The Blues Music and Culture - Coursework Example

Blues Culture The of New Orleans was a society where the black people were enslaved, and they did not have any rights to own and. The black people were discriminated against, and laws were made to control them and to even get rid of them to separate them from the white elite in the states. The black people were not in any way considered the same as the whites and the white people continuously tried to get rid of them by chasing them away and making reforms that would be uncomfortable for the black people. The black people came up with ways to resist the injustices that were being done to them and the methods that they used to resist still carried on after the emancipation period (Woods). They took the form of second lines, pleasure, social clubs and even music. Its roots were in different manifestations of African American slave melodies, for example, field hollers, work tunes, spirituals, and nation string numbers. Blues music that caught the torment, anguish and any expectations of 300 years of bondage and inhabitant cultivating, soul was regularly played by travelling solo musical artists on acoustic guitar, piano, or harmonica at weekend gatherings, picnics, and juke joints. Their audience was essentially comprised of farming workers, who moved to the propulsive rhythms, groans, and slide guitar. As the African American group that made soul started moving far from the South to escape its hardscrabble presence and Jim Crow laws, blues music advanced to reflect new circumstances. After a great many African-American ranch specialists had moved north to urban areas like Chicago and Detroit amid both World Wars, numerous started to view customary blues as an undesirable indication of their humble days drudging in the fields; they needed to hear music that mirrored their new urban surroundings. Accordingly, transplanted soul specialists, for example, Muddy Waters, who had lived and chipped away at a Mississippi manor before riding the rails to Chicago in 1943, swapped acoustic guitars for electric ones and rounded out their sound with drums, harmonica, and remain up bass (Woods). This offered ascent to an energized soul music with a blending beat that drove individuals onto the dance floor and directed the route toward musicality and soul and shake and roll. Malcolm x was a black child whose father was killed by the white people and as a result, he developed mistrust for the white community. As a result, he started engaging in crime and was soon imprisoned. However, he found Islam in the prison and found out that he had formed a new identity by changing his religion. Islam presented itself as a religion for the black people which focused on self-reliance and promised that the black population would return to Africa and be free of the colonial rule by the white population (DeCaro). He believed that his lineage had been lost since his ancestors had been forced into slavery. He promoted black supremacy and wanted the lack people to have the same rights as the white population. He believed that Christianity was a white religion and hence did not want to be identified with it in any way. At this point, the black population was struggling to ensure that their rights were recognized as well. He had been looked down by even his teacher who believed that he could never become a lawyer because he was black (DeCaro). The teacher’s sentiments sparked his anger and encouraged him to fight for the rights of the black population. Malik was instrumental in fighting for the rights of the black population. His conversion to Islam was a sign of perhaps protest from the white people. However, with time, he began to feel unsatisfied with the rules of the people of Shahada. He started to think that he had wasted his time and hence joined Sunni Islam. The blues music had its influence in what was happening at the time. They were started as a way for the blacks to communicate their feelings and to have something through which they could release their sorrow. During the civil rights movement, the songs mostly sung were about social change the black population was to experience after they gained freedom from the white population. During the civil rights movement, the white population started to merge with the black population even though most people were not comfortable with the idea (Strait). The root of the blues music was revisited in the 1960s. They incorporated the African sounds and arrangements of music in their sounds and called the formation of the country blues. The music by Wadada smith has some shouting and wailing characteristic of the shouts by the black slaves. The song aims to bring back the suffering that the black people went through (Gussow). However, in the later years, the black musicians were allowed to play on the same platform as the white people just like Wadada Smith. His music is acceptable to everyone although he is black to begin with. The blues music was a cultural expression that sought to explain the sufferings and injustices and the bitter relationship among the whites and the blacks. Music helped to heal such wounds and permitted the mutual admiration for both the races involved. The blues according to Clyde Woods sought to question how the white people would be comfortable with their superiority complex and how they could treat other people as if they were second rate citizens. When the hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, most people were left wondering why a state that is so powerful could not help itself when it was facing major issues. Questions arose as to where it why it had decided to leave the people who were suffering and those who did not have anywhere else to go. There was a question of whether it was a racism issue since the place affected was predominantly black communities. Hurricane Katrina brought out the major principles of the blues music. Just like the blues music, issues that affect the people are usually ignored or censored until they emerge at present. Most of the themes in the blues music are derived from nature and how things are happening and a lot of issues affecting the people living in the south (Woods). The south is mostly associated with the black communities and among the poorest in the United States and it was interesting to see that such a great nation as the United States could have people living in absolute poverty ass the people were living. The blues culture sought to unite the people of the south especially the black poor communities who were enslaved. The bourbon culture, on the other hand, focused on slavery and making the black people worse than they already were. The black people were made to work on the plantations as slaves and even servants in the houses of the rich white people. From 1765-1803 in Louisiana, the Spanish introduced new reforms, even though, the area was still dominated by the French colony and the church that made use of the black slaves in the plantations and the manufacturing plants (Woods). The black community also responded by forming their leadership and provided things for themselves and planned social movements where they had their church services and their way of worship. The white people believed that the blacks were a group of ignorant black people who were seeking for equality with them. It was unfathomable for them to be like the white people who were educated and very rich. In 1896, there were a lot of massacres where a lot of black people were killed such as the case of Robert Charles, who was a black activist. He refused to be beaten by the white people and eventually ended up killing four police officers and other white pursuers (Woods). As a form of revenge, the white people attacked the black people in their neighborhoods and killing them. However, killing a few black people in Louisiana was not considered such a big deal. At the same time, the blues culture was once revived as the black people tried to communicate their ideas and their policies. The musicians in New Orleans continued gaining fame as their music gained a countrywide audience as the blues movement spread. It seemed that the musicians and artists could identify with the pain that the black communities were going through and the needs of the general population. Cycle woods questions how people could be trapped in a web of wrongdoing just because it was handed over to them. He wonders why the white people could impose their wishes on the black people based on the color of their skin and how they could be comfortable with mistreating other people and declaring themselves gods to rule the earth and have whatever they wanted at the expense of other. He describes the blues as music of intellectuals that brings people together and brings what is happening underground to the surface. The blues music was meant to sooth the people and makes their situations better and it started from the laborers. In the same way, the song Malik al Shabazz & the people of the shahada aims to sooth with a powerful mix of instrumentals used in the song and inspiration that it speaks. The audience of the song is left to interpret the song in any way that they wish though the title of the song is that of liberation and hopes to inspire named after a freedom fighter. A person at the end feels like they are being lifted and they have freedom through the mixture of the musicals used in the song. Smith is known to capture the events using sound to deliver his message and to inspire people to think of the things surrounding them without actually mentioning them to the audience. He delivers his message in a subtle, yet very powerful manner and the audience cannot help thinking of the intention. Even though there are no words, the title of the song may lead the person to think about the events and the fight for equality by the black communities. The thematic content and coverage of the Civil Rights era up until the present comes across as very intensely emotional and personal as the atmosphere is rather somber and inspirational as well. The mood of the song is very energetic as the mood shifts from that of sadness to another of inspiration to do better and to be better people. The instruments used in the song include a mixture of drums, piano, and a trumpet which produce a melodious, energetic and quite memorable music. Malik Al Shabazz was previously known as Malcolm X and is one of the most influential personalities during the fight for freedom. The people of Shahada were the Muslims who Malik had first joined when he left prison. However, at some point he started to disagree with their ideals and they eventually assassinated him. The blues culture would be helpful in discussing the song Malik al Shabazz & the people of the shahada as a people in pain fighting for their liberation and fighting to have the same rights as the white people. The song is entitled Malik al Shabazz, who was Malcolm x and advocated for the rights of the Muslims and represented the poor and marginalized people in the community as he was both black and Muslim. The song brings out the pain that the people went through and the liberation that they felt when they finally got their freedom. Malik Al Shabazz is in the midst of the collection by freedom summers. All the songs written by Wadada Smith represent the civil rights movement where the different songs in the album represent one leader known for his liberation works. In this case, the leader is Malik Al Shabazz who was known as Malcolm X. Even though the black community at the moment has the same rights as the white people and have the same opportunities, there are still a lot of differences in how they are treated on the ground. Research has shown that the black people are still marginalized in one way or another and stereotyped to have some of the worst characters even though this may not be true. Works Cited DeCaro, Louis. Malcolm and the Cross: The Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, and Christianity. New York: New York University, 1998. Gussow, Adam. "“Where Is The Love?” Racial Violence, Racial Healing, And Blues Communities." Southern Cultures 12.4 (2006): 36-37. Strait, John. "Geographical Study Of American Blues Culture." Journal Of Geography (2010): 33. Woods, Clyde. " Katrina’s world: Blues, Bourbon, and the return to the source." American Quarterly [special issue - In the Wake of Katrina: New Paradigms and Social Visions] (2005): 1-22. Read More