1
P ag*
Portland Observar Section II February 28. 1981
BLACK MUSIC AND ENTERTAINERS
By Lots Yvonne Whaley
Music has been an integral part o f the human ex
perience since before recorded time. It is the language o f
sound which expresses all levels o f the conditions under
and into that which man was and is; and. as such,
becomes a form o f communication which fits the needs
o f the people who created it.
Most early peoples attributed music to their gods, and
the anonymous poets and singers can be said to have
been music’s first historians.
In Genesis, the firs t book o f the Old Testament.
Jubal, a relative o f Cain, is said to be “ ...the father o f
all such as handle the harps and organ.” Moses affirms
this. The Greeks, through their legends and mythology,
had a God and Goddess who "invented” music. Behind
that ancient civilization came the Romans with their
carbon copies.
In the Sudan, the Dogans have eight kinds o f drums,
each a different size, which correspond to their inter
pretation ol the creation o f the world, from the birth o f
the great M o n ito r (G od), symbolized by the Kunga
drum; to the age when the human race began to increase
and multiply-symbolized by the Barba drum. One might
find an analogy in the Judeo-Christian interpretation o f
the Creation.
Music and religion, then, have been intimately inter
woven since the Dawn o f Man.
AFRICA
According to some eighteenth and nineteenth century
Am ericans, culture in A fric a was said to be non
existent; however, reports belie this. Before the African
was brought to the New World as a slave, his musicality
was well developed and documented. The earliest
published account was written by Richard Jobson, Esq.
during a visit to Gambia in 1620 - 21. He observed the
importance o f music in the A frica n's life, and stated
that all “ .. .principan persons (that is, the Kings and
Chiefs) do hold as an ornament o f their state, so as
when wee come to see them, their musicks will seldome
be wanting." The important rulers employed their own
bands and the bandmaster, master drummer and royal
hornblower had the highest status. The better band
members and singers were also held in high esteem, o f
ten receiving some form o f gratuity from the dancers
and visitors.
An important member o f every village was the bard.
After having been identified as possessing possibilities
lor such a career, he served an apprenticeship for many
years. His responsibilities were m an ifold . As chief
historian, he related all inform ation in song. Before a
battle, he whipped the w arriors into a frenzy w ith
music, continuing on into the battle: c
couraging the troops with songs o f the glorious deeds o f
their ancestors. He acted also as court jester, and often
became the conscience o f the ruler. Some became wan
derers o f intinerant minstrels and performed in religious
ceremonies in addition to being the musical focus at
social occasions. In the late eighteenth century,
Olaudathe (Ibo) Equiano, one o f the first Africans to
write in English wrote:
B e are almost a nation o f dancers, musicians and
poets. Thus every great event... is celebrated in
public dances which are accompanied with songs
and music suited to the occasion.
Various European w riters in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries corroborated this.
Music, therefore, was a functional part o f each per
son’s life from birth to death. The Ashanti, according to
Bowdich, thought it "...absurd to worship God in any
other way than with chanting or singing." Music was
used socially, recreationally, politically and, as stated
earlier, as an act o f communication. A ll chores, com
munity involvements, human conditions, contracts, and
expressions were manifested in this form . Each song
had a specific m otive fo r being instrum entalized,
danced or sung.
UWÜ i n u i v i e n I o —
I in
í X f
f I i *> ¿ l ' l r l i r t r t
■ m «.a — - . --- -------A
■
■
Harriet Tubman began her career as an
army nurse in 1862, nursing the sick and
wounded in South Carolina.
Oregon Health Sciences Center
School o f Nursing
Salutes Black History M onth
Photo the Schom burg Cohecho
: a •
The purpose of the project, "Recruitment of Minority Students for
Careers in Nursing" is to:
1. Increase the number of potentially qualified ethnic minority or edu
cationally disadvantaged students committed to pursuing a pro
fessional career in nursing;
2. Increase the number of ethnic minority students seeking and gain
ing admittance to prenursing programs and to the program at the
UOHSC School of Nursing;
3. Reduce the attrition of ethnic minority and educationally disadvan
taged students enrolled in the School of Nursing.
WHO_DO I CONTACT
FOR MORE INFORMA
TION?
F o r m o re in fo r m a tio n on
the U O H S C S ch o o l o f N urs
inq and
its m in o r ity re c ru it
m e n t p ro te c t c o n ta r t
Proiect Director
Recruitment of
Minority Students for
Careers in Nursing
UOHSC
School of Nursing
Portland, OR 97201
or
Phone 225 7574