FIGHTING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

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The principal motivation for Black people to fight in the American
revolution was freedom. For some it may have been a desire for adventure, belief in the justice and goals of the Revolution, as well as, and more than likely, the possibility of receiving a bounty. Monetary payments were given or promised to those who joined, and they also would gain freedom. This applied to both men and women, as they were heavily recruited by the British and American forces.

The impetus behind recruitment was initiated by the British. It was only after the British started recruiting Black people to serve with the promise of freedom that Americans started. At first they recruited free Black people in New England and the East Coast to serve in the army. But as the shortage of manpower became more evident, the American recruiting effort became more localized and extended to slaves as well.

Black women, many who were slaves, served in the capacity of nurses, laundresses, and cooks. They also worked building roads and constructing fortifications. In other areas, the noted poet, Phillis Wheatley of Massachusetts, was a well-known voice for freedom during the Revolutionary era.

At the time of the Revolution, some Black men, had already enlisted as Minutemen. These select men provided a highly mobile and rapidly deployed unit that allowed the colonies to respond immediately to war threats. They were among the first to fight in the American Revolution.

Both free and slave also served in local militias, especially in the North, defending their villages against attacks by Native Americans. Peter Salem, for example, was freed by his master to join the militia, and served for seven years.

Black men fought at Lexington and Concord, and at the Battle of Bunker Hill. They not only served as soldiers, but guides, messengers, and spies.

Many other Black men served in the British and American navy as seamen piloting vessels.  While some Southeners worried about putting a gun into the hands of a Black man, they were well at ease about using them to pilot vessels and to handle the ammunition on ships. Throughout the war Black men served as seamen where they generally proved to be much more willing and able than their ship mates.

On land, the best known Black regiment was formed in Rhode Island. The 1st Rhode Island Regiment was a locally recruited and segregated unit. At the Siege of Newport, it was the only military regiment in action to include a racially segregated unit on the American side in the war.

They fought valiantly. They faced a well-defined and powerful British army. The British troops charged the regiment over and over again, but they held strong, drove them back and protected their fort.

It is worth noting here that both Black men and Black women gave their all to the Revolutionary cause, by land and by sea.

JAZZ EVENTS

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NEW YORK CITY
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Starting on Saturday, 10/4 The National Jazz Museum in Harlem will open its new CHILDREN'S CORNER, dedicated to bringing the spirit of jazz directly to school age children.

The focus will be on the legacy of Afro-Cuban Jazz, featuring Tito Puente, Machito, Bebe Valdes and other giants of the genre.

Log on to jazzmuseuminharlem.org
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KANSAS CITY
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Kansas City's 18th & Vine Jazz and Blues Festival  will open on 10/11 at 11am.

This year's festival will feature four stages of jazz and blues bands, hospitality tents, and vendor booths.

Log on to americanjazzmuseum.org for more info.

JAZZ NOTES

                                              IN THE BEGINNING


Jazz as an art form, is thought of as having come out of New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century. While it is true that many of the great jazz figures were from New Orleans, or migrated there, it is certain that jazz did not suddenly appear there and no where else. New Orleans, however, continues to be referred to as the "cradle of jazz."

One of the most important developments is jazz occurred in the early 19th century when an increasing number of Black musicians learned to play European instruments, especially the violin, and used them to parody European dance music in their own cakewalk dances.

Conversely, the Europeans adapted the African music tradition, evident in the work songs and field hollers of the Black slaves, into their piano salon melodies, and their minstrel show performances, where they even performed in "black face," in parody of Black performers. From this musical sampling, a meeting of syncopation and harmonic sounds ensued. The process of "flowering" had begun.

The influences which led to the flowering of jazz were many and varied, and given it's geographical spread, some White people were certainly involved in this early development, or at least made use of this new form. So although it was spawned from the Black tradition, it would be inaccurate to view jazz as purely Black music.

It is without question that conditions in New Orleans and the southern states of America were favorable in the emergence of jazz, but it would have probably come into being somehow and somewhere, anyway, sooner or later.

Jesse Owens - COMMUNITY CREATOR

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JESSE OWENS was born in 1913 in Oakville, Alabama, the youngest of 10 children. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio during the original Great Migration (1910-1930) when hordes of Black people left the segregated South for better opportunities in the North.

Jesse was actually born James Cleveland Owens, but as a family story goes, when his new teacher asked him his name he said "J.C.", but because of his strong Southern accent, she thought he said Jesse. The name stuck for the rest of his life.

Owens was a track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He gained international fame at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany by winning four gold medals; 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4x10 relay.                        
                                              

Jesse was the most successful athlete at the games, and as such, has been recognized in his lifetime as "perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history.

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To read more on Jesse Owens Google search his name.

THE BLACK EXPERIENCE 101

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DID YOU KNOW THAT...


When this person was just a few weeks old, he and his mother were kidnapped. His mother was sold into slavery.




CAN YOU NAME THAT PERSON?
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Answer to previous quiz (9/15) JESSE OWENS

JAZZ EVENTS

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NEW JERSEY
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WBGO JAZZ 88.3 FM presents the award winning KIDS JAZZ FALL CONCERT SERIES. These concerts which are free, begin on 10/4 thru 11/1 at various venues throughout Essex, New Jersey.

For detailed concert info visit wbgo.org/kidsjazz/concert 

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NEW YORK CITY
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The National Jazz Museum in Harlem presents UPCOMING EVENTS now thru 10/28 entitled JAZZ FOR CURIOUS LISTENERS.

For a schedule of events and performers log on to jazzmuseuminharlem.org 

A JAZZ LEGEND

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On this day in 1926, JOHN COLTRANE, aka "Trane," legendary saxophonist, was born in Hamlet, North Carolina.

Coltrane was at the forefront of the free jazz movement. He also was a part of the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, which started in the 1940s.

 He has played with many jazz pioneers, including Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk.

As his career progressed, however, Coltrane and his music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension. This dimension is clearly evident in one of the most iconic recordings of his career, A Love Supreme.

Coltrane remains one of the most significant musicians in the history of jazz. He was the husband of jazz pianist Alice Coltrane, and is the father of noted jazz saxophonist Ravi Coltrane.

To learn more on the life and career of John Coltrane please Google search his name.
 To listen to his music, tune in to any number of jazz music providers and prepare to be dazzled.

IN MEMORY OF:

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JOE SAMPLE  (2/1/1939-9/12/2014) was a jazz pianist, keyboard player and composer. He started playing the piano at the age of 5. He was one of the founding members of the Jazz Crusaders, which became simply The Crusaders in 1971.

For a bio and list of  his recordings Google search his name.

A DAY TO REMEMBER:

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Brown v Board of Education was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court declared that segregation of students in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
 
This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement. 

The Warren Court's unanimous decision was handed down on May 17, 1954 in which the Court stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

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60 years ago
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964 *** enacted July 2, 1964 is a landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the U.S. that outlawed discrimination based on race,color, religion, sex, or national origin.  It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public.

***Powers given to enforce the act were initially weak, but were supplemented during later years.

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50 years ago           

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Jackie Robinson - COMMUNITY CREATOR

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Jackie Robinson was born into a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia in 1919. Soon after his birth, the family moved to Pasadena, California.

At John Muir High School, Robinson played several sports at the varsity level, and lettered in football, basketball, track, and baseball. He was also a member of the tennis team.

Later, at Pasadena Junior College he excelled in, not surprisingly, the same four sports. After graduation he attended UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles), where he became the school's first athlete  to win varsity letters in football, basketball, track, and baseball.

Although baseball was his "worst sport" at UCLA, after a few years working in the California community and serving in the military, Robinson went on to play professional baseball in the Negro Leagues in 1945, with the Kansas City Monarchs.

 On April 15, 1947, he became the first Black man to play Major League  Baseball in the modern era, when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers.

 This ended racial segregation that had relegated Black players to the Negro Leagues for six decades.

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To read the incredible exploits of Jackie Robinson's life and times, please Google search his name and read the related entries.

THE BLACK EXPERIENCE 101

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DID YOU KNOW THAT...

This person's performance at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games made him famous.



CAN YOU NAME THAT PERSON?
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Answer to previous quiz (8/26) JACKIE ROBINSON

JAZZ NOTES

TRYING TO DEFINE JAZZ

Before looking at the origins of jazz, the music,

we will consider the word itself. 

It's derivation is obscure. Some say it came from

the French word jaser, meaning to gossip or

chatter, or jower, to play, or jeux games.

Some say it was first applied to the music in 1915,

rendered jass, where it was previously used as a West Coast slang term for the sex act.

The word was also said to have first appeared in print in the Chicago Herald in 1916, and was also spelled jass. By the next year it had changed to jasz, and then jazz.

Jelly Roll Morton,*** who was an early jazz pianist, said he invented the word in 1902, but he also claimed to have invented jazz itself, which still doesn't explain how he chose the word, or why it took so long to catch on.

The date of the word's first attachment to the music will probably never be known, but just as the word blues has many meanings, then so does the word jazz, and like other Black musical idioms: field hollers, spirituals, cakewalk, ragtime, and others, they are all closely related.

Jazz is a term that encompasses a loose collection of many styles of music that have developed in many diverse ways. By learning the history of jazz you will learn principles of stylistic evolution that apply to all art forms, not just jazz.

Studying jazz can lead you to related styles that you will enjoy too. The better you become at listening to jazz, the more you will derive from listening to all forms of music.

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***Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was an early jazz pianist, and is perhaps most notable as jazz's first arranger.                                         

HISTORICAL NEWS JOURNAL

Be It
Forever
Remembered

  That on Tuesday next, the fifth of
March, is the Anniversary of Preston's
Massacre, in King Street, Boston, New
England, 1770. That day five of his Majesty's
Subjects were slain, and Six wounded by the
Discharge of a Number of muskets from a party
of Soldiers under the Command of Capt.
Thomas Preston.
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CRISPUS: 1ST KILLED

   The first man killed was Crispus Attucks,
black merchant seaman and an escaped slave.
He was at the front of the crowd that  taunted
the redcoat barbarians, calling them "lobsters"
and "bloody backs."
   According to an eyewitness, Crispus "threw
himself in and made a blow at the officer," with
a long cordwood stick. After that, he "turned
around and struck the grenadier's gun at the
Captain's right hand and immediately fell in
with his club and knocked the gun away."
   It was shortly after this that the grenadier
shot and killed Crispus.

GOD Save the PEOPLE!

***The preceding were actual newspaper articles printed on February 28, 1778.