Writin is Fightin Fighting the Good Fight Rest In Peace Amiri Baraka

I like that Alexs Pate states in the video below “Amiri was before beat,” because though Mr. Baraka was part of the movement, even publishing, Kerouac and Ginsberg before he started Yugen magazine, he is often not thought of as part of this very significant beat shift in literary thinking, especially poetry.

Amiri Baraka strikes a chord in me for many reason, one reason because of his bravery.   Still I search for that consistent core or reserve and resolve to be who I am and do the right thing.  He is asked in this video what is the cost of truth telling. I feel that I have made great and significant gains but sometimes not. 

 I’m not quite sure what institution Amiri Baraka didn’t buck while being himself and following what he learned and what he believe in.  For instance he distanced himself from Black Nationalism to become a Marxist.

           He imparted some insight to this shift stating, "As long as the black writer was obsessed with being an accepted, middle class, Baraka wrote, he would never be able to speak his mind, and that would always lead to failure. Baraka felt that America only made room for white obfuscators, not black ones."           

            His life at the very least exemplifies, an Ismael Reed, quote, “writin is fightin,” from Reed's essay titled, Writin is Fightin: Thirty Seven Years of Boxing on Paper. I love that Baraka was more than sympathetic toward Castro and Cuba, which he made plain with, Cuba Libre, an essay and as a member of the Fair Play for Cuba committee in 1960 and through, ‘A Declaration of Conscience,’ a literary endeavor in favor of Castro’s regime that he co authored.

     

       Alexs Pate’s intro is rather long but, actually 

one of the few intros you don’t want to fast 

forward through. Amir Baraka starts at 9:34

Perhaps the following bespeaks my simple-mindedness, but of all his endeavors, of all there would be to discuss I would have loved to talk to him about his name change.  I legally changed my name in the early 90s and to this time, January 2014 still many are insulted and hurt feelings continue with many refusing to speak it or even write it in legal documents. I approached it thinking of its permanence more or less like a tattoo.  Interestingly, out of all the stakeholders (many more than I thought there could be) the only one who heard the why and embraced me, Cavana Ibeji Opo Faithwalker, was my father after whom I was named.

            Many laugh at us Africans-American half-breeds and we at ourselves as the misspellingess, most prolific name changers on the planet from Shanaynay to Tequila to Mercedes to Trevon, Malik, and Jamal.  I am not positing that we should all change our names or even that we corner the market on name changing and creating anew. I do affirm it is one of our weapons of mass construction to reclaim our very souls and bodies as we have light to do so.  However, we must stop and look at the continuum from Shanaynay to Amiri and realize that  “X” marks the spot.  “X” may be the alpha and omega of our kujichagulia, our self-determinism.  Poor Shaniqua political at birth, political by birth, political when she just wants a proper future for her son.  Take heart in Amiri.  

Thank you Amiri Baraka (born Everett LeRoi Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), formerly known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka

Protest Jazz and Spoken Word

Jazz is known for it's musical humor and satire, it only makes since that humor and satire would be present in lyrics written to and for jazz as a tool that enhances protest.  Last Nia blog we looked at protest without lyrics this week let's look at the spoken word traveling from in front of the music to melody without music to pure spoken word. Oscar Brown, Jr., runs the gamut.
 Oscar Brown, Jr (October 10, 1926 – May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, and civil rights activist who created lyrics for jazz protest and whose lyrics easily crossed over into the realm of poetry and spoken word. Here is Oscar Brown Jr.'s "Forty Acres and a Mule" music and lyrics. As you will see it is not about reparations but face value broken promises observed from street level.  Notice how the spoken word comes down and dances around a tight driving 4/4 cymbal and upright bass with a 2/4 rim shot:

 

Here is an interesting counter point to "Forty Acres and Mules," spoken word  jazz with jazz great Oscar Brown on Def Poetry Jam more or less singing spoken word without any music in "I Apologize" but laying down a much tighter meter (4/4 maybe?):

Here is a show tune by Rodgers and Hammerstein that floated by unscathed until it got to ... not Mississippi but Georgia.  Quoting Rene Marie in an article last August in Jazz Times,

Who woulda thunk that this lovely song written by Rodgers and Hammerstein about racial prejudice could be snuck into South Pacific? Rodgers and Hammerstein were repeatedly pressured to remove the song from the musical, with lawmakers in Georgia actually going so far as to introduce legislation that would make illegal the performance of any creative works with ideas that stemmed from “Communist” thinking. According to James Michener (author of the book that inspired the musical), “The authors replied stubbornly that this number represented why they wanted to do the play in the first place. … [E]ven if it meant the failure of the production, it was going to stay in.”

Artist's Choice: Rene Marie on Protest Music

Today’s top jazz performers pick 10 favorite tracks by the players, singers and styles that helped define them.

Well check out the above list and send us some of the protest songs that help define you whether you be a musician or librarian. We'll post your selections and comments.

Here is one of my favorites from Gil Scott Heron, hmmm I think he's talkin' to Black folk  What do you think? The Revolution will not be Televised...

 

 

If It Ain't Got That Sing... can it protest?

Nia Continues the Conversation on Jazz and Protest with a look at Charlie Haden

What exactly is protest music, in this case jazz, without lyrics?  The last issue of the Nia Coffeehouse brought to you Louis Armstrong and Nina Simone with Armstrong's, Black and Blue and Nina Simone's, Goddam Mississippi.  Louis bemoans the plight of African Americans by asking, "what did I do to be so black and blue," and Ms. Simone lashes out at Jim Crow, lynching and the state of Mississippi over the assassination of Medgar Evers with a frustrated exclamation, "Goddam Mississippi!"

As Nia asked the question about protest music in jazz today Charlie Haden crossed our sights.  His album, American Dreams is touted by Byron Woods in, Indy Week dotcom back in 2003 as protest jazz, but is it really?  No doubt Charlie, has "chops" with his effort called, Haunted Hearts making Time magazine's top ten list in 1992 and Down Beat selecting Always Say Goodbye as jazz album of the year in 1994.
In my effort to learn more about American Classical Music I find that it is indeed classical and extremely sophisticated so that the listener has to grow in sophistication to fully enjoy it.  A major part of growing in sophistication is just listening and letting the music have first place for a minute.

One very interesting thing is how the album is touted as protest in the Indy Week. com article, Protest Jazz- Bassist Charlie Haden's American Dream but on Charlie's website patriotism and love of country ( certainly protest constitutes for all but the "love it or leave" ilk love of country) wade through, no gush through the music to the forefront in the description. Whatever happened to there's no such thing as bad publicity? Well certainly there is and the joint is first and foremost a nice piece of work whether it is in your face protest or sappy patriotism.
Give Charlie Haden's "America the Beautiful" a listen; compare it to a Ray Charles version with orchestra and challenge yourself to relegate Ray to the back ground, which is a fun exercise and not as hard as you might think, and focus on how the music takes one to a quite different place than where Charlie Haden's version goes, especially the last stanza.  Love or leave it guys you'll love this America the Beautiful by the Gaither Vocal Band it was a little hard for me to get through although as you would expect from the Gaithers it is very well done.
You might enjoy more about Charlie Haden and his Liberation Music Orchestra here at a devout musician I did.
Where is Charlie Haden today?  Check out Charlie Haden news.

An excerpt from the Byron Woods article:

 "But another Charlie Haden story concerns his protests against the Vietnam War, our country's interventions in El Salvador, and apartheid in South Africa. You can hear them on the three Liberation Music Orchestra recordings he's made since 1970--each recorded, as he's pointed out, while a Republican was president."

Here's Byron Woods at Twitter 
 Nia is still wanting local jazz musicians to showcase protest or involvement in today's society at the Nia Coffeehouse and maybe educate us with some words also.  Bring your band and play with Vince Robinson and the Jazz Poets or let's work out sumpthin. (The Jazz Poets at facebook)

Nia means purpose.