African Roots
Africans have contributed to the white mans “world” since the beginning of time. The biggest thing that we have contributed is our music. Even now we still contribute what our ancestors had started way before they had be taken from the countries.
Before the Africans were forced into enslavement, they used music to play for the royals of the country and they also used to at parties and weddings. They would use the Djembe and the Banjo in the music they were singing or when they were performing.
When Africans were taken and put into enslavement, they began yo use music to cope with what was happening to them and they also used to communicate to one another. They would often use call and response while they were singing.
As the years went on, the white man began to steal the musical ideas from the African Americans and claim it as their own. They made it seem like they would come up with the ideas on their own.
After enslavement was “over”, African Americans began to fight for equal rights in America. They wanted to be treated as a human being and not an animal. White people believed that black people should to be free and they began to create laws to stop them from becoming successful and also created groups like the KKK to torture the black man. Sam Cooke has song called “A Change is Gonna Come”, which was a song to tell other African Americans not to give up on the fight that they were fighting and to know that a change was bound to happen.
Throughout the years, African Americans to thrive in the music industry. They were dominating everyone in everyone musical category. The most famous genres they were dominating were Blues, Jazz, Funk and R&B. They began to sing songs about how blessed and proud they were to be black and also began to tell more stories within the music.
As the years have continued, we continue what our ancestors had started way back then. We continue to incorporate what they brought to this world, this country. Music has gotten us through all of the fights we had to fight, all of the movements we had to walk through and all of the speeches and rally we had to hold an order for the white man to hear us. Music has always been the thing that kept us moving.
