Black Lightning

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The Legacy of the Brown Condor


Readers today know the traditional story of how the Second World War began, when Adolf Hitler unleashed his German war machine on Poland in September 1939. What seems to have been largely forgotten, however, is the fact that the first chapter of World War II actually took place in Ethiopia: the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935–1936. Many of the key players who defended Ethiopia against impossible odds have likewise been seemingly lost to history.

As Ethiopian Airlines celebrates its 70th anniversary, however, it feels only fitting to pull back the curtain on one such figure who not only aided Ethiopia in her fight against fascism, but who also set the very foundation for the airline itself: an American aviation visionary named John Charles Robinson.

ma16browncondor01x600.jpg





A dream takes flight

By any measure, John C. Robinson’s life proved not only an American success story but also an Ethiopian success story. He was born in the small Florida town of Carrabelle on Nov. 26, 1905, in the segregated South. Eventually, he moved west with his mother and sister for greater economic and social opportunities, settling in the community of Gulfport, Mississippi. It was here in the heart of the Deep South that Robinson developed an early avid interest in aviation. After watching a barnstorming pilot landing in a field nearby, he began dreaming of one day soaring in the skies himself.

Thanks to his own scholarly inclinations and his nurturing family’s emphasis on the importance of education, the ambitious young man set his sights high. Robinson attended the premier black institution of higher learning at Tuskegee, Alabama, graduating from Tuskegee Institute in May 1923. He then migrated north in search of greater opportunities and to start a new life, ultimately landing in Chicago, Illinois — a primary center for black aviation.

During the late 1920s and especially in the 1930s, Robinson evolved into the dynamic leader of this center for black aviation. First and foremost, he focused his efforts on gaining entry into one of America’s leading aeronautical schools, the prestigious Curtiss-Wright Aeronautical School of Chicago. No African American had previously been allowed into this aviation institution, but Robinson found a way — overcoming insurmountable odds and barriers of prejudice. He entered the school and graduated at the top of his class in May 1931.

By now a proficient flyer, Robinson became an energetic community activist for aviation. He was a powerful advocate of the novel concept that the best way for blacks to demonstrate full equality to whites was to excel in the world’s most technically advanced field, aviation. And so he spent a great deal of his time and energies generating an interest in aviation among a new generation of African Americans, especially among the impoverished youth of Chicago’s south side, “Bronzeville.”

ma16browncondor02x1100.jpg



As a mark of his success, Robinson not only recruited but also taught the first black class (including both male and female students) at Curtiss-Wright in the fall of 1931, becoming the first African American aviation instructor in the school’s history. He thus emerged as a leading “race pioneer” in the field of aviation not only in Chicago but all across America. In time, he was destined to become “the No. 1 Flyer of His Race” in America.

To further promote black aviation, he flew in late May 1934 to his alma mater of Tuskegee Institute, hoping to convince the South’s leading black educational institution to offer aviation courses. This, Robinson hoped, would be the first step for blacks to demonstrate a comparable intellectual and technical expertise to whites in hopes of opening the doors to social, political and economic gains amid a discriminatory society. By Robinson’s calculations, Tuskegee Institute was the ideal school for learning to spread the aviation gospel to a new generation of black youth. At age 29, he succeeded in generating interest in aviation at Tuskegee, which came to full blossom through the Tuskegee Airmen fighter pilots of World War II.


Answering Emperor Selassie’s call

But Robinson was not content to just lay ambitious plans for uplifting future generations of African Americans. He wanted to achieve even more in the field of aviation, and he possessed a rather far-sighted vision. He was deeply inspired by the spirit of Pan-Africanism and closely embraced faith in the unity of all black people.

Most of all, Robinson developed a strong affinity and respect for Africa’s only independent black nation, Ethiopia. He closely identified with the increasingly precarious plight of the Ethiopian people, who now confronted the march of fascist Italy.

Consequently, Robinson eagerly answered Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s call for western aviation experts and technicians to aid his independent nation by strengthening its fledgling Imperial Ethiopian Air Force. The crisis was severe and time was of the essence, as Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was about to strike Ethiopia with a modern army bent on conquest. And so Robinson volunteered on a special mission to serve Ethiopia, at a time when the United States military provided no such opportunity for blacks to serve in the field of aviation. In this sense, Emperor Selassie was ahead of his time, and Robinson therefore embraced the opportunity to play a leading role in Ethiopia’s defense against fascist aggression.

He departed Chicago alone with high hopes in early May 1935. After a lengthy voyage, he reached the port of Djibouti, capital of then French Somaliland, from which he journeyed by rail to Addis Ababa. Here in the Ethiopian capital, Robinson gained a key mission: to fulfill Emperor Selassie’s longtime vision of an all-black air force to defend the ancient homeland.

At this time, the inexperienced Imperial Ethiopian Air Force included many white European aviation technicians and flyers who had volunteered their services. Robinson’s entry into the field, however, represented a giant step toward what the emperor envisioned for his nation’s defense: large numbers of Ethiopian pilots defending their own homeland. Through an interpreter, Robinson immediately began training young Ethiopians in the technical complexities of aviation, especially as pilots, in preparation for war.

In only a few months’ time, as Robinson’s value and leadership abilities became more obvious to the emperor, he gained the rank of colonel in command of the entire Imperial Ethiopian Air Force. At his headquarters on the capital’s outskirts, he worked overtime in training roughly 70 Ethiopian pilots and gaining additional aircraft to strengthen the air force as quickly as possible. Ultimately, Robinson doubled the number of Ethiopian aircraft to a peak of 24, and even modified some planes to drop bombs.

In addition to training, Robinson himself flew as an active pilot — running reconnaissance missions to report on the immense build-up of Italian military might along Ethiopia’s borders. And yet, as so long feared, Mussolini ultimately unleashed his air force, one of Europe’s largest, on Oct. 3, 1935. The historic town of Adowa — the scene of Ethiopia’s great victory over Italy in 1896 — was bombed into submission. Robinson himself narrowly escaped the surprise attack.

After the war’s outbreak, Robinson’s tireless efforts to strengthen Ethiopia’s air force only increased. He occasionally even flew the emperor to the front, and continued to perform repeated reconnaissance missions to keep military leaders informed of Italian troop movements. For his daring service amid Ethiopian skies, including dogfights with Italian aircraft, Robinson earned international renown as the “Brown Condor of Ethiopia.”

More importantly, in symbolic terms, he was the only American (black or white) volunteer to faithfully serve in Ethiopia’s defense from the war’s beginning to its bitter end. He described the heroic struggle of the Ethiopian people against the odds in a rare surviving letter to a friend in America: “I am trying hard to do my best in whatever mission or duty. We are having a hard fight over here with our limited amount of modern equipment, but every Ethiopian man, woman, and child is doing their part.”

And yet, despite the heroism and sacrifice of the Ethiopian people, nothing could stop Italy’s modernized war machine. With Addis Ababa about to fall by the end of April 1936, Robinson received permission from the emperor to depart the capital on one of the last trains out of the panicked city, before it was too late.

Fortunate to have escaped alive, especially after so many close calls in the air and on the ground, Robinson returned to America. Once there, he received a hero’s welcome from major black communities, stretching from New York City’s Harlem to Chicago’s Bronzeville. He resumed his favorite aviation activities at home in Chicago, but Robinson’s heart and mind were never far from the places and people he loved in Ethiopia. He therefore remained committed to fighting fascist imperial expansion, serving the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.


A dream fully realized


In April 1944, after Ethiopia was liberated by the Allies, Robinson returned to Addis Ababa as an aviation instructor with a U.S. Army Air Forces team of African Americans technicians. Once again, Robinson worked toward fulfilling Emperor Selassie’s old vision of a modern Ethiopian Air Force to meet the new challenges of the 20th century and the postwar world.

During this period, Robinson established a pilot training school sponsored by his friend Prince Makonnen Haile Selassie, the emperor’s second son. As part of the Ethiopian Air Training Program, he trained more than 80 Ethiopian aviation cadets to serve in the resurrected Imperial Ethiopian Air Force. By so doing, he also established a core foundation for the future of aviation in Ethiopia — including not only the air force but also Ethiopian Airlines.

ma16browncondor04x1100.jpg



Indeed, Robinson was a key player behind the postwar establishment of East African Airlines, then Sultan Airways, Ltd., which he organized under the direction of Prince Makonnen. Robinson trained and supervised its pilots — including Air Force veterans — while also serving as its manager. The rise of private commercial aviation in Ethiopia was heralded as far away as Chicago, with the Chicago Defender newspaper boasting of Robinson’s achievement: “Col. Robinson Launches East African Airlines.”

From this first private airline nucleus came Ethiopian Airlines, officially established on Dec. 21, 1945, as a joint aviation between the Ethiopian government and Trans World Airlines. Though historic information is a bit lacking, Robinson almost certainly had a hand in this venture, serving as a natural link between the U.S. and Ethiopia and retaining high-placed connections within the Ethiopian government.

Ethiopian Airlines launched its first commercial operations on April 8, 1946, when a Douglas C-47 Skytrain flew from Addis Ababa to Cairo, Egypt. Several international destinations quickly followed in the years to come, linking Ethiopia with the rest of the world as never before. Indeed, as the first African airline to reach the skies, Ethiopian Airlines marked a most momentous development in the history of aviation.

Today, Ethiopian Airlines is the largest airline in Africa, and it flies to more destinations than any other carrier on the continent. It remains a groundbreaking airline, adding several state-of-the-art fleet each year and presenting a model for successful business and continental progress. On Nov. 24, 2015, in fact, the very first all-female flight crew of Ethiopian women took to the skies in support of female empowerment — an achievement and milestone that almost certainly would have made John C. Robinson proud.

Though Robinson died tragically in an aircraft crash in Ababa Addis in March 1954, the men and women of Ethiopian Airlines have faithfully continued the distinguished aviation legacy he struggled so long and hard to realize during his Ethiopian odyssey. Thanks in much part to Robinson’s efforts, Ethiopia and her people can today look with great pride upon a soaring heritage — and the way forward is only further up.
 

Black Lightning

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Port Chicago Mutiny

Aftermath_of_Port_Chicago_0.jpg




The Port Chicago Mutiny involved African American enlisted men in the U.S. Navy who refused to return to loading ammunition after a disastrous explosion at Port Chicago, California on July 17, 1944 that destroyed the Liberty ship SS E.A. Bryan. Sailors and dock workers were pressured by time and their superiors and were also using unsafe unloading methods. These methods, all common practice on munitions docks at the time despite their danger, led to a munitions ship explosion that killed all the Navy men on the E.A. Bryan and many Navy dock workers on shore. All told, 320 sailors, 202 of whom were African Americans, were instantly incinerated in the explosion. The blast wave was so powerful it could be felt as far away as Boulder City, Nevada, 430 miles to the south and caused damage 48 miles away in San Francisco. The force of the explosion launched massive chunks of debris, some of which fell almost two miles from ground-zero. The falling debris injured another 390 people. The Port Chicago explosion was by far the worst disaster on home soil during World War II.

When Navy replacement sailors were asked to return to loading munitions a month later, 258 African American enlisted personnel refused to follow the order. They wanted Navy officials to change load procedures to enhance safety. When the Navy refused to amend its procedures, the sailors declared they would not load the ships. Those who refused the order to load ammunition said that they would follow any order, save the one to do unsafe work under these conditions. Naval officials declared a mutiny and had most of the men arrested.

Two hundred eight of these men were court-martialed, sentenced to bad conduct discharges, and the forfeit of three month's pay for disobeying orders. Fifty of them men, however, were charged with outright mutiny, a crime punishable by death. They would be known as the Port Chicago 50. No Port Chicago sailor convicted of mutiny was sentenced to death; however, most were sentenced to eight to fifteen years of hard labor. In January of 1946, however, all of the accused were given clemency and were released from prison.

As the war came to a close, changes to the loading procedures finally came, ironically mostly due to the Port Chicago explosion and subsequent protest. The Navy recognized that its black sailors performed the vast majority of ammunition ship loading and unloading in segregated units with low morale and often led by bigoted or incompetent officers. The vast majority of these sailors, according to National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) investigators, saw themselves as little more than expendable laborers working under egregious conditions. These revelations prompted Navy officials to start to work towards full desegregation of their personnel by 1945, three years before President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981 which integrated the Armed Forces. The Port Chicago explosion and mutiny proved to be a pivotal point for the decision made within the Navy to desegregate its ranks. In 1994 the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial was dedicated to those who lost their lives in the disaster.

 

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The Legacy of the Brown Condor


Readers today know the traditional story of how the Second World War began, when Adolf Hitler unleashed his German war machine on Poland in September 1939. What seems to have been largely forgotten, however, is the fact that the first chapter of World War II actually took place in Ethiopia: the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935–1936. Many of the key players who defended Ethiopia against impossible odds have likewise been seemingly lost to history.

As Ethiopian Airlines celebrates its 70th anniversary, however, it feels only fitting to pull back the curtain on one such figure who not only aided Ethiopia in her fight against fascism, but who also set the very foundation for the airline itself: an American aviation visionary named John Charles Robinson.

ma16browncondor01x600.jpg





A dream takes flight

By any measure, John C. Robinson’s life proved not only an American success story but also an Ethiopian success story. He was born in the small Florida town of Carrabelle on Nov. 26, 1905, in the segregated South. Eventually, he moved west with his mother and sister for greater economic and social opportunities, settling in the community of Gulfport, Mississippi. It was here in the heart of the Deep South that Robinson developed an early avid interest in aviation. After watching a barnstorming pilot landing in a field nearby, he began dreaming of one day soaring in the skies himself.

Thanks to his own scholarly inclinations and his nurturing family’s emphasis on the importance of education, the ambitious young man set his sights high. Robinson attended the premier black institution of higher learning at Tuskegee, Alabama, graduating from Tuskegee Institute in May 1923. He then migrated north in search of greater opportunities and to start a new life, ultimately landing in Chicago, Illinois — a primary center for black aviation.

During the late 1920s and especially in the 1930s, Robinson evolved into the dynamic leader of this center for black aviation. First and foremost, he focused his efforts on gaining entry into one of America’s leading aeronautical schools, the prestigious Curtiss-Wright Aeronautical School of Chicago. No African American had previously been allowed into this aviation institution, but Robinson found a way — overcoming insurmountable odds and barriers of prejudice. He entered the school and graduated at the top of his class in May 1931.

By now a proficient flyer, Robinson became an energetic community activist for aviation. He was a powerful advocate of the novel concept that the best way for blacks to demonstrate full equality to whites was to excel in the world’s most technically advanced field, aviation. And so he spent a great deal of his time and energies generating an interest in aviation among a new generation of African Americans, especially among the impoverished youth of Chicago’s south side, “Bronzeville.”

ma16browncondor02x1100.jpg



As a mark of his success, Robinson not only recruited but also taught the first black class (including both male and female students) at Curtiss-Wright in the fall of 1931, becoming the first African American aviation instructor in the school’s history. He thus emerged as a leading “race pioneer” in the field of aviation not only in Chicago but all across America. In time, he was destined to become “the No. 1 Flyer of His Race” in America.

To further promote black aviation, he flew in late May 1934 to his alma mater of Tuskegee Institute, hoping to convince the South’s leading black educational institution to offer aviation courses. This, Robinson hoped, would be the first step for blacks to demonstrate a comparable intellectual and technical expertise to whites in hopes of opening the doors to social, political and economic gains amid a discriminatory society. By Robinson’s calculations, Tuskegee Institute was the ideal school for learning to spread the aviation gospel to a new generation of black youth. At age 29, he succeeded in generating interest in aviation at Tuskegee, which came to full blossom through the Tuskegee Airmen fighter pilots of World War II.


Answering Emperor Selassie’s call

But Robinson was not content to just lay ambitious plans for uplifting future generations of African Americans. He wanted to achieve even more in the field of aviation, and he possessed a rather far-sighted vision. He was deeply inspired by the spirit of Pan-Africanism and closely embraced faith in the unity of all black people.

Most of all, Robinson developed a strong affinity and respect for Africa’s only independent black nation, Ethiopia. He closely identified with the increasingly precarious plight of the Ethiopian people, who now confronted the march of fascist Italy.

Consequently, Robinson eagerly answered Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s call for western aviation experts and technicians to aid his independent nation by strengthening its fledgling Imperial Ethiopian Air Force. The crisis was severe and time was of the essence, as Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was about to strike Ethiopia with a modern army bent on conquest. And so Robinson volunteered on a special mission to serve Ethiopia, at a time when the United States military provided no such opportunity for blacks to serve in the field of aviation. In this sense, Emperor Selassie was ahead of his time, and Robinson therefore embraced the opportunity to play a leading role in Ethiopia’s defense against fascist aggression.

He departed Chicago alone with high hopes in early May 1935. After a lengthy voyage, he reached the port of Djibouti, capital of then French Somaliland, from which he journeyed by rail to Addis Ababa. Here in the Ethiopian capital, Robinson gained a key mission: to fulfill Emperor Selassie’s longtime vision of an all-black air force to defend the ancient homeland.

At this time, the inexperienced Imperial Ethiopian Air Force included many white European aviation technicians and flyers who had volunteered their services. Robinson’s entry into the field, however, represented a giant step toward what the emperor envisioned for his nation’s defense: large numbers of Ethiopian pilots defending their own homeland. Through an interpreter, Robinson immediately began training young Ethiopians in the technical complexities of aviation, especially as pilots, in preparation for war.

In only a few months’ time, as Robinson’s value and leadership abilities became more obvious to the emperor, he gained the rank of colonel in command of the entire Imperial Ethiopian Air Force. At his headquarters on the capital’s outskirts, he worked overtime in training roughly 70 Ethiopian pilots and gaining additional aircraft to strengthen the air force as quickly as possible. Ultimately, Robinson doubled the number of Ethiopian aircraft to a peak of 24, and even modified some planes to drop bombs.

In addition to training, Robinson himself flew as an active pilot — running reconnaissance missions to report on the immense build-up of Italian military might along Ethiopia’s borders. And yet, as so long feared, Mussolini ultimately unleashed his air force, one of Europe’s largest, on Oct. 3, 1935. The historic town of Adowa — the scene of Ethiopia’s great victory over Italy in 1896 — was bombed into submission. Robinson himself narrowly escaped the surprise attack.

After the war’s outbreak, Robinson’s tireless efforts to strengthen Ethiopia’s air force only increased. He occasionally even flew the emperor to the front, and continued to perform repeated reconnaissance missions to keep military leaders informed of Italian troop movements. For his daring service amid Ethiopian skies, including dogfights with Italian aircraft, Robinson earned international renown as the “Brown Condor of Ethiopia.”

More importantly, in symbolic terms, he was the only American (black or white) volunteer to faithfully serve in Ethiopia’s defense from the war’s beginning to its bitter end. He described the heroic struggle of the Ethiopian people against the odds in a rare surviving letter to a friend in America: “I am trying hard to do my best in whatever mission or duty. We are having a hard fight over here with our limited amount of modern equipment, but every Ethiopian man, woman, and child is doing their part.”

And yet, despite the heroism and sacrifice of the Ethiopian people, nothing could stop Italy’s modernized war machine. With Addis Ababa about to fall by the end of April 1936, Robinson received permission from the emperor to depart the capital on one of the last trains out of the panicked city, before it was too late.

Fortunate to have escaped alive, especially after so many close calls in the air and on the ground, Robinson returned to America. Once there, he received a hero’s welcome from major black communities, stretching from New York City’s Harlem to Chicago’s Bronzeville. He resumed his favorite aviation activities at home in Chicago, but Robinson’s heart and mind were never far from the places and people he loved in Ethiopia. He therefore remained committed to fighting fascist imperial expansion, serving the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.


A dream fully realized


In April 1944, after Ethiopia was liberated by the Allies, Robinson returned to Addis Ababa as an aviation instructor with a U.S. Army Air Forces team of African Americans technicians. Once again, Robinson worked toward fulfilling Emperor Selassie’s old vision of a modern Ethiopian Air Force to meet the new challenges of the 20th century and the postwar world.

During this period, Robinson established a pilot training school sponsored by his friend Prince Makonnen Haile Selassie, the emperor’s second son. As part of the Ethiopian Air Training Program, he trained more than 80 Ethiopian aviation cadets to serve in the resurrected Imperial Ethiopian Air Force. By so doing, he also established a core foundation for the future of aviation in Ethiopia — including not only the air force but also Ethiopian Airlines.

ma16browncondor04x1100.jpg



Indeed, Robinson was a key player behind the postwar establishment of East African Airlines, then Sultan Airways, Ltd., which he organized under the direction of Prince Makonnen. Robinson trained and supervised its pilots — including Air Force veterans — while also serving as its manager. The rise of private commercial aviation in Ethiopia was heralded as far away as Chicago, with the Chicago Defender newspaper boasting of Robinson’s achievement: “Col. Robinson Launches East African Airlines.”

From this first private airline nucleus came Ethiopian Airlines, officially established on Dec. 21, 1945, as a joint aviation between the Ethiopian government and Trans World Airlines. Though historic information is a bit lacking, Robinson almost certainly had a hand in this venture, serving as a natural link between the U.S. and Ethiopia and retaining high-placed connections within the Ethiopian government.

Ethiopian Airlines launched its first commercial operations on April 8, 1946, when a Douglas C-47 Skytrain flew from Addis Ababa to Cairo, Egypt. Several international destinations quickly followed in the years to come, linking Ethiopia with the rest of the world as never before. Indeed, as the first African airline to reach the skies, Ethiopian Airlines marked a most momentous development in the history of aviation.

Today, Ethiopian Airlines is the largest airline in Africa, and it flies to more destinations than any other carrier on the continent. It remains a groundbreaking airline, adding several state-of-the-art fleet each year and presenting a model for successful business and continental progress. On Nov. 24, 2015, in fact, the very first all-female flight crew of Ethiopian women took to the skies in support of female empowerment — an achievement and milestone that almost certainly would have made John C. Robinson proud.

Though Robinson died tragically in an aircraft crash in Ababa Addis in March 1954, the men and women of Ethiopian Airlines have faithfully continued the distinguished aviation legacy he struggled so long and hard to realize during his Ethiopian odyssey. Thanks in much part to Robinson’s efforts, Ethiopia and her people can today look with great pride upon a soaring heritage — and the way forward is only further up.


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The History of the Fade - EBONY

The History of the Fade

[Detangling Our Roots] Stop the co-opt. In this EBONY.com series exploring Black hair origins, we trace the fade haircut and other innovative barbering styles to the military, as well as Black barbershops


by Princess Gabbara, December 27, 2016

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uk-0907-402928-front-503x377.jpg


Big Daddy Kayne / YouTube

If there was ever a haircut that exemplified coolness, it has to be none other than the fade.

The hairstyle originated in the U.S. military around the ‘40s and ‘50s. Since the military is known for having strict grooming standards, it’s no surprise to learn that the fade haircut was and still is popular among military men, as the harsh lines and angles signaled you meant business.

Naturally, new times usher in new trends. Over the decades, Black folks experimented with different hairstyles, whether it was the afro or the infamous Jheri curl. By the time the mid-80s rolled around, a reworked, edgier version of the fade was emerging thanks to Black barbers. It would soon become a standard in hip-hop culture during its golden era.

We’re talking about the hi-top fade a.k.a. the flattop. Before Cameo, Big Daddy Kane, Eric B & Rakim and others made it their signature look, Grace Jones rocked one on her 1980 Warm Leatherette album cover. Because Queen Nefertiti’s crown closely resembles the hi-top, many believe it derived from Ancient Egypt.



“Hip-hop impacted the way we dressed and how we wore our hair especially,” says Greg Cooper Spencer a.k.a. GregTheGroomer, a New York-based master barber and hairstylist with 20-plus years of experience. “Before this period, we relied heavily on Black leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali who sported afros, to influence how we engaged in society in addition to our look.”

“Just as hip-hop emerged, so did the artists who made sure their hair and wardrobe stood out, along with their music,” Spencer continues.

Helping to push the flattop into further notoriety was the popularity of rappers, including Kid ‘n Play and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, along with the box-office success of Do The Right Thing and Lean On Me. Though most common among men, a few women took the hi-top out for a spin, including Queen Latifah as seen in her “Ladies First” video.

Trends come and go with the hi-top fading out in the early ‘90s. With the exception of Black celebrities, including Nas, Kanye West, Usher, will. i. am., and Kendrick Lamar, modernizing it in the 2010s, the hi-top has gradually evolved back into a more tapered look much like how it started.

There are different types of fades with the low and high fade being most popular. “How you determine one or the other is simply where the demarcation is placed in relation to the temple or occipital bone of the head. Above is high and below is low,” Spencer says. “If it goes too low, it becomes a blend and lower than that becomes a taper. Higher than that becomes a high and tight, which is client specific depending on their face and head shape.”

Anyone with a fade knows it’s only as good as the barber. So, how do you know when you’ve found a skilled barber? “A good barber will ask lots of questions when cutting a client’s hair for the first time,” says Waunie Neal, owner of Classic Cuts Barbershop in Rockford, Illinois with nearly two decades of barbering experience.

Even more crucial than assessing the client is having the proper equipment on hand. According to Tone McGill, Andis educator and owner of the Ultimate Barber Lounge in Charlotte, North Carolina, not using clippers designed for a client’s natural hair texture can ruin a potentially good fade.

“It’s all about the seamless progression of hair, the transition from lighter to darker,” McGill says. “For straight hair, I’ll go with a rotary motor clipper like the Andis Supra ZR. A magnetic motor clipper like the Andis Master is better suited for coarse or textured hair.”

While many barbers shy away from revealing their exact technique, Neal insists that the key to a perfect fade is all in the wrist.

Taking it a step further, McGill says, “The best fades are executed by not putting a hard line in the hair. Not all barbers understand this concept, but it’s maybe the most important part of getting a great fade.”

A well-executed fade can instantly make anyone appear cooler, edgier and pulled together. Plus, fades generally require low maintenance depending on how fast the client’s hair grows.

“The fade will never go out of style because it’s multidimensional,” Spencer says. “You can dress it up or down, which makes it easy to wear in the corporate world.”

Although the fade stems from the military, the Black community elevated it with the hi-top, which helped to revive the original fade years later and make it more appealing to someone who may have never considered wearing it as an everyday style. In recent years, fades and undercuts have been adopted by many non-Black men. Think Brad Pitt, Justin Timberlake, Adam Levine, David Beckham, and Zayn Malik.

More universal than it was maybe 15 years ago, the fade is officially back. But, as we’ve seen in several past incidents, the trendier something becomes, the more its history gets lost in the process, especially when the trend is prominent in Black culture.

For instance, a 2014 BuzzFeed article featuring 27 predominantly white men with undercuts failed to give Black barbers their props when they’re the ones who spent years perfecting the technique when fades and undercuts were no longer considered “in.”

More recently, Cosmopolitan received backlash when they referred to an undercut worn by singer Madison Beer, who is White, as a hair tattoo and credited Allure for discovering the trend. Newsflash: Black folks, particularly women, have been rocking undercuts since forever. Take Salt-N-Pepa, Rihanna, Cassie and Kelis, for example. As expected, Cosmo’s original post was later removed.

Even dating back to the success of Vanilla Ice’s hit, “Ice Ice Baby,” many Black folks accused the rapper, who donned a hi-top fade, of appropriating Black culture as hip hop was slowly becoming more mainstream.

Are certain hairstyles off limits to certain people? No. Can anyone wear what they want? Certainly. But, there’s a difference between admiring an element of a group’s culture and taking that same element, slapping a new name on it and selling it to the masses as something new. That’s not how any of this works.

Princess Gabbara is a Michigan-based journalist whose work has been published in several national publications, including Jetmag.com, Essence.com, HelloBeautiful.com, BET.com, Huffington Post Women, and Sesi Magazine. Visit her site or follow her @PrincessGabbara.



Read more at EBONY The History of the Fade - EBONY
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The History of Cornrows - EBONY

The History of Cornrows

[Detangling Our Roots] Stop the co-opt. In this EBONY.com series exploring Black hair origins, we trace this intricate form of braiding to Ancient Africa


by Princess Gabbara, January 20, 2017

Comments

AP_285123993833-566x377.jpg


Regina King, a cast member in the television series "American Crime," arrives at the Disney/ABC Television Critics Association summer press tour on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP)

“Boxer braids,” “KKW braids,” and “Birthday braids” are the cutesy terms used to describe cornrows whenever they’re worn by Kim Kardashian or Kylie Jenner as opposed to simply calling them cornrows or plaits.

Braids are nothing new, but it depends on what mainstream media outlet you ask. Last April, Cosmopolitan posted a tutorial titled, “Double Cuff Mohawk Braid,” but the hairstyle being showcased was clearly cornrows. To make matters worse, Cosmo promoted the video using the subhead, “You’ve NEVER seen a braid like this before.”

Come again?

Sure, we’ll pretend that Alicia Keys didn’t stun in beautifully adorned cornrows during her first couple of years in the spotlight. We’ll also pretend that Beyoncé never rocked cornrows during her Destiny’s Child days. And we’ll act like Cicely Tyson didn’t show off her cornrows in a national TV appearance years before White actress Bo Derek mainstreamed them in the 1979 film 10.

In 2014, Marie Claire tweeted that Kendall Jenner had taken braids to a “new epic level.” Months later, the LA Times credited Cara Delevingne, Rita Ora and Kristen Stewart for cornrows “moving away from urban, hip-hop to chic and edgy.” So, in other words, cornrows are only chic and edgy when the person wearing them is White?



For many, even the moniker “French/Dutch braids” is seen as yet another attempt to strip cornrows and other braided styles of their African roots. In all fairness, plenty of White celebrities outside the Kardashian-Jenner clan have worn cornrows, including Fergie, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, David Beckham and Jared Leto.

Within the Black community, cornrows tend to be worn more so for convenience, as well as a protective style when transitioning from relaxed to natural hair or growing the hair out until the desired length is achieved. They can also serve as a foundation for sew-ins, but cornrows had another purpose back when our ancestors were rocking them.

“History tells us cornrows originated in Africa. The intricate braiding of the hair indicated the tribe you belonged to,” explains Atlanta-based cosmetologist, barber, instructor and author Toni Love. “Cornrows on women date back to at least 3000 B.C. and as far back as the nineteenth century for men, particularly in Ethiopia. Warriors and kings were identified by their braided hairstyles.”

Still largely worn throughout West Africa, Sudan, and the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia), cornrows can signify one’s age, religious beliefs, kinship, marital status and wealth.

While addressing women at an entrepreneurship conference in South Africa, Atlanta-based master celebrity stylist Nancy V Brown says she noticed that cornrows are also a form of self-expression. “The women I met use shells, bottle caps, corals, fresh flowers and twigs, among other items, to adorn their cornrows and express their personalities,” she says.



In the ‘60s and ‘70s, cornrows became popular thanks to the Black Power movement. More of us sought out hairstyles that reflected our heritage and slowly started rejecting White beauty standards. Notable Black celebrities, such as Nina Simone, Valerie Simpson, Roberta Flack, and Stevie Wonder also helped to push cornrows into further popularity.

Not as common during the ‘80s—blame it on the Jheri curl–cornrows experienced a resurgence in the ‘90s and 2000s. D’Angelo, Allen Iverson, Bow Wow, Ludacris, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Ciara are probably some of the first folks who come to mind.

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Cornrows are the result of hair that’s braided flat against the scalp. The term itself stems from the nineteenth century. During that time, the majority of Black Americans worked in agriculture to provide for their families. In America, we use the term cornrows because they remind us of cornfields. In the Caribbean, however, cornrows are called canerows because they resemble sugar canes.

An intricate art form, Brown says the cornrow braiding process takes anywhere from a few minutes to several hours to complete depending on the size of the braids and the hair’s density. “There’s a lot of room to be creative in the styling, design and thickness,” she says. “You’ll often see names, faces, flowers, complex patterns and crisscrossed textures.”



According to Love, two basic types of cornrows exist. “The overhand technique creates the raised look where the braids sit on top of the scalp,” she explains. “Whereas the underhand technique has an inverted look and does not sit on top of the scalp.”

While cornrows allow the hair to “rest,” they can have the opposite effect if installed too tightly. Chicago-based healthy hair specialist Siobahn Kennedy encourages her clients to try out cornrows when they want to take a break from daily maintenance and styling, but she warns, “I don’t recommend wearing cornrows any longer than two weeks to protect the integrity of the hair.”

Maintenance is fairly simple. Sleeping with a silk scarf or bonnet prevents frizz—and a lightweight serum or oil keeps the scalp moisturized.

Cornrows are often a go-to hairstyle whenever we want to give our strands a much-needed break, but they’re also more than that. Part of the appeal of cornrows is that they remind us of our ancestors’ strength and labor. We’re reminded of how some worked tirelessly out in the fields with a lifetime of hopes and dreams on their backs and how we’re an extension of those hopes and dreams.

Referring to cornrows as “Boxer braids,” “KKW braids” or “Birthday braids” may seem cute and harmless, but this sort of terminology erases the rich history that’s woven into each braid. That kind of negligence reduces a centuries-old look to just another trend when it’s so much deeper than that. And it’s downright insulting when far too many Black folks are taunted, labeled as “ghetto” and discriminated against in the workplace for sporting the same exact hairstyle.

So, the next group of ill-informed folks who want to argue that addressing cultural appropriation is pointless, while claiming “we’re all equal” can have several seats.

Lauryn Hill said it best: “It could all be so simple.”

Princess Gabbara is a Michigan-based journalist whose work has been published in several national publications, including EBONY, Jetmag.com, Essence.com, HelloBeautiful.com, BET.com, Huffington Post Women, and Sesi Magazine. Visit her site or follow her @PrincessGabbara.



Read more at EBONY The History of Cornrows - EBONY
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Rhapscallion Démone

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Disclaimer- some of the terms in this article are straight up Ducktales and TaleSpins. I decided to post it anyway because it is one of the articles I found that has white folk admitting albeit begrudgingly, that WE AFRICAN AMERICANS came up with the barbershop harmony genre/art form. Yep they trying to lowkey discredit us yall. I've come across quite a few articles where they are trying to play stupid:francis:.


The Origins of Barbershop Harmony

Was barbershop harmony actually sung in barbershops? Certainly‹and on street corners (it was sometimes called "curbstone" harmony) and at social functions and in parlors. Its roots are not just the white, Middle-America of Norman Rockwell's famous painting. Rather, barbershop is a "melting pot":shaq2: product of African-Americans

Immigrants:duck: to the new world brought with them a musical repertoire that included hymns, psalms, and folk songs. These simple songs were often sung in four parts with the melody set in the second-lowest voice. Minstrel shows of the mid-1800s often consisted of white singers in blackface (later black singers themselves) performing songs and sketches based on a romanticized vision of plantation life. As the minstrel show was supplanted by the equally popular vaudeville, the tradition of close-harmony quartets remained, often as a "four act" combining music with ethnic comedy that would be scandalous by modern standards.

The "barbershop" style of music is first associated with black southern quartets of the 1870s, such as The American Four and The Hamtown Students. The African influence is particularly notable in the improvisational nature of the harmonization, and the flexing of melody to produce harmonies in "swipes" and "snakes." Black quartets "cracking a chord" were commonplace at places like Joe Sarpy's Cut Rate Shaving Parlor in St. Louis, or in Jacksonville, Florida, where, black historian James Weldon Johnson writes, "every barbershop seemed to have its own quartet." The first written use of the word "barbershop" when referring to harmonizing came in 1910, with the publication of the song, "Play That Barbershop Chord"‹evidence that the term was in common parlance by that time.

Tin Pan Alley era:

Edison's talking machine spreads harmony nationwide Today, we are accustomed to receiving all forms of music in every home by way of CD, cassette, radio and video. In the early 1900s, though, pop music success depended on sales of sheet music to the general public. The song writers of Tin Pan Alley made their living by appealing to the needs and tastes of the recreational musician. To become a sheet-music hit, songs had to be easily singable by average singers, with average vocal ranges and average control. This called for songs with simple, straightforward melodies, and heartfelt, commonplace themes and images. Music published in that era often included an instrumental arrangement for piano or ukelele, and also a vocal arrangement for male quartet. The phonograph made it possible to actually hear the new songs coming from Tin Pan Alley. Professional quartets recorded hundreds of songs for the Victor, Edison, and Columbia labels, which spurred sheet music sales. For example, "You're The Flower Of My Heart, Sweet Adeline" captured the hearts of harmony lovers, not simply because it easily adapted to harmony, but also because it was heavily promoted by the popular Quaker City Four and other quartets.

Jazz era:

The coming of radio prompted a shift in American popular music. Song writers turned out more sophisticated melodies for the professional singers of radio and phonograph. These songs did not adapt as well to impromptu harmonization, because they placed a greater emphasis on jazz rhythms and melodies that were better suited to dancing than to casual crooning. Radio quartets kept close harmony singing popular with many amateur singers, though‹and these singers were ready for the revival of barbershop harmony that took place in April, 1938, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Birth of SPEBSQSA: the dream of O.C. Cash and Rupert Hall:

While travelling to Kansas City on business, Tulsa tax attorney O. C. Cash happened to meet fellow Tulsan Rupert Hall in the lobby of the Muehlebach Hotel. The men fell to talking and discovered they shared a mutual love of vocal harmony. Together they bemoaned the decline of that all-American institution, the barbershop quartet, and decided to stem that decline.

Signing their names as "Rupert Hall, Royal Keeper of the Minor Keys, and O. C. Cash, Third Temporary Assistant Vice Chairman," of the "Society for the Preservation and Propagation of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in the United States" [sic], the two invited their friends to songfest on the roof garden of the Tulsa Club, on April 11, 1938. Twenty-six men attended that first meeting, and returned the following week with more friends. About 150 men attended the third meeting, and the grand sounds of harmony they raised on the rooftop created quite a stir. A traffic jam formed outside the hotel. While police tried to straighten out the problem, a reporter of the local newspaper heard the singing, sensed a great story, and joined the meeting. O. C. Cash bluffed his way through the interview, saying his organization was national in scope, with branches in St. Louis, Kansas City and elsewhere. He simply neglected to mention was that these "branches" were just a few scattered friends who enjoyed harmonizing, but knew nothing of Cash's new club.

Cash's flair for publicity, combined with the unusual name (the ridiculous initials poked fun at the alphabet soup of New Deal programs), made an irresistable story for the news wire services, which spread it coast-to-coast. Cash's "branches" started receiving puzzling calls from men interested in joining the barbershop society. Soon, groups were meeting throughout North America to sing barbershop harmony.

SPEBSQSA was born.

History of Barbershop
 

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once said "If you can describe it, it ain't funky". However, we can tell you how it all began. So pull out your notebooks class, we goin' back to the REAL "old-school".

With a blend of tribal and gospel music, the "soul and blues" movement began. Soul and blues grew and out of the two genres, along with Jazz, rhythm & blues and urban music were created. These music genres are the political and social voice of inner city lower and middle class citizens. African-American citizens pioneered the culture of these music genres.

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Through the 20th century, other cultures began to accept these forms of music, and began playing this kind of music as well. White America welcomed Jazz and Blues, but for the most part, they blended it with music that they already knew, such as gospel, classical, and folk music. Many other types of music came as a result, like ragtime, big band, swing, and doo-wop. Rock and roll then came out of the blending of music, with Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Elvis Presley (to name a few), followed by the Beatles.

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Soul music took off in the early to mid 60's, with the "Motown Sound": artists like The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and others, along with Wilson Pickett. 1965-1970 was the changing of times, not only in American culture, but in music as well. James Brown, however, was the man with the groove. James had the most outspoken voice in soul music and had a groove that would be proven to be the future of funk music. Many of his band members would go on to funk with many other bands.


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Another emerging group called The Parliaments, had many similar traits of a Motown group, but with a deeper, more groove oriented sound, similar to that of James Brown. This "deeper, more groove oriented sound" would prove to be the biggest thing in soul music for the next 20 years and beyond. This sound would be later improved upon and streamlined by Sly and the Family Stone, who appealed to many different races of people and had a wide audience, and featured a funky bassist named Larry Graham, who would keep funkin' forever. Other artists, like Isaac Hayes had major influence, but the biggest of them all was about to emerge with a new sound.

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George Clinton had created two new funk bands, one called Parliament (formerly The Parliaments) and the other called Funkadelic. Parliament had emphasis on horns and Funkadelic had emphasis on guitars, but both had a deep, rhythm filled groove. Clinton's funk had elements of all the following genres of music, all rolled into one: rock and roll, jazz, urban, rhythm and blues, soul, blues, black gospel, and symphonic/classical. Clinton had successfully fused together all of these types of music to create funk, or as he called it, P-Funk.

Clinton added musical powerhouses to his funk band, including many members of James Brown's band "The JB's". Among them were Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, and bassist William "Bootsy" Collins. Bootsy's style of bass playing was very unique. Not only was he a slap bassist, he also used a synthesizer to create a sound called "the space bass", which would be used in disco and other music. The funk mob would continue through the 70's and 80's, bringing the P-Funk with songs like Flashlight, Not Just Knee Deep, One Nation Under A Groove, P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up), and Tear The Roof Off The Sucker (Give Up The Funk), and many, many more, including Clinton's 1982 release "Atomic Dog" which is still a club favorite to date.

Bootsy's Rubber Band released many albums as a side project of the P-Funk mob, and went on to help produce Zapp, which was a Dayton, Ohio band featuring Roger and Zapp Troutman. The Zapp sound was the pioneering sound of electrofunk, donning synthesized drum beats and loops, a vocoder (talk box) on many songs, and even envisioned the internet becoming a place where people could meet in the song "Computer Love". Zapp had many other elecrofunk songs, including the classic 1980 release "More Bounce To The Ounce" that would be an inspiration to many hip-hop and R&B artists in the future.
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In the mid to late 70's, Rick James began to funk the world with his party music. James was known for his discofunk song "You And I" in the late 70's and the major hit "Superfreak" in the early 80's. Rick James' fun and sexy style of music, blended with the dance grooves of the times, was a major influence to many different races of people.
But by far, the most influential artist to all people in regards to funk and dance music, was Prince. Prince released his first full-length record in 1978, titled "For You", and from there would go on to blend many styles of music together into a danceable and soulful presentation of art. His self-titled release "Prince" was funky and sexy, but without talk of drug use or "sexploitation". The album artwork featured him riding nude on a white horse, which was very controversial to the media. This controversy continued, and Prince released "Dirty Mind" in 1980, "Controversy" in 1981, and "1999" in 1982, and many, many more since then that have charted #1 hits.
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Dirty Mind has been said to be one of the most musically influential albums of the last 50 years (from SPIN and Rolling Stone magazines) and many of his other albums have been added to that list. Prince was the only artist to blend all of the previous genres (that contributed to funk) together with many other genres of music, like disco/dance, European/new romantic, new wave, folk, techno/electronic, Latin and world music, and hip-hop. This new genre of music that emerged from Prince' unique blend was called New Funk. As the generations went on, many musicians of all colors started listening to the music of the original African-American pioneers and were mainly influenced by them. However, Prince was one of the few remaining artists who continued the traditions of previous soul artists.

Political messages in music were very rare to be heard in mainstream music and on the radio. The social revolution that the soul, funk, and R&B artists of the 60's and 70's had worked so hard to create was dying. Some disco funk supergroups like Chic (they still to this day have the #1 selling single of all time on Warner Brothers with "Le Freak") who were successful in the late 70's and early 80's had since faded. Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of Chic went on to produce big pop/funk artists like Madonna. However, the new political leaders of the Reagan generation seemed to stifle social music (especially music that uplifted and educated the lower and middle classes; disco and funk) from becoming well known by the mass public.


Prince, however, was able to creatively express it in a way that even appealed to his political and social adversaries. Prince continued on the traditions of the social revolution, and many of his friends joined him, like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, The Time and Morris Day, Paul Peterson (a.k.a. St. Paul), other artists from Minneapolis and many other artists worldwide. Prince had bands titled "The Revolution" and to date "The New Power Generation".
But even as hip-hop grew in the 80's, there was no true positive and uplifting message that gave the people a reason to believe, and a groove that they could truly dance to- other than Prince. Sure, the artists of old, like George, Bootsy, Sly, James Brown, and many others continued on in bringing the funk, but failed to receive attention from major media outlets. Society had lost many of the musical leaders since 1970. Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, John Lennon, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Curtis Mayfield, Roger Troutman, and Eddie Hazel, Rick James, to name a few, had all passed away years too soon. So, needless to say, funk, and the social musical revolution, was not what it used to be.

Hip-hop and rap was the closest thing to the 70's music revolution that existed through the 80's and 90's. Hip-hop artists sampled many of the soul and funk legends by adding parts of older songs into their own music, or looping instrumental parts of old funk and soul songs and adding heavier drum beats and rhythms to it. The closest to funk in the hip-hop movement was Digital Underground, led by Shock G. 2Pac Shakur came out of Digital Underground. George Clinton had officially branded Digital Underground as "Sons of the P". Other good groove oriented groups like Jamiriquai came around every now and then, and it would be fair to say that many artists have at least some elements of the original funk and soul in their music, but there was no organized movement.




The Recording Industry Association of America has started arresting and fining people for downloading music online, making George Clinton's statement "funk ain't no sin, and no we won't go to hell, it's just illegal" sound all too real. Many unsigned artists are being hurt by the companies’ stronghold on music production, sales, distribution, and the control of the airwaves by similar companies.

So, here we are. We know what New Funk is. We know that many artists with a social message who contain elements of the "New Funk" genre are being kept under by the system that is in place. Prince, James Brown, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins and Sylvester Stewart (Sly and the Family Stone) are all still alive. Many other artists who have a great social and artistic message, like the Talking Heads, are still alive, and artists who love greed are letting the RIAA persecute people in their name.

All that the people want are reasonable prices for media, good quality for their money, and the ability to do as they wish without harm to anyone else. If digital music player software is banned or controlled, and filesharing software is regulated to where no one can download and share music for free any longer, then true art would be dead. All that would be left is "pimped" music that would be completely manufactured by the companies, and radio stations that only played music with very few artistic qualities- much like today's scenario!


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In August of 2002, Jason Dodson, a Southern Illinois musician, originally from Columbus, Ohio proposed a new forum category at Prince.org, a Musician’s forum. Many artists inspired by Prince wanted to share their own creations and get feedback and support. VinaBlue gave the topic a little push, Prince.org founder Ben Margolin approved the idea, and the Org Musician Hangout was born. Members began comparing and critiquing each other's songs, and the varied musical styles reflected the many styles combined in Prince’s music.
In January 2003, Jason asked who would be interested in being a part of the New Funk Order, a “new music order among musicians who share a message of revolution, love, peace, change, and correction.” Many artists wanted to contribute and soon it was decided that a compilation of original music would be put together, with artists collaborating via the internet. Graphic artists also got involved, donating their time and creativity. The artwork for the NFO Project 1 cd was created by Prince.org user Yamomma (Kelly McClain), and an anonymous supporter of the arts decided to create a website for the New Funk Order.

Jason then started work on formulating the NFO into a non-profit organization for artists dedicated to preserving the freedom of music. The New Funk Order became a musical movement, a rebuttal to the political "New World Order" that encourages corporate globalization and exploitation of all that is good. The message of the NFO is to show that artists can provide free music to the public without the influence of corporate greed. Music is not free. Radio stations can only play a certain percentage of artists that are signed and record companies wont sign artists based on artistic merit. The internet is a great place to share music you wouldn’t otherwise hear unless you know these artists personally.

2003 was the beginning of what was called "the dawning of a new funk revolution". 18 artists from all over the world came together on the New Funk Order's "Project 1". The virtual cd contains music from artists in the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Sweden, and Canada. The CD is available for free download in the "projects" section of this, as is the CD artwork and a video for one of the tracks.

Originally, the NFO was intended to only include funk and new funk. Now, many artists with different types of music are participating, and the NFO welcomes all artists into the NFO community. All artists participating in the NFO agree to share at least some of their music freely with the public.


::: History of Funk :::
 

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Dr. John Henrik Clarke was born in Union Springs, Alabama on New Years Day, 1915. His family came from a long line of sharecroppers. They moved to Columbus, Georgia, when he was four years old. He drew a powerful image of the woman who taught him in the fifth grade in 1925, in Columbus, Ga., Eveline Taylor. Taylor put a halt to his rambunctious play with other children because she saw something in him. "It's no disgrace to be alone," she said, "It's no disgrace to be right when everybody else thinks you are wrong. There is nothing wrong with being a thinker.... Your playing days are over."

With that, the teacher helped set the course of life for the student; for those words would reverberate in him when he later taught the junior Bible class at a local Baptist church. Clarke noticed that although many bible stories "unfolded in Africa...I saw no African people in the printed and illustrated Sunday school lessons," he wrote in 1985. "I began to suspect at this early age that someone had distorted the image of my people. My long search for the true history of African people the world over began."

That search took him to libraries, museums, attics, archives and collections in Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America and Africa.

What he found was that the history of black people is worldwide; that "the first light of human consciousness and the world's first civilizations were in Africa"; that the so called Dark Ages were dark only for Europe and that some African nations at the time were larger than any in Europe; that as Africa sends its children to Europe to study because that is where the best universities are, early Greece once sent its children to Africa to study because that was where the best universities were; and that slavery, although devastating was neither the beginning nor the end of Black people's impact on the world.

Clarke gathered his findings into books on such figures as the early 20th century mass movement leader Marcus Garvey, into articles with titles like "Africa in the Conquest of Spain" and "Harlem as mecca and New Jerusalem," and many books including American Heritage's two volume "History of Africa."

And in little churches and big community centers, Clarke brought his findings to life in talks to black audiences hungry for a history so long lost, stolen or strayed.

"I love the brother" said Los Angeles resident Margaret Logan, a physical therapist who attended Clarke's book signing party. "He has all this knowledge to give that we need desperately. He makes you think about the greatness of African people."

While he was teaching at Hunter College in New York and at Cornell University in the 1980's, Clarke's lesson plans became well known for their thoroughness. They are so filled with references and details that the Schomburg Library in Harlem asked for copies. Clarke plans to provide them, he said, "so that 50 years from now, when people have a hard time locating my grave, they won't have a hard time locating my lessons."

In 1985, the year of his retirement, the newest branch of the Cornell University Library- a 60 seat, 9,000 volume facility- was named the "John Henrik Clarke Africana Library."

"History is not everything" Clarke once wrote, "but it is the starting point. History is a clock that people use to tell their time of day. It is a compass they use to find themselves on the map of human geography. It tells them where they are, but more importantly, what they must be."


 

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The first person to die in the Boston Massacre was an African-American sailor named Crispus Attucks. Not much is known about Crispus Attucks prior to his death in 1770, but his actions that day became a source of inspiration for both white and black Americans for years to come.


Attucks in Slavery

Attucks was born around 1723; his father was an African slave in Boston, and his mother was a Natick Indian. His life up until he was 27 years old is a mystery, but in 1750 Deacon William Brown of Framingham, Mass., placed a notice in the Boston Gazette that his slave, Attucks, had run away. Brown offered a reward of 10 pounds as well as reimbursement for any incurred expenses to anyone who caught Attucks.


The Boston Massacre

No one captured Attucks, and by 1770 he was working as a sailor on a whaling ship. On March 5, he was having lunch near Boston Common along with other sailors from his ship, waiting for good weather so they could set sail. When he heard a commotion outside, Attucks went to investigate, discovering a crowd of Americans clustered near the British garrison.


The crowd had gathered after a barber's apprentice accused a British soldier of not paying for a haircut. The soldier struck the boy in anger, and a number of Bostonians, seeing the incident, gathered and shouted at the soldier. Other British soldiers joined their comrade, and they stood as the crowd grew larger.

Attucks joined the crowd. He took leadership of the group, and they followed him to the custom house. There, the American colonists began throwing snowballs at the soldiers guarding the custom house.

The accounts of what happened next differed. A witness for the defense testified at the trials of Captain Thomas Preston and eight other British soldiers that Attucks picked up a stick and swung it at the captain and then a second soldier.

The defense laid the blame for the actions of the crowd at Attucks' feet, painting him as a troublemaker who incited the mob. This may have been an early form of race-baiting as other witnesses refuted this version of events.

However much they were provoked, the British soldiers opened fire on the crowd that had gathered, killing Attucks first and then four others. At the trial of Preston and other soldiers, witnesses differed on whether Preston had given the order to fire or whether a lone soldier had discharged his gun, prompting his fellow soldiers to open fire.

The Legacy of Attucks

Attucks became a hero to the colonials during the American Revolution; they saw him as gallantly standing up to abusive British soldiers. And it is entirely possible that Attucks decided to join the crowd to take a stand against perceived British tyranny. As a sailor in the 1760s, he would have been aware of the British practice of impressing (or forcing) American colonial sailors into the service of the British navy. This practice, among others, exacerbated tensions between American colonists and the British.

Attucks also became a hero to African-Americans. In the mid-nineteenth century, African-American Bostonians celebrated "Crispus Attucks Day" every year on March 5. They created the holiday to remind Americans of Attucks' sacrifice after blacks were declared non-citizens in the Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) Supreme Court decision. In 1888, the city of Boston erected a memorial to Attucks in Boston Common. Attucks was seen as someone who had martyred himself for American independence, even as he himself had been born into the oppressive system of American slavery.
 
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