Blog Post 6

Cornel West on the Roots of and Destruction Caused by Black Nihilism

Dr. Cornel West's essay Nihilism in Black America is a bold statement on the importance of love and hope to the improvement of the black condition in America. West's essay holds many points that are congruent to those discussed in his various lectures and interviews. West mainly focuses on the roots and reasons behind black nihilism and the self destruction that it is causing.

West opens his essay on discussing the popular liberal and conservative ideas on why black Americans are still unequal and downtrodden and then proposes his own thesis. Black inequality isn't caused by a lack of protestant work ethic or structural assistance, but by nihilism among black Americans. West describes this nihilism not as philosophic but indicative of a sweeping hopelessness and lovelessness. West continues to say that this nihilism has devalued human life in black culture and increased the drive towards materialism. West further explains the destructiveness of this nihilism when he writes "life without meaning, hope, and love breeds a coldhearted, mean-spirited outlook that destroys both the individual and others.” (40). At a speech given an APHA meeting West defines love as "a steadfast commitment to the well-being of others." Thus, West is expressing that the black community (and America as a whole) no longer seems to care about the wellness of others and has replaced this sentiment with nihilism and materialism. It is important to note here that West broadens his explanation to describe not only black Americans but all working class Americans (a theme that persists through many of his lectures). Dr. West believes that nihilism and apathy are a prevalent cause of black inequality and that love must be reinjected into the black psyche in order to succeed. This position raises the question "what is causing this nihilism?"

West explores black nihilism and offers what he believes to be the source of this problem. The two ideas he mostly explores in his essay are linked to personal and financial security. In his appearance on the Bill Maher show, West states that terrorist attacks on America have recently led many to a self-justified paranoia. He likens this to the black experience when he says "to be black in America for 400 years is to be unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence, and hated." This is a powerful point in relation to his discussion of black nihilism. This hate and violence (both internal and external in its genesis) experienced by black Americans have led to the feeling of meaningless and hopelessness that West believes is central to black nihilism. West further explores this point again in his APHA lecture when he says that "everyday people feel more and more helpless and hopeless and hapless." This lack of personal security leads black Americans to hopeless which leads to nihilism. The other point discussed by West is how financial security is linked to nihilism. He writes in his essay that “The eclipse of hope and collapse of meaning in much of black America is linked to the structural dynamics of corporate market institutions that affect all Americans.” (42). West explores commodification in his essay and discusses it in his lecture. He believes that materialism and "the wall street oligarchy" has consistently led to hopelessness among black Americans and the working middle class. The root of nihilism is hopelessness and that hopelessness is subsisted by insecurity on many levels among black Americans.

West's exploration of black nihilism is refreshing in its frank discussion of the problems face black America. West makes few excuses in his assessments and clearly points out why and how nihilism became the prevailing sentiment in black America. The roots of nihilism is in hopelessness and West believes that "a love ethic must be at the center" of the conversion of black America off of nihilistic and materialistic lifestyles (43). Furthermore, Dr. West often expands his points to cover working class America as a whole so it is important to understand the points he is making and how they can be used to bolster equality and justice for people of all races in America.

Blog Post 5

There are several apparent parallels between bell hooks' analysis of black culture and the introduction segment to Black Popular Culture written by Gina Dent. Both hooks and Dent discuss different facets of black culture in an attempt to decode its essence, popularity, and importance. The similarities between the two coverages of black culture are most obvious in the feminist leaning analysis and architecture of both women's dissertations and their discussion of film as a particularly important aspect of black culture.

Dent and hooks are both known for having written many feminist essays and books so it comes as no surprise that both of the women take this focus when they assay black culture. Dent makes it clear early in her essay that black culture cannot simply be looked at racially. It is necessary to not only look at black people as a homogeneous group but to be aware of the differences that exist in culture, class, etc. Hooks has a similar point when she discusses black culture. She focuses on the role of women in black culture and their depictions in media such as film and music videos and what this says about black culture and American culture as a whole. Hooks goes on to warn viewers not to allow race and black culture/white culture distinctions to muddle situations that require the analysis of other issues. The example she gives is that of the OJ Simpson trial that became a media circus and contained much coverage of racially focused issues while the actual issue at hand was domestic violence and violence perpetrated by a man against a woman. Both women want to ensure the reader or listener that black culture contains important internal distinctions. A passage from the Dent essay serves as an excellent segue into the next issue that both women hold in common: "It has become increasingly clear that black criticism will have to begin to make use of the more sophisticated cultural analyses that depend on understanding the complexities of video imaging, the dynamics of reception and reception theory." (Dent 6).

Films are central theme in both pieces. Dent discusses several "black films" including Boyz in the Hood, Jungle Fever, and Tongues Untied. Dent wants the reader to focus on what these films say about black culture and specifically black gay culture and black joy. Dent recognizes the importance of films to black culture and how these films impact American culture as a whole. Hooks takes this a step further in her analysis of the idea of the "black film." Hooks brings up in her segment on Spike Lee on the idea of black films as a money making tool in predominantly white Hollywood and the fact that, in many cases, they are not at all indicative of black culture. The dichotomy that Hooks is particularly focused on is that of Spike Lee's films being regarded as failures by some and the success of other "black films" like Waiting to Exhale. Spike Lee's films made moderate profits but more importantly conveyed a genuine message of black culture while Waiting to Exhale conveyed an image manipulated by white studio executives in what was more of a parody black culture than a realistic portrayal of life as a black person or an important issue facing black Americans. Both Dent and hooks pay particular attention to film because it is one of the most important aspects of any culture and serves to modify racial, gender, and class stereotypes.

Hooks and Dent's are similar in the way they approach their discussions of black culture. While Dent focuses particularly on the idea of black joy and what link it has to black culture, hooks takes a head on approach to the idea of black culture; however, both women approach the subject with a feminist bent. Dent's essay and hooks short documentary on black culture show that both women want to convey to their readers and viewers that black culture is a multi-layered entity that deserves analysis from several different perspectives with particular focus on black films and what they say about black people and black culture to America and pop culture as a whole.

Blog Entry 4

Misconceptions about Voodoo

Voodoo is seen by many as a mysterious and silly tradition of magic and curses. The persistent vision of voodoo in American popular culture is that of voodoo dolls and zombies brought back from the dead. Jessie Ruth Gaston's essay on voodoo in New Orleans and its roots in African religion dispel common misconceptions of voodoo such as it being a tradition and not a true religion, the essentiality of magic in the religion, and its persistence into modern times.

The first thing addressed in Gaston's essay is her focus on the idea of Voodoo as a legitimate religion that came from West Africa. Many persons view voodoo as a set of magic traditions with witch doctors potions with no real structure; however, Voodoo has many components of a legitimate religion. Voodoo has deities that are very common to Christian saints. Some African villages would have their own deities similar to the idea of a patron saint in Catholicism. More evidence to the fact of Voodoo as a religion is the existence of a rigid hierarchy of priests and a lengthy initiation processes that are again similar to Catholic sacraments. Also, voodoo, like many religions, has a clear delineation between good and evil (Voodoo and Hoodoo). In these respects, voodoo is similar to many much more commonly accepted religions such as the three big monotheisms. Much of voodoo focuses on rites and rituals and not the curses and hexes that many people expect. This idea of voodoo more as a tradition than religion comes from the existence of magic in the religion.

Gaston writes in her essay that "magic is intimately related to voodoo... but is not its essence" (114). The magic in voodoo is strengthened by deities and rituals. In this respect it is not much different than prayer in other religions. There is not much of a stretch from praying to a saint for good health to performing a ritual for a voodoo deity for the same desired effect. The common misconception that voodoo consists mostly of magic is a flawed one. Magic is certainly a part of voodoo, as it is with any religion, but it is not the focus. Perhaps because of this reputation for magic, many people consider Voodoo to be a relic of the past but Gaston also refutes this myth.

Gaston traces voodoo into the present by offering evidence from newspapers, business cards, etc. that show that voodoo has persisted in New Orleans into the present. A common idea of voodoo is that it existed mostly in the distant past in the times of gas lamps and horse drawn carriages but Gaston mentions newspaper articles from the 1940's relating to voodoo inspired killings. The author also insists that in modern New Orleans there are still many homes with makeshift voodoo shrines and that the religion still exists in the black community of New Orleans.

There are many misconceptions and stereotypes that people have about the voodoo religion. Many of these misconceptions are tied to hoodoo curses and voodoo magic. In reality voodoo is a legitimate religion with rituals that persist to this day. Gaston's essay dispels many incorrect notions about voodoo but also serves to reinforce some stereotypes as well. After viewing the evidence offered by Gaston in her essay, one can see that voodoo is really no sillier or less legitimate than any other commonly practised religion.

Persistence and Influence of African Culture in Florida

There were many different African cultures that were brought to the American Colonies during the slave trade and not all of the cultures survived. Some of these cultures survived through retentions of African slaves of religion, language, and other cultural practices. The Gullah were one group in South Carolina that retained many clearly African traditions. Another group that differed in retention process were slaves in Florida. Africans in Florida differed in their retention process from the Gullah in that many of their retentions were influenced by separate groups and persisted in their original forms for much longer than the Gullah traditions.

One major difference between the Gullah and Floridian retentions were the groups they were influenced by. The Gullah tradition was influenced by Europeans, mostly English colonialists, whereas Africans in Florida were influenced by Native Americans and the Spanish. Robert Hall writes in his essay that many African slave in Florida escaped and lived with Native Americans or in Spanish controlled areas. Africans in Florida were particularly acquainted with the Native Americans of the area and the two groups interacted often. In many cases the blacks served as "cultural go-betweens" among indians and whites that lived in the same areas. There is clear influence in both directions between Africans and Native Americans in Florida perhaps aided by a common ground among both groups rooted in tribal culture and a respect for nature. Another area in which Floridian retentions differ from those of the Gullah is their persistence in their original form for such a long time.

Hall writes in his essay that some Africans in Florida still had tribal tattoos in the mid 19th century. Not only that, he offers various quotes in which whites spoke of the religious gatherings of blacks in Florida as belonging to the customs of "central Africa" more than of Christianity. The religious ceremonies of blacks in Florida were much more traditionally influenced than many people from the American South were accustomed to. In this respect, African culture persisted in Florida in its original form much later than the Gullah.

Hall's essay points out several key areas in which Africans in Florida differed in their cultural retentions than the Gullah people of South Carolina. The persistence of African culture and it's different outside influences demonstrate it as following a distinctively different path than the Gullah tradition. Robert Hall offers ample evidence to support the idea of a heterogeneous African existence in America well past the time that many people tend to think. Not only were there different groups of Africans brought to the Americas during the slave trade, these slaves maintained differences in their retentions during the lengthy acculturation process.

Blog Entry 3

Ebonics and African American Vernacular English are a point of contention in modern American society. There are various view points in favor of and against the use of Ebonics and the debate is often polarizing and racially charged. The video clips from discussion panels and interviews and the essay by Selase Williams offer some strong opinions on the matter. Through watching debates and reading about research into the matter, some common points in support and against the use of Ebonics emerge.

Those in support of Ebonics often raise the point that it is no different than any other dialect used by different people across the United States. This is true in many respects. While many people view Ebonics as simply a bastardized form of the English language, it has very clear syntactical roots in African languages of the Niger-Congo family. The essay by Williams offers dozens of examples that clearly show the similarities between Niger-Congo language syntax and that of Ebonics. Even though Ebonics is often view as corrupted English, it has its very own set of rules that are followed by speakers (often subconsciously) like any other dialect. It can be shown through linguistic evidence that Ebonics exists somewhat as a result of African language influence upon American English. African American English can be clearly shown to be a dialect and not simply broken English as a result of pidgin, and this raises another important point in support of the use of Ebonics.

Persons communicate with one another most effectively when they do so in a common dialect that is natural to them. The use of Ebonics among some black persons, as was pointed out in some of the film clips, is a point of unity and familiarity. One of the black men in the video noted that he will start using a mode of speech more common to African American English once he becomes more comfortable around someone. This allows him to communicate on a more effective and personal level with the person with whom he is speaking. In the same vein, Ebonics also communicates more than proper English does to those who use it. As was pointed out by one of the members of the panel on "The Ink Spot" program, a mother saying "son, why did you go there?" in proper English does not communicate the same point as "son, why did you go there for?" Because the language exists as a cultural dialect it affords its speakers more familiarity and communicative ability with one another than would speaking "proper" English. This, however,leads into a powerful counterpoint against the use of Ebonics.

The use of Ebonics is a somewhat divisive point both between whites and blacks and also within the African American community itself. There is a communication barrier that can begin to show between those who use Ebonics and those who don't understand it. Many white people will say that Ebonics is broken English because they cannot understand the dialect, while many black people will say that white person is racist for disliking Ebonics but ignoring idiosyncracies in other English dialects. While this isn't necessarily either party's fault, nor is it a flaw in Ebonics as means of communication, but it is a reality of dichotomous thinking that occurs because of the apparent communication difficulties and misunderstandings that occur between those that care for Ebonics, and those that don't. Also brought up in the panel discussion shows is the internal divisiveness that sometimes occurs as a result of the prolific use of Ebonics. A black youth may be ridiculed by his peers for speaking "white"when he uses standard American English as opposed to Ebonics. This situation, however, is often a result of an low income, urban/city upbringing as opposed to being a component of black culture as a whole. Another strong counterpoint against Ebonics occurs as the result of perception of the dialect as broken or improper English.

Those who use Ebonics are not necessarily less smart than those who do not; however, the problem lies in the fact that this perception exists. It may not be the case that a person who says "ax" as opposed to "ask" in a job interview is less intelligent than other potential candidates for the position, but it will certain appear that way to the interviewer in most cases. Many intelligent black people may miss out on important education or employment opportunities because their use of Ebonics is seen as a result of low intelligence. As was pointed out in several videos, those who use Ebonics, particularly younger people, were simply never informed that the way they were speaking is not considered standard English because that's the way their parents spoke and their teachers never took the time to correct them. This is again, not necessarily a fault in Ebonics itself, but a reality of the perception of the dialect.

The debate over Ebonics has gone on over many years and both sides feel strongly about their opinions and likewise offer powerful points in support of such. The reality of the matter is that Ebonics exists as a dialect of American English and is not simply broken English. Spoken Ebonics can be show to have roots in Niger-Congo family languages in its use of double verbs and ambiguous conjugations and its speakers follow apparent rules that dictate the way in which the dialect is spoken. On the opposite point, those who use Ebonics are often perceived as less intelligent because of this idea of Ebonics as broken English. As a result, through the use of Ebonics an individual may be unintentionally projecting the image to others that they lack an education. There is nothing wrong with the use of Ebonics then, on a base level, however problems arrive in the perceptions of the dialect. This raises important questions. Should a black person speak "white" in the professional world and then speak "black" around friends and family? Why is standard American English perceived as being a "white" thing? The debate will continue for decades surely, but it is important to note now the validity of Ebonics as a dialect, and proceed thus. The fact remains that Ebonics is simply appropriate in some situations and not in others, this is certainly not a desirable outcome, but it is a fact of modern society.

Blog Entry 2

African Linguistic Influence on African American English

The beginning of Molefe Asante's essay on the influences of African language on African American English serves to offer criticisms, some weak and some strong, of the way African languages were studied in the early days of the academic field. He offers criticisms of certain writers in the field and of the field in general. The central idea of this beginning portion of his essay is that many early works in African American studies were based on the incorrect assumption that African languages had no influence on African American English. Until Melville Herskovits began his work, the common belief was that African culture was lost and African American English was a pidgin language that came from corruptions of American English as a result of the slaves inability to articulate the language. Asante uses a piece written by Turner to offer examples of misunderstandings and ignorance of African language leading scholars to believe an African word used in the pidgin of slaves was a corruption of a similar sounding English word. These arguments strengthen Asante's position that many early scholars were unwilling to accept the existence of African retentions in African American English. The author's argument is mostly sound however there are some weaknesses in his position.

Much of his critique is for the narrow scope of scholastic studies in African American language studies. While it is true that many early scholars focused on language alone and did not seem to notice the importance of other forms of communication (gestures, dance, the dozens, etc.) it is important to note that many of these scholars, like Herskovits, were breaking into a new field. It is to be expected that the first foray into a field of study will leave some areas uncovered. This is especially true when studying a different culture for the first time, particularly one so diametrically different to one's own culture. Apart from this weakness, Asante offers a strong explanation of of the shortcomings of early studies in African American English. After he discusses early scholarly work in the field, Asante continues to the main purpose of his essay.

The central argument of the essay as a whole is that African languages, specifically the Niger-Congo languages, have a made a very clear influence into African American vernacular and Ebonics. The strongest point he makes in this regard is in reference to the similarity between tenses in Ebonics and tenses in the Bantu, Efik, and Ewe languages. He offers a clear example of tense being derived from context as opposed to coming from the use of different words. The examples he uses in modern Ebonics and their similarity to the given African languages demonstrates a clear connection between the two linguistically. Many of the examples he gives can still be heard in modern Ebonics. A weaker point he offers is his argument is his explanation of the way Ebonics uses multiple verbs to express an idea explained with a single verb in English. While his examples make sense, they seem to be less common or archaic constructions that are not commonly heard in every day speech. The point he makes would be much stronger in analysis of what this means culturally. Why is it that Africans use multiple verbs to explain the same idea as English? What does this say about the two cultures? Unfortunately, Asante leaves this point unexplored. While the essay has some weaknesses, it is overall a strong essay that offers some very clear and powerful explanations of the African influence on African American English and Ebonics.

African Naming Culture and Acculturation

The essay by Holloway discusses historical African naming processes and and the way they responded to acculturation in colonial America. One example that he gives is that early on slaves retained their practice of naming their children after seasons and days of the week in their original language. Over time, this changed to slaves naming their children after days of the week and seasons in English. This shows a very clear mixing of the two cultures and the way traditional African naming practises transitioned to the new world but still retained some of the original cultural identity. Another naming practice that came later during the acculturation process was when slaves began adopting their owner's last names. This shows that African slave culture was mixing more and more with colonial American culture. Whereas original African last names would come from a variety of different possibilities including place of birth the slaves began to adopt the European tradition of passing last names from one parent to child. This shows another step in the process of long term acculturation of Afican Slaves. Finally, another important naming practice mentioned by Holloway is the use of a familial nickname that persists to this day. Many black people (or "almost every" black person as Holloway puts it) has two names: given names and familial nicknames. This practise continues to this day and began with African naming tradition. This naming tradition shows, more than anything, a culturally driven emphasis on family. All of these naming traditions are important and interesting both historically and culturally. They demonstrate how acculturation affected African slave culture and tradition.

Of the list of terms given by Holloway, some are more intriguing than others. One word that stands out quickly from the list is "rap." Obviously this term has come into its own in modern English as a musical genre but it's very intriguing to learn that this term comes from African origin. With rap music being such a big part of modern black culture, it is an interesting fact that this term comes originally from African speech. Another intriguing term listed is "cowboy." Whereas rap is a large part of black culture, cowboys are a large part of American culture as a whole. The word's origins in slavery come as a surprise because often cultural depictions of cowboys are of white men. Cowboy culture factors largely into a certain section of American history and folklore and it is important to note the origins of the term. Finally, moving up the scales to a more grander one, "ok" is by far the most intriguing term on the list. The other terms listed show an obvious impact on black and American culture but "ok" is a term that is used worldwide in many different languages on almost every continent. While the origins are dubious, it is interesting to see that this term could have possibly come from an African language (and it is also important to note the lack of consideration given to this origin). The list of terms offered by Holloway is incredibly interesting because it gives clear examples of how African languages have impacted the world on a small and large scale.

Blog Entry 1

Early African American Culture and Modern Cultural Retentions

Holloway mentions cultural interaction, integration, and assimilation as being important to the early formation of an African/American culture. He gives several examples of these processes in his discussion of the heterogeneous nature of African cultures brought to America during the slave trade. A good example of cultural interaction that he mentions is certain members of the Wolof tribe and their common position as house servants. Holloway writes that "the Wolofs... were mostly house servants who had extensive and close contact with European Americans." (22). This interaction between slave owner and house servant is an early example of a two cultures coming head to head with one another and beginning the process of integrating certain elements to form a distinct new culture. This was the case with Gullah. Holloway is quick to point out that many different African cultures from many different tribes were brought to South Carolina and began mixing with one another. He describes Gullah as "the melding of numerous West and Central African elements in a culture..." (28). A new African American culture arose in America as a result of the cultural interaction of various different African cultural groups mixing with one another over time. Cultural interaction is also closely tied to the assimilation of African slaves. This idea is of assimilation is also exemplified by the African house servant:

"Slave artisans and domestics servants... worked in close proximity to European Americans and were forced to give up their cultural identities to reflect their masters' control and capacity to 'civilize' the Africans."(Holloway 35)

These house servants began to be absorbed into the more dominant European American culture and, as a result, began to adopt new customs, attitudes, and creeds that they were previously unexposed to. This interaction and integration worked in both directions as African culture influenced and shaped early American culture as well.

There have been many African contributions to American culture. Holloway mentions contributions in the fields of "aesthetics, animal husbandry, agriculture, cuisine, food culture, folklore, folk medicine, and language." (40). Of the several examples given by Holloway, some of the most intriguing are the contributions to folklore (children's tales such as Chicken Little and Brer Rabbit), culinary and food culture (soul food), and music and dance (formerly popular dances such as the Charleston are the result of African influence). These cultural retentions are obviously very significant to this day. Many of the old stories from African culture are still told to children today, soul food is still a popular cuisine choice for many, and African influence into music and dance are an enormous part of American musical culture. Many of these African contributions to American culture are persistent and exist in modified form in modern times. Without African influence, American culture would lack important and influential musical genres and cuisine choices.

Turner/Herskovits

I would say that the most inspiring idea I've gleaned from reading the piece of Lorenzo Turner and Melville Herskovits is that both men were successful at following and developing their passions in life. In a time that it was almost certainly very difficult for black men to get a good education, both men persevered and gained college degrees. They were able to study areas that they were passionate in (African anthropology for Herskovits and African language for Turner). In a time when African studies did not even exist as an academic institution, both men developed their theses and ideas and helped to cement African Studies as a legitimate piece of academia. This is inspiring to me from an academic and career standpoint because both these men pursued their own ideas and goals and by doing so were able to show the rest of the world that these studies that were so personally important are also intrinsically important to academia and culture as a whole.