sure, Europeans, Levantines, and various 'whites' came to the island in the 19th century, but can one really be certain that in 1897, whites comprised 63.9% of the island's population. Much like racial demographics in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, the white figures seem to be inflated, probably because of the prevalence of 'whitening' in Puerto Rican families and for those of lighter complexions to self-identify as such. The enigma of Puerto Rican racial demographics lingers today, when US census data shows a white majority and increasingly white population in the 20th century. Now, anyone who goes to Puerto Rico or goes to a Puerto Rican neighborhood in New York, Chicago, or any US city, most Puerto Ricans one encounters are hardly 'white,' yet in the island, self-identifying as white is the trend. In the US mainland, I believe Puerto Ricans are more likely to self-identity as "Other" or simply "Boricua or Puerto Rican" instead of choosing black or white labels.

Now, clearly blackness is not highly valued in Puerto Rico (despite the overwhelmingly African character of so much of Puerto Rican music and culture), and there is a long legacy of slavery and stigmatization (as well as negative views toward dark-skinned Dominican immigrants and black West Indians who came to Puerto Rico to labor on US-owned or funded sugar plantations in the 20th century). Does that explain the valorization and attachment to a "Taino" identity? Much like the Dominican Republic, there was a time when many dark-skinned Puerto Ricans preferred to think of themselves as indio rather than black (read Down These Mean Streets for a Nuyorican example), and given the high proportion of 'pardos' or mixed-race people, many being lighter-skinned and able to pass for white or marry into white families, the 'white' population of Puerto Rico can increase as the black and brown proportions decrease. Now, one wonders what the impact of US racial dynamics and perceptions was and how it shapes census data, particularly since a plethora of 'racial types' exist in Puerto Rico.

And is it due to the black immigrant influences from the Caribbean that we have more of a black racial consciousness among some Puerto Ricans (similarly, the racial consciousness of Puerto Ricans in the US mainland would result from interaction with African-Americans and experiencing white racism in US cities)? For instance, Arturo Schomberg, legendary Afro-Puerto Rican scholar and archivist, was the son of Anglophone West Indian-descended Puerto Ricans and German Puerto Ricans, not a multigenerational Afro-Boriuca. Perhaps that is too much of an exaggeration, but it certainly complicates the history of Afro-Boricua alliances and interactions with other people of African descent. From talking with some light-skinned Puerto Ricans, clearly this obsession with whiteness and 'improving' themselves through marriage with white Anglo-Americans will live on for a long time. Of course, Puerto Ricans are not the only Latinos who pursue that approach to whiteness, and Puerto Rico is hardly unique in the 'whitening' of its population. Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, and various other Latin American nations pursued whitening through the misleading mestizaje concept under which Europeans and people of white descent could uplift the majority with 'good genes' and civilization.

Anywho, expect more posts on Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans in the US. That is part of my identity, and deserves more critical attention and emphasis in this blog, just as much as Haiti or African-American stuff gets.

J Dilla's So Far To Go

Simply beautiful. I was never into that whole J Dilla bandwagon after his death, but this song is a great hip-hop jam. Now, I ain't been listening to that much hip-hop lately, but jazzy and soulful stuff like this with D'Angelo's vocals might just bring me back. 

Henry Louis Gates's Many Rivers: The Black Atlantic

Ugh, in only the first minute of the program, we, per usual, hear Gates ask some Africans if any of them inherited wealth from the slave trade. Again! It's as if Gates want place the blame for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade entirely on Africans, something he claimed in a New York Times op-ed would complicate the notion of reparations to descendants of black slaves. And Bank of America is the sponsor? Dear Lord, a bank that probably profited off or helped perpetuate I watched it here at this blog I follow, and it really goes to show one how black intellectuals can be so easily bought and sold like Gates. The man, who I once met in person and find an overall pleasant guy, seems to always have this urge to ease and please white folks. I guess that's what happens when you're caught up in neoliberal education and offering yourself to the highest bidder, much as Gates recently did in securing a wealthy white benefactor to donate to Harvard's African American Studies program. When black intellectual warfare against mainstream white supremacism in academia and other institutions can be bought and sold so easily, and our 'premier' black scholars perpetuate garbage or half-truths and stereotypes to much larger audiences to assuage whites, we know we're in trouble.

Anywho, the program begins before the arrival of blacks in the English colony of Virginia in 1619, focusing on early black slaves and auxiliaries of the Spanish conquerors and explores. He did get James H. Sweet to appear on the show, though. Sweet has written a lot about Central Africa (Angola), Brazil, and slavery, and because I am familiar with his work and attended a university he teaches at, do appreciate that. Anywho, Antonio 'the Negro,' one of the first black residents, 'earned' his freedom from indentured servitude after his service on the farm of a white man. Antonio Johnson even had white indentured servants and an African slave of his own! Soon enough, the growth of tobacco agriculture and the need for labor, led to increasingly racialized slavery and forced labor in Virginia. Now, none of this is exactly groundbreaking news, we all probably learned this in high school history courses on the development of slavery in the English colonies. Indeed, a similar process from white indentured servitude in Barbados to black slavery occurred. Sweet does remind the viewer of the interesting fact that most of the major cities in the Americas in the early 1600s had more Africans than Europeans, including Lima, Mexico City, etc. The interesting question of studies of colonial urban centres in the western hemisphere certainly deserves its own long documentary series.

Moving back to Africa, Gates goes to Sierra Leone and spends time among the Temne people. He is critical of romanticized notions of Africa, rightly so, but then takes time to talk to descendants of slave traders in Sierra Leone, poor black folks whose ancestors are not the ones who made the black ancestors of Gates live through hell under racial slavery and Jim Crow in the US. One elder who claims his family once owned 500 slaves is interviewed by Gates, but Gates never takes the time to explain the nuances of slavery within African societies. Anyone with half a brain would know the Temne and Mende did not historically consider themselves to both be 'black,' but that's because nearly everyone in Sierra Leone is 'black.' Yet Gates continues to feel some sense of loyalty (perhaps because of his "mulatto" ancestors, he is very public and interested in his family's white/European roots) to whites and 'defends' their role by overemphasizing the blame on the part of Africans for selling captives and slaves to whites.

Furthermore, Christopher Brown, who attributes to Europeans the 'novelty' of using race as a marker for deserved enslavement for Africans, probably should read some of the writings of Arab, Persian, and Turkish scholars from the same period. Some of the ideas and views expressed by intellectuals from those lands stinks or racism or 'proto-racism' against darker-hued Africans. That said, Gates does a good thing showing the remains of a slave fort on Bunce Island, where at least 50,000 Africans were sold into slavery in the Americas. Priscilla, one individual whose life is used to put a human face onto the misery that took place in the Middle Passage and Bunce Island, was a slave woman who entered the US through Charleston, the major slave port of the US. The horrors of the Middle Passage are described in disgusting detail, though probably not enough to give a more accurate depiction of the lack of humanity Europeans and European-descended Americans showed toward black folks. Indeed, death was so common on slaveships, sharks followed to feast on corpses thrown overboard, as Gates says.

In South Carolina now, Gates visits the former site of Priscilla's enslavement, rice plantations in South Carolina. A descendant of the planter who purchased her shows Gates around the area where the young woman, Priscilla, became property of the Ball family. Surprisingly, Gates chooses to pass over the advanced skills of West Africans in rice cultivation, the very reason why there was a "Rice Coast" of Sierra Leone and why so many of South Carolina's slaves came from the Senegambia and Sierra Leone areas of West Africa. A shame, really, Gates missed out on a great opportunity to discuss how so much of the agricultural techniques, innovation and material culture of the US South was an imported African civilization. I suppose he does mention how slaves built roads, bridges, factories and farms, but there is a lot of specific examples and details not mentioned, except an example of an 18th century meal for how distinct African influences appeared in the cuisine of the South. Now, food and cuisine obviously shapes culture and society, so that's big, I guess, but only one example.

As for St. Augustine, Gates again omits the presence of Saint Dominguan Spanish auxiliaries who chose to stay in service to the Spanish crown rather than unite under Toussaint for the French Republic during the Haitian Revolution. This could be due to it's much later date into the late 18th and early 19th century, but at least an 'honorable mention' of Saint Dominguan blacks in Spanish St. Augustine would have been of some interest to viewers for showing how much African-American slaves were tied into a broader "Black Atlantic" world. However, I suppose he does a good job covering the importance of Spanish Florida as a a runaway haven. Since I don't know enough about Stono's Rebellion, I cannot speak to how accurate or troubling Gates's portrayal might be.

His praise for the 'greatest champion of freedom,' George Washington, is certainly a cringe-worthy moment of the program though! I suppose uttering such absurd notions comes with the territory in catering to mainstream white America. One cannot go all "Malcolm X" or 'angry black' man lest one wishes to lose ties to the monied interests that could be tapped to support black studies. Later, Gates 'saves' himself by emphasizing the contradictions of the American War of Independence, and he does mention the Haitian Revolution near the end of the program as an example of another world for people of African descent, as well as becoming a beacon of hope to those toiling in bondage in the 'land of the free.'

But perhaps I am being too critical and expecting too much. It's a struggle just getting anything about black history out there in the mainstream, and though it's far from perfect, like Black in Latin America, it's a useful introduction. Let's see how long my patience lasts me and I will try to evaluate the remainder of the series.

The Foxtrot Parody of The Boondocks

As a lover of the comic strip The Boondocks for quite some time, learning about and reading the Foxtrot parody of Aaron McGruder's beloved creation was hilarious. I especially loved the 'N-Word's strip. We miss you, Boondocks!

A 19th Century Haitian Scene

Charles Mackenzie's Notes on Haiti included this interesting reproduction of a Haitian artist outside of Cap-Haitien. Unfortunately, no name was given for the artist, but it's interesting to see a work by a Haitian artist from this period and some of the similarities between this and the so-called naive or untrained 20th century Haitian painters. From one book on Haitian art I found at a thrift store in a Midwestern city, Alexandre Petion promoted the arts and there is a tradition of Haitian art in the 19th century, though few of those works survive. Alas, I would be ecstatic to see more examples of 19th century Haitian art. 

Music for a Monday Night and a Work Mishap

Excellent old Dominican merengue is a great way to end a Monday night. It's fast, but not ridiculously so, and it features lots of sax and accordion improvisation. In other news, check out Ryco Jazz's "Josephine Mama," which sounds a lot like biguine, which is no surprise given the Congolese band's move to the French Caribbean. Quite beautiful, really an example of restrained energy, propulsive rhythm and a beautiful melody. And last but not least, enjoy "Jabulani Nonke," a Christmas song from South Africa sung by one of my favorite vocal groups, the Dark City Sisters!

Oh, and to share a funny work-related story, this woman who was likely drunk came into the store last night, mistakenly assumed she had a coupon for over 60 dollars, refused to believe how the expensive items she had me ring up added up to 70 dollars, and then made a scene after the manager explained the situation to her (I have no interest in listening to drunk or other customers scream and shout and threaten me, I just call a manager or supervisor) by shouting by the entrance to customers, telling them not to spend their money at the store. In her defense, the coupon policy of the corporatized drugstore is not as clear as it should be (though common sense should have told her that what she really had was a 25% off coupon and then a summary of her spendings and points, she's a member of a savings/rewards program for customers, you know, to create customer loyalty, etc.). 

Also, the store is selling overpriced junk to people in a low-income area. It's quite a shame, really, the small, independent corner stores ain't necessarily cheap either, but at least they're more likely to have community and local ties than a national corporation opening up stores across the country. Since I live by the place I work, it is convenient, but it's sad how all the low-income folks in the neighborhood go to the store for groceries, processed food and junk that is overpriced. Yes, I know about food deserts, but there are multiple buslines in the area. Oh well, so far I have only had a handful of annoying experiences. Nobody has committed armed robbery with me inside the store yet! Nor have I been hit in the face or eye by a shoplifter with heavy items in her purse or an armed thug with a gun. The little things are what comprise a good life, right?

Long story short, I will try to use this work experience to gain new insights and perspectives on my area. I have already learned about the supposedly high crime rate and public perception of crime, even though where I live is far from the worst in the city. Nevertheless, I suppose it's a good way to learn about that part of my rustbelt Midwestern city and all its discontent.

Chansons Créoles, Chansons folkloriques d’Haiti and Andrée Lescot

Chansons Créoles and Chansons folkloriques d’Haiti, have been a wonderful musical experience. The vocalist, Andrée Lescot, has a lovely voice and though the band accompanying her sounds thoroughly French and quite removed from Haitian or Louisiana Creole folk music, one cannot help but fall in love with her vocal acrobatics. I am especially in love with "Chere mo lemme toi" though it seems to be more of a Louisiana Creole tune than Haitian.

I could be wrong though, I'm far from perfect! Anywho, it's a beautiful song with an excellent ensemble led by Roger Bourdin. Check out this and this for more of Lescot's enchanting voice. Oh, and Lescot was the daughter of a Haitian president, and kind of looks like him, too. My favorites from the above two recordings are "Dansé Conni Conné" because of the guitar and "Erzulie Malade," which reminds me of Lolita Cuevas singing with Frantz Casseus. 

Isoboye, Oko, Merengue Scoubidou, and Merengue

Listening to beautiful, jazzy and happy highlife from Nigerian master Cardinal Rex is very relaxing. Check out "Isoboye," and see the great debt West African highlife owes to Caribbean music. However, what I've loved about so much of the highlife of the 1950s-1970s of Ghana and Nigeria is the jazziness of the music and the uniquely West African percussion solos that are quite melodic and irresistibly get your feet moving. I have no idea what the song is about, and though I am not overly fond of the vocals on this track, the light, breezy atmosphere of this piece, really built around the guitar, is unforgettable. 

"Oko" is even better because of more frequent horn contributions to the song. Moreover, it's supposedly a 'merengue' or at least inspired by Caribbean merengue. Like "Merengue Scoubidou" by African Jazz, it shows how other non-Cuban forms of Caribbean music were consumed in West and Central Africa, the very homeland of Afro-Caribbean music! Listen to that guitar! Pure and not contaminated with so much distortion common in rock or metal. Oh, listen to "Merengue Scoubidou" by African Jazz and just try to tell me that Dr. Nico's deceptively simple guitar lines and solo don't uplift your soul! The Ry-Co Jazz version ain't bad at all!

While you're listening to the above, don't forget about "Merengue" by Franco & OK Jazz. Like so much Congolese 'rumba,' it sounds much more like Cuban son than Dominican merengue, though I believe Franco, if he was like Dr. Nico, the guitar sounded somewhat like merengue music to them. Franco's early music from this period and the 1960s is undoubtedly better than his later soukous music and most contemporary Congolese music I have heard. 

Some Images of Prominent Haitians of the Nineteenth Century

19th century Haitian scholar and politician, Beaubrun Ardouin, in the only photograph I have been able to locate, most likely taken in the 1850s or 1860s? His Etudes sur l'Histoire d'Haïti and Géographie de l'Ile d'Haïti are important sources (and I believe the latter might be translated into English) and though Ardouin was an elitist who believed that those like him were best suited to rule, he was an important figure in the construction of a 'mulatto legend' of Haitian history yet also proudly (at least in his writings) a descendant of Africans, despite being virtually indistinguishable from Europeans.

http://www.cidihca.com/haititribuneny/HT24-PAGE16.pdf

Inginac was Boyer's right-hand man. Image found in Thomas Madiou's Histoire d'Haiti. Unsurprisingly, he is very light-skinned, like much of the Boyerist elites. It's amazing what one can find in old digitized texts by 19th century Haitian scholars!

A very flattering and 'noble' President Boyer in this portrait, also taken from Thomas Madiou. 

Again, not too surprising, but another prominent military official who oversaw the department or region of Santo Domingo (when the eastern half of Hispaniola was Haiti) is another light-skinned person. Of course, prominent military officials under Boyer came in all colors, but the higher-ups tended to be light-complected. This general would have served under General Borgella, at least when Charles Mackenzie traveled to Santo Domingo in the late 1820s. 

Also from Madiou's text, downloadable via Google, this senator and prominent person also played a large role in the 1843 Constitutional Assembly that met after the fall of Boyer to create a new constitution. 

Caricature of a Haitian Ambassador in the Antebellum US

Lithograph by an unknown artist from 1839 depicting US president Martin Van Buren meeting with a Haitian diplomat (Source). Of course, formal diplomatic relations between the US and Haiti did not begin until 1862 (when most Southerners in Congress had seceded and joined the Confederacy so they couldn't actually block diplomatic relations), but this political cartoon reveals the constant presence and reminder of Haiti and black revolt in the antebellum US. Note how the shadowy figure behind the chair to the left of Martin Van Buren (standing man on the left) is actually part of a plot against the pro-slavery Southern wing in Van Buren's own party, which is why he organized a meeting between a Haitian ambassador and Van Buren. Indeed, these pro-slavery Democrats actually put words in Van Buren's mouth, claiming he voted to enfranchise colored (Black) Americans, another lie!

Obviously, the Haitian ambassador is ridiculed and his dialogue actually indicates a mockery of African-American English of the 19th century while his references on the progress of the abolitionist movement in the US would obviously be more proof to Southern elites of how their 'rights' to own human property were undermined by the hated abolitionists. The ambassador's words below:

"I ab de honor to present de compliments ob de President ob Hayti and congratulations on de cause of Bobolition goin ahead in de Nited States."

Interestingly, even before formal diplomatic relations, white American traders were always in Haiti. Indeed, one white American was actually mayor of St. Marc in the early 1840s! Or the large amount of Haitian coffee consumed in the US during this period, alongside other Haitian exports. The presence of thousands of African Americans moving to and fro in the first two independent states in the US would also have strengthened bonds between the US and Haiti, regardless of the wishes of white Americans opposed to emancipation and recognition of Haitian independence. 

Finding this image online (while actually looking for images of Haitian historical figures in the first half of the 19th century) has actually rekindled my passion for trying to understand more of the nuances and complexities of Haitian-US relations in this first century. Boyer's time in the US, for instance, is another episode that influenced Haiti (the white American mayor of St. Marc was an acquaintance, if I remember correctly, of Boyer's during that time) as well as the question of US annexation of the Dominican Republic and Mole St. Nicholas in the second half of the century. 

Rescue Me and A Great Moment in Seinfeld

"Can't you see that I'm lonely?"

Although I have known of this classic in soul music for several years, I never knew who Fontella Bass was until listening to "Theme de Yoyo" by Art Ensemble of Chicago. Bass has an amazing voice coming out of the church. Listen to her pleading voice for someone's tender charms on "Rescue Me" and you will hear what I'm saying. And that funky bass! She's pure soul, and undeniable talent. 

Also, a friend shared this clip of Seinfeld from season 4 when Kramer was mistaken for a murderer in Los Angeles. This scene actually predicts some of the callous and childish behavior of the Seinfeld crew that kinda makes the disappointing series finale plausible. Even this far back in the show, the group realized they were not quite good people, celebrating the fact that the murderer struck again while Kramer was in custody. But I always loved this mini story arc in season 4! It's nice to see Jerry, George, and Kramer outside of New York and 'living' it up in LA. 

Movin' On Up: The Music and Message of Curtis Mayfield

I finally watched this documentary about the life and contributions to music and society by Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions. It was a beautiful tribute to the life of a genius who ended his life paralyzed yet still writing music. The documentary included extensive interviews with several key people in Mayfield's life and music, from his wife and the remaining members of The Impressions (Cash and Gooden) to Johnny Pate and other musical legends, such as Carlos Santana and Chuck D. One prominent civil rights leader actually compares the music of Curtis and The Impressions to that of a spiritual force equivalent to Martin Luther King! I, though very biased as as well-known lover of The Impressions, am inclined to agree. Their music was and is uplifting, encouraging, spiritual, drenched in the ethos of the Black Freedom Struggle but timeless. Unfortunately, I do not recall Jerry Butler being an interviewee in this documentary, though his input on the early years of The Impressions and other aspects of Curtis's life would have been interesting.

Anyway, I learned from this documentary that the reason Curtis joined with The Impressions was because Jerry Butler said the group needed someone who could play an instrument to practice and rehearse with the vocal group. As a guitarist, Mayfield was perfect for the role. Fortunately, lengthy interviews with Johnny Pate reveal some additional facts around the The Impressions. Pate, much like in my extensive post on his impact on the sound of The Impressions, states his primary role was to emphasize and back-up Mayfield and The Impressions, which included jazz and pop arrangements with orchestras and string sections occasionally, but never to overpower Mayfield's voice (as well as enhancing their voices more generally). He also reminded me of the admirable falsetto of The Impressions, best exemplified on songs like "I Need You." Those guys really could sing high, and as an occasional singer myself, I know how difficult that can be.

Pate also revealed his love for "Woman's Got Soul," a jazzy song I have also blogged about. "People Get Ready" and numerous other hits and gems of The Impressions appear in the documentary, as live performances (such as a somewhat cheesy but interesting live TV show rendition of "People Get Ready" featuring The Impressions on a boat with groups of other ships following) or back stories. For instance, the original "We're a Winner" featured explicit lyrics alluding to the death of Uncle Tom, but of course no record label would distribute it so Mayfield changed the lyrics. Mayfield did not have to be that explicit anyway, the intent and meaning of the lyrics were obvious, or at least obvious enough for the song to face difficulties getting radio airplay. According to the members of the group, it was quite a battle to get "Choice of Colors" recorded, too, given its black and proud lyrical content. Unfortunately, or perhaps for the betterment of his career, Mayfield left The Impressions to focus on his solo career and multiple side projects in the 1970s, which is when I stop listening to the group.

Besides his music's lyrical content and gradual shift in the 1960s from more of the soul and pop sounds with slight jazz touches or gospel traditions, Mayfield's quick embrace of funk, black empowerment, and the 1970s milieu of soul and Black Power reveal his flexibility and ability to bridge the gap between the older generation of civil rights activism to something that would appeal to the more youthful aesthetics of pro-blackness (natural hairstyles, anti-colorist, pro-black self-ownership). Yet through it all, Mayfield remained an integrationist, with the hopes and ideals of the 1960s leading to his proud claims in "This Is My Country," asserting blacks' central role and contributions to the US while avoiding some fringe forms of black cultural nationalism that aimed to reorient African-American identity to Africa. By singing "we people who are darker than blue," which really had some resonance with his childhood experiences as the butt of jokes and insults because of the color of his skin, Mayfield also called for black unity among the black, brown and yellow, too.

Even when expressing disillusionment with the state of race relations ("If There's a Hell Below"), Mayfield still penned songs about the need for peace, maintaining hope, or spiritually uplifting music (or funkified versions of his earlier songs with The Impressions about love, unity across racial lines ("Mighty Mighty"), and the inequities and destruction of the proliferation of drugs in urban communities (though Super Fly and other blaxploitation flicks mostly glamorized the 'street life') in some of his other work. Intriguingly, Pate actually considered many of the songs on Super Fly to be quasi-rapping, another sign of Mayfield's relevance to the times he lived in and future generations of music, since he would be sampled often in hip-hop, too.

Indeed, Mayfield's passion for what he calls owning himself led to him running his own publishing company, record label (Curtom), writing soundtracks (Super Fly is the best-known), and, at the same time, recognizing when he needed a break. His wife, children, family, musical interests, and music career became, at a point, too demanding and difficult to balance for a man who wanted to, at the end of the day, be there with and for his family. Of course, he still made music, and even after the accident that paralyzed him at a show in Brooklyn, Mayfield wrote music, hosted visitors such as Chuck D, so to the end of his days, I like to think he did own himself more than most of us ever will. And though such a sentiment of 'self-ownership' could be seen as relic of some conservative strands in black political thought (I'm looking at your, Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey), I prefer to see Mayfield's stance beyond class or economic interests, but a much broader moral question of owning your own time, life, and taking responsibility for your decisions. This could mean a degree of personal autonomy, but really just a much broader question of determining and having the power to decide what you want to do with your life and not having your time and life schedule decided by others. As descendants of slaves and oppressed people with limited options set out for them, it makes perfect since for black folk to want that degree of collective freedom.

Rest in peace, Curtis, your life and music will forever live on. The documentary was put together quite well and some of the live footage of performances are priceless. May the music of The Impressions never die, nor shall its zeitgeist of that elusive goal of a freer world. "Keep on pushing!"