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I World
THE NEGRO IN AMERICAN CULTURE
by
Margaret J ust Butcher
(Knopf, 313p., $8.95)
The Negro in American Culture was first published in
1956 at a time when America was undergoing
phenomenal changes regarding civil rights. Since then,
many significant events have occurred as a result. We
have witnessed the deaths of M.L. King, President
Kennedy and his brother Bobby. We have seen the
emergence of new leaders and of numbers of 41 little
people" who implemented "the^processes of democratic
action that big decisions and strong leaders set into
action.**
In The Negro in American Culture, Second Edition,
published in 1973, Margaret Just Butcher has traced
both the folk and formal contributions of the American
A i *
iv nmcncan culture. Her main thesis is that
slavery introduced into American society a crucial
dilemma whose resultant problems and solutions account
for some of the most characteristic qualities of American
culture.
Ms. Butcher covers the gamut of cultural arts and the
Negro's role in each. Music, dance, drama, visual art
and literature are all extensively ^ discussed. She
maintains that it is ironic that the most oppressed
n..?,..v.Bn pcopics nave contributed the most to
American culture.
>
Immobility, reinforced by .the psychological
weight of prejudice, developed an
unusual degree of group solidarity,
tended to preserve the characteristic folk
values, and intensified the Negro*s
traditional modes of expression. Out of
rejectgion and oppression there evolved
emotion distinctiveness; out of
persecution and suffering there evolved
^unique compensatory ways of making life
livable. .
Bv virture of fAllr M "
>wam ?|uniui?.9, .nic negro nas maae
America his "cultural debtor". "For here in the United
States, there has been no exception in the historical rule
that the roots of a national culture are in its soil and
peasantry."
And in the South, the Negro--"as a slave, as a
freed man, and thereafter as an economic threat, a social
menace, and a racial pariah "-dominated art and fiction.
Southern antebellum literature was defensive of slavery,
the plantation tradition, ways of ' Ind
consequently never rose above the regional level. Onthe
other hand, the Negro*s prominence in the literature and
substantial contributions to regional culture in music,
dance and folklore means that what culture the Old South
might claim is into the Negro's presence in a society that
' underwent social and political upheavals primarily
because of his presence.
The text and content of this book are so enlightening
that a review could never thoroughly expose its true
significance. It is a powerful statement of the magnitude
~of black contributions to America.The
Negro resolved not to make discrimi
nation an excuse for his shortcomings in
either individual or collective
performance. _ He tried to maintain a >
normal* balance, neither bolstered by
sentimental allowances nor discouraged
by social discounts. To do this, he had to
know himself well, exactly as he was, and
to strive to be known and accepted as he
was.
Only by reading this book can one truly appreciate the
above quote.
Margaret Just Butcher was inspired by the
uncompleted manuscripts of black scholar Alan Leroy
Locke. She has expanded them into a paradigm of
eloquence. May she always be noted for this-her ownoutstanding
contribution to American culture.
Get H.I.P.
r****' ?
? Is your house cold? Need - Program will be held on
jnoney for fuel? Behind on Monday, November 24
your light bill? Get help - from 6:30- 8:30 p.m. at St.
Get H.I.P.! Stephens Church, 810 N.
A Heating Information Highland Avenue. The
public is invited. For more
Clearinghouse information, call the Legal
Aid Society at 725-9166.
You can some
very special love this I
season by calling
Clearinghouse.
Clearinghouse
If you, your family,
church group or organiza-1
tion is planning a Christ
mas project, the Voluntary
Action Center's Christmas!
Clearinghouse would like to I
hear from you. Call 724- ^B
and let VAC help
make your project a suecess.
VAC's Christmas
- 724-7474.
f
>
The B
of Uptight, J AW* To _
Love Her, and For Once In
My life, several major
events took place in Stevie
Wonder^- career^. __Ifeere
were two traumatic events.
"My voice changed."
Clarence Paul was producing
With A Song In My
Heart, Dream, Smile, Make
Someone Happy, etc. All
the keys had been done. In
1964, Stevie went on tour
with the Supremes and the
Temptations. At the begin
ning of the tour Clarence
had all the keys, after the
tour and back in the studio,
all of the keys were too high
for Stevie. 4'My second
tragedy was not having the
opportunity to meet Dinah
Washington. She had expressed
a desire to meet me
but when 1 got off the tour
in _ the South, she was
^^rforming. She passed
away soon after that performance."
T SmI. C* i- ur J
bnuc jicvic TTonaer was
beginning to mature. He
was taller, had a moustache
and was talking to girls on
the phone. Instead of
throwing his tie out to the
audience he was hoping
that the girls wduld throw
phone numbers on stage.
Not to overlook his stucT
ies, Stevie was fortunate'
enough to acquire a private
teacher to travel with him.
One who cared about him
very much. "Ted Hull
/vtii 1/4
vvuiu OVW Wtll CIIUU^U IV
not be considered blind and
was considered partially
sighted. By Ted having
experience of travel around
the world, he helped me a
great deal from the standpoint
of understanding
> what blindness is about,
how to deal and communicate
with people. A person
who had not had experience
of traveling the world may
? ' - -
not nave deen able to so
readily understand the
things that sjiould be
checked out by a person
with the opportunities. lf_
Ted had been a different
person he might htfve felt
that as long as we got the
studies done and toured a
little that would be enough.
But he explained the
foreign currencies to me,
taught me about the electric
currents and their differences.
He connected the
blind world with the sighted
world.M Stevie recalls a
IH*II?I w*|/y| IVIIW snaisu
by Ted and himself. "I met
a person in a record shop
while I was signing autographs.
I thought this
person was no nice; had
such a nice voice. I kept
holding this person's hand.
The person's name was
Bobbie. After we left the
-shop, I asked Ted aboi
Bobbie. Wasn't that girl
nice?" Ted said, "What
girl?" "The girl in the
record shop whose hand I
was holding." Ted fell out
into hysterics. ?
"That was a boy, Stevie."
Then I broke out into
hysterics. "I was into
voices^at the ^time and 1
thought by the voice being
high that Bobbie was a
short girl. I don't know
how funny that would be
today, but it was funny
^pUjTj LIP SMACK^^l
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Fingertips and Uptight was
crucial. One of Motown's
producers suggested that
along with some of their
other artists, that they drop
Little Stevie Wonder. However,
Uptight changed that
story a bit. Every other
year, Stevie had a hit
record; 1964 was a bad
year, in 1965 came Uptight.
Stevie always liked to write
and several things influenced
his writing. "1 was
greatly influenced by radio.
Detroit had the best cross
section of music, different
cultures, etc. 1 listened to
stations like WJZZ; now
WtHD, WJBL, WGPR,
CKOW, WKNR, WXYZ
and WJBK."
Sam Cooke influenced
Stevie and his style in With
A Child'a Heart. Stevie
met Sam Cooke at the
Airport Drive-In in Philly.
Bio win' In The Wind opened
up a different market for
Stevie. At 17, Stevie met a
girl named Angie and fell in
love. The melrvlv anH
music for I Made To
Love Her came from that
experience. Sylvia Moy
wrote incredible lyrics to
that song. Then Stevie
heard For unce In My life,
not knowing that it was a
Jobete/Motown song he
went to Motown with the
song. He decided to do the
song. "Even though it was
a ballad and* I loved it as
that, I felt the tune could be
done in the form of rejoicings
ii^ meeting someone
who needed me. I was
excited and recorded it that
way."
Although he stood six
feet and towered over most
disc jockeys and fans, people
found it hard to drop the
word "Little" from Little
Stevie Wonder. A major
factor in helping people to
drop "Little" from his
name was his marriage to
Syreeta Wright in September
of 1970. "I met Syreeta
when Dop- Hunter and I
were working together.
AffA* ttAAMMn 1*A?
m IVI IIVOilHg IIVl VUIWC) I
thought she could do a
particular song. _ She was
working in the arranging
department of Motown.
Brian Holland had discovered
her also. We became
very good friends t .a. love at
first sight. She was older
than I, but 1 was determined
to get her/' Although
"their marriage did
not last, Stevie and Syreeta
remain close friends.
When Stevie made 21,
his life became affected by
different realizations. "I
realized that there are
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>hy Oj
toingi vuv <jo nsppcn wiu^ in
the business; you must
deal with originality to a
certain degree, commercialism
to certain degree,
but again, all of it has a
proper balance.
It was also at this time
k ? C * a* ^ ? ?-A "?
ui?i jicvic iiici an Btiorney,
Johanan Vigoda. 4,I met an
attorney who I thought was
a jerk, but who 1 came to
love as a human being
during the time of freedom
from my Motown contract.
Johanan set up appointments
for me with many
naaflla a * - ?? ? *
j/wpiv ai me uiKjur record
companies. We talked; the
vibe was good, but 1 felt
that I still wanted to be with
Motown. I have a policy
, with my attorney, yea do
the beat yov can do with the
basinets and handling of
the money, and I do the
beat I can do to give the
beat product; so whatever
you ask for will not be
unreasonable. The result
was a 7 year, 13 million
? Ci " -* ?
aoiiar contract with 'Motown.
1 didn't feel that
Iwas being greedy." This
contract was the largest
given to a recording artist.
Stevie reveals, "It really is
not important to me as
much as it is important to
me fot my children, family
and loved ones. 1 want
them to be taken care of
and to be well off."
Profile
church supplied a van .
and a large number of
people who
.went door-to-door reminding
people to vote,
and St. Stevens
Episcopal Church
allowed us to use their
facilities for meetings.
Undergraduate fraternitites
and sororities from
Winston-Salem State
and Wake Forest, as
well as graduate organizations,
offered manpower
to assist us in our
effort. It was really a
combine, highly coordinated
effort with people
from numerous organizations
that made the
IZN.A.AC.P.: Voter
Education and Registration
Drive a success,
"Allen observed.
Although no blacks
were elected in the past
election, the record 69l/i
turnout in the
predominately black
precincts could be
attributed to the work of
Allen's pfoject and other
such efforts.
As for the future, Allen
plans to continue her
work with the
^ ^7 v f y t n w
77^MS^UW?yfll?lTY7ri7I^
I THE AWAKENING I -j
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>W /COAL N.MER Sl
DAUGHTER
1 Sat. & Sun. 2-4:30-7-9:30 I
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J^jiorRATED]J
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' Stevk
Wonder won 14 grammys,
including three "Album of
the Year" Awards for In*
arnrWoai, FnlHlBfngncca
Flmt Finnic, and Songs In
The Key Of Life. Stevies
next album was to be a first
for him. His very first
soundtrack, Jonrncy
Through The Secret Life Of
Plnnta, for a documentary
film entitled. "The Secret .
Life Of Plants,
Although it did not have
commercial success as
w?? in IBS My VI UIf| It
did go platinum despite the
fact that the movie was not
released to the general
public. "1 felt that Plants
could have done a lot
better, but considering that
the film was not released
simultaneously with the
soundtrack, as was originally
planned, 1 feel it did
very well."
However, Stevie does not
foresee having the same
problem (public acceptance)
with hit next album.
His next album. Hotter
Urn. Jely, is directed toward
an expanded audience.
His goal is to make
.people aware of the different
kinds of musk. To
briefly explain the title,
"July is considered to be a
From page 7
wmmmmmmmmammmmmmmm
N.A.A.C.P. She is the
mother of two children, a
dauohtPf U?l??ii#
teachers physical
education in the Virgin _
Islands, and a son
. The adore, like his father
a doctor, and a captain in
the U.S. Army, has
combined a teaching
career, an active semipolitical
career with the
N.A.A.C.P., and family.
With all her activities,
the family and
"mother" never came
second. She was
honored as the
N.A.A.C.P. "Mother of
the Year" in 1976 when
the organization was
headed by Rev. J.T.
McMillan, and she
served as Chariman of
the Membership
Committee for the successful
membership
drive during the present
president Pat Hairston's
first year in office.
What's next? "I'm
ready and waiting for
whatever project the
organization feels 1 can
contribute," she closed.
i
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Winston-Salenr
THl
IS GETTINC
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*
The Chronicle, Saiurdav, November 22, 1980-Page 9
V.
? Wonder Part u
hot- ft Jot of thiagfr ig? 30, -=?
happen in July; it particu- artist, writer, producer,
latTy deals witTftTTe fSdf fctfsfffessmatt, father ind
our world is "Hotter Than humanitarian, is still
July". "Stevie Wonder". "Little
Still radiant with unlimi- Stevie Wonder", the
ted energy, still swinging "Twelve Year Old Genhis
head from side to side, ius", the "Legend".
last Faad In Tnwn! D
Rated X ? Adults H
OPEN-OiOO; SHOWS-7:00 I
I (grfrn:"THE STAR WARS
dHrt OF SEX FILMSj"
yMyVj "A 5 STAR 0R0Y1"
WKfc?^"AN ULTRARIRN-ONI"
jSal " A SUPERSONIC SUPER
< li SftiA#niV Uln m
WT1 m TTTTHATtHG JOURNEY INTO
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9 9 /MMM M J^HIOHtY EXPUCfT.TORRIOt"
8 flFlESW ^
1*2- "SWEET #3. "TELL THEM JOHNNY I
I CAPTIVES" WADD IS HERE"
I' Starring John Holmes also slurring John Holmes
Onnfimcc Cone
UUII^I voo utiyo
You Can Have
Interest On
Checking
Next Year
^ 4
A new regulation will allow us to offer checking
accounts effective January 2, 1901. What's more,
the law also permits us to pay daily interest on your
checking account bafrffce
We think it's about time. Now you can ^
_ consolidate your checking services
<41IU VOUf SWVinflS (yOgrams at any of - y
our convaniartt locations /^
xt0.
m i
i's 1st Black 24 Hour Statioa^^r ^
IMP1W'
%^VER Y DAY!
AN0fko YOU I
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