Connecting People, Communities, and Businesses through African-American History and Culture
IN A DIFFERENT TONGUE
Connecting People, Communities, and Businesses through
African-American History and Culture
In a Different Tongue
By Michelle Carr Clawson, Ph.D.
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Music, a common language of all cultures. “Bah-da-bah! Bah-da-bah! Bah!” Hear the beat of the drums of our fathers? “Ummmm . . . Go down, Moses, wa-ay down in Egypt lan-and. Tell ole, Phara-oh, Let my people go-oo.” Feel the emotion of our ancestors, through spirituals, as they made it through a hard day? “Skeee-weee de bop!” Catch the sultry jazz sounds as our people communicated their feelings from deep inside. The echo of the rhythms of our father’s father and his father’s father can still be heard today. The beats of yesterday are the roots of gospel, folk music, bebop, jazz, rhythm and blues, and rap. Though tested and put through many trials and tribulations, music provided hope and strength for Africans and African-Americans.
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“Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me on, Let me stand. I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. Through the storm, through the night, Lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.”
This spiritual, by Thomas A. Dorsey, is one of the most famous because it conveys strong religious devotion and a sense of realism. Dorsey wrote this prayer upon the death of his wife in childbirth. The baby died shortly after birth. This song of tragedy could have been written hundreds years ago by our forefathers as Africans were taken away from their land, or when family members were being sold, or the lynching of a love one, or continuing efforts of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X, and other civil rights activists to mend the broken chains. Can you imagine the defeated feeling?
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“When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near. When my life is almost gone, Hear my cry, Hear my call, Hold my hand lest I fall. Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.”
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Can you hear the cries of our ancestors for equality, justice, and understanding? I imagine Dorsey not only felt the pain of his loss, but he experienced the similar emotions of many slaves and free blacks . . . there is no hope. The African stripped of his worth. Once a king in the Motherland, now a slave in a new land. Can you grasp the strength of African women left as providers, supporters, and missing links in their family? Hear the cries of Africa to America? Take notice of the cries of yesterday and today.
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“When the darkness appears and the night draws near, and the day is past and gone; At the river I stand, guide my feet, hold my hand. Take my hand precious Lord, Lead me home.”
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Imagine being branded and chained, rowed out to the slave ships for the Middle Passage across the Atlantic, and packed like books on shelves into holds of ships which were no higher than eighteen inches for six to ten weeks. Can you feel the dark shadows and emptiness of Africans and African-Americans as they worked in the fields and houses? Can you hear the soft whispers of those who no longer have a voice and died for us?
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Music, yesterday and today, continues to be the common language of unity, strength, and pride. Through this website we would like to whet your appetite, increase your awareness of history that may not be written in books, and challenge you to learn something about the culture of a people who speak In A Different Tongue.
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Carr Clawson is the Co-Founder and CEO of In A Different Tongue.
OUR VISION
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To document, collect, preserve, and present information that will highlight the American experience of people of color.
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To share the legacy of people of African descent by providing information, programs, and resource materials.
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To provide opportunities for individuals to share creative and intellectual contributions.
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To inform others of community, cultural, and business events.
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To promote and provide awareness of Black-owned businesses.
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To educate others.
THEY SAID IT!
Ralph Ellison
"When I discover who I am, I'll be free." Ralph Ellison
Fannie Lou Hamer
"I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." Fannie Lou Hamer
Zora Neale
Hurston
"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."
Zora Neale Hurston
George Santayana
"He who refuses to learn from history is doomed to repeat it." George Santayana
George Washington Carver
"When there is no vision, there is no hope." George Washington Carver
African
Proverb
"God gives nothing to those who keep their arms crossed." African Proverb
Maya Angelou
"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." Maya Angelou
W. E. B. DuBois
"Would American have been America without her Negro people?" W. E. B. DuBois
"We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope." The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.