DOCSLIB.ORG

The Politics, Poetics, and Productions of Gil Scott-Heron, 1970-1978

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Politics, Poetics, and Productions of Gil Scott-Heron, 1970-1978 View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses August 2014 "Survival Kits on Wax": The Politics, Poetics, and Productions of Gil Scott-Heron, 1970-1978 Donald Geesling University of Massachusetts - Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2 Part of the African American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Geesling, Donald, ""Survival Kits on Wax": The Politics, Poetics, and Productions of Gil Scott-Heron, 1970-1978" (2014). Doctoral Dissertations. 85. https://doi.org/10.7275/f61d-h858 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/85 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “SURVIVAL KITS ON WAX”: THE POLITICS, POETICS, AND PRODUCTIONS OF GIL SCOTT-HERON, 1970-1978 A Dissertation Presented by DONALD W. GEESLING Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2014 W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies © Copyright by Donald W. Geesling 2014 All Rights Reserved “SURVIVAL KITS ON WAX”: THE POLITICS, POETICS, AND PRODUCTIONS OF GIL SCOTT-HERON, 1970-1978 A Dissertation Presented by DONALD W. GEESLING Approved as to style and content by: ______________________________ Ernest Allen, Jr., Chair ______________________________ James E. Smethurst, Member ______________________________ Steven C. Tracy, Member ______________________________ Emily J. Lordi, Member ______________________________ John H. Bracey, Jr., Department Chair W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies DEDICATION In memory of my grandparents W.H. “Dub” Miller (1916-2004) and Marjorie Miles Miller (1921-2011). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Works of a scholarly nature are never entirely the result of the author’s efforts alone and this dissertation is no exception. Accordingly, I would like to acknowledge those whose contributions of time, talent, and support made this project possible. I am indebted to the members of my dissertation committee, Ernest Allen, Jr., Emily J. Lordi, James E. Smethurst, and Steven C. Tracy whose advice, guidance, and scholarly input has been instrumental to my project from conception to completion. Their critiques and recommendations over the course of researching and writing this dissertation pushed my analysis and fortified my scholarship. Were it not for their abiding enthusiasm and confidence in my abilities, I would not have persevered. The esteemed faculty of the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst likewise fostered my intellectual development. In seminar or conversation, Department Chair John H. Bracey, Jr. was a solicitous mentor and unparalleled resource regarding African American history and culture. The same could be said for Dr. Esther Terry and Professor Ekwueme Mike Thelwell, for whom without their tireless efforts and sturdy leadership the department would literally not exist. Additionally, thanks are due to Graduate Program Directors Manisha Sinha and A. Yemisi Jimoh who helped guide my travels through the administrative thicket of graduate study, ensuring my progress along the way. William J. Strickland who nourished my thirst for radical intellectual history and black politics, both in class and at the ‘Monk’; in fact, I still owe him two drinks, or is it three? A special thank you to Amilcar Shabazz, whose love for Gil Scott-Heron and support for this project helped bring me to Amherst. v My interviews and informal conversations with poets and musicians including Gil Scott-Heron, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Touré, Joe Bataan, Everett Hoagland, Ron Welburn, Randy Weston, and G. Love enriched my understanding of the complex interplay between history and cultural production, identity and aesthetics, and politics and art. I would also like to acknowledge the support of Scott-Heron whose correspondence and phone calls buoyed this project in its early stages. In addition to fielding all manner of inquiries, Mr. Scott-Heron kindly read a rough draft of the first chapter and offered critical feedback, steering me clear of several factual inaccuracies that had dogged previous authors. Needless to say, without his participation my study would have been severely impoverished and I owe him no small debt of gratitude for his attention and assistance. I wish to express gratitude to the department’s library liaison and research guru Isabel Espinal for acquiring digital resources pertinent to Afro-American Studies for the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. My scholarship also benefited from numerous discussions and jam sessions with my fellow Red Dirt refugee, Jon Hill. I would also like to give thanks to my fellow graduate students in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, especially Flávia Araújo, Savannah Carroll, Anthony Guillory, and Cynara Robinson whose camaraderie, laughter, and intellectual savoir-faire lit the way. Last but not least, I would also like to thank my family – Marcie Billy, Meagan Whited, Branford Billy, Amber Vail, Jacob Geesling, and Cassandrea Geesling – for their unconditional and seemingly unending reservoir of support. vi ABSTRACT “SURVIVAL KITS ON WAX”: THE POLITICS, POETICS, AND PRODUCTIONS OF GIL SCOTT-HERON, 1970-1978 MAY 2014 DONALD W. GEESLING, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF TULSA M.A., UNIVERSITY OF TULSA M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Ernest Allen, Jr. For over four decades, from 1970 until his death in 2011, poet, novelist, and musician Gil Scott-Heron served as an architect of artistic protest and a conduit of social consciousness. Often referred to as “The Godfather of Rap,” Scott-Heron was a formidable presence in postwar African American music and literature. This dissertation demonstrates Scott-Heron’s significance to the praxis of black cultural politics in the postwar era with a particular focus on his productions and activism during the 1970s. It examines the ways in which the late artist-activist’s poems and songs gave voice to historical events and intellectual currents that, in part, defined the black experience during that momentous decade. What is more, it positions Scott-Heron in the matrix of twentieth-century African American history and literary production, mapping his variegated connections to the Jim Crow South, the Great Migration, the Civil Rights/Black Power Movement, the Black Arts Movement, HBCU student protests, the Nixon Administration, anti-apartheid activism, blues poetry and music, transnational political struggle, anti-nuclear activism, Pan-Africanism, and popular culture writ-large. vii Aimed at raising consciousness and effecting change, Scott-Heron specialized in producing songs and poems that slyly exposed the contradictions of American democracy in regard to the historical experiences of African Americans. Much like the works of the West African griots with whom he identified, his narratives serve multiple purposes. On one hand, Scott-Heron’s recordings were designed to inform his audience about contemporary issues or impending events that might impact their daily lives. However, at the same time, these works were intentionally designed to archive, and more importantly, frame the history and cultural politics of his time. Scott-Heron, much like the Black Arts Movement as a whole, fundamentally undermined commonly held distinctions between the popular and the political, the artist and the activist, and the performer and the people. Accordingly, this dissertation analyzes Scott-Heron’s compositions as “aural histories” that documented key events, debates, and issues that reverberated throughout black America in the postwar era. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. v ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION: GIL SCOTT-HERON AND THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT ..................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1. "PIECES OF A MAN": THE CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF GIL SCOTT- HERON, 1949-1970 ......................................................................................................... 42 2. ANATOMY OF A BLUESOLOGIST ......................................................................... 92 3. "WINTER IN AMERICA": POETIC RESISTANCE IN THE AGE OF NIXON ............................................................................................................................ 141 4. "FROM SOUTH AFRICA TO SOUTH CAROLINA": THE PAN- MOVEMENT POLITICS AND PRAXIS OF GIL SCOTT-HERON ........................... 189 5. AND THEN HE WROTE "…AND THEN HE WROTE MEDITATIONS": THE COLTRANE POEMS AND SONGS OF GIL SCOTT-HERON .......................... 235 EPILOGUE: GIFTS FROM THE SPIRITS ................................................................... 280 APPENDIX: SELECTED WORKS BY GIL SCOTT-HERON .................................... 291 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Collection Analysis of the African-American Poetry Holdings in the De Grummond Collection Sarah J
    SLIS Connecting Volume 2 | Issue 1 Article 9 2013 A Collection Analysis of the African-American Poetry Holdings in the de Grummond Collection Sarah J. Heidelberg Follow this and additional works at: http://aquila.usm.edu/slisconnecting Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation Heidelberg, Sarah J. (2013) "A Collection Analysis of the African-American Poetry Holdings in the de Grummond Collection," SLIS Connecting: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 9. DOI: 10.18785/slis.0201.09 Available at: http://aquila.usm.edu/slisconnecting/vol2/iss1/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in SLIS Connecting by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Collection Analysis of the African‐American Poetry Holdings in the de Grummond Collection By Sarah J. Heidelberg Master’s Research Project, November 2010 Performance poetry is part of the new black poetry. Readers: Dr. M.J. Norton This includes spoken word and slam. It has been said Dr. Teresa S. Welsh that the introduction of slam poetry to children can “salvage” an almost broken “relationship with poetry” (Boudreau, 2009, 1). This is because slam Introduction poetry makes a poets’ art more palatable for the Poetry is beneficial for both children and adults; senses and draws people to poetry (Jones, 2003, 17). however, many believe it offers more benefit to Even if the poetry that is spoken at these slams is children (Vardell, 2006, 36). The reading of poetry sometimes not as developed or polished as it would correlates with literacy attainment (Maynard, 2005; be hoped (Jones, 2003, 23).
    [Show full text]
  • Word! the African American Oral Tradition and Its Rhetorical Impact on American Popular Culture by Janice D
    Word! The African American Oral Tradition and Prior to enslavement in America, Africans its Rhetorical Impact lived in societies developed around a worldview on American Popular Culture that was predicated on highly sophisticated religious By Janice D. Hamlet systems and an impressive oral communication style. The Africans believed in Nommo, which means Popular culture consists of the everyday culture the generative power of the spoken word. Nommo that comprises virtually every aspect of our existence. was believed necessary to actualize life and give Its fonns of expression include music, dance, literature, man mastery over things. "All activities of men and drama, film, poetry, language use, newspapers, radio all the movements in nature rest on the word on the and television, fashion, sports, and leisure activities. ' productive power of the word, which is water and heat Its major components are objects, persons, and events, and seed and Nommo that is, life force itself ... The but it is through the use of verbal and nonverbal force, responsibility, and commitment of the word and symbols that popular culture is constructed and has the the awareness that the word alone alters the world." In potential to persuade, influence, motivate, and inspire. traditional African culture, newborn children are mere We are surrounded every day by these constructs of things until their fathers give them names and speak popular culture. them. No medicine, potion, or magic of any sort is For many years, African Americans were simply considered effective without accompanying words. So objects within popular culture whose representation strong is the African belief in the power and absolute tended to be quite stereotypical and problematic.
    [Show full text]
  • „Spoken Word Poetry“ Among African-Americans in Baltimore
    „Spoken Word Poetry“ among African-Americans in Baltimore A Social-Anthropological Analysis Corinna Letisha Green Arbeitspapiere zur Ethnologie Working Papers in Social Anthropology Institute of Ethnology Number 1 - 2016 Corinna Letisha Green „Spoken Word Poetry“ among African-Americans in Baltimore. A Social- Anthropological Analysis Masterarbeit am Institut für Ethnologie der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster 2015 Betreuung durch Prof. Dr. Josephus Platenkamp ii Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ ii List of Figures ................................................................................................................ iv Introduction .................................................................................................................... 5 1. Individuality in Spoken Word Poetry ................................................................ 10 Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................. 10 Duke the Rude ............................................................................................................................................. 14 Najah James ................................................................................................................................................. 20 Love the Poet ..............................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Integration of Work and Leisure in the Performance of Spoken Word Poetry in Kenya
    Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature ISSN: 2732-4605 www.jcsll.gta.org.uk Integration of Work and Leisure in the Performance of Spoken Word Poetry in Kenya Beatrice Jane Ekesa (Corresponding author) Department of Literature, Faculty of Arts, University of Nairobi, Kenya Email: [email protected] Received: 27/06/2020 Accepted: 08/08/2020 Published: 01/09/2020 Volume: 1 Issue: 3 How to cite this paper: Ekesa, B. J. (2020). Integration of Work and Leisure in the Performance of Spoken Word Poetry in Kenya. Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature, 1(3), 9-13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.46809/jcsll.v1i3.23 Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and Global Talent Academy Ltd. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract Spoken word poetry, an emerging genre in Kenyan literature, is popular among the urban population. The performance of this creative work draws audience from different socio-economic backgrounds who view it as a source of entertainment. Majority of these poets begin off by staging performances in order to exercise their talents and entertain their audience without financial gain. However, once they get the desired popularity, their interests change and they begin to view the performance of spoken word poetry as an alternative source of income. It is against this background that this paper seeks to explore the relationship between work and leisure in the performance of spoken word poetry in Kenya. Scholars in the field of leisure studies are constantly seeking the relationship between work and leisure.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstract One Love: Collective Consciousness in Rap and Poetry
    Abstract One Love: Collective Consciousness in Rap and Poetry of the Hip-Hop Generation by Austin Harold Hart April, 2012 Thesis Director: John Hoppenthaler Major Department: English (Literature and Poetry) This study aims to offer an understanding of hip-hop culture through which three concepts are elucidated: (1) the existence and dimensions of a collective consciousness within rap and poetry of the hip-hop generation (Allison Joseph, A. Van Jordan, Terrance Hayes, Major Jackson, Taylor Mali, and Kevin Coval); (2) a poetics of rap—to parallel the influence seen/suggested among the selected poets; and (3) an analysis of the manner(s) in which the poetry of these more serious, academic artists reflects an influence of hip-hop culture. My thesis suggests that these poets are indeed influenced by the culture in which they grew up, and in their verse, this influence can be seen through linguistic playfulness, sonic density, layered meaning and usage through form and content, and the connection to a larger cultural, collective consciousness fed by specific social bodies. Poetic analysis, as well as studies of vernacular and oral traditions, has allowed me to explore these concepts and theories from a wider spectrum, and with regard to the work of the poets, an original perspective. Providing a deeper understanding of artists, their identities, places, and dreams within their work, this study begins to offer some insight into notions of the ways in which individuals might participate in cultural conservation. One Love: Collective Consciousness
    [Show full text]
  • Finding the Poetic High: Building a Spoken Word Poetry Community and Culture of Creative, Caring, and Critical Intellectuals
    Innovative Practices Finding the Poetic High: Building a Spoken Word Poetry Community and Culture of Creative, Caring, and Critical Intellectuals Gerald T. Reyes Introducing… but don’t let the tears out have to say and all the experiences that because I’m tired of that… their thoughts have been rooted into, then “This next young poet coming to grace we limit their whole being. our stage brings the richness of her As 13-year-old Lydia’s words caressed It is through working with our stu- daily struggles to life through the our spirits, I knew she was doing what dents’ entire being where we unlock the beauty and truth of her words. Show June Jordan once proclaimed: “taking true magic of their growth and learning, your love for our next poet blessing control of the language of our lives” (1995). no matter from where they come. This is mic…ladies and gentlemen, please give Along with the other poets in our learn- the existence where we fi nd the opportu- it up for Poet Lydia Calderon!” ing community, I have never ceased to be amazed with their ownership in language. nity to enable what bell hooks (1994) calls, Underneath dim light of our trans- Whether Latino, African American, Fijian, “transgressions.” This is the “movement formed classroom, the sea of middle school East Indian, Filipino, Chinese, Tongan, or against and beyond boundaries. It is that youth goes wild with cheers and applause. Caucasian, it has always been essential movement which makes education the Lydia spurts up like a splash of water from for me to help guide these diverse young practice of freedom” (hooks, 1994).
    [Show full text]
  • Spoken Word & Poetry for Civil Rights
    Spoken Word & Poetry for Civil Rights Maya Angelou​: ​Still I Rise An empowering performance about the struggle to overcome prejudice and injustice. It is one of Maya Angelou's most successful poems. Nikki Giovanni:​ ​In The Spirit of Martin Nikki Giovanni gained initial fame in the late 1960s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement. Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her the "Poet of the Black Revolution". Leah Green:​ ​Change Spoken word artist and student Leah Green’s poem called "Change," about civil rights, equality and American democracy. This poem was written and performed shortly after the inauguration of Barack Obama. Crystal Valentine:​ ​"Black Privilege" (strong language) Crystal Valentine is a writer, activist, and educator. A recent graduate of NYU, Crystal is the three-time Grand Slam champion of NYU’s poetry contest. She was also the 2015 NYC youth poet laureate and the 9th ranked woman poet in the world by Way of the Woman of the World Poetry Slam. For more civil rights poetry and spoken word: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/collections/146367/poetry-and-the-civil-rights-movement Songs for Civil Rights Mahalia Jackson: ​We Shall Overcome This song was made as a protest song, and became a staple song during the Civil Rights Movement. The song derived from a previous gospel song by Charles Albert Tindley. Billie Holiday​:​ Strange Fruit This song is performed most famously by Billie Holiday, who first sang and recorded it in 1939.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sounds of Liberation: Resistance, Cultural Retention, and Progressive Traditions for Social Justice in African American Music
    THE SOUNDS OF LIBERATION: RESISTANCE, CULTURAL RETENTION, AND PROGRESSIVE TRADITIONS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Professional Studies by Luqman Muhammad Abdullah May 2009 © 2009 Luqman Muhammad Abdullah ABSTRACT The cultural production of music in the Black community has traditionally operated as much more than a source of entertainment. In fact, my thesis illustrates how progressive traditions for social justice in Black music have acted as a source of agency and a tool for resistance against oppression. This study also explains how the music of African Americans has served as a primary mechanism for disseminating their cultural legacy. I have selected four Black artists who exhibit the aforementioned principles in their musical production. Bernice Johnson Reagon, John Coltrane, Curtis Mayfield and Gil Scott-Heron comprise the talented cadre of musicians that exemplify the progressive Black musical tradition for social justice in their respective genres of gospel, jazz, soul and spoken word. The methods utilized for my study include a socio-historical account of the origins of Black music, an overview of the artists’ careers, and a lyrical analysis of selected songs created by each of the artists. This study will contribute to the body of literature surrounding the progressive roles, functions and utilities of African American music. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH My mother garners the nickname “gypsy” from her siblings due to the fact that she is always moving and relocating to new and different places.
    [Show full text]
  • Stevie Wonder Soundtracks Blog Website Version
    1 The follow-up studio album, after the anthology album “Looking Back” (1977), was “Stevie Wonder's Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants", the first soundtrack album of his career, released in 1979. It was based on the book of the same name written by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird. The album can be described as a soundtrack documentary relating to plant life. The album only produced one major hit single, “Send One Your Love”, which topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles Chart week-ending 22nd December 1979 (2 weeks). The single features Stevie Wonder on vocal and Ben Bridges and Rick Zunigar on guitars. It is a very slow tempo track, with Rick Zunigar playing standing bass, and Ben Bridges playing rhythm acoustic guitar. Wonder also plays the drums on the track. This is a very relaxing track compared to many of his previous recordings, similar in tempo to "You Are The Sunshine of My Life". The track was recorded at the famous Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia, PA, known for “The Philadelphia Sound”. The beginning of the track features voices of people that explode into a funky jazz fusion number, in a style that was very popular during the 1970s. You can hear a funky bass line with Vocoder voice box used in the 2 middle of the track and a choir of beautiful voices singing in the background. Ken Tucker of the Rolling Stone music magazine wrote an article dated 24th January 1980, that contains some unusual advice: “Begin at the end. Stevie Wonder's Journey through the Secret Life of Plants is so uneven, so full of tiny pleasures and bloated tedium, that for some assurance that Wonder hasn't lost his touch, you ought to start by listening to ��1979 the LP's last cut.
    [Show full text]
  • Plank Road Publishing / Music K-8 Marketplace 2021-2022 School
    SY21CatPages.qxp_Layout 1 7/30/21 3:20 PM Page 1 A Christmas K-4 Musical Perfectly Designed For Your Young Performers! ANTLERS A Fashionable Musical For Young Voices by Teresa Jennings & Karl Hitzemann Everyone knows that all magic reindeer just want to fly, right? Or do they? This imaginative little musical dares to consider that maybe, just maybe, a reindeer’s career outcome doesn’t have to be quite so predictable. In fact, it could be very different. Such is the case in our story, where a few recent graduates of the School of Reindeer have realized that their true passions call less for flying, and more for drawing, sewing, and crafting. In other words, they want to be fashion designers. And not just any fashion designers – ANTLER fashion designers! With a little help from their North Pole friends, notably some elves and other reindeer, they decide to showcase some of their fabulous couture on the runway. Unbeknownst to them, Santa and Mrs. Claus just happen to catch some of the show and are very impressed. So much so that they invite the designers to create new antler fashions for the “famous eight” – and just in time to wear for their big night out! Designed for ease of production and flexibility, this delightful musical offers opportunities for creativity, imagination, and artistic expression. With five simple and memorable songs (and some action music), young performers will delight in the chance to not only create their own stylish antler designs, but to showcase them as they walk, strut, sway, and sashay across your performance area this holiday season.
    [Show full text]
  • Matias Corbett Garcez Gil Scott-Heron: a Black Bullet
    MATIAS CORBETT GARCEZ GIL SCOTT-HERON: A BLACK BULLET THROUGH THE HEART OF WHITE AMERICA Florianópolis, 2015 2 3 MATIAS CORBETT GARCEZ GIL SCOTT-HERON: A BLACK BULLET THROUGH THE HEART OF WHITE AMERICA Tese de doutorado apresentada à Banca Examinadora do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Inglês do Centro de Comunicação e Expressão da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, como requisito parcial para a obtenção do título de Doutor em Estudos Culturais, linha de pesquisa Poéticas de Resistência, sob a orientação da Professora Doutora Maria Lúcia Milléo Martins. Florianópolis, 2015 Ficha de identificação da obra elaborada pelo autor, através do Programa de Geração Automática da Biblioteca Universitária da UFSC. Garcez, Matias Corbett Gil Scott-Heron: A Black Bullet Through The Heart Of White America / Matias Corbett Garcez ; orientadora, Maria Lúcia Milléo Martins - Florianópolis, SC, 2015. 292 p. Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós Graduação em Literatura. Inclui referências 1. Literatura. 2. Gil Scott-Heron. 3. Poéticas de Resistência . 4. Contra-narrativas . 5. FonoFicção. I. Milléo Martins, Maria Lúcia. II. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Literatura. III. Título. 6 7 Dedicated to my wife and love, Cristiane, and my son, Ravi. 8 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank CNPQ and Projeto de Extensão: Cursos Extracurriculares for the financial support granted throughout my studies. I would also like to thank Professor Maria Lúcia Milléo Martins for accepting me as her advisee, and for all the guidance and support during my research. I would also like to express my gratitude to my family, who gave me a lot of support, love, and motivation.
    [Show full text]
  • Winter in America
    MINUTES ATTACHMENT II Board Study Session of the Board of Trustees COMPTON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT March 8, 2011 Studio album by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson May 1974 Released (see release history) September 4–5, October 15, 1973 Recorded D&B Sound (Silver Spring, Maryland) Genre Soul, jazz-funk, fusion, jazz Length 44:27 Strata-East Label SES-19742 Producer Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson WINTER IN AMERICA (Liner notes by Gil Scott-Heron& Brian Jackson) {The purpose of providing these liner notes is to encourage you to support the musicians} At the end of 360 degrees, Winter is a metaphor: a term not only used to describe the season of ice, but the period of our lives through which we are travelling. In our hearts we feel that spring is just around the corner: a spring of brotherhood and united spirits among people of color. Everyone is moving, searching. There is a restlessness within our souls that keeps us questioning, discovering and struggling against a system that will not allow us space and time for fresh expression. Western iceman have attempted to distort time. Extra months on the calendar and daylight saved what was Eastern Standard. We approach winter the most depressing period in the history of this industrial empire, with threats of oil shortages and energy crises. But we, as Black people, have been a source of endless energy, endless beauty and endless determination. I have many things to tell you about tomorrow’s love and light. We will see you in the spring. Gil - 1 - MINUTES ATTACHMENT II Board Study Session of the Board of Trustees COMPTON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT March 8, 2011 In the interest of national security, please help us carry out our constitutional duty to overthrow the king.
    [Show full text]