For my creative post, I chose to curate a playlist that represents some of the themes and conversations that resonated with me the most from our time in class together. I created this playlist by going through my own music library and looking for songs that fell under three main categories that I feel like best encapsulate these conversations and themes: Black Joy, Black Love, and Black Power. I wanted to make sure that I used my own music library, rather than just search the internet for songs that fell in these categories, to maintain a level of personal connection. I ended up with 15 songs that I love and feel like form a good soundtrack to accompany our work in Blackness & the Senses. Disclaimer: since the songs are from my own saved music library, I couldn’t help but tend towards certain artists that I enjoy because their work resonates with me the most and their songs were the ones that immediately came to mind when I set out to create this playlist.
Here is the link to the playlist for anyone interested in listening or following along on the Spotify platform: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7u7Pq6b9aNGOzgxPrMSadE?si=79349cccb2d742e0
This idea to create a playlist stems from the intimate relationship that we looked at between music and Sassafrass, Cypress, & Indigo. I was inspired by our class period where we went through the YouTube playlist of songs mentioned in the book, and our discussion of how actually listening to the songs brought a whole new lens through which we reread passages.
Here are some highlights of songs in the playlist, and the explanations for why I chose them/connections to the texts that we read in class:
- “BROWN SKIN GIRL” by Beyoncé – This song invokes both the ideas of the appreciation and celebration of Black joy, and the mother/child relationship. I was inspired by one of our earlier conversations regarding the love that Eliza shows for her son, Harry, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin – specifically regarding the scene where she jumps across the river to get them away from the slave hunter.
- “LOVE.” by Kendrick Lamar; “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys – Through our conversations regarding a few of the texts, we talked about the complicated relationship between enslaved people, specifically women, and love. Regarding Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, sexual abuse and coercion were huge themes that dictated a few of our discussions. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, one of the major storylines of the book follows George and Eliza, who ran away because their relationship/family was being broken up by a slave trade. Through these texts, we saw how love did not get to exist freely under slavery – enslaved people were told who to love and when, and it was not until they reached freedom that they could begin to use their autonomy in this way. These songs celebrate the unregulated freedom and beauty of Black love as it should be, which stands in contrast to the way that we saw Black love throughout our semester.
- “SPIRIT” by Beyoncé; “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar – Religion/spirituality was a theme that emerged a few times throughout this semester. We saw more of the spiritual side throughout Sassafrass, Cypress, & Indigo, but I think religion played the most central role in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It was an underlying theme throughout the entire book, as we saw Eva as an extension of religion itself it seemed like (our discussion on the scene between her and Topsy, as a specific example), we saw Tom trying to guide St. Clare and Prue to better lifestyles through conversations of religion, etc. But, what stood out most to me was Tom’s reliance on religion as a source of strength and his commitment to his faith until the bitter end. For him, religion/spirituality served as a means of surviving slavery and bringing positivity to the people around him. I felt like these songs were representative of this important connection between religion/spirituality and Blackness.
- “Who Run the World (Girls)” by Beyoncé – This song is what first popped into my head when I decided to create this playlist because it felt like an obvious connection to Cypress’ dream that happens at the end of Sassafrass, Cypress, & Indigo. Since we spent so much time talking about this dream, it only felt right to include this song – even though it may not necessarily fall into any of the three categories that I had originally pointed out as obviously as the other songs. However, I do think that this song fits under Black Power, in a way.
Critical Questions:
- How does pairing these older texts with modern music shape the way we read these texts and their emerging themes?
- All of our texts were female-centric in some way – whether they were predominantly about female characters, written by female authors, or both. What is the effect of having so many songs by women of color on this playlist in regards to this focus on female-centric narratives this semester?
Hey Claire, I love this playlist! I love some of the songs on it but haven’t heard others, so I’ll definitely check them out. I’m a big Kendrick fan, too, and Alright is such a great song for so many reasons, but I think your connection with Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the spirituality that Tom maintains aligns nicely with the song’s message. Kendrick is basically saying that although there are hardships that he and his Black peers experience – namely modern day police brutality – by trusting in God and himself, he’s “gon’ be alright.” Similarly, even though Tom has endured incredible pain, both physically and mentally, his religion helps him to remain optimistic and spread positivity to those around him. It’s interesting to see how religion has helped different people withstand adversity, even though they lived hundreds of years apart. They share a common experience, though, and it’s empowering to be able to confront it in this way.
Hi Claire! I really enjoyed your playlist. I think that music–with its layers, sampling, tone, instrumentals, and lyrics–serves as a great lens through which to examine Black Joy, Love, and Power. I love Beyoncé and “BROWN SKIN GIRL.” I think this track encapsulates Black Joy and Black Love. Through many layers and voices, “BROWN SKIN GIRL” is a love song, one of mother-child love–Beyoncé’s belt juxtaposed with Blue Ivy’s innocent voice–but of self-love as well as romantic love as Nigerian singer Wizkid’s first verse describes a first-date/introduction type of conversation with a woman. He also sings that she tells him she “don’t believe in nothin’ but the Almighty.” In my view, these details highlight just a few intersections between the themes you center around in your playlist. This makes me consider that, in some cases, each is defined by or a prerequisite of the other–Black Love fosters and/or stems from Black Joy, which promotes and inspires Black Power, for instance. In terms of the course texts, the intersections of these concepts shape a lot of the relationships you mentioned in your post. For instance, Hilda Effania expresses and teaches her daughters Black Love–whether that means showing them they are loved by creating private Christmas moments–, this love works alongside and produces Black Joy and more Love as her daughters find their own ways of moving throughout the world, embracing and sharing their special gifts. Finally, although I have listened to “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers countless times–I am kind of a Bill Withers fan, and the song is featured in a number of shows and movies–, I could not help but imagine it as the ending track to Hannah Crafts’s novel The Bondswoman’s Narrative. “Then I look at you” reminded me of the conversation we had in class about wanting to be taken care of in addition to being free. Also, the song and its uses give it a sort of kitschiness to it as it has been played and re-played over the years, making it an apt fit for the novel’s neatly wrapped happy ending.
It’s so important to pair the modern senses/art (ie music) with texts that are taking place in black history. The art can be rooted from the stories we read and be celebrated beyond the trauma they have brought. The two are not disconnected, music has become an ever-changing platform to speak one’s story and one’s history and that is where a lot of people can be educated on race and black lives.