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Over Troubled Water

Strengthening the relationships between all African ancestored descendants

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

"At the bus station in Durham, North Caro...Image via Wikipedia "At the bus station on Durham, NC,"  May 1940, Jack Delano


If you really pay attention and study the lyrics of Blues songs, you will learn a great deal about the struggles on Southern plantations which gave birth to this form of music. Slavery, sharecropping, and oppression during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights Eras inspired African Americans to tell their story in song.  No one person invented the Blues.  It sprung out of gospel music.






Each song is a varied as the personal experiences of African Americans coming from slavery and involuntary servitude.  Music was the only of the only things they had to bring joy and to ease a troubled mind. This is the reason it may sound mournful to some who do not understand its origins.  The Blues has influenced Jazz, R&B, and  Rock 'n Roll.

People sang the Blues for themselves long before it was commercialized.  It started to become popular in the early 1900's.  The Mississippi Delta is recognized as the place that produced the greatest Blues artists.  Blues was also popular in the Carolinas and Texas.

Blues songs should become a major resource as we study African American history.  See this neglected art form as oral history put to song increases our appreciation for it.  From the Blues, we can gain great insights about the history of our ancestors in these rural areas.  Blues songs help to supplement the missing oral history in our own families.  Sheba, the Mississippi Queen, escaped with her mother and siblings from Sunflower Mississippi in 1965.  She grew up singing the Blues in the cotton fields.

The following video was shared by Sheba and Miami Dade College. Instructor, Robert Moore gathers a few of his friends to teach his students about the history of the Blues.  Listen especially to the words of the song Sheba dedicates to her mother and grandmother.  Sheba will share an article with us soon about the history of the songs included on her album, "Butter on My Roll."




A 2010 Black History Month production
at Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus.

Hosted by Robert Moore.
Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010


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With the blessings of technology, all African ancestored descendants can develop an online haven where healing can take place. Let's recite and relish in our history. Let's come together to identify the principles that help us to enjoy freedom and happiness. Hopefully, "Over Troubled Water" will be the beginning of that for you. We welcome contributors who will share their history and perspectives that we may all learn and benefit.
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The village is coming together! We are from many diverse groups from around the world. We invite you to use Over Trouble Water as an avenue that will spark much needed dialog. This dialog can lead to great enlightenment and healing. Every effort will be made to supplement using historical resources for further study, however, opinions or views expressed in articles reflect the contributor's life experiences and are the responsibility of the respective contributor. Comments should be addressed to the respective contributor.

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