Fally Ipupa - Original (Democratic Republic Of The Congo Dance Video)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases the Congolese video "Original" by Fally Ipupa. Information about Fally Ipupa as well as information and comments about this video are included in this post.

The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Fally Ipupa and thanks to all others who are featured in this video. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT FALLY IPUPA
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fally_Ipupa
Fally Ipupa is a singer-songwriter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was part of the band of Koffi Olomidé, Quartier Latin International, from 1999 to 2006 before starting a solo career. His first solo album was Droit chemin released in 2006, and his second album Arsenal de Belles Melodies (A2BM) was released in 2009. In 2007, Ipupa won the Kora Awards for Best Artist or Group from Central Africa.[1] In 2010, Fally Ipupa won the MTV Africa Music Awards 2010 for Best Video (for Sexy Dance) and Best Francophone.[2] He won the urban awards for best African artist. Ipupa was nominated in the Best Live Act category at the 2014 MTV Africa Music Awards.[3] He released an album named kosa leka in 2014”.

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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo
"Currently the Democratic Republic of Congo's music is domoninated by the "ndombolo" dance and well represented by the newest congolese superstar:Fally Ipupa is a strong performer from the Democratic Republic of Congo who worked with the legendary Koffi Olomide in his group, Quatier Latin, before branching out on his own. His performances are energetic, his delivery unsurpassable. Female fans love to watch as he whips his songs to new heights in time to his swiveling hips (part of the reason he made the top ten sexiest men list). The mix of rhumba, reggae, soul and ndombolo have proven to be his magical elixir. He has performed to sold out audiences in Paris and New York and continues to gain recognition internationally for his music.

His awards include the Césaire de la Musique award for best male artist of the year (October 2007); he received a gold disc for his album, Droit Chemin, and has been nominated for best music clip, and best artist in the Black Music Awards to be held in Coutonou, Benin on January 12, 2008. Droit Chemin, produced by Maïka Munan (who has worked with famous Congolese musicians such as Tabu Ley Rochereau, M’Bilia Bel, Papa Wemba, Afia Mala), has been received with accolades and is extremely popular with his fans. The video is well done and features several ndombolo moves. One wonders how long it will be before his moves show up on a hiphop video as the next big move"...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: ORIGINAL_Fally Ipupa



Fally Ipupa, Published on May 5, 2014

New Hit "ORIGINAL" Fally Ipupa

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S VIEWER COMMENT THREAD
nicolz lami
"My people! The Almighty's people..my African people. Always makes me smile"

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Bantu Mai1
"I like how Fally allowed the legendary congolese guitar do the singing. Anyone else noticed no mabanga? its good like this. Mabanga soki eleki ebebisaka. Ba combatant pardon. Botika music ezonga."

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Samson Kihanya
"At the end of the music ,did i hear something like " Ali bumaye" ?"

Reply

Mikobe Nunez
"yeah u just hear that. that's in his song called "Bruce"..there is a part in the beginning where he says " It's not a competition which one of us has to win but it is love between sweetheart wife and husband, not a fight between Bruce lee and chuke Norris. Neither a clash between Muhammad Ali and Foreman where u heard the crowd chant 'Ali Bomaye, Ali Bomaye!'"

Reply

Roger Delopus
"In this song, it's not Ali boma ye, but Fally boma ye! The meaning is Fally kill him! When Ali fought with Foreman in Kinshasa, people used to sing Ali boma ye (in lingala). They want Ali to beat Foreman (not to kill him, :-) )"

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yungweez3
"What's the name of the song Fally was singing at 4:38 in Abidjan?"

Reply

stanilasc8
"the song is called Prince de Southfork"

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Cindy Quamina
"Original Indeed - i don't understand the language but the rhythm makes me move"

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Marian Sindani
"If u r from Angola or Congo , kinsasha those sort of places u will know how to speak Spanish, French, Portuguese,lingala "

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Masesa Demian
"The first Congolese music have heard and seen running for only 4mins, you are a living Legend Fally...your changing the game.....kitoko kitoko"

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jeancy fancy
"everybody dance original"

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Comments About Cultural Appropriation From A Booker White YouTube Video Discussion Thread

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents a compilation of comments about cultural appropriation that were posted to a YouTube discussion thread of Delta Bluesmen Booker White's* performance of his song "Poor Boy Long Way From Home". That video, a link to a transcription of that song's lyrics, and a link to information about Booker White are all included in this post.

*Booker White is widely but mistaken known as "Bukka White", a name which he hated.

The content of this post is provided for folkloric, historical, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

While I usually don't read YouTube comments about race, racism, and cultural appropriation, I started reading the comments on this discussion thread, and found many of them to be interesting and worthy of archiving.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Booker White for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Booker White - Poor Boy Long Way from Home



NaOH123Uploaded on Mar 20, 2006

Booker getting down lapstyle on the ol' National
-snip-
Note that Booker White sung different versions of this song. John Lomax recorded Booker White performing this song in 1939. (Source: comments from http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2438.0 comment "Re: Booker White")

The lyrics to this song (a merger of several commenters' transcriptions) can be found at http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2438.90 Re: Booker White Lyrics (Johnm, Reply #97 on: February 27, 2011, 07:59:27 AM).

Click http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bukka-white-mn0000527379/biography for information about Booker White.

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SELECTED COMMENTS ABOUT CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
Note: These comments are presented in relative chronological order with response/s to comments given after that comment. These comments aren’t always in consecutive as there are some comments that are found in between those given. Some of those comments that I didn't include in this transcription are on [this] topic and some are off-topic. The comments in this transcription are numbered for referencing purposes.

Read my note in the comment section about the difficulties of archiving comments from YouTube comment threads.

From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0jRX69mxcE

2008? [given as 5 years ago]
1. vansheen
in reply to BERLIN ROCKABILLY
"dude do your homework... There was no fame to be had. This music wasn't popular in America untill those whiteboys sold it back to us. THEN guys like clapton brought these old guys out of retirement and got them more dough then they had seen."

2. fuxgood
in reply to vansheen
"Clapton, The Who, the Stones, all did old blues tunes they "stole" from the original artists but what really brought these original blues guys to the spotlight was the folk revival in the early 60's and then Newport in '65 was the icing on the cake."

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3. JosephNScott
in reply to vansheen
"This music wasn't popular in America untill" "Black" country blues records were very popular with "black" Americans from about 1926 on.

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4. John Clark
"the stones got howlin wolf on TV and paid royalties while Dylan claimed to have written Jack of Diamonds, recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson. We white middle class kids just loved the music in the 60's, far from identifying with the black musicians we were in awe of them, we had Matt Monroe and America had Son House ! its like the difference between Cheddar gorge and the Grand Canyon"

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5. John Clark
"thank the young white kid who in the early 60's tracked him down in Aberdeen. Then he was filmed and honoured and not just on a few 30's and 40's 78s. Bukka White and Son House set the standard."

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2009? [given as 4 years ago]

6. taurtue
in reply to tallmunchkin
"Why are poeple outraged when white copy black songs, and not when black copy black songs? Cause you know, most of the blues standard that poeple attach to robert johnson or son house were written by older blues man who have not experienced the era of the recording. and none's ashamed about it. but when some white man copy those old blues song, poeple blame them. Every bluesman has started out his carreer by copying blues standard, that's the spirit of blues."
-snip-
Editor: I can't find the comment posted by tallmunchkin.

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7. samansun
in reply to tallmunchkin
"Quote B.B. King : "Black teenagers were ashamed of hearing us play peasant music in the 50's and 60's". If the blues is still around with many followers, 60's British bands deserve the biggest credit, no matter if they copied or reworked their idols' style, which is the case for most folk songs anywhere in the world."

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8. 747t
in reply to taurtue
"The problem is this: A black musician who learns black music is learning and preserving his own culture. A white musician who learns black music is distorting and diverting black culture, attempting to assimilate it."

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9. blishypoos
in reply to 747t
"I don't want to get into an argument or anything, but I'm just curious-- are you saying that that is the problem, or that that point of view is the problem?"

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10. 747t4 years ago
in reply to blishypoos
"White people want to ignore race now and embrace all cultures to prove that they are not racist. The truth is, that that is a passive and ignorant way of trying to become a "world citizen". To be a true promoter of equality one must first recognize the inequities that exist, and work to reverse them, not capitalize on them. White artists taking from other cultures is just another way for them to capitalize on their social advantages for economic gain, whether that is the intention or not"

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11. taurtue
in reply to 747t
"White musicians have just respect for black's culture and music, so they cover. I don't see anything wrong with that. Maybe everyone should just stay at home and not meet our neighbours, but I don't agree with that. I believe fusion and cultures mixes can be very very interesting, especially in music. Just watch what jazz/rock fusion allowed poeple to do in the 70's. It was an incredible step in the music history."

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12. 747t
"I do not say this to degrade interracial communication, but to enhance it. As long as white people continue to ignore their advantages there will be tension, and outright hostility in some cases. The playing field is not even. Telling a white person they have privilege is like telling a fish it's in water - they can't wrap their heads around it, because they've never known life without it. Meritocracy is great in theory, but it is far from the reality around us."

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13. 747t
in reply to blishypoos
"If a white artist can produce something half the quality of a black artist, he will have ten times the success, because he has the social privleges, and the marketable image that the majority population identifies with. Oliver Stone is a film director whose work it is expected anyone can identify with. Spike Lee is a black film director whose work it is expected black people can identify with. I agree with you on one thing. Let's not argue. I have a great article you can read though."

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14. slideharp1
"Love just about everything I've ever heard by B.W. Unfortunately, if you go down the list of comments you find it quickly deteriorates into another forum for black college kids, who've just discovered this music, and decided to take collective credit for the work of a Great Artist. None of these kids are even Southerners and know nothing of it's culture. Bukka ain't a great artist 'cos he's black, he's a great artist 'cos he's a Great Artist. Are you a great artist, 747t? or just black?"

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15. 747t
in reply to slideharp1
"I'm going to respond to your (Love just about everything) comment slideharp1. I did not "just discover" this music, nor can I take credit for what someone in the past has done. This is, however my culture, not yours, Mr. U.K. I learned the guitar from my uncle, and do not read music to this day. I have known this music since birth, and it is not foreign to me, as it is TO YOU."

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16. slideharp1
in reply to 747t
"@747t.YOU are angry and illogical. YOU are reacting in a knee-jerk fashion to a truth you don't want to hear. Are you suggesting that all black people make music?. No, of course you're not. Only an Idiot would say anything that dumb. 'Black' music is made by black Artists. Individuals. Not collectively created by a 'Black Beehive'. You Shit on these Artists by talkin that Trash. The Blues is American music and didn't come "Straight from Africa". Take pride but don't have the gall to take Credit"

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17. 747t
in reply to slideharp1
"No, of course all black people don't make music in America. In Africa though (traditionally), you either make music, or dance. In many African languages there is no word for "music" as an abstract form. Rhythm makes life and work easier. The community - the culture - is what produces a musician, who speaks for that community. To separate the artist from his culture is to misrepresent him. To appropriate someone elses culture without due respect and citation is the same as robbery."

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18. 747t
in reply to slideharp1
"I am not taking credit for a damn thing. I'm claiming what is my legacy, which you want to co-opt and appropriate for your own use. Virtually no music in the western hemisphere except that of the natives was made was made without African influence. There is European influence in blues, but can you point it out? Lets make it a musicological argument since you claim its so "American". I'll tell you the African influences and you tell me the European ones....you game?"

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19. screwgoogleformakingmechangemahname
in reply to 747t
"our (western) numeric system is of arabic origin. are we distortian arabian culture by assimilating it? did jimi hendrix distort rock n roll by playing it? did stevie ray vaughan distort the blues by plaing it? get real, mate."

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20. 747t
in reply to screwgoogleformakingmechangemahname
"Actually, our numeric system is Indian in origin. The arabs adopted and spread it. Rock n Roll is based on Rhythm and Blues, so no. Stevie Ray Vaughan is as popular as he is because he's white. There are many black blues artists better than him, but white people want black music - without black people in it if they can help it"

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21. jkuebler89
in reply to 747t
"white people want black music without black people in it? thats the most ignorant shit ive heard. the ol black blues was raw and full of emotion. stevie ray was technical and also full of emotion. he derived the spirit of the ol black blues and interpretted it as his own. people dont like him just because hes white. a comment like that makes you just as ignorant as the dumb racist bigots. shut up and enjoy the music for what it is."

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22. 747t
in reply to jkuebler89
"You are angry and illogical...and are reacting in a knee-jerk fashion to an idea you don't quite understand. There is not one colorblind person in this world. You need to drop that idea, because its false. My statement is based on what history has shown: that white "artists" make more money off of black music than black people do. Black music does not just "happen" to be made by black people. It comes straight from Africa, and it is our pride.. Therefore, we take notice."

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23. screwgoogleformakingmechangemahname
in reply to 747t
"arabic or indian, my argument is still the same: its now used by diferent people (or are you indian? or dont you use numbers?)"

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24. screwgoogleformakingmechangemahname
in reply to 747t
"however, i think influences in art (or music if you prefer) cannot be limited or explained by these facts. true, a white musician will be more sucessful and make more money- but what about his music? is it dimished because of the money that comes attached to it? perhaps so, perhaps not. i dont know. i just dont think we can use monetary success to judge the artistic proficiency of a musician."

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25. 747t
in reply to screwgoogleformakingmechangemahname
"All im saying is that when you can't go anywhere without seeing white people's influence, it's nice to have something to call your own and express your collective viewpoint. A white man can play the blues, but his reasons are different from a black man's."

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26. 747t
in reply to screwgoogleformakingmechangemahname
"Colorblindness is NOT a way of combating racism, as you seem to think - discrimination is natural, and has been proven to exist among children in environments where discussion of race is taboo. If we want to overcome it we must talk about our differences and our feelings, openly, and honestly. Why do you think there are so many hostile black people? You ignore our point of view. You try to assimilate us, when we want to be recognized as unique and beautiful in our own right."

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27. 747t
The tendency toward individualism is the same as colorblindness, and leads people to miss that art is a collective construct which expresses a people as much as a person."

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28. screwgoogleformakingmechangemahname
in reply to 747t
"either ways, rethorical questions. what i was trying to say is that its pointless to try and degrade interacial minglings. i know this because i am brazilian (whence i write) and proud of my threefold racial heritage (portuguese, african and amerindian). theres shitty music everywhere, as there is good music everywhere. independent of color. i understand the USA has a much more segregated relationship between ethnic groups, but you gotta keep the hate out of it, man. peace."

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29. 747t
in reply to screwgoogleformakingmechangemahname
"Theres no hate envolved, and the perception that to talk about the imbalances makes us racist is why there is no discussion. The difference in Latin America is that theres a gradual mingling of peoples, so that there are all shades in-between. The peoples are more proud of their national heritage in general and claim not to pay attention to race. This is how they have escaped addressing the inequalities in Latin American societies. The fact is though, whiter skin means success even in those."

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30. screwgoogleformakingmechangemahname
in reply to 747t
"undoubtfully true, about whites having an advantage. even here in brazil, where there are people "all shades in between" (not so much because of gradual mingling, but of different colonization procesess- but thats another matter alltogether) whites tend to have better jobs, better salary and better education. the poorest are, indeed, the direct descendand of african slaves or amerindian tribes. so yah, you're right."

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31. slideharp1
"I love BW along with most all the other Southern bluesmen. It's Southern music that was ignored by black people outside of the South. It was only after white people had it pushed at them by Chess etc. and realised they Loved It To Bits, that black people who didn't care about it decided that it was 'their' music. It's well known that Northern blacks didn't wanna know. The blues evolved in fits and starts into what whites know as rock n roll. Hip-hop didn't come from the blues! It came from J.B."

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32. 747t
in reply to slideharp1
"What the hell is J.B.? And you really DONT know what youre talking about. Have you ever been to a Black church in the north? We play the same music as down south, except we sing less spirituals now and do more R&B. Back in the 50's when my dad came to Seattle from Louisiana, we sang more spirituals, the root of blues. Black people have been in migration ever since "leaving" the South, and there is no way to escape the influence of the south on our language, food, religion, and music."

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33. slideharp1
in reply to 747t
"@747t. I have the deepest respect for the cultural bonds that keep you connected to your ancestry - there's no substitute for Knowing who we are - and your knowledge of traditional african music(s) is clearly apperent. Regarding African rhythms being difficult, I've never found any rhythms difficult. Prob'ly why I took up Bass. Difficult to write on a graffitti wall but I've heard many more African styles than American/African. Finish this sect. in answere to a query from you; J.B.= James Brown!"

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34. 747t
in reply to slideharp1
"Our rhythms are not European rhythms, though we play in meter now, which is European. I am baffled at how people call African rhythms "difficult". They're not the same as mine, but they seem so familiar, and natural."

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35. redlizzardpoker
in reply to 747t
"no one suffers like the poor no matter what your ethnicity"

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36. 747t
in reply to redlizzardpoker
"@redlizzardpoker ...I agree with that statement alone, but some suffer less and have better chances than others, specifically due to ethnicity and privelege. Theres a fantastic article entitled "My Race Din't Trump My Class" by Robin DiAngelo. It's hard to get a hold of without paying or using a college database, but it's well worth the effort to find."

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37. 747t
in reply to 747t
"@747t Correction... "My Class Didn't Trump My Race" is the title of the article. Sorry about that. :)"

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38. 747t
in reply to slideharp1
"I just looked at what I've been typing and realized that I have been completely wrong in my tone, and I am sorry. However, if you would like to have an honest conversation about African American music I would be more than willing to provide you with the the resources and insight that have led me to my conclusions."

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39. slideharp1
in reply to 747t
"@747t. I appreciate your graciousness in mellowing out a little. Regardless of what may appear to you from what I wrote, I'm just a musician which means I've spent my life playing with other musicians. A couple of points; I played in NYC from 1980 to 1993. I played with Top, Influential Bluesmen. If you want a VERY SHORT list of them there are some listed on my site (fly jugband - bio). That was electric mainly, tho' not exclusively. I then spent 5 years in New Orleans......."

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40. 747t
"Well I respect your opinion much more. However, still in my eyes, my music connects my people to our homeland. It is what has kept our souls free and culture intact since our bodies were taken into bondage. The pentatonic scale we sing in and the licks we play on the guitar are the same that we sang back in Africa and played on the Banjo, and before that on the Akonting, the Xalam, Banjar, Kora, Bolon, Ngoni..."

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Nyboma & Pepe Kalle with Dally Kimoko - "Nina" (Congolese Soukous Music)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a video of the Congolese song "Nina" with singers Nyboma, Pepe Kalle, and featuring guitarist Dally Kimoko and comedian Sans souci

This post also provides information about Pepe Kalle, and Soukous music and provides several comments from this video's YouTube discussion thread.

The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Nyboma and Pépé Kallé for their musical legacy. Thanks also to all the vocalists, musicians and dancers that are featured in this video. Thanks to all those quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT SOUKOUS MUSIC
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soukous
"Soukous is a genre of dance music[1] that originated from Cuban Rumba music in the Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1940s and gained popularity throughout Africa.

Soukous is known as Congo in West Africa and Lingala in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania after the Lingala language of the lyrics. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, where Congolese music is also influential, it is still usually referred to as Rumba. It mixes the kwasa kwasa with the fast tempo zouk style and Congolese rumba. It is also an individual dance...

While the rumba influenced bands such as Lipua-Lipua, Veve, TP OK Jazz and Bella Bella [continued playing that style of music], younger Congolese musicians looked for ways to reduce that influence and play a faster paced soukous inspired by rock n roll.[9] A group of students called Zaiko Langa Langa came together in 1969 around founding vocalist Papa Wemba. Pepe Kalle, a protégé of Grand Kalle, created the band Empire Bakuba together with Papy Tex and they too became popular.

Soukous now spread[s] across Africa and became an influence on virtually all the styles of modern African popular music including highlife, palm-wine music, taarab and makossa'"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT PEPE KALLE
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A9p%C3%A9_Kall%C3%A9
"Pépé Kallé, sometimes written as Pepe Kalle (November 30, 1951 – November 28, 1998) was a soukous singer, musician and bandleader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Pépé Kallé was born Kabasele Yampanya in Kinshasa (then Léopoldville) in the Belgian Congo, but later assumed his pseudonym in hommage to his mentor, Le Grand Kallé.

With a multi-octave vocal range and a dynamic stage presence, the 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) and 136 kg (300 lb) vocalist recorded more than three hundred songs and twenty albums[citation needed] during his two decade-long career. Known affectionately as "the elephant of African music" and "La Bombe Atomique,"[citation needed] Kallé entertained audiences with his robust performances.

His musical career started with l'African Jazz, the band of Le Grand Kallé. He later performed in Bella Bella and became the lead singer of Lipua Lipua, where he sang alongside Nyboma Mwandido. In 1972, Kallé along with Dilu Dilumona and Papy Tex, left Lipua Lipua to form their own band named Empire Bakuba. Empire Bakuba took its name from a Congolese warrior tribe, and it pointedly incorporated rootsy rhythms from the interior, sounds that had long been sidelined by popular rumba. The band was an instant hit, and together with Zaiko Langa Langa they became Kinshasa's most popular youth band. With hits such as Pépé Kallé's Dadou and Papy Tex's Sango ya mawa, the band was a constant fixture on the charts. They also created a new dance, the kwassa kwassa.

On their tenth anniversary in 1982, the band was voted Zaire's top group. Throughout the early 1980s, Empire Bakuba continued to tour extensively while releasing no less than four albums a year. By the mid eighties, they had a large following throughout Francophone Central and West Africa. His 1986 collaboration with Nyboma labelled Zouke zouke was one of the years top selling albums. But it was his second collaboration with Nyboma, Moyibi (1988), which launched his popularity throughout Africa."...

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: nyboma et pepe kalle - nina (avec dally kimoko)



djinamori777, Uploaded on Jul 22, 2009
-snip-
Unfortunately, I haven't found an English translation or English summary of this Lingala song.
In addition to the music, I love the dancing in this video. I wish the visual quality was better.

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EXAMPLES FROM THIS VIDEO'S VIEWER COMMENT THREAD
horridhenri, 2010
"Great music. kuasa kuasa at its best. with the most successful comedian Sans souci mokili ngonga(rip) Koko dia Nzombo et Kimbanseke papa alube. Pepe Kalle and Niboma what a ccombination. surely you made us dance and forget aour problems. Bless you all. keep up the good work. speak up for peace in congo."

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PierB33, 2010
"Ah quelle beaute... This song is simply great. The lyrics, the rythm, the singing, the arrangements, everything is simply great..."

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Marija Dominyka, 2010
in reply to Matt Sseru
"@mattsseru It is Dally Kimoko and Lokassa Ya Mbongo. Dally Plays lead and Lokassa plays the rythmn that you can hear in the background. :)"

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spicee221, 2010
"Nybomas' voice is like expensive silk....Flawless and exquisite. This is simply beautiful. Thanks for posting."

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horridhenri, 2010
"Great music. kuasa kuasa at its best. with the most successful comedian Sans souci mokili ngonga(rip) Koko dia Nzombo et Kimbanseke papa alube. Pepe Kalle and Niboma what a ccombination. surely you made us dance and forget aour problems. Bless you all. keep up the good work. speak up for peace in congo."

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Mr Jeno, 2010
'Reminds me of my childhood when my dad use to play this song every Saturday morning. I love it. Pure African music at it's best. This song may be old but it is still great."

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kamoquot, 2010
"the best lingala i av ever had"
-snip-
“Lingala” here is probably being used as a synonym for “soukous” / “African rumba”


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SuperKayaya, 2012
"Ils peuvent tout ravir aux congolais. Mais ils ne reusiront jamais à nous ravir nos talents et notre joie de vivre. Jamais."
-snip-
Google translate from French to English= “They can steal all Congolese. But they never reusiront to rob us our talents and joie de vivre. Ever.”

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Dennis Orina, 2013
"party anthem...taking u back way back .when music was still music...i mean b4 it became public noise...music wit lots of sense..heiyooo..pepe kalee...

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Mbilia Bel - "Faux Pas" (Congo)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a video of the Congolese female vocalist Mbilia Bel singing "Faux Pas". The lyrics of that song are provided by a YouTube commentor. Several other comments from that YouTube discussion thread are also provided in this post.

In addition, this post provides information about African rumba as well as information about Mbilia Bel.

The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Mbilia Bel for her musical legacy. Thanks also to all those quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube. Special thanks to Job Mokaya for providing the English translation of this song which is sung in the Lingala language.

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INFORMATION ABOUT AFRICAN RUMBA
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soukous
""Soukous", a derivative of the French word "secousse" – "to shake"[2] – was originally the name of a dance and music popular in the Congos in the late 1960s, an African version of the Cuban Rumba. From the 1940s, Afro-Cuban son groups such as Septeto Habanero and Trio Matamoros had been played over Radio Congo Belge in Léopoldville (Kinshasa), and the Congo shared the widespread popularity of Cuban music during the late 1940s and 1950s.[3]

To Africans, Cuban popular music sounded familiar[4] and Congolese bands started doing Cuban covers, singing the lyrics phonetically. Eventually they created original compositions with lyrics in French or Lingala, a "lingua franca" of the western Congo region. The Cuban horn guajeos were adapted to guitars.[5] The Congolese called this new music "rumba", though it was more based on "son"."

****
INFORMATION ABOUT MBILIA BEL
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M'bilia_Bel
"M'bilia Bel (born 1959) is a Congolese rumba singer, known as the Queen of Congolese rumba. She rose to fame after being discovered by Tabu Ley Rochereau.

Born in 1959 and brought up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, M'bilia Bel became successful in the early 1980s when she recorded and toured with Tabu Ley Rochereau, and made her own solo albums. The birth of her first child prompted her to take a break from performing, however, and after a last album with Tabu Ley in 1987, she moved to Paris. There she started working with guitarist Rigo Star, and between 1989 and 1990 she went on tour to the United States, the United Kingdom, and West Africa. With a combination of beauty, an angelic soprano voice, and tremendous agility on stage, M'bilia Bel stole the hearts of music fans all over the continent. She was Africa's first female transcontinental diva. She became the first female musician from Africa who could claim popularity all over the entire continent and beyond. In fact, one could argue that there has not been any female musician from Africa who has captured the imagination of music fans across the continent as much as M'bilia Bel did in the eighties. South African Miriam Makeba, known as Mama Afrika, popularity peaked in the 1960s but could not attract as many fans as M'bilia Bel did later."...

****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Congo - Mbilia Bel- Faux Pas



Seka Moke Uploaded on Jul 31, 2008

AFRICA FROM A-Z : CONGO - MBILIA BEL
-snip-

****
LYRICS - FAUX PAS (English translation)
(as sung by Mbilia Bel)

Note: These lyrics were posted by Job Mokaya, 2013 in four comments to this YouTube discussion thread. Aside for the first comment given, given the way that YouTube publishes comments, I'm not sure if I'm reproducing the comments in the lyrics in the order that they were posted.


"LYRICS: “Faux pas” means “Wrong move” or “Wrong act” A song of Tabu Ley Rochereau, sang by the queen Mbilia Bel: [Verse] Stay there where you are, I’ve heard that you are requesting my address So you are being send by my rival I want you to forget my man now. I can’t fight you because I’m peaceful I’ve been hearing about you quite for some time. You’re being send to take my man away from me. Go back to where you are coming from. Ask to those who know about me when I go crazy.

What can I say now, who is that one making a big mounth claiming my man? Oh no, I can’t believe it, this is embarrassing, oh no, not to me M’bilia; The type of marriage we get ourself into has many faces. You wake up in the morning and you are being confroted with infidelity; You feel like going crasy, Not knowing what else to do, Oh no, not me M’bilia; In our time poligamy is taken lightly; In the time past it was dignified. Where is all of this leading us to? and to where are we taking this?"

I’ve been hearing about you quite for some time. Where ever I would go you would inquire about my whereabout. You’re being sent by my rival. But the one sending you is fooling herself. Now she’s sending you to get my man for her, but at the same time, you yourself start to fall in love with him. “You can not leave a goat along with kassava leaves”. You should know that the man is mine; You and your friend are temporary. I’m not strong enough to fight, but with my words I can piece you off

Rivalry is very painful, heartbreaking. You’re coming from “I don’t know where” and you want to kate my man away from me; I would lose my mind and I will do anything to prove you otherwise. A rival is only a “rival”. What friendship should we have? What you don’t want done to you, don’t do it to another. It hurt, it’s heart breaking. Now what else can I tell you? The man is mine. Who are you to claim my man? This is crasy. This is embarrassing! oh no; not me Mbilia"

****
OTHER COMMENTS FROM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uewh-SIiI64

****
LusaMonene1, 2013
"So the song is about love rivalry, good work Mokaya."

****
faustino henrique, 2013
"Many Thanks, Mr. Job Mokaya, because most of us doesn´t know understande Lingala and a translation in Portuguse, English or French (for me, in this case) is very useful. Once again, many thanks."

****
hombredeciencia, 2009
"Esta canción se escuchó mucho en la costa norte de Colombia en los años 80s. Tiene un ritmo Bárbaro. todo un exitazo. This song on a lot on the north coast of Colombia in the 80s. Barbaro has a rhythm. everything a hit. where can I get the letter.

****
Herrick OCHOM, 2009
"I adore this lady so much that she remains me off my past while i was growing up kid in kampala in the mids 80s. where are you these days. beautifull musics and the voice..ooh my god.."

****
yankin, 2012
"a CLASSIC!"

****
ALEX CARLOS NUÑEZ SALVO, 2013
"this song in my city Barranquilla Colombia, was and will remain a success in folk dances. Mbilia Was there she knows."

****
Revocatus Nyefwe, 2013
"Every one at the age of 30 on in tanzania knows mbilia and we love her..........she used to stole all the night clubd performance and bits"

****
missevegee, 2013
"Its nice to hear that our beautiful mbilia is so appreciated by people outside congo. She is congo's dearest pride in music. She sings in Lingala which is the native language of the democratic republic of congo. I am planning to translate her music for all her non-congolese fans :)))"

****
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Skool Boy (Skooly) - "Na Na Boo Boo" & The "Na Na Na Naa Na" Taunt

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a sound file of & lyrics for the song "Na Na Boo Boo" by Skool Boy. This post also provides some information about Skool Boy (Skooly) and includes selected comments from that sound file's discussion thread.

The Addendum to this post also presents some examples of & links to comments about the "na na na naa na" ("na na na boo boo" and similar constructs) saying or rhymes which inspired the title & some of the lyrics of this song.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Skool Boy for recording this song. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

****
INFORMATION ABOUT SKOOL BOY
http://www.mtv.com/artists/rich-kidz/biography/
"It’s been said that the greatest Rap movements start out small, but for Atlanta’s own Rich Kidz, a strong hustle has produced big results. Bred from the same Bankhead streets as T.I., the duo comprised of RKaelub and Skateboard Skooly started their movement in 2008, in the halls of Frederick Douglass High School. Kaelub, a senior at the time was putting together a crew called the Rich Kidz and recruited young Skateboard Skooly.

An introductory track "Wassup" featuring then freshman Skooly was recorded and took Atlanta by storm. Later during an opportunity to record at Grand Hustle Studios they recorded a catchy track entitled "My Partna Dem" which eventually charted on Billboard's Hip-Hop/R&B chart.

After five years, Rich Kidz have five street-albums and several successes under their belts. ..
The hustle has officially paid off, and the stage is now set for the Rich Kidz’ major label debut. Recognizing their hardcore grassroots efforts, Columbia Records readily signed the duo and added them to their roster of legends (and soon to be legends) in the Rap game. Prior to their signing, the Rich Kidz signed themselves to their own imprint label Rich Kidz Music Group, LLC. "...

****
FEATURED VIDEO: Skool Boy - Na Na Boo Boo



SWaggBanger13, Uploaded on Dec 22, 2010

Old Ass Song
-snip-
A number of commenters on this sound file's discussion thread mentioned that this was an "old jam". I haven't been able to find out when it was released by Skool Boy (Rich Kidz) but one commenter who posted a comment in 2010 mentioned that its tune was very popular as a ring tone [for cell phones] in 2009. That doesn't seem that old to me. I don't know if the commenters meant that the song itself had been previously recorded by someone else before this particular recording.

****
LYRICS: NA NA BOO BOO
(recorded by Skool Boy)

Na na boo boo
Oh na na na na boo boo
Oh na na na na boo boo
Oh na na na na boo boo

Oh na na na na boo boo
[Yeah yeah yeah!!]
Oh na na na na boo boo
Oh na na na na boo boo
Oh na na na na boo boo
Nana na boo boo
Who gon stop me

You won’t stop me
Since you left me
I’ve been happy
Count my blessings
No my messin
She’s my heaven
Since you left me
I’ll be happy
I’ll be happy
Look at me smile now
Feel like a child now

Every time see your face I feel alone
Every time I see your face I feel strong
And every time I hear your voice I get mad
Hope you understand
Yeah I want the best of you
Betcha that I learned my lesson
No more stressin
I've got my blessing like
Na na boo boo

Na na na boo boo
Who gon stop me
Got my blessings
No more stressin
Seem like heaven

Nanna boo boo
Since you left me
I've been happy
I've been happy
Hurt for a while now
Look at me smile now
Feel like a child now

Every time I see your face
I feel alone
And every time I see your face I feel strong
And every time I hear your voice I mad
Hope you understand
Yeah, I want the best for you.
I have learned my lesson
No more stressing
I've got my blessing
like

Na na na na boo boo
I’m steppin out
I’m gonna get myself a pretty young thang
Bring her back home and Imma make her sang
And you aint even gonna be on my mind
I think you did me a favor this time
Stick my hands in my ear and stick my tongue out baby
-snip-
Transcribed from the recording by Azizi Powell with considerable use of comments found in this sound file's viewer comment thread that were posted by YanBan123, 24lildc24, PrettyLuPooh, 116TwettyBird. and Cutie Pie (all in 2011). Those commenters all focused on the "Every time I see your face" verse and the lyrics that begin with "I’m gonna get myself a pretty young thang" portions of this song. Except for the way they spelled the words, those commenters agree with the above transcription of those portions except for Cutie Pie's substitution of the word "her" in the line "Every time I see your face I feel strong".

I'm not certain that this is an accurate complete transcription of this song. Additions and corrections are welcome.

****
RANDOM COMMENTS ABOUT THE LYRICS TO THIS SONG
School Boy's record "Na Na Bo Bo" is a song about a man's reaction to the break-up between he and his girlfriend. Because many people experience conflicting emotions during and after a break-up, it's fitting that in some parts of the song the man says that he is happy and professes that the woman did him a favor ending the relationship, and in other parts of the song confesses that he feels alone, and is mad. As one commenter wrote "this song is a little sad".

Yet, what seems to resonate with most of the commenters on that sound file's lengthy viewer comment thread is the singer's use of the taunting ditty "na na na boo boo".

The "stick your tongue out" portion of the last line in the song is lifted from a defiant gesture that young children often do when they are taunting someone. "The stick your hand in your ear" is usually given as "put your finger in your ear". "Putting your finger in your ear" means conveys that you aren't listening to what the person who is talking to you is saying.

It occurs to me that in the context of this song, the double word "boo boo" may retain the meaning of a small accident or something that is done wrong and may also carry the meaning of "boo" ("beau"; a person's romantic boyfriend or girlfriend) as it is used in African American culture. Notice that usage in bigalo3222's and tjaxretro's comments given below.

****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THAT SOUND FILE'S DISCUSSION THREAD
There are 545 comments to that discussion thread as of 8:30 PM April 22, 2014. That is a large number of comments for a R&B/Hip-Hop song that wasn't a best selling record.

Here are a very small number of those comments, presented under the year that they were posted to that discussion thread but not necessarily in the order that they are found on that thread.

WARNING: This youTube viewer comment thread contains a lot of profanity although most of it is complimentary such as "that's my sh&t" with that word either spelled that way or similarly or completely spelled out. In addition, this viewer comment thread includes the "positive" use of the four letter form of the "n word", and also contains a few sexually explicit comments.

2010
Malik Ricks
"RK4L
Rich Kidz for life."
**
StardustSwagg133 years ago
"Love dis songg.! oldd forreall but RichKidz brought it backk.!"
-snip-
Notice the contemporary (what I call "Hip-Hop/texting") style of spelling in this comment. That spelling style is found in most of the comments in that thread. A feature of that spelling style is a disregard for standard spelling, and standard rules for capitalization & punctuation.

**
UMEEZEDMFCCBOYZ
"OLD BUT STILL FYA LOL"
-snip-
fya = fire. Another contemporary spelling of "fire" is "fie". This use of "fire" is similar to saying something or someone is "hot" or something is "cooking", "smoking" or "burning up". All those words mean that something or someone is very good.
**
ImBree2YhuuLamess
"Itss Somethinqq Bout Thiss SOnqq Thass So Addictinqq.! iLike It nOw.!"
-snip-
I think the seemingly random capitalization in this sentence & its multiple letters in some of its words reflect the importance in Hip Hop "languaging" regarding the way words (including names)look, and not only the way that they are spelled. Of course, in that Hip Hop languaging words should be spelled closer to the way that they are pronounced, and should convey uniqueness. And of course, that style of writing, spelling, and talking is used by young people (more than us old heads) because it is considered to be "hip" or conveys "swag".
**
bri mullins
"im glad they finally put dis song on here dis my song"
-snip-
"dis" = this; not to be confused with "diss" = to insult
**
2011
Danielle Nikole Colton
"everybody tht got a problem i hust look at 'em and be like "Na Na Boo Boo" aha"
**
swaggakiidtrey
"I remember everyone had this ringtone. My shyt used to play before my teacher got in class. Everyone had thiss ringtone last year."
**
zonethreesha
"skooley go in on any song no matter what the beat is!"
-snip-
"To go in" ("to go in hard)" means to give something your all & do it very well. The phrase "to go in" is also used in Church Of God In Christ congregations to mean "get happy"/"feel the Spirit" and cut a Holy dance. I wonder whether the secular or religious meaning came first, and if the secular meaning carries some of that religious meaning of freely expressing yourself (while you are feeling the Holy Spirit).
**
EvilRoyjin
"THIS GO HARD"
**
anthonycooks93
"dis dat fie song bruh....even thoe its soooo old"
-snip-
In standard English this comment would be given as "This is that fire song, brother...even though its soooo old".
**
bigalo3222
"i luv dhiz song it make me think of my boo :) #luving him"
**
tjaxretro
"10 people aint got no boo boo!"
-snip-
Editor's explanation - 10 people downrated this song [using the YouTube voting system in which viewers could vote thumbs up or thumbs downl. However, “boo boo” here is play on the word “boo”- African American form of the French word “beau” meaning your boyfriend or girlfriend.
**
bigalo3222
"i luv dhiz song it make me think of my boo :) #luving him"
**
barbie40121
"love dis song <3" ****

ADDENDUM: EXAMPLES OF & COMMENTS ABOUT THE "NA NA NA NAA NA" ("NA NA NA BOO BOO") TAUNT/TEASING SAYING/RHYMES

Here's an American children's taunting rhyme that includes the "na na na boo boo" saying:

"Na na na boo boo
stick your head in doo-doo."

Another version of the "na na na naa na" ("na na na boo boo") taunt/teasing saying is "neener neener neener". Here's a rhyme that includes that form of that taunt:
"neener neener neener".
you don't have a wiener!"

Here's a link to the first of three blog posts by phonetician John Wells's blog on this taunting saying http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.sg/2011/07/nuh-nuh.html. Those blog posts are the most comprehensive that I've read online about this subject.

****
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What "Reading Someone", "Throwing Shade", & "No Tea No Shade" Mean

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides information & comments about the vernacular terms "reading someone", "throwing shade", and the vernacular saying "no tea no shade". One video blog on this subject with a partial transcription is included in this post.

The content of this post is provided for cultural and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of this video on YouTube.

WARNING: Most YouTube videos & viewer comment threads about reading and throwing shade contain profanity and other content that may be considered objectionable.

I consider the examples of profanity in this post, including in the featured video, to be mild profanity, i.e. the words "bitch" and "ass". Another somewhat mild "curse word" is given with partial spelling. (Remember I'm a grandmother. So give me some slack, okay? Thanks.)

AND AS A BONUS - a video of Reading Is Fundamental from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4 along with a few comments from that video's viewer comment thread

****
WHAT "READING" MEANS
From http://www.waywordradio.org/throw_shade/
"Reading, Reading to filth — To really let someone have it; to insult or criticize.

Ex: Well, if I see her out tonight, I will read her to filth. I will tear her sh&& up like newspaper.

**
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=read
"Read
To tell someone about themself, mostly used by gay black men.

"That was a read honey!"
"Don't do it honet,* I will read your ass"
by Darren December 03, 2004
-snip-
"honet" may be a typo for "honey" or "hunty" . Click http://www.buzzfeed.com/saeedjones/a-beginners-guide-to-drag-speak for information about that word.

**
Read
"n. a taunt or mockery. A phrase or word used to mock someone in a humorous way.

When she said that you should have taken the receipt with your haircut, that was a read."

by Xing Shuay June 06, 2009

**
From http://www.buzzfeed.com/saeedjones/a-beginners-guide-to-drag-speak
"verb: to insult someone ruthlessly without breaking a sweat; see: Mariah Carey every time she refers to Nicki Minaj.

“Oh, miss thing. You don’t want it. I will read you six feet under and then twerk on your grave.”

****
[Addition April 8, 2014]
Example of the use of "reading for filth"
"I am so tired of Courtney reading Joslyn for filth. I was rooting for her at the beginning, but her attitude is starting to turn me off. She just seems really pretentious and honestly I'm surprised the judges aren't reading her for her consistent middle-of-the-road performances. Ugh. /rant" http://www.reddit.com/r/rupaulsdragrace/comments/22hnsr/season_6_episodes_7_8_rupersized_postepisode/ "RuPaul Drag Race's discussion- season 6,episodes 7 & 8"
-snip-
Another commenter said that Laganja knew the difference between those two words, but she was just being clever.

****
WHAT "THROWING SHADE" MEANS
From http://gawker.com/5980303/go-ahead-and-throw-all-the-shade-you-want-straight-people
Rich Juzwiak "Go Ahead and Throw All the Shade You Want, Straight People (1/30/13)

"When I want to explain exactly what shade (as in "throwing shade") is, I refer back to the expert words of Dorian Corey in Jennie Livingston's Paris Is Burning: "Shade is, ‘I don't tell you you're ugly, but I don't have to tell you because you know you're ugly.' And that's shade."...

The subtle shade that Corey speaks of is a rarity. ....Subtlety is a dying art, which you understand if you've ever been misunderstood on the Internet. Shade is a form of expression, and expression must shift to accommodate modern media. The form and understanding of it was bound to water down...

We remember the queens of Paris Is Burning; we remember how they lived and most of us do so in admiration. The proliferation of "throwing shade" is a small victory for them, a happy ending of sorts for people who thought a lot about the mark they were leaving, a realization of what was once all a dream. When we use it, we are saying "hooray for them," and we are serious, no tea no shade.

****
From http://www.waywordradio.org/throw_shade/
Posted by Grant Barrett on January 4, 2006
"throw shade
throw shade v. phr. to take a superior attitude; to criticize, demean, or insult; to diss or derogate. Editorial Note: This term has is most often associated with Black English, but it is also said to be used among gay and cross-dressing performers and club-goers. Etymological Note: Probably related to shade, v., which means “to defeat, to outdo” and dates to at least as early as 1925 and also to the far more common put in/throw in the shade with the same meaning. A mild form of the term was popularized during the late 1980s and early 1990s when the much-hyped dance and peformance style of “voguing” came to widespread attention. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)"

****
WHAT "NO TEA NO SHADE" MEANS
From http://www.realitynation.com/tv-shows/rupauls-drag-race/drag-queen-lingo-dictionary/23856/#_is=1p3t37yfyodshywg1vwh3pbgmh

"No T, No Shade — No disrespect. According to RuPaul herself via Twitter: “No T No Shade = I’m not trying to come for you or offend you, but this is what its really like.”

**
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=No%20Tea%20No%20Shade
"No Tea No Shade
A phrase meaning:
I'm not trying to come for you or offend you, but this is what its really like.

A phrase you add at the beginning or the end of a sentence that can be seen as negative to somebody, but its not supposed to be, and just stating the obvious.

Ex. 1 - Girl! No Tea No Shade, but you need to fix your hair.

Ex. 2 - Girl please! I can't get with some one I'm not attracted to, No Tea No Shade!
by <3qaadir September 12, 2009

**

From http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120510161850AAa6f98
What does no tea no shade mean from RuPaul show?

Neil answered 2011
"As you wrote, it is 'no tea no shade'.

It is used at the beginning of a sentence and means, "I'm not trying to offend you..." and then they go right ahead and offend you."

****
SHOWCASE VIDEO : Welcome To Reading and Shade 101



Will Howard, Published on Jan 6, 2014

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am here today to give you lessons in reading and throwing shade, along with history and tips. This is Reading and Shade 101! Class is in session!

Credits: Music "Throwing Shade" - Shaun Bentley
Movie Clips: "Paris Is Burning"

For more references on reading and throwing shade, check these YouTube Videos and Accounts out:
Got To Be Real Parody (LaBelleOfTheBall2)
Hater's Mansion (Phabian Mitchell)
The Legends Panel (ithl123)

Take Care everyone!!!
-snip-
Excerpts from that video:
"Reading (v) to insult
(looking for a flaw and then making it bigger)"...

“If you can’t read, stay out of the library.” [Don’t attempt to give a person an insult if you don’t know how to read]...

"Shade – (n) a subtle insult in the form of a question/statement.
Basically I’m insulting you, but at the same time I’m not.

Throwing shade (v) – the act of shading.
Two ways that you can throw shade
1. Non-verbal (for instance, give a side eye, look a person up and down, flip their hair to insult someone elses’ hair)
2. Verbal:
Example:
First person -"Hey you looked good in that movie I seen last night.
Second person- Movie? What movie? I was never in no movie. What movie could you be talking about?
First person – Planet of the Apes.

Tips:
1. Be creative [Throwing shade is a art form, a skill, a mindset]
2. Have the right poise [look confident and relaxed. The last thing you want to look like is intimidated]
3. Tone and Expression (Delivery is EVERYTHING)

...Don’t forget, “reading is fundamental”."
-snip-
"Reading Is Fundamental" is the name of a widely known in the USA reading (books) readiness program.

****
BONUS: RuPaul's Drag Race: Reading is Fundamental - Season 4 - LogoTV



Logo TV, Published on Sep 11, 2013
-snip-
Explanation of Sharon Needle's read on Dida Ritz, and African American contestant:
inasexymood, 2013
"I was inspired by your knees." lmaoooooooooooooooooo!

Reply
Dadacomero, 2014
"l didn't get it ? can u explain it ,please?
(l'm italian)"

Reply
inasexymood, 2014
"+Dadacomero Sharon is saying her spooky 'gray' drag aesthetic was inspired by Dida's ashy knees (dry skin, especially around knees and elbows, tend to look grayish, 'ashy'. Everyone can have it, but on darker skin it's more obvious). Exquisite read."

Reply
Dadacomero, 2014
"loooooooooooooooooool
X'D thank u!"
-snip-
Additional comments from that video's viewer comment thread:
Taose HunHan, 2013
"Phi Phi can dish it but she can't take it. She was THE WORST and how rude of her to say that Sharon was weak when all she did was call people names. Shade is about insulting without being to obvious or in your face Phi Phi."

**
Anthony DeVeaux, 2014
"There's a difference between reading and offending people, Phi Phi. Take notes."

**
Chris Horn, 2013
"Why is it that the girls who throw the most shade throughout the competition (Tati, Phi Phi, Roxxxy) are always the ones who 1) Are crap at the reading mini-challenge and 2) Always make a narky comment when their "enemy" reads them?
I mean the nerve of Phi Phi saying "That was a weak one" when all of her reads were pathetic and tryhard."

**
OrangeXenon54, 2013
"No offense to Latrice, who I LOVEEEEEEEEEE, but Sharon obv won that one, especially when he turned Phi Phi's joke on her during his time."

**
Tony Lewis Williams, 2013
"Sharon, I love how you rocked the Party City!" "That's where I got your Lady Gaga wig!" LIVE FOR SHARON! xD"

**
timemonkey, 2013
"You know a queen is crap at reading when the person they're trying to read reads them better with their own material."

**
WaterElementall, 2013
"Everyone was reading except phi phi. Reading isn't trying to embarrass the person. Everyone else was HILARIOUS and in no hostile way what so ever. I love it! "

**
Frederica Bimble, 2013
"I like Latrice's laugh when Dida says, 'you don't have to rock the prison yard look anymore'."

****
BONUS 2: March 7, 2014
Here's a comment from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7Zt8Z5B8Eo "RuPaul's Drag Race - Dragged to the Dark Side - LogoTV" about throwing shade and Gia, a contestant from Season 6:
Misterms Reason, 2014
..."Gia does not understand the foundation of throwing shade and just uses cliches like a parrot with zero understanding . A ladyboy mincing around a room being rude is no more throwing shade, than Susan Boyle in a bikini is being a Sports Illustrated model. Shade is a form of satire a word Gia clearly does not understand as it possess more than 2 letters. Now that is shade,"

****
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Bioshock 2 & Bessie Smith's "Nobody Loves You When You're Down And Out"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents a sample of comments that mention Bioshock 2 that were posted to the discussion thread of a video of Bessie Smith's 1929 rendition of a Blues song. That song, "Nobody Loves You When You're Down And Out", was included in the Bioshock 2 video game.

This video is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes. These comments are presented for cultural and sociological purposes. Read more about my reasons for showcasing these comments in the section below.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Bessie Smith for this powerful song. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Bessie Smith (Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out, 1929) Jazz Legend



RagtimeDorianHenry, Uploaded on Jun 4, 2009

Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out (1929)
-snip-
Click http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_smith_bessie.htm for information about Bessie Smith (1894-1937)

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GENERAL OVERVIEW ABOUT YOUTUBE COMMENT THREADS AND YOUTUBE COMMENTS
It's my position that certain YouTube video viewer comments can be considered cultural artifacts that can provide information about a particular subject or subjects and/or reveal societal attitudes about people, places, or things. Presenting a sample of YouTube comments from the same viewer comment thread can give a sense of some of the ways that interactions occur on YouTube comment threads. YouTube viewer comments also demonstrate the ways that language is used -including the use of slang and text talk - and the customs that people use in self-selecting internet user names. Because I take a folkloric approach in editing pancocojams, a number of pancocojams blog posts include selected examples of YouTube comments about its featured videos. In addition, a few pancocojams posts focus on particular categories of user names that YouTube commenters give themselves.

However, the way that YouTube comments are presented makes responses to comments and conversations between commenters difficult to follow. In large part this is because comments are usually posted in descending order with the newest comments posted first. As a result, when reading the comment thread from top to bottom which is the usual way that threads are read, comments written in response to a particular comment are often found before that comment. One way that a response to a comment is identified is when the responder begins his or her comment with "@ ____ [the name of the person who wrote the comment which is being responded to]. However, some responders don't use that format. Adding to the possibility for confusion in reading YouTube video comments is the fact that some commenter’s names have changed because of YouTube’s promotion of people using their real names instead of screen names. Consequently, some responses to comments refer to the original commenter's screen name instead of the person's "real name". It also appears that some commenters have exchanged one "made up" user name for another "made up" user name. Furthermore, YouTube has changed their viewer comment format, deleting the "like" and "dislike" options (around the end of 2013), but those options are still mentioned in older comments.

It should also be said that a major problem with many YouTube viewer comment threads (including this showcased video's comment threads) is that a number of the comments include profanity. Readers of many YouTube viewer comment threads should also be advised that those threads may contain racist language, homophobic language, sexual explicit content and other objectionable content.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR COMPILATION
The viewer comment thread for the video "Bessie Smith (Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out, 1929) Jazz Legend" is found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MzU8xM99Uo

As of 11:50 AM. Feb 28, 2014 there were 985 comments. At least ½ of the comments refer to Bioshock 2, Bioshock, some other specific videogame, or videogames in general.

These selected comments are grouped by the year that they were posted on YouTube, with the oldest comments presented first (along with any comments that are or appear to be posted in response to that comment). However, with the exception of that sub-group, these comments aren't presented in any consecutive order. In some cases, responding comments are given without the comment that they respond to.

The only examples of profanity that I include in the comments in this compilation is what I consider to be the mild profanity "damn", "ass", and "hell". Other examples of profanity within these comments are represented by the phrase in brackets "profanity deleted"].

These comments are numbered for references purposes only and are given as is without any editorial comments.

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SELECTED COMMENTS
2009
1. anthonyvvs
lol I heard of her from Bioshock 2 as well... Funny how a good video game can make someone so much more popular and bring their works back to the current times (more than it already is, of course)

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2. fiury5i
people who havent played the first bioshock loves bioshock 2, however people who played first one dont find the sequal at the same level as the first one

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3. fiury5i
people who havent played the first bioshock loves bioshock 2, however people who played first one dont find the sequal at the same level as the first one

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4. Raphael Stoker
Oh Bioshock 2 brought me here, but Bessie Smith kept me here. People need to realise that some 'games', such as bioshock and L.A Noire, should be held in as high regard as some films. It's art. Sorry to change the subject, this song really is lovely.

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2010
5. jackram2h2
in reply to Shelly Wilkinson
@shellybelly2895 Bioshock is a an extremely good first person shooter.It takes place in the under sea city called rapture.Thats another story....But the reason why people are commenting about Bioshock is because it takes place in The 50's and 60's and on each loading before the level begins the play these types of songs.This one specifically.They also have old record players lying around playing this music.It's games like Bioshock that got me to like this music :)

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6. Fernando Blake
Thanks bioshock thanks 4 show me this amazing music :D

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7. Craziness714
Thanks Bioshock and Fallout, for introducing to some amazing music I wouldn't have listened to otherwise. =)

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8. Nunya DirtySanchez
Youre a DAM FOOL if Bioshock brought your young ass here and you should be ashamed..now that youve learned.. go teach your friends :D

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9. Justin Huffman
Warning: if you actually purchase the Bioschock 2 Sountrack, this song IS NOT there... i don't get it. They do include the second best song: the trouble with me is you, though. I downloaded it just for this song and it's not there... [profanity deleted]??

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10. sagat4
It is possible that game developers are trying to rekindle interest in these great lost songs. I play games occasionally and have never heard good music like this. I know my stuff but life is a learning experience:)

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11. samtheposter
in reply to WEJIRC
@WEJIRC Hi there, the music was used as a loading screen for Bioshock 2. The game itself is excellent and the way the music compliments the theme of the game is superb. In many ways it has brought back quite a few older songs into todays lifestyle and a lot of gamers will never forget the music now. I myself have searched youtube for all of the songs from the game and have stumbled on some real legends :-)

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12. Emma Pinkney
this song makes me want to play bioshock 2 all day!!

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13. Phazonin
Her voice is incredible. So powerful... thank you Bioshock 2 loading screen.

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14. thecatman00
in reply to Phazonin
@Phazonin It's incredible the way you can cultivate good art to help make other good art, I am especially impressed by said connection between blues and videogames

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15. thedogisoflove
I love this dang stupid song. I of course first heard it on Bioshock 2. For a minute, I was like: "Is that Billy Holiday?" Then I thought, "Nooooooo! That's definately not her." Now I know who it is! I love it if you let Grace live, and you go back down to the last floor to gather Adam, you can hear Grace singing this song over the PA too.

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16. Justin Huffman
this is Grace Holloway not Bessie Smith

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17. tjovaughn
in reply to Justin Huffman
@aspacelot ....grace holloway is a VIDEO GAME CHARACTER. Bessie Smith is REAL. got it? eh? not so hard to figure out smart-[profanity deleted]. gawd.

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18. TGCVugi
iwe heard this song @ my friend, his kid played bioshock 2,, and i will tell you something, it's so damn true, this song touches me in the heart!

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19. F14ace
6 people have no musical taste whatsoever. This song is great for BioShock because it basically describes the story of Rapture. Well, except for the genetically spliced nutjobs running around everywhere. There is also a good lesson to be learned from this song.

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20. jackram2h2
in reply to Shelly Wilkinson
@shellybelly2895 Bioshock is a an extremely good first person shooter.It takes place in the under sea city called rapture.Thats another story....But the reason why people are commenting about Bioshock is because it takes place in The 50's and 60's and on each loading before the level begins the play these types of songs.This one specifically.They also have old record players lying around playing this music.It's games like Bioshock that got me to like this music :)

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2011
James Last
in reply to khal eesi
@jujabyummy bioshock is a game based in the 20's-30's i think. its not to bad kinda intence at points though

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21. Bonbeck100
Thumbs up if you're here not because of bisoshock, just because you love Bessie Smith

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22. 420Cannabis
why are you guys so proud of needing a video game to discover good music?

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23. Dee Lazarus
Personally, I have no idea what 'Bioshock' is, nor do I care to discover. I think it's great that peoples end up here listening to this, regardless of the source of their original interest, but I would query why these same folks have this burning need to proclaim "The Simpsons brought me here!!!" and then say nothing of the singer and song. Come on guys and gals - can and should do better. Best wishes for the future, PP. x

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24. alen mathew
thumbs up if [profanity deleted] bioshock DIDNT bring you here..and you have REAL taste in music..

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25. Skirlasvoud
in reply to alen mathew
@amathew711 Oi! How's real taste in music defined by the way it came to you? :P Maybe the makers of Bioshock had enough taste to select this particular piece for their game, making it a real tasteful game? Let's reach a middleground after I bought a CD with this stuff, THANKS to Bioshock: We BOTH love this music and at least we're nog listening to Carla Bruni.

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26. 0m
in reply to alen mathew
@amathew711 who cares whether or not bioshock turned people onto this music or not? (a) that's beside the point, because the music's still lovely, and (b) if a modern classic sci-fi/horror story can instill interest in this music for new generations, where's the harm in that? you ever played the bioshock games? because not only are they super fun to play, the plots are unbelievably genius. it's genuine storytelling up there with huxley, bradbury and their ilk. don't hate. bioshock rules. :-P

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27. Cleaver Mama
in reply to alen mathew
@amathew711 Why does Bioshock bringing someone here mean that they don't have a 'real' taste in music? Shouldn't you be happy that they know about the song at all, and are giving a talented artist the recognition she deserves, rather than worrying about how they found the song?

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28. Cyconik
Music like this needs to be spread. If its being spread to youth by a video game, so be it. I actually just happened across this song. I didn't know it was in Bioshock, but I've played it before too. Come on people, as long as its being spread, its being spread!

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29. Raphael Stoker
Oh Bioshock 2 brought me here, but Bessie Smith kept me here. People need to realise that some 'games', such as bioshock and L.A Noire, should be held in as high regard as some films. It's art. Sorry to change the subject, this song really is lovely.

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30. Stephenthecupcake101
in reply to Raphael Stoker
@AstinTheDawg same here, that was my favorite level in bioshock2. Loved the idea of a gehto in Rapture, now I love this music, gotta get some of her stuff. Back when music had meaning in the words.

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31. Stephenthecupcake101
in reply to khal eesi
@jujabyummy Best game of 2007. But this is from the sequal. The game was about an underwater city that was supposed to be absent in government, but went to hell. One hell of a good story, I highly recomend it.

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32. sonicscreamingblue
What the [profanity deleted] is Bioshock and why do people keep alluding to it on a blues video?

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33. HERBLANDZ
in reply to sonicscreamingblue
@sonicscreamingblue a video game that plays that palys 20 and 30s music while u kill people underwater or some [profanity deleted] i never liked that game but its pretty huge in sales

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34. ReptilianWhisperer
I played Bioshock and it did not bring me here, but I still ended up here. I guess I just got lucky. Legendary voice...Miss Bessie Smith

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35. Ray De La Peña
it shouldn't matter where people get their music source, as long as they listen and like it at some point in time.. i think.

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36. drivenedge007
but you have to admit,younger folks would not get any exposure to "real" music if it weren't for those video games......good music at any means necessary...

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37. kwilli93
Thumbs up if you're happy Bioshock educated thousands of gamers to Bessie Smiths greatness.

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38. Wafflehaus
I don't care if it took a video game to bring you here.. if you enjoy the song that's good enough in my book. Hopefully the song can spark an interest in blues/jazz history.

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39. Reverb Twang
idk what bioshock is but welcome to the world of Bessie Smith !!!!!

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40. PunkRockFreak09
in reply to Reverb Twang
@moondog50002000 It's a video game that takes place in about 1960's and plays this kind of music. In fact Bioshock notorious for using music like Bessie's. I'll say Bioshock did not bring me here, which is odd because I played it before I discovered Bessie, but it is a good game to find good music. Hell I wouldn't never even thought of this music before it.

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41. Riitzni
lol'ing at people looking down their nose at games. For those of you oblivious to society, some games introduce songs like this to people that would otherwise never hear them. That's more than most of you sitting on your computers whining about it can say. I understand though that having a person or radio bring you this song is a far better way to hear about it. Oh wait, it's the same. Idiots.

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42. cwcwful
in reply to Nathan Sanchez [posted in 2012]
@thesickdancer I am not asking to be a jerk, but what is Bioshock? Just curious. For what it's worth, I promise not to get involved in the debate.

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43. Dattebayo04 [posted in 2012]
in reply to cwcwful
Bioshock is a popular steampunk video game

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44. Nozomi
I'm sad that this song wasn't on the Bioshock 2 official soundtrack. It took me a while to find it.

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2012
45. Shishio Makoto
Merci Bioshock pour m'avoir fait découvrir cette artiste! Un jeu magnifique pour une chanteuse magnifique!

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FunkyTownGhost
46. I was listened this song on Bioshock 2. It's "Pauper's Drop's" theme music. These words, this voice... I'm really, really love that angel voice- women...

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47. 63toes
I don't care where you from, what brought you here, or where you going. Let's just enjoy this sweet sad music

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48. buttercupfirefly
hearing this song or any other song does from a video game or tv show does not make you any less "with it" cool or intelligent then someone who was brought up listening to it. Everyones music taste is due to outside influence- media, family or seeking it out yourself. I just think that people who say "i knew this before Bioshock" really need to get a life

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49. jasonvoorhees12345
If I lived in rapture. I would have gone down to just hear her sing everyday

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2013
50. gun1987gunn
It doesn't matter if people heard this on Bioshock and love it. Let them appreciate a great song. Game developers introducing the younger generation to old classics is a good thing. Stop you moaning and let everyone enjoy the song.

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51. gnarles trevor
I didn't realize that I absolutely love listening to music like this until I played Bioshock haha

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52. TearShatter
Bioshock <3 Introduced me to so much great older music.

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53. Zé Maconha
in reply to TearShatter
When this song played, I used to wait and stare at the loading screen until the end of the song

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2014
54. Juan Vazquez
Thank you bioshock 2 for introducing me to this amazing voice

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55. mondenkindqueen
Me too. I know some folks will get on to you for that, but people shouldn't care how a fellow fan is introduced to a great artist. If it weren't for Bioshock 2, I'd be missing out on this blues legend.

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Black Choir Processionals - Marching With The Right Hand Held Up (St James Missionary Baptist Church - "How I Got Over" )

Edited by Azizi Powell

[formerly titled "Old School Black Church Choir March"]

This post showcases an example of an African American church choir march (choir procession) from 1996 in which the choir members marched with their right hand held up. This featured video is of St James Missionary Baptist Church (Detroit, Illinois) marching into the sanctuary singing the African American religious song "How I Got Over".

This post includes selected viewer comments about the African American custom of choir processionals. My comments about why I think African American church processionals are so rarely done now are also included in this post.

UPDATE: May 21, 2014: Video of another African American choir marching with their right hand raised

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, religious, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the choir director, and all the vocalists and musicians who are featured in this post, thanks to Marcel West for publishing this video on YouTube, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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FEATURED EXAMPLE: St. James Adult Choir - How I Got Over



Marcel West·Uploaded on Jul 26, 2008

St. James Adult Choir singing "How I Got Over" in 1996.
-snip-
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRdJJReM59k for another rendition of "How I Got Over" by the S. James Reunion Choir.

Also, click http://www.lyricstime.com/mahalia-jackson-how-i-got-over-lyrics.html for the lyrics to this song as sung by Mahalia Jackson.

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SELECTED COMMENTS
From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBuz-zRVGb0 about choir marches
These comments are not in consecutive order. They are presented in chronological order with the oldest year's comments given first. The comments are numbered for references purposes only.

1. blessedover, 2008
"lets go back one day to the old church days"

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2. jamminondakeys, 2008
"My aunt's church on Detroit used to march in on this version of this song. I wish our choirs still marched in. It adds to the service"

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3. sheri0005, 2008
"What ever happen to the choir marching? I miss that! I want to march in LOL! I am feeling that for real. That was the thing back in the day."

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4. MrTheOneAndOnly83, 2008
"I miss the Chior march"

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5. sirjohnsong, 2008
"I totally agree. I love the processional. It sets the atmosphere."

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6. cupcake48234, 2008
"God, I remember the march,,man, the holy ghost came in the minute they started marching..."

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7. ak2495, 2008
"see this is church... not to many choirs march in like this anymore more. my church choir march but not like this.*tapping my feet as I type*"

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8. gospelbird22, 2008
"In the old days, the custom of raising your right hand while you entered a church or marched in came from Elder Lucy Smith's Pentecostal Church. It was a sign that you had accepted Christ and were saved, as opposed to being a spectator or visitor."

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9. VantisDoroHall, 2008
in reply to gospelbird22
"Also, at First Church in Chicago, it represented placing your hand in God's hand, in reverence and humility. By the way, First Church and Elder Smith's church historically were two of the first churches of color to broadcast over the radio in Chicago"

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10. Mzprez41, 2008
"Wow, how many choir members are there?"

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11. VantisDoroHall. 2008
"This does sound amazing! This is First Church's theme song. It's choir of 250+ voices, back in the day, would march in just like this, with Fred Nelson, Jr. or the III, wearing the Hammond organ out. And when they came on the air with their weekly broadcast singing this song, you knew something extraordinary was about to happen in that "Hour with Jesus", as Lucius Hall, one of the announcers, would call it. We can thank God for these memories, and the great spirit of Rev. Nicks."

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12. jazzlife1, 2008
"That's sho nuff good church when the choir used to march in."

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13. cogic4eva, 2008
"MARCH IT OUT CHOIR MARCH IT OUT!!"

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14. thatsmr2usir, 2008
"Walk it Uncle J.D! LOL!"
-snip-
JD = Jimmy Dowell [from other comments] Rev. Charles Nicks, Jr. was St. James' Minister of Music. He later became the pastor of that church and JD Dowell then became the Minister of Music (choir director).

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15. dphmichigan, 2009
"I remember....people don't march into church like this anymore. I miss that....I love this video."

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16. Joantaatlanta, 2009
"Nice Video, why do they march in with their hands up? What does it symbolize?"*

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17. DrSTW4 years, 2009
in reply to Joantaatlanta
"That's a old school thing. That means an elevated heart and hand to Christ. It's like at the end of service when you raise your hand for the benediction. The left hand behind you is what the ushers tend to do called service position."

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18. carefulopenandfree, 2009
"growing up in my church, we had to raise our hand when we left or entered the sanctuary"

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19. momohojoman, 2009
"in african american churches in the 20's thru 60's raising the right hand was a tradition all over america. this church still upheld the tradition into the 80's. you still see it in some african american churches today. whenever you had to enter or leave during service you had to raise your right hand while walking. my mother and grandmother got all over me for not doing it one sunday when i had to go to the bathroom during service. the other church members told them and boy did i here from them"

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20. momohojoman, 2009
"raising the right hand to enter or leave service while it is in session is an african american tradition. it symbolizes respect ,permission an honoring the creator"

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21. dawson2, 2009
"I remember when choirs used to spend half of the choir rehersal practicing "The March""

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22. sonrine99, 2009
"i don't care what you say you can't beat real church music or shall i say sunday morning music that the choir can march in on with there heads lifted high and ready to give God there best let the church say AMEN."

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23. schs19947, 2010
"Wow!! I love the march. It's sacred and symbolic of the Saints as they go marching in to see Jesus. Praise Him saints!!"

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24. DM F, 2010
"My church choir still to this VERY day march's I love it!! Lol"

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25. schs19947, 2010
in reply to Joantaatlanta
"@Joantaatlanta just a symbol of the faith and part of their choir march...every choir is different...some jus march with hands to the side or with their hands behind their back."

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26. 0000mygosh. 2010
"o my jesus they spent most of the video marching in ....but my God when they made it in...."

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27. schs19947, 2010
"Oh my goodness..Im just blessed by seeing them marching in ALL WHITE....beautiful such unison and perfect example of HOLINESS!!!...that's what the church is missing..let's bring those days back!!! BEAUTIFUL JOB ST. JAMES!!!"

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28. blackgirlwrites, 2010
"Hi Shun!!!!!!! I remember these days.!!!! I prolly didn't get in the stand cus you know I was the shortest and last alto! Took us about an hour to get in the stand! LOL! Those were the days!!! Tears!!! But this can't be 1996, because we moved into the new church in 91, I graduated high school in '93!
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29. john316jmb, 2011
"Y'all betta MARCH IN why don't you!!!! YEAH LAWD!!"

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30. mississippiqueen2u, 2011
"Wow! That takes me way back!!!! We are so in a hurry theses days that we can't even take the time out to praise God! That's OLD SCHOOL 4 YAH! Luvz it!"

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31. YUNG SAVAGE, 2012
"epic march in"

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52. Kena Parrish, 2012
"I loved when the choir marched in the church, and when they stood along the walls and sang the Lord's Prayer. I miss that at times. I loved St. James and I love Shield of Faith."

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33. nctumbao, 2012
"I think that churches should incorporate the ministerial and choral processional into worship. The actual processional is symbolic of our walk with Jesus on this pilgrim journey."

34. Veronica Blair, 2013
"Man you can't beat that old school processional!! I love it!"

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35. MrTheOneAndOnly837, 2013
"People these days don't understand that choir processions were a part of praise and worship."

Annette Hankins, 2013
"I love the way you made an art form out of marching into the choir stands. Charles Nicks and JD could work that choir like no one else."

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EDITORIAL COMMENT
I believe that the changing practice of African American churches adhering to strict time schedules for their Sunday service greatly contributed to the demise of the choir processional. One reason why Sunday churches began to adhere to set schedules was church attendees' expectation that that church service would only last for a specific time (say from 11 AM to 12:30 PM). Another reason why Sunday services began to adhere to a time schedule was the custom of recording the actual church services on the radio. Since those radio programs began and ended at a specific time, those churches could no longer spend a unknown minutes on large choirs marching into the sanctuary to the choir stands. (Read comment #10 and comment #26 that refers to the large sizes of those choirs.)

I also believe that adhering to a set schedule for Sunday services also contributed to the demise of the tradition of "getting happy" (feeling the Holy Spirit) during those church services. However, another reason why people don't get happy (shout/feel the Spirit) anymore in many Black churches is that those churches began to accept the opinions of certain Black church leaders in the early to mid twentieth century and other folks that it was and is unseemly to "shout".

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UPDATE May 21, 2014
First Church of Deliverance "Jesus Lifted Me" (Choir Processional)



fcdtelevision, Published on May 30, 2012

FCD Classics - Gene M. Bells
Possibly written by the founder of First Church of Deliverance, Reverend Clarence H. Cobbs For years the choir would march to songs like this at the beginning of church services.
-snip-
I believe this particular First Church Of Deliverance is located in Chicago, Illinois.

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RELATED LINKS
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/02/four-songs-by-detroit-illinois-st-
james.html

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http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/marching-for-jesus-black-church.html

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"Proud To Be" Video Promoting Indian Self-Esteem & Promoting Changing The Name Of The Washington R*dskins

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases the National Congress of American Indians' 2014 video "Proud To Be". Also included in this post is information about the National Congress of American Indians and twenty-five comments from that video's viewer comment thread.

This post is presented in solidarity with the goal of the National Congress Of American Indians to promote self-esteem among people of American Indian descent, and the goal of removing the offensive term "Re*skins" from the name of the professional American football team and from the name of other athletic teams.

These comments are compiled in part because of the presence of profanity and racist comments in the video's full viewer comment thread. Hopefully, doing so will enable this historic video & those selected comments to be used as a supplemental resource in public schools and other institutions and groups which don't consider content that includes objectionable language.

Thanks to the producers and publishers of this video.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Proud To Be



National Congress of American Indians, Published on Jan 27, 2014

Watch the #BigGame commercial the NFL would never air. Get involved by contacting the Washington Professional Football Team, the NFL and the Washington Post: [email addresses are given in this summary]
-snip-
Click http://www.ncai.org/ for information about the National Congress of American Indians. Here's one statement from that website:
"The National Congress of American Indians, founded in 1944, is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization serving the broad interests of tribal governments and communities."

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SELECTED COMMENTS
Here are twenty-five selected comments from the NCAI's
Proud To Be" video's viewer comment thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR-tbOxlhvE

WARNING: As is the case with many other YouTube video viewer comment threads, many comments in that viewer comment thread contain profanity and racist language. The comments below are free of that objectionable content.

These comments are given in no order of preference. They are numbered for reference purposes only.

1. Christopher Booth
"I think that among the Native American celebrities shown should have been the great ballerina Maria Tallchief of the Osage nation. She and Rosella Hightower were among the top dancers of her day with outstanding international reputations. Maria Tallchief was the wife of George Ballanchine, one of the co-founders of the New York City Ballet, and was the first-ever U.S. ballerina to dance at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. There are many beautiful and striking photos of her. http://ndepth.newsok.com/five-indian-ballerinas

N. Scott Momaday would also be a good person to have selected, one of the outstanding writers in the U.S. He is Kiowa. He won the Pulitzer Prize, and teaches at the University of Arizona."

2. Sarah LittleRedfeather Kalmanson
"Mascota is the Spanish word for a pet, such as a cat or dog - We are #NotYourMascot ... and, not your pet or trophy to have, we are human beings who deserve respect. If one of us is harmed by these mascots, or team names, then we all are ...

3. Richard Moeller
"I know it's not quite the same, but very few would be okay with a team named after the n-word or other racial epithets, even if it was "tradition" or not meant in a hurtful fashion. I feel they should change their name, but also that law shouldn't be involved. They are free to have a racist name, but the public is free to denounce it."

4. MrNitro
"How come there was zero controversy when they changed the name of the Washington Bullets basketball team to the Washington Wizards?
If they can change the name for that team, they can certainly change the name for the Washington football team!
Do people think if the name of the team was "The Washington Blackskins" that name would somehow be acceptable in society today?"

5. Doppio3
"The song in this video is by Doppio. They can be found in iTunes by searching "Doppio". The song is called "The Battle"

6. [This comment was written in response to what the commenter Chris Ames called "the argument" that "The Washington Redskins have been playing football since 1932. By waiting 80+ years to make an argument, you've more or less deemed the term acceptable for mass consumption".]
Meteor Blades
"The "argument" began in the 1960s when the National Congress of American Indians first brought it up. The difference now is that people are listening."

7. John Tyrrell Jr
"Whiteskins, Brownskins, Blackskins, Redskins...all sounds wrong...I hope this team name gets changed."

8. Cornelious Wren
"I think it is foul that we came then took their land and they have to politely ask us to remove the offensive label of Redskin. And I am glad to see that although this was not aired during the Superbowl it is getting the much needed attention it deserves."

9. [This comment was written in response to a comment that this ad was made for the sake of "political correctness".]
Michael Barret
"This ad was paid for by the National Congress of American Indians to save the lives of children, who are dying at an alarming rate. Founded in 1944, it is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization. If you knew anything about Native life you would know who the NCAI is and you would never accuse them of playing the PC game. You would certainly know about the largest cultural youth suicide epidemic in human history as well, you might even have been interviewed by one of the many inspectors sent to the USA by the United Nations to determine the level of ongoing genocide against Native Americans in the USA as a result of this epidemic. You would also certainly know that many of the children who are taking their own lives, some as young as 5 years old, are writing “I am not a mascot” on their suicide notes. The nice people who made this commercial actually DO represent almost every tribal government in the USA, and the youth suicide crisis is what prompted their action."

10. Kate Wheeler
"I work at a middle school of 80% Dine (navajo) and some other tribes here in New Mexico. I'm interested to show this to my students. I bet they haven't seen it and it will be inspiring for many of them. I liked the film."

11. [This comment was written in response to a comment by +613and802 that some Native Americans don't consider the use of "R*dskins" for team names to be offensive.]
goodusernamewastaken
"+613and802 How about this. I don't care if it's offensive or not. Lets not use racial sterotypes as names for sports teams, mascots ore really anything else. If you want to go 'round your city calling people this cause you don't think it's offensive go for it.. Just be ready for what may happen."

12. Patrick Boberg
"What does it say about us when we put some manufactured entertainment history before the dignity of an entire race? - Changethemascot.org"

13. Larry Arenas
"The best Super Bowl commercial you DIDN'T see. Being one-quarter Mescalero-Apache I found this pretty powerful."

14. [This comment was written in response to a commenter who indicated that he preferred the referent "Native American" to the referent "American Indian".]
Meteor Blades
"+Eagleman1988 That's fine for you if that's your choice. But almost all the American Indians I know (hundreds) prefer to be called Indian or their tribal name. Mine: Seminole."

15. [This comment also refers to the use of the term "Indian" instead of "native" or some other referent.]
cleanupinaisle
"Being from Canada (where we respectfully always refer to our indigenous people as Natives, Native-Canadians, and avoid using the term 'eskimo,' etc.), it baffles me that an ad about the inconsiderate and incorrect use of a derogatory term would call itself the Congress of American Indians. Why have Americans, and Native Americans at that, internalized the completely incorrect use of the term "Indian"? Certainly very few people throw the term "redskin" around (and thankfully so), but why is "Indian" tolerated, and even embraced? Someone please explain this to me."

16. Rael Nidess
"What an uplifting ode to the only 'Real' Americans! It's time we stopped debating about whether one term or another is disparaging and merely accept that if those described by it feel disparaged, then it is disparaging regardless of any other consideration. R-E-S-P-E-C-T Find out what it means to me!"

17.Ham neggs
"Time for the announcers and sports writers to drop the name in their articles. The Washington football team will suffice for now.
Peace
Love All Ways"

18. lilah tov
"I wish this video had aired during the Superbowl. It's embarrassing to see people defend a name that's a racial slur. 

19. MorisotMusic
"If this is not a big deal, not racist, then tell me: What teams are named after other ethnic minorities?

We don't have other derogatory team names because we know it's unconscionable. The name, and people who defend it, shows how little Native American/Indians people are regarded in this county. The majority doesn't even recognize them as a group that can be offended or requires respect. They don't even register. It's shameful. We all deserve the same basic respect and consideration.

And please, white people, stop telling minority groups what should & should not offend them. You literally have no idea what you're talking about. You couldn't even.

20. Tyson Walker
"The health, education and economic issues of Native America won't be fixed by this commercial, but it is a small piece that could effect other pieces. As a whole these pieces will show how, in our equitable and progressive 21st century America, this country felt toward its first residents. Change the name because it's a step forward."

21. HeatherZen
"You're flat wrong that Native people don't care about the mascot.
http://www.ncai.org/attachments/PolicyPaper_mijApMoUWDbjqFtjAYzQWlqLdrwZvsYfakBwTHpMATcOroYolpN_NCAI_Harmful_Mascots_Report_Ending_the_Legacy_of_Racism_10_2013.pdf

22. hn Lawrence
"Obviously, there are other, more important matters relevant to Native needs. The terrible unemployment and rampant poverty on many reservations are things that need to be dealt with and rectified sooner rather than later.

However, just because those issues are more important than the name of a football team, it shouldn't take away from the fact that this clearly is an instance of blatant racism and frankly, it's just not right. So, I think it's silly to pretend as though a name has no value.

It's bad enough that the U.S. government took away everything tangible these people had. By keeping an obviously racist name for a major sporting team, the corporatists are robbing native peoples of the one thing they have left -- their pride and self-worth."

23. [This was written in response to the question Why don't Indians move off of reservations?"]
Garet43
"Many natives do move off of the rez. The problem is that even when they do, they tend to be balkanized into the poorest parts of cities which often makes things even worse. Those that are able to get out and become educated oftentimes leave for good, depriving the community of its best and brightest. Those that stay for family, clan, and friendship ties oftentimes have a difficult time getting the skills needed to survive in our complex world. That is changing with the advent of tribal colleges.
Additionally, prejudice and ignorance are large factors in natives' decision to stay on the reservation. Many (not most) white people who live near reservations are extremely racist and white people elsewhere tend to be extremely ignorant about their culture, history, and beliefs.
Is it any wonder that many natives perceive the outside world as being inhospitable, especially if they wish to pass on their heritage to future generations?"

24. DijitalPants
"Is five centuries of indignity and degradation not enough? We in white America should be ashamed if we cannot make even the smallest gesture of respect that is ending the ongoing insult to the people from whom we have taken so, so much. I'm an ally to this cause."

25.AriteBellyDance
"Check out nativeappropriations.com The writer goes into a ton of detail about how Native Americans as mascots is damaging. Part of the problem is what fans of rival teams do to put down those teams. For example, there's a guy who shows up at Blackhawks games with a fake head on a stick. Which is more than a little disturbing... http://nativeappropriations.com/2010/06/thanks-for-the-severed-head-youve-proved-my-point.html

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