A Cultural Critique Of The Song "Shut De Door" (Keep Out De Debil)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Let me start by saying that I think that "Shut De Door" (also given as "Shut De Do") is a song that has a very catchy tune and easy to learn lyrics that can be inspirational from a religious standpoint. But this post isn't about the musicality of that song.

From jump street I want to correct some erroneous beliefs about this song:
1. "Shut De Door" isn't a Caribbean folk song.

and

2. "Shut De Door" isn't a "Negro" Spiritual.

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"Shut De Door" wasn't composed by a person from the Caribbean. It was composed in 1982 by a White American singer/songwriter Randy Stonehill who is from California and has no Caribbean descent, at least none that is indicated in his biography. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Stonehill

From
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2011/11/11/my-top-10-randy-stonehill-songs/
"My Top 10 Randy Stonehill songs"

November 11, 2011 By Fred Clark

7. “Shut De Do”
The lyrics here are pure CCM, but the catchy calypso lilt and the good humor and musical playfulness life the song to another level. That playfulness also suggests that this “devil” Stonehill is singing of is more like the Old Scratch of folklore than the archenemy of Peretti-esque spiritual warfare. It reminds me of my favorite story about the Devil, one told by Tony Campolo: An old preacher wakes in the night and hears a noise. He turns on the light as sees Satan, the devil himself, standing at the foot of his bed. “Oh,” says the preacher, “it’s just you.” And he turns off the light and goes back to sleep."
-snip-
“CCM” = probably Contemporary Christian Music

"Old Scratch" is a nickname for the devil. Click http://www.answers.com/topic/old-scratch
American Heritage Dictionary for information about this nickname.

The erroneous belief that "Shut De Door" is an old song -that is older than 1982 when it was composed by White American Randy Stonehill- probably mostly comes from these two verses of that song:

When I was a baby child
(Shut de do, keep out the debil)
Good and bad was just a game
(Shut de do, keep the debil in de ni-eet)
Many years and many trials
(Shut de do, keep out the debil)
They proved to me they not the same
(Shut de do, keep the debil in de ni-eet)

....

My mama used to sing this song
(Shut de do, keep out the debil)
Oh poppa used to sing it too
(Shut de do, keep the debil in de ni-eet)
Jesus called and took them home
(Shut de do, keep out the debil)
And so I sing the song for you
(Shut de do, keep the debil in de ni-eet)

http://www.metrolyrics.com/shut-de-do-lyrics-randy-stonehill.html

But my main problem with the "Shut De Door" song, besides the false attributions of the song to Caribbean folk music or African American Spirituals, is exactly the "good humor and musical playfulness" of Randy Stonehill's renditions of his composition. It appears to me -from watching two YouTube videos of Randy Stonehill singing that song (particularly the video given below from the 1990s) that Stonehill is making fun of Black Caribbean culture. In his prefacing remarks in that videotaped concert it appears to me that Stonehill makes fun of Black Caribbean pronunciation, and-by extension Caribbean folk beliefs. Here's that video followed by my transcription of Randy Stonehill's introductory comments to his rendition of his song:

shut de do stonehill



newlifelooks. Uploaded on May 21, 2009

1990 look for diane wigstone!
-snip-
Diane Wigstone is an American actress and director known for Christian themed productions.

Transcription with my comments in brackets [beginning at .34]

“Because the thing is we sound too polite...What better opportunity than now to go native with Uncle Ran? [When he says that the camera pans to one of the apparently very few People of Color in the audience. Then Stonehill sings some nonsensical words in Caribbean tune and says] It’s not “Shut The Door”, darn it, let’s regress. Just un-learn many many things...It’s “Shut de door”. "Shut de door". “Shut de door”. Keep out de debbil". [Audience members are shown laughing -at this accent or the words of the song?] Randy continues by saying laughingly “How’s the soup?”

[He and the audience laugh and then Randy says] “With this new exotic vision let us go forth, even now, and begins to sing the song...
-snip-
It should also be noted that in the beginning of Randy Stonehill's singing this song, silhouette images of people dancing [Black people?] in a Hip-Hop fashion. The people are wearing necklaces. At least one man is wearing a large chain link necklace, a style that was popular among African American Hip-Hop music lovers.

In case the reference to "going native", and the question "Where's the soup?" went over some people's head, I've no doubt that those are nods to the stereotypical images of Black Africans cooking people in a huge iron pot. I've also no doubt that Stonehill's exhortation to his White audience to "regress and unlearn many things" was at the very least a back handed compliment to the supposedly simple, uncomplicated religious beliefs of folks "close to nature".

Here's a serious question for you - Doesn't Randy Stonehill's introductory remarks if not his actual rendition of his "Shut De Door" song have elements of black faced minstrelsy? Black people's superstitions are so funny. Ha. Ha. Ha. Never mind that some of those folk beliefs originated with Elizabethan European superstitions. Light the candle. Everything's alright (or "Everyting" as I found this word given on one lyric website for this song).

because "Shut De Door" has such a catchy tune and such easy to learn words written in call & response format, I'm not surprised that that song appears to be a standard for so many American school choirs. I'm glad that those choirs seem to take a much more formal approach to the song, as is the case with these singers:

Shut De Do



D Van
-snip-
The choir member introducing the song invites the audience to "Join us In the Caribbean with the song “Shut de do”.

Like most YouTube viewer comment threads for this song, a number of the commenters critiqued the choir's rendition of this song, indicating that their choir sang it better. But there's one comment from that viewer comment thread which I won't quote because of its profanity which points out the choir's choice of "fake" Caribbean attire- the floral shirts that Americans seem to think Caribbean people and Hawaiian people wear.

I will quote two other comments from that viewer comment thread that reinforce my concerns that 1. people may confuse this song with a "Negro" Spiritual (because of its call & response textual structure) and people may think that all people from the Caribbean use Patois or Creole pronunciations or always use those pronunciations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_eUKhTC_C8
jesssicaax, 2007
..."The only problem was that we went faster since our principal was gonan cut it form the program whatever. You guys suck Its suppose to sound jhamaican not white -_- Middle schools did better then you guys."

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Jarrod Freeman, 2009
"this a negro spiritual. the intonation is too correct and perfect for this type of song but whatver the conductor wanted goes"
-snip-
Did you catch the inaccurate beliefs that there are no White Jamaicans, that all White people sound alike, and that all Jamaicans sound alike? smh [Shake my head (in exasperation and disdain)].

Also, besides spelling the long retired referent "Negro" with a small n [which is a big no no], did you catch the implication that White people's pronunciation is "correct and perfect", and other pronunciations are... what? ...Certainly they're not as correct or perfect.

It's interesting to me that all the YouTube videos that I've found to date of this song feature White singers and White choirs. I wonder why that is, and I wonder what Caribbean people think of this song.

I strongly believe that people who teach this song need to make sure that their students and their audiences know that this song was composed with a Calypso tune "in the manner of a Caribbean religious song" but it's not a "real" Caribbean song - if by "real" you mean a song whose composition is unknown but which originated in one of the Caribbean cultures or a song with a known composer of Caribbean descent. Mind you, because there are White people, Chinese people, East Indian people etc. from the Caribbean, composers of Caribbean songs need not be of some African descent.

Oh and I wish that choirs singing this song would refrain from wearing fake Caribbean shirts. But compared with other things related to this song, that's just a small matter.

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RELATED LINK
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-devil-jumbies-and-shut-de-doorkeep.html for a companion post on the superstitions that are referred to in the "Shut De Door" song.

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Thanks to those who are quoted in this post.

Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

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Maphorisa & Clap, Feat. Candy - Nkeri Nkeri (South Africa)

Edited by Azizi Powell

[Updated July 23, 2014]

This post showcases the South African Kwaito song "Nkeri Nkeri" by Maphorisa & Clap, featuring Candy. Information about Kwaito music is also included in this post along with a few comments about the featured artists.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Maphorisa, D Clap, and Candy for this record. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT KWAITO MUSIC
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwaito
"Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples, deep bass lines, and vocals. Although bearing similarities to hip hop music, a distinctive feature of Kwaito is the manner in which the lyrics are sung, rapped and shouted. American producer Diplo has described Kwaito as "slowed-down garage music," most popular among the black youth of South Africa...

History
In the backdrop of a transforming South Africa, Kwaito took shape in the township Soweto at the same time Nelson Mandela took office as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.[4] The removal of the political and economic sanctions greatly transformed the South African music industry"...
-snip-
From the YouTube comments, "kwaito" is old enough that some of the music is called "classic", and "old school" (recorded years ago). "Nkeri Nkeri" is an example of contemporary Kwaito.

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Maphorisa Feat. Candy - Nkerinkeri (Original)


Madorasindahouse Published on Aug 30, 2013

● https://www.facebook.com/UhuruMaphori...

● Respect & Support South African producers & dj's for spreading so much love all around the world

● http://www.facebook.com/Madorasindahouse
https://www.facebook.com/UhuruMaphorisaDjClapNXelimpilo Facebook page title = Uhuru - Maphorisa,Dj Clap,Xelimpilo & Mapiano

Maphorisa and DJ Clap are members of Uhuru, a four man Kwaito group. "Uhuru" is a Swahili word that means "freedom".

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This comment from the viewer comment thread of the video below pointed me to some information about Maphorisa:

Nkosingiphile Dlamini, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BisFnNPhQc

"Ayyy Maphorisa mahn, He has claimed the title of being the Prince of Kalawa"
-snip-
That comment prompted me to do a Google search for the word "Kalawa". As a result. I found this article: http://profileengine.com/groups/profile/435329507/kalawa-jazmee-records
"Profile:
Kalawa Jazmee (sometimes "KJ Records") is an independent South African label that was instrumental in the development of the musical style later to be known as "Kwaito".

... With the Kalawa crew, creativity is key, they believe in going out and getting inspiration for new songs, thus Kalawa has led the Durban craze,now known as Durban kwaito... Kwaito’s origins are fuzzy, as is opinion on who exactly can lay claim to the title, King of Kwaito. The publicly accepted version of the birth of kwaito never mentions kalawa’s name. Kalawa has never been faced oblivion, nor have they had to rely on gimmicks instead of creativity..."

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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

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South African Pantsula Dance (information, videos, & comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents information & comments about the South African originated dance form called "pantsula" ("amapantsula", "mapantsula"). Seven videos of pantsula dancing are also showcased in this post.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT PANTSULA DANCING
From http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_pantsula_dance&r2as=1#slide=2&article=What_is_pantsula_dance
"Pantsula is a dance form that consists of footwork, rhythm and beat. It was developed in the 1980's and started mainly in the streets of Soweto. This energetic dance was originated in the townships of south africa. Many performers of today uses props such as brooms, cans and stick etc."

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From http://www.ehow.com/about_5414725_history-pantsula-dance.html
"History
The Pantsula became a very popular form of dance in the 1980s among young men and women in the townships of Africa. The dance was not only used for them to express themselves, but was also a way of life. It expressed their lives as a reflection of the violence of the township culture. The dance set them free from parental dominance and it gave them freedom without prejudice. It gained international recognition and became the pop music of the decade.

The Dance
The Pantsula dance is described as a flat footed African tap-and-glide style of dance. The Zulu word "pantsula" means to "waddle like a duck or alternatively to walk with protruded buttocks," which is a characteristic of the dance."

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FEATURED VIDEOS
These videos are presented in chronological order based on their posting date on YouTube with the oldest dated videos given first. A few comments may also be quoted after the videos.

WARNING: As is the case with many YouTube video viewer comment threads, some of the comments in these discussions contain profanity, racist, homophobic, and other problematic content.

Example #1: Dance Direction International-Pansula DVD



dancedirection, Uploaded on Jul 14, 2009

Traditional Township dance done in the black township suburbs in South Africa. Always done in Tackies with fast , intricate footwork and usually tells an everyday life story with humour added into it. Choreographed by the CHIZBOYZ. They have performed in many corporate functions, at the Grahamstown Festival, on the Island of Reunion, etc. They are based in Durban, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

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Example #2: mapantsula for life


DNkala Uploaded on May 14, 2010

boys can dance
-snip-
Comment:
Mattman Key1, 2012
"I realized that bits and pieces of the song are from Kuduro songs, an ANGOLAN type of music!! lol"
-snip-
As of this date, two other commenters identified this music as Kuduro music from Angola. I'm not sure where this video was filmed.

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Example #3: COLORS dance to PANTSULA



colorsmagazine78, Uploaded on Sep 23, 2010

The boys of Johannesburg's violent townships grew up running, jumping and crawling from the police, facing dangerous lives of gangsterism and crime. Now these boys are men, and their dance shows the way to a new, non-violent future.

Filmmaker Chris Saunders / Editing Pablo Pastor / Soundmix Adam Lieber

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Example #4: Real Actions Pantsula - Brooms



Sello Modiga Published on Apr 10, 2012
-snip-
Comments: 2012

lebohang nkwatsi1
"i am glad i grow up in a period in Orange Farm where Pantsula was the greatest form of expression and entertainment. i've seen the best performances, is too bad lot of guys grow up, quit the art form to find jobs to pay bills. Some of us had to leave FAMA to go further our studies. i am wondering if we had this kind of technology back in the day, will Action still have uploaded this videos? lmao..."

**
lebohang nkwatsi
"they would have been copied by lot of guys, Real Action was and is still the pacesetter. much respect to you guys and big ups for giving lot of guys that i didn't think they will ever play for Action the opportunity to be part of your family."

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Example #5: Amapantsula Ajabulile......FILMED BY STREET CORNER FILMS



STREETCORNER FILMS, Published on Apr 25, 2012

PANTSULA DANCE ORIGINATED FROM SOUTH AFRICA.....STREET CORNER FILMS....IPHONE
-snip-
Comment - 2012
[in response to another comment]

STREETCORNER FILMS
"…his saying " mina " meaning me ....Is a South Africa language"

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Comment: 2013
Nat Godley
"Is this music Pitch Black Afro? Got addicted to his track Matofotofo on the Tsotsi soundtrack but kwaito in general is really hard to find on CD or download in the US, and none of PBA's stuff seems to have been released outside of SA."

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Example #6: PANTSULA DANCE 2013 ...FILMED BY STREET CORNER FILMS



STREETCORNER FILMS Published on Dec 6, 2012

STREET CORNER FILMS &T.V
-snip-
Comments 2013
Astrid Vitols
"J'adoooooore !!!!! I really enjoyyyyyy it ! This new dance from South Africa is a mix of afro, jazz, claquettes, that's so amazing !! African Youth is so creative, innovating all the time !!! BIG UP TO ALL OF THOSE YOUNG BOYS ;-)...Kiss ! Astrid from Paris, France ;-)"

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Mattman Key
"Pantsula ain't new, it's been around since the 80s (or a little older)!!! Respect!!"

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sduriza
"Panstula started in late 50's actually, they wasn't so much as dances then, bootleggers and petty criminals, street cats, they really started dancing around late 70's and then when bubblegum came out thats when it really took with the dancing, Respect Panstula for life!"

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Makhaola Ndebele
"Yes, It's great. It's not new though, it's been around since the early 80s, from what I know of it."

**
Putumani Nomzaza
"I thought Pantsula was dead but after watching these guys its so alive, i love being South African!"

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Example #7: PANTSULA STREET DANCE Computer

Mada Sthembiso Published on Jun 2, 2013

SKHANDA IS AN OLD DANCE OF SPANTSULA,BAT U CAN ONGLY FIND IT IN SOWETO
-snip-
Comment - 2013

Bonginkosi Shiba2
"Name of the sound track is "Maphorisa Feat. Candy - Nkerinkeri" "
-snip-
Here's a link to a pancocojams post about that song:
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/south-african-music-maphorisa-feat.html

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RELATED LINK
http://www.mahala.co.za/jiva/via-volcano/
Via Volcano [South African pantsula dance group]

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Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all of the dancers who are featured in these videos, and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. Hat tip to http://dynamicafrica.tumblr.com/

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome!
for alerting me to this dance form and for their excellent African visual arts site!

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Children's Risque Rhymes - Nasty Nursery Rhymes

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post is Part II of a series on risqué playground rhymes and bawdy nursery rhymes. Part II contains selected examples from a Mudcat Folk music discussion thread on "Nasty Nursery Rhymes" that began in 2001 (The selected examples range from 2001 to 2010).

WARNING - No profanity and/or sexually explicit language are included in the selected examples presented in this post. For that reason, I consider the examples in this post to be only "mildly risqué". However, a number of examples that are included in that forum's discussion thread contain profanity and/or are very sexually explicit.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/black-sorority-members-memories-of.html for Part I of this post.

Part I contains selected examples of "old school" rhymes & cheer from a 2003 Greekchat.com discussion thread.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, sociological, and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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EDITOR'S NOTE
This sample of rhymes is posted to this pancocojams blog which focuses on music, dance, and other cultural indices of African American and other Black cultures as a means of comparing these rhymes with the rhymes that are featured on Part I of this post and as a means of demonstrating that African American children weren't/aren't the only children to chant risqué rhymes.

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PREFACE: DEFINITIONS
Definitions for "risqué" are "referring to sex in a rude and slightly shocking way" and "verging on impropriety or indecency" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/risqu%C3%A9.

Definitions for "bawdy" are "obscene, lewd. 2. : boisterously or humorously indecent." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bawdy

A number of risqué/bawdy rhymes contain profanity (cuss words) and/or sexually explicit content. However, I’m not including any of those types of examples in this post. For that reason, I consider the examples in this post to be only "mildly risqué".

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COLLECTING RISQUE CHILDREN’S RHYMES
From Unprintable Ozark Folksongs and Folklore: Roll me in your arms, Volume 1
by Vance Randolph (University of Arkansas Press, 1992, p. 1)
“The collector’s ostensible control over the folk material they collect and publish - or refuse to collect and do not publish- naturally operates in both the negative and positive sense…When no one would admit, for example, to the existence of children's erotic folklore (or erotic life), none was to be seen. ... and most important for English and American children's bawdy jokes and rhymes. Now that a few bold collectors, mostly women, have been courageously willing to admit children’s folk-erotica into their formerly lily-pure collections, riddles, catches and pranks, and other such lore has been relatively easy to create, by means of artfully untended tape recorders.
-snip-
I believe that because blogging is relatively anonymous, the internet allows people to publicly share folk material -such as bawdy (dirty) rhymes - that they would be unlikely to publicly recite during face to face interviews. As such, blogging removes the need for hidden microphones or cameras to capture this illusive folkloric material. However, two downsides of collecting from the internet are the difficulty of confirming the authenticity of the material and the difficulty of collecting and confirming demographical information from the contributors.

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DEMOGRAPHICS
Excerpt for Example #4 below, no information about the gender of the bloggers is given. Excerpt for Example #7 below, these examples include no geographical information. As a former member of that forum, I'm aware that the majority of Mudcat members are from the United States and the United Kingdom. I recognize the member who posted the example given here as #1 as a male from the UK, and the member who posted the example given as #2 here as a male from the United States. Also, given his or her use of the word "knickers" its likely that the ember who oisted the example given here as #5 is from the UK.

Informal surveys of Mudcat members when I was active there (from August 2002 through November 2009) indicated that there were considerable more male members, and most members were age 50 and older.

No racial information was given for participants of either of these discussion threads. However, because of a number of factors, I'm certain that the participants in the Greekchat.com discussion are African Americans.

As a former active member of the Mudcat Folk & Blues Discussion Forum, I'm reasonably certain that all of the members who posted on that thread were White, and think that it's a high probability that most if not all of the guest posters on that particular thread were also White.

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PART II: NASTY NURSERY RHYMES
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their posting date, with the oldest dated example given first. The forum member's screen name (or the word "guest" for non-members) and the date of the posting [without the time) are also given in this post. These examples are numbered for referencing purposes. Except for Example #2, I've included no editorial comments about these examples.

Source: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=41824
1. From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Dec 01

My brother Billy had ten foot Willy
and he showd it to the girl next door
She thought it was a snake and she hit it with a rake
and now it's only five foot four.

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2. From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Dec 01

"The only one of his [stand up comedian Andrew Dice Clay] that I know for a fact WAS making the schoolyard rounds at least 40 years ago is a bit different than listed there. I remember it quite well:
Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To fetch her poor dog a bone.
But when she bent over,
Rover came over,
And he had a bone of his own.
-snip-
This verse is a standard chant for members of a historically Black Greek lettered fraternity (I think the fraternity is Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc, because of their informal name "(Nasty) Que Dogs. I've seen this chant performed on YouTube by either that fraternity or another one. Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/fraternity-and-sorority-chants for my comment about this "fraternity" chant.

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3. From: weepiper
Date: 06 Dec 01

Jack and Jill went up the hill
to fetch a pail of water,
Jill forgot to take her pill
and now she's got a daughter.

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4. GUEST,Bluegrass Granny
Date: 08 Dec 01 -

Mary had a little lamb She tied him to a heater And every time he turned around He burned his little peter!

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5. From: pavane
Date: 08 Dec 01

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet
her knickers all tattered and torn
It wasn't the spider
That sat down beside her
But little boy blue
with his horn

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6. From: GUEST,FuBar
Date: 20 Sep 07
Mary had a little blouse
'twas tatterd all to bits
And everywhere that Mary went
It showed her little tits!

Mary had a little skirt
'Twas split right up the front
And everywhere that Mary went
... She had to sit down all the time. (Yeah right.)

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7. From: GUEST,*^^*aussie*^^*
Date: 16 Dec 07

Ok duno where all u ppl r from but here's 2 i'v grown up with in AUS!!!!!

MARY had a little lamb
she thought it rather silly
she threw it up in the air
and cought it by it's
WILLY was a bulldog sitting in the grass
down came a bee and stung him up the
ASK no questions tell no lies i saw
two police men doing up their
FLIES are dirty fleas are worse
this is the end of my dirty little verse!!

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8. From: GUEST,Jessie Lou
Date: 16 Nov 08

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To smoke some marijuana
Jack got high
unzipped his fly
and said 'do you wanna?'
Jill said yes
and dropped her dress
then they had some fun
stupid Jill forgot the pill
NOW they have a son
Subject: RE: Nasty Nursery Rhymes

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9. From: GUEST
Date: 05 Oct 08 - 02:19 PM

Mary had a little lamb
She thought it rather silly
She threw it up into the air and caught it by its
Willy was a bulldog sitting in the grass
Along came a bee and stung him on his
Ask no questions tell no lies
I saw a policeman pulling up his
Flies are a nusance, bee's are worse
This is the end of my little verse

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10. From: Peter the Squeezer
Date: 19 Nov 08

Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
And planned to do some kissing.
Jack made a pass
And grabbed her ass
Now two of his teeth are missing.

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11. From: GUEST,Guest: Rap Song
Date: 13 Nov 10

Mary had a little Lamb
She tied him to the heater
Everytime he turned around
He burned his little peter
Peter pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn't keep her
Put her in a pumpkin shell and blew her all to
Hello operator, connect me number nine
If you disconnect me, I'll kick you in the
Ding, Dong Avon's here
Just behind the fridgerator
Tommy broke some glass
Slipped and fell while cleaning and cut his little
Ask me no questions, I'll tell you know lies...

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Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

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Arabic Names That Refer To Colors Or Skin Complexions

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part III of a three part post on personal names that refer to color in general and skin color names in particular. This post provides a list of Arabic names that refer to colors or skin complexions.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/kieran-isnt-only-name-that-means-black.html for Part I of this post.

Part I includes my remarks about the Irish name "Kieran" (meaning "little dark one" or "black") that was given to Mitt Romney's recently adopted grandson who is Black. Part I also includes an excerpt of a 2012 blog post entitled "Colonial Mentality" by Kemi Ogunniyi, a young woman of Nigerian descent who wrote about her impressions of the year (2010) that she spent in Nigeria. Part I also includes an excerpt of the comment that I wrote on that blog in response to that post, and a portion of Kemi's response to questions. Lastly, Part I also includes questions and responses about the meaning of other "skin color" names that were posted on a discussion thread of the Nigerian forum nairaland.com.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/fela-sowande-writes-about-yoruba.html for Part II of this post.

Part II presents an excerpt from a chapter of the 1966 book The Mind Of A Nation- The Yoruba Child by Fela Sowande. That excerpt gives the meaning of and explanation for another Yoruba skin color name.

The content of this post is presented for cultural and sociological purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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PART III
Arabic names that refer to a color or a skin complexion. (Note: This list does not include names that mean "bright, shining, brilliant, [sun, star, lamp] light and similar words)

Masculine Arabic N names
From http://www.sudairy.com/arabic/masc.html

Adham - Black or dark

Aswad – Black

Kadeer, Kadir - Green or green crop (connoting freshness and innocence)

Nu'man - Blood, red

Suhaib, Suhayb - Of reddish hair or complexion; name of the first Roman to embrace Islam

Sumrah – Brownness

****
Feminine Arabic names
From http://www.sudairy.com/arabic/fem.html

Barakah, Baraka - Blessing; white one

Dahab – Gold

Fayruz – Turquoise

Fiddah – Silver

Humairah, Humayrah - Of reddish complexion; nickname the Prophet gave to his wife 'A'ishah

Jumanah, Jumaana - Silver pearl

Khuzama – Lavender

Lama - Darkness of lips

Lamya', Lamya - Of dark lips

Lujain, Lujayn – Silver

Mariyah - Fair complexion; name of the wife of the Prophet

Samra' - Soft, light tanned color

Sumaira, Sumayra - Diminutive of Samra'

****
ADDENDUM: Arabic's influence on African languages
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_of_Arabic_on_other_languages
"Arabic has had a great influence on other languages, especially in vocabulary. The influence of Arabic has been most profound in those countries dominated by Islam or Islamic power. Arabic is a major source of vocabulary for languages as diverse as Berber, Kurdish, Amharic, Tigrinya, Persian, Pashto, Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Tagalog, Turkish, Spanish, Hindi, Swahili, Somali, Malay, and Indonesian, as well as other languages in countries where these languages are spoken."
-snip-
One traditional West African language that isn't mentioned in that list is "Mandinka".
Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia page about that language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandinka_language
"The Mandinka language (Mandi'nka kango), or Manding, is a Mandé language spoken by the Mandinka people of Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea-Bissau and Chad; it is the main language of the Gambia. It belongs to the Manding branch of Mandé, and is thus fairly similar to Bambara and Maninka or Malinké. In a majority of areas, it is tonal language with two tones: low and high, although the particular variety spoken in the Gambia and Senegal is non-tonal and uses a pitch accent."
-snip-
The influence of Arabic on Mandinka personal names is quite easy to see. Here are a few Mandinka names with clear Arabic influences (Note: These names don't refer to colors or complexions).

Males:
Abdoulie(Abdou)
Amadou
Alieu( Ali)
Momodou (or just 'Modou')
Ousman


Females:
Amie (Aminata)
Bintu, Binta
Fatoumatta (or just Fatou)
Khadijatu
Mariama

-snip-
I've decided to let you find the Arabic names that are the sources for these Mandinka names.
Enjoy!

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Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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Fela Sowande Writes About A Yoruba (Nigeria) Skin Color Name

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a three part post on personal names that refer to color in general and skin color names in particular.

This post presents an excerpt from a chapter of Fela Sowande's 1966 book The Mind Of A Nation- The Yoruba Child (Ibadan: Ibadan University). That excerpt gives the meaning of and an explanation for another Yoruba skin color name. Dr. Sowande (b. Abeokuta, Nigeria, May 1905; d. Ravenna, Ohio, United States, 13 March 1987) was a Nigerian musician, composer, and scholar.

I received a copy of that manuscript from a friend who had received it as a gift from Dr. Sowande when he lectured for a brief time at the University of Pittsburgh somewhere around 1973. The chapter on personal names from that manuscript is published on a page of my cocojams.com cultural blog because that's the chapter I'm most interested in, and because that book is so hard to find, at least in the United States.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/kieran-isnt-only-name-that-means-black.htmlfor Part I of this post.

Part I includes my remarks about the Irish name "Kieran" (meaning "little dark one" or "black" that was given to Mitt Romney's recently adopted grandson who is Black. Part I also includes an excerpt of a 2012 blog post entitled "Colonial Mentality" by Kemi Ogunniyi, a young woman of Nigerian descent who wrote about her impressions of the year (2010) that she spent in Nigeria. Part I also includes an excerpt of the comment that I wrote on that blog in response to that post, and a portion of Kemi's response to questions. Lastly, Part I also includes questions and responses about the meaning of other "skin color" names that were posted on a discussion thread of the Nigerian forum nairaland.com.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/arabic-names-that-refer-to-colors-or.html for Part III of this post.

Part III features a list of Arabic names that refer to color in general or skin complexion in particular.

The content of this post is presented for cultural and sociological purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

****
PART II
The chapter entitled "Yoruba Names And Their Meanings" is found on pages 39-56 of the manuscript that I have entitled "The Mind Of A Nation- The Yoruba Child" by Fela Sowande (Ibadan, Nigeria, 1966). I've not ever seen a published copy of this book, but assume that these page numbers correspond to that published book. Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/yoruba-names-their-meanings-fela-sowande to read that entire chapter. Everything except the words given in brackets are excepted from that chapter.

Page 39
...“Yoruba names are therefore much more than mere identification tags, much more than mere "luggage labels"; each has a reason (a) for being just what it is; and (b) for being given to a particular individual. Yoruba names embody circumstances of birth, history, family, religion, or some other equally pertinent facts relevant to that particular individual bearing the name. Yoruba names are, in fact, in most cases contractions of whole sentences....

Page 46
[name given as #41]. "Fatoyinbo"
= Ifa to Oyinbo = Ifa is to be equated with Oyinbo. Here, "Oyinbo" is not [Note "not" is underlined] the white man," but the Yoruba child of Yoruba parents who at birth is light-skinned, and is held to bring good fortune to himself and to all connected with him.

Note on "Fatoyinbo"
This Yoruba name is salutary reminder that the most obvious-and seemingly correct amplification of Yoruba compound words is just as likely as not to lead us astray, and give us the most incorrect derivation of meanings. It pinpoints the fact that "derivation by amplification" could well be the very thing that guides us, not to, but away from the proper meaning of a compound word. With nothing else but the name to go on, "Fatoyinbo" would naturally be simplified into "Ifa to Oyinbo," and since the Yoruba word for "the white man" is "Oyinbo," the amplification would almost be bound to be understood as "Ifa is to be equated with the white man," and this might well be held to imply that Ifa is as important, or as great, or as powerful as "the white man," who is (supposedly) all these things, on account of his very considerable scientific and artistic achievements. If we remembered to ask: "How did traditional Ifa come to take note of the white man is such a direct manner?" we would certainly not lack those-including those Yorubas who see no good in Ifa anyway-who would readily, if not anxiously advance the theory that this is proof positive that Ifa is of fairly recent growth, or that this is but one instance of those adulterations of which they have complained, perpetrated by unscrupulous Ifa Priests whose sole aim is to extort money from their unsuspecting and innocent victims. If we had to depend solely on the Yoruba name, and on the supposed infallibility of derivation through amplification, there would be no answer to the above, or any similar, theory.

Page 47
We have, however, two ways of approach open to us. One is to be found in the legend concerning Orunmila, which is qute relevant and interesting enough, but deals with the light-skinned Yoruba man-the 'Oyinbo' or Ebo-as a general type. The other deals with the Primordial Ebo, the Oyinbo who is in every sense a Yoruba man born and bred, and who is apparently the "archetype for all the subsequent Ebos; for this Primordial Ebo, we turn to a Stanza of Ifa, from the Odu "Ogunda-meji."

The legend relates that, one day, a hunter went out to hunt, and climbed a tree; there he saw someone walking backwards and forwards on the same spot; this hunter captured the person, and found that it was a woman; the hunter took her home; he offered her meat, but she would not eat; yam, but she would not eat. Then, one day, as this hunter was coming back from the forest, he came upon Orunmila, who was offering hen's eggs to Esu. Orunmila gave one egg to the hunter; this woman began to pick up the egg-shells tp eat. Orunmila thereupon offered her an egg, which she accepted and ate. The hunter was suprised, and told Orunmila that since he had captured this woman, she had not eaten anything; he offered to sell her to Orunmila, and Orunmila bought the woman for 20,000 cowries. Orunmila asked the hunter for the name of the woman, to which the hunter replied that when he first found her, she was apprently suffered from giddiness, so they named her "Oyi" [Giddiness].

Orunmila now enquired from Ifa whether this woman-the daughter of Olokun-would bear him children. She was told to sacrifice twenty chickens and two thousand cowries in twenty places; she did, and gave birth to twenty children; thens she offered sacrifice a second time, thirty chickens and two thousand cowries in thirty places, and she gave birth to thirty children. Then she conceived again. This time, she and Orunmila decided to pay a visit to her father, the Olukun [the Sea-God]. Olokun received them with great joy, and gave Oyi some hot liquor to drink; which she did.

Page 48
When her baby arrived, it was white-skinned, and it was said that it was the hot liquor that had peeled off its dark skin; and so the baby was called "Ebo," literally, eyiti o bo" that which has been peeled.This child was born in the house of Olokun. Orunmila then told the child to make his home with Olokun.

Here the Stanza of Ifa ends, but Olokun has always been recognized as a fabulously wealthy god. This grandchild of his, Ebo, is therefore like the grandchild of a multimillionaire, who is the apple of his grandfather's eye, and who attracts incredible good fortune to himself, and to all with whom he is connected.

With the foregoing as a background, and bearing in mind that, in some places in Yorubaland, Fatoyinbo is pronounced "Fatoyibo," we may [Note: "may" is underlined] also amplify this name into "Ifa ti Oyi bo," and-as the traditionalist say that "ifa is Oro" [Oro ni Ifa]- we may suggest that "Ifa ti Oyi bo" is really doing duty for "Oro ti Oyi bo-the Spirit child whose dark skin was peeled by Oyi," thorugh the hot liquor she drank while carrying the baby. All this may mean exactly nothing, and the usefulness of it warns us against being too fully committed to the very obvious, and being too fully dependent on the Yoruba Dictionary. It is likely, however, that the Stanza from "Ogunda-meji" just quoted may have supplied the origin of the Yourba term "Oyinbo" for the white man, who may have been thought to have his natural skined 'peeled' somewhere, sometime, for some mysterious reason. Or perhaps he was thought to be the descendant of the first "Ebo," the child of Oyi and Orunmila?

Not all Yorubas (or Africans) are dark-skinned. Some are fair-skinned, and some are light-skinned-the albinos. It is said that the traditional Yoruba believed that Orisanla does the moulding of the individual person when the sun is below the horizon. Orisanla moulds the head only, but within the head is the complete man, in embryo. In those individual cases where Orisanla does not complete his job before dawn, the person is consequently light-skinned; where Orisanla does not complete his job until after dawn, the person is consequently an albino.

Page 49
Inability to complete the moulding of the person while the sun is still below the horizon is said to be due either to available material proving refractory, or to mistakes having been made which need to be corrected, time being thus lost.

According to this view, man is not mass-produced. Each individual is given specific attention on specific lines indicated by his "case-history," by which the "Oke" child is born completely covered by his amniotic sac, and an "Olugbodi" has six toes, etcetera. But the albino is one thing, the European is quite another matter altogether."

****
My thanks to Fela Sowande for writing about Yoruba names and for his musical legacy.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

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Kieran Isn't The Only Name That Means "Black"

Edited by Azizi Powell

I decided to publish this post about personal names that refer to color in general and skin color in particular as a result of reading articles such as this one about the name "Kieran" that Mitt Romney's son Ben and Ben's wife Andelynne gave their recently adopted Black son:"Former presidential candidate and governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney announced on Twitter Friday the family welcomed a new grandchild, an adorable boy they named Kieran James Romney...

And while the toddler is undeniably adorable, the name is an odd choice for a dark-skinned child adopted into the family of a man who has a complicated relationship with race. It did not go without notice that the name Kieran is the anglicized version of the Gaelic name Ciarán -- which means "little dark one" or "black." "

http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/09/21/Kieran-Romney-is-Mitts-newest-grandchild/9031379784321/

I wasn't aware of this adoption or the comments about that name choice until I read this article and some of its comments http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/31/melissa-harris-perry-apology-romney-grandchild_n_4523545.html
"Melissa Harris-Perry apologized Tuesday for a controversial segment on her show about Mitt Romney's adopted grandson, Kieran, who is black.

The MSNBC host came under fire after joking about a photo of the Romney family that showed Romney holding his newest grandson on his knee. During her show Sunday, Harris-Perry had shown the photo and asked her panel for caption ideas. The roundtable joked about the baby being the only black person in the picture."
-snip-
I choose not to comment about this particular incident except to note that I believe that Melissa Harris Perry's apology and the apologies of other participants in that round table are sincere. Also, I wish Kieran and his family well.

What sparked my interest was the implication either that no one should give a child a personal name that refers to skin color or that White people who transracially adopt a Black child or a dark skinned child- and these are not necessarily the same thing- shouldn't give that child a name that refers to skin color or dark skin color.

Given the pervasiveness of overt and covert racism in this supposedly post-racial American society, it does seem to me that it might be wise not to give a transracially adopted Black child who is likely to have more interactions with White people than Black people and other People of Color a name that might result in him or her being teased. Of course, if we were really post racial, giving a Black child a [somewhat] physically descriptive name that means "little dark one" or "black" wouldn't result in him or her being teased. It should also be noted that Black American children still taunt each other with the word "blackie". I've seen this occur-and I have intervened- when I was a substitute teacher in a 99.9 % Black elementary school. And sometimes the child who is being called "blackie" has a lighter skin complexion than the child who is doing that taunting. So, yes, African Americans still have a lot of internal work to do regarding self-esteem, group esteem and more.

But returning to subject of personal names and those names' meanings, it seems to me that few Americans really know what their names mean. And it also seems to me that people from the United States don't usually care about the meanings of our names unless those names mean something that can cause us grief. And I hope that the name "Kieran" for this Romney child doesn't fall into that category, in part, because of the publicity we are giving it.

Yet, I can't resist the opportunity this incident that occurred during Melissa Harris-Perry's television show provides to share some information about other "color" names in two languages - Yoruba (Nigeria, West Africa), and Arabic. I chose those two languages mainly because I have information about them. It should be noted that Arabic has been spoken in West Africa since at least the mid 9th century or the 10th century AD. And traditional African languages such as Swahili and Mandinka include personal names that are adaptations of Arabic names (such as my name Swahili "Azizi" and the Mandinka female name "Fatuo" which is a form of the Arabic name "Fatima"). Click http://resourcepage.gambia.dk/names.htm for more Mandinka names.

I've decided to divide this post into three parts: In addition to these prefacing statements, Part I includes an excerpt of a 2012 blog post entitled "Colonial Mentality" by Kemi Ogunniyi, a young woman of Nigerian descent who wrote about her impressions of the year (2010) that she spent in Nigeria. Part I also includes an excerpt of the comment that I wrote on that blog in response to that post, and a portion of Kemi's response to my questions.

Lastly, Part I includes several questions & responses from the Nigerian forum nairaland.com. about names for a child who is born with a blackberry like mark on his or her hand.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/fela-sowande-writes-about-yoruba.html for Part II of this post.

Part II presents an excerpt from a chapter of the 1966 book The Mind Of A Nation- The Yoruba Child by Fela Sowande. That excerpt gives the meaning of and an explanation for another Yoruba skin color name.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/arabic-names-that-refer-to-colors-or.html for Part III of this post.

Part III provides a list of Arabic names that refer to color in general or skin complexion in particular.

The content of this post is presented for cultural and sociological purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

****
PART I
From http://kemiogunniyi.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/colonial-mentality/
Posted on April 27, 2012 "Colonial Mentality"
"...Apart from the hair, I notice that even among most Africans, lighter skin complexions are favoured over darker skin tones. More so in Nigeria, it is evident in pop culture, and for example in some Yoruba music lyrics which use words like ‘omo pupa’ (light-skinned girl) or ‘apon-bepo-re’ (as light as palm oil) to describe a man’s ideal woman. Women with lighter skin tones are seen as more beautiful. The dark complexion of a woman now baits unpleasant jesting. Duduyemi as a name has become a joke, in fact some sort of sarcasm, rather than the statement of black beauty it is supposed to represent. So it is no surprise that skin bleaching creams are all over the beauty shops in Nigeria, in Africa, even in many parts of Asia. This is simply colonial mentality."
-snip-
Part of my comment"
Azizi Powell on May 4, 2012
"...Also, Kemi and others, I’m interested in your comment about the name “Duduyemi”.

Is “Duduyemi” a female and male Yoruba name? What does it mean? I don’t believe its the same as the name Doudou which is a nickname for Mamadou. Also, are people with the name “Duduyemi” subject to teasing because that name’s beginning element sounds the same as the vernacular English term for excrement (doo doo)?

I’m so sorry that this is happening, and I agree that it certainly seems to be an example of colonial mentality."

****
Kemi's response to me: May 11, 2012
..."Duduyemi is from two words – dudu + yemi. Dudu means ‘dark or black’, yemi means ‘suits me’ or ‘worthy of me’. So Duduyemi means ‘blackness suits me’. I’m not sure if it’s feminine or masculine, but the name itself is archaic and not common nowadays. It tends to be used mostly in Yoruba literature and pop culture to describe African beauty – so we could say that is characteristic of a feminine name. But as I pointed out in the article, these days, the name is rarely used in a positive light . I have heard modern Yoruba people making jest of someone’s very dark skin and calling her ‘Duduyemi’ – something of a negative connotation.

****
From http://www.nairaland.com/1288918/traditional-yoruba-names-meanings/2
Note: This is part of a four page discussion thread on Yoruba names and name meanings. One blogger wrote that he (or she) has found that a number of Yorubas don't know what their Yoruba names mean.

Re: Traditional Yoruba Names And Their Meanings by tpia@: 6:16pm On May 13, 2013
"dddaaayyyooo: What of a child Born with Blackberry on his Hand, what will Yoruba Call him? Please tell me I Beg of U
[response] afi foonu bi, or foonutide"

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Re: Traditional Yoruba Names And Their Meanings by babe_online(f): 7:13pm On May 13, 2013
"dddaaayyyooo: What of a child Born with Blackberry on his Hand, what will Yoruba Call him? Please tell me I Beg of U

[response] omobibi

****
"Re: Traditional Yoruba Names And Their Meanings by Ninilowo(m): 7:42pm On May 13, 2013
dddaaayyyooo: What of a child Born with Blackberry on his Hand, what will Yoruba Call him? Please tell me I Beg of U

[response] DUDUBERI"

****
"Traditional Yoruba Names And Their Meanings by babe_online(f): 9:32pm On May 13, 2013
dddaaayyyooo: What of a child Born with Blackberry on his Hand, what will Yoruba Call him? Please tell me I Beg of U
[response]
...or bibilari
-snip-
Also another respondent gave the name "aberry". I don't know if this was a serious response or not. The ending element in "Aberry" is similar to the ending element in "Duduberi".
-snip-
Regarding the name "omobibi", the Yoruba element "omo" means "child" [for example "Omolayo; children are (a source) of joy"] http://findaname.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/a-to-z-of-yoruba-names/

I don't know what the Yoruba element "bibi" means. I also don't know what the other element that make up the name "Bibilari" means.

Regarding the name "duduberi", according to Kemi Ogunniyi's post giving above "dudu" means "black". I don't know what the element "beri" means.

****
This concludes Part I of this post.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

Thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

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