WHO IS THE REAL 'KING OF ROCK & ROLL'?

Songwriters are to recording artists what shadows are to people, often unacknowledged in the background.

Born in Brooklyn in 1931, Otis Blackwell was a prolific songwriter and a talented pianist and singer, winning 'Amateur Night' at the Apollo Theater in 1952.

Despite being born at a time when Black people faced many obstacles in the US, particularly in an industry that was predominantly white, his undeniable talent made it difficult to ignore him. Blackwell's career catapulted when his 1955 demo tape found its way to the 'King of Rock & Roll,' Elvis Presley. He became the man behind Presley's most iconic hits, including two of the biggest: 'Don't Be Cruel' and 'All Shook Up.' Presley's delivery of Blackwell's songs mimicked the latter's style.

However, in this 1984 clip from his appearance on the 'Late Show with David Letterman,' Blackwell performed 'Don't Be Cruel,' in his style.

Continued……Elvis’s version of the song was number one for seven consecutive weeks on Billboard's Top 100 pop chart in 1956.

Although Blackwell wrote songs for Presley for five years, the pair never met. On some of Blackwell’s songs, Presley is falsely credited as a ‘co-writer’. According to Blackwell, this 'seemed to have been the practice at that time,' he told Letterman, and had been a condition for working with Presley.

Blackwell became highly sought after, writing songs for other notable artists of the era like Jerry Lee Lewis, Dee Clark and Jimmy Jones. His lyricism was described by the rock & roll historian Peter Guralnick, as being 'so apt at getting across a sentiment that immediately clicked not just with the audience it reached, but with the singer.' Blackwell sold over 200 million copies of over 1,000 songs. 

Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986, the US-based National Academy of Popular Music's Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, Blackwell's contributions helped shape the sound of early rock & roll. He passed away in 2002, but is still celebrated for his gigantic contribution to the genre.  

Who do you think is the true 'King of Rock & Roll'? Let us know in the comments.

SOURCES:

https://rockhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Otis_Blackwell_2010.pdf

https://www.businessinsider.com/otis-blackwell-black-musician-behind-elvis-greatest-hits-history-2023-3

https://www.elvis.com.au/presley/otis-blackwell.shtml

In truth, nothing lasts forever. Yet in Nigeria, they say that until you've experienced the enchanting aroma of Hausa perfume, the concept of “lasting forever” becomes utterly redefined.

Hausa perfumes have a powerful and alluring scent because they contain a much higher concentration of perfumed oils, which allows the fragrance to last longer on the skin.

This week's proverb teaches us not to make conclusions about things we have not experienced or seen.

WHO BUILT THE GREAT PYRAMID?

Many theories and debates surround who built the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. In some instances, some have argued that enslaved people built the pyramids.

In this clip, British journalist, researcher and writer Graham Hancock disputes this theory, noting that the precision, skill and care with which the Great Pyramid - the largest of all the Egyptian pyramids - was built, could not have been the work of enslaved people or unwilling labourers, but of individuals with 'love' for architecture that encompassed excellent knowledge of the earth's physics.

In other instances, scholars - specifically those from the West - have attempted to argue that this very architectural precision noted by Hancock, means the Great Pyramid could not have been the work of African people, who they viewed through their White supremacist lenses as too primitive and backwards for such incredible feats.

Yet, through thorough empirical research, well-respected scholars like Senegal's giant, the late Cheikh Anta Diop, demonstrated that all civilisation sprung from Africa and that Ancient Egypt, in particular, is undoubtedly an ancient African civilisation.

Hancock himself believes the Pyramid is the work of an ancient civilisation that was completely wiped off the face of the earth. His reasoning is its meticulous design is impossible to achieve 'with the knowledge' and 'tools' supposedly available in old Egypt.

Although he does not assign any race to this 'wiped out' civilisation, nor directly deny that this civilisation was African, we wonder if this is what he is subtly insinuating, given he has been accused of peddling racist, White supremacist narratives in some of his work and is widely considered a pseudoscientist by the academic world. Let us know in the comments what you think of Hancock's statements. Do you think it is so hard for many European historians to grasp that Africa was leading the world in innovation and architecture at a point in history?

SOURCES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUFhKW982Io

Nations Negres et Culture - Cheikh Anta Diop

https://documents.saa.org/container/docs/default-source/doc-governmentaffairs/saa-letter-ancient-apocalypse.pdf

CAPITALISM REQUIRES RACISM AND INEQUALITY

According to Dr Ruth Wilson Gilmore, capitalism requires inequality to function, and racism enshrines that inequality. Or, as the great Pan-Africanist Malcolm X put it, ‘You can’t have capitalism without racism.’

In this clip from a recent talk, Gilmore, a scholar at @GC_CUNY, who has been studying the relationship between racism, capitalism, and the US prison system for over 30 years, explained that capitalism needs to keep people divided into categories to continue exploiting them. If nothing separates us, one can imagine the dangers a united working class might pose to the capitalist system.

In addition to dividing modern workers, capitalists needed to deploy racism to develop the initial capital used to create their now global system. Thus came chattel slavery in the Americas, g*nocide across multiple continents, and colonial theft around the world.

Continued.......In the words of assassinated Burkina Faso President Thomas Sankara (1949-87), ‘It is our blood that nourished the rise of capitalism, that made possible our present condition of dependence and consolidated our underdevelopment. But we cannot hide the truth any more; it cannot be ignored. The figures cannot be simply haggled away. For every Black man who came to the plantations, five died or were crippled.’

SOURCES:

https://communist.red/capitalism-and-racism-a-marxist-introduction/
https://www.marxists.org/archive/sankara/1984/october/04.htm
https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2023/02/07/ruthie-wilson-gilmore-abolition-geography
https://globalsocialtheory.org/topics/racial-capitalism/

HOW HIP HOP BECAME A NEGATIVE FORCE

Timothy Grimes, better known by his stage name Wise Intelligent, shares valuable insights on how hip-hop shifted from having a positive impact on Black youth to a negative one due to corrupt record executives. 

In a 2009 hip-hop summit video clip, Wise explained that positive music fostered racial pride and self-esteem among Black youth, supporting them to rebel against an oppressive system. However, poisoning youthful minds through the medium of music helped suppress our people.

As an anonymous source alleged in a letter that has circulated online, record companies that had invested in the private prison industry convened a meeting in 1991 in the outskirts of Los Angeles to hash out a deal to ensure rappers glorified violence as a way to drive Black people into the prison system. Now, our people make up 37 per cent of incarcerated people even though we comprise 13 per cent of the US population.

Continued......Let us know what you think of Wise's enlightening speech.

Photo credit for 1980s hip-hop street scene: @joeconzo on IG

SOURCES:

https://court.rchp.com/history/racial-bias-in-mass-media/the-secret-meeting-that-changed-rap-music-and-destroyed-a-generation

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/research/race_and_ethnicity

AFRICAN CULTURE INFLUENCED EUROPEAN ARTS

In this clip from 1968, poet and civil rights activist Dr. Maya Angelou shares valuable insights during one of her episodes of the series "Blacks, Blues, and Black." She discusses how African culture and art have significantly influenced European arts since the early 1900s, highlighting the importance of Africa's rich cultural history.

Dr. Angelou uses the ancient city of Timbuktu as an example, it was an intellectual and spiritual capital and a center for the spread of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. She notes that scholars from around the world traveled to Timbuktu to study at its renowned university, a hub for those seeking knowledge. Several hundred thousand priceless manunoscripts still exist from this period.

Additionally, she points out that famous artists like Picasso found inspiration in ancient sculptures from Benin and Nigeria. Undeniably,
Africa is the blueprint. Do you agree?

Video credit 1968 called Blacks, Blues, Black series

BIBI TITI MOHAMED: HEROINE OR TRAITOR?

On this day in 2000, one of the key players in securing Tanzania's freedom from the British died. Bibi Titi Mohamed - then living as an exile in South Africa - was 74.

Together with Julius Nyerere, she pioneered her country's independence.  Many call her the mother of the nation and remember her as a heroic freedom fighter who fought for women's equality, education and empowerment. 

But others felt that she betrayed the struggle when she turned against Nyerere. She, alongside other politicians, was charged with secretly planning to stage a coup and assassinate Nyerere. They were accused of seeking help from South Africa's apartheid regime to expel Nyerere - treason charges that she vehemently denied, but which also landed her in prison.

Continued......Continued......
Here’s a look back at her complicated life. Was Bi Titi a hero or villain? Let us know.

SOURCES:

https://www.dw.com/en/bibi-titi-mohamed-tanzanias-mother-of-the-nation/a-52448380

https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/bibi-titi-mohammed-1926-2000/