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When I stepped out of the cab
in Brooklyn, I didn't know it
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00:01:04,030 --> 00:01:06,890
but I was about to
meet Glinda The Good
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00:01:06,910 --> 00:01:09,270
you know, the witch who
pranced through
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00:01:09,290 --> 00:01:11,650
enchanted poppy fields
in the north of Oz,
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00:01:11,670 --> 00:01:17,558
and get a pair of ruby slippers.
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00:01:21,580 --> 00:01:29,450
Hi, Darius.
Nice to meet you.
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Her real name was
Val Jeanty.
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And she was raised
on the island of Haiti,
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not with a litter of
prune-faced Munchkins.
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00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:34,680
Val fused the ancient skills
of the ritual drummer
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00:02:34,700 --> 00:02:38,140
with the tools of the DJ
in the Digital Age.
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00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,370
She was a sorcerous shamanic
talent
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with a gift for speaking to
both the living and the dead.
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00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,530
I was impressed.
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00:02:51,550 --> 00:02:54,040
But I also realized,
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this was just the first step
on my long journey.
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00:02:56,580 --> 00:03:01,040
It was initiation.
My ruby moment.
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00:03:01,060 --> 00:03:07,920
You have to cue me,
because I can go on and on.
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00:03:16,700 --> 00:03:20,020
This space is totally
energized.
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00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:25,858
I mean, I have experienced that
in certain other circumstances.
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00:03:27,278 --> 00:03:29,833
But I only know energy
like this,
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like walking into very
old churches.
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00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:38,840
I mean, it's electric, it's like
very electric, very calming.
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00:03:38,860 --> 00:03:41,781
And of course, there is
a whole thing about
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00:03:41,801 --> 00:03:47,720
art, spirituality,
religion, magic.
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00:04:12,570 --> 00:04:14,915
If you put your hands close
to a speaker
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00:04:14,935 --> 00:04:17,280
while there is some
heavy bass,
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00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:20,560
you gonna feel something in
your hands - that's frequency,
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00:04:20,580 --> 00:04:23,280
that's the physical
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00:04:23,300 --> 00:04:25,990
manifestation of
frequency, right?
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00:04:26,010 --> 00:04:28,020
So there is some energy
coming out of there that
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00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,980
you can't see but you feel it
in your hands, sort of thing,
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00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,220
so frequencies coming from
the Haitian culture
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00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:41,370
- Haitian voodoo culture,
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00:04:41,390 --> 00:04:44,328
we're dealing with
specific rhythm patterns,
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00:04:44,348 --> 00:04:48,250
specific chants.
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00:04:51,790 --> 00:04:57,648
So it's already kind of
pre-coded.
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00:05:05,790 --> 00:05:08,570
And certain songs
you don't sing
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00:05:08,590 --> 00:05:11,370
after three p.m.
on Thursdays,
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00:05:11,390 --> 00:05:12,930
you just don't.
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00:05:12,950 --> 00:05:14,480
And everyone knows
not to sing it
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00:05:14,500 --> 00:05:16,625
because there is a frequency
in that song
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00:05:16,645 --> 00:05:18,770
that you don't want
to manifest.
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00:05:18,790 --> 00:05:24,653
So pretty much the sound
manifests in physical reality.
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00:05:26,073 --> 00:05:28,500
So the sound that
I am creating in here
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is also what you are feeling.
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00:05:31,390 --> 00:05:35,730
So when you walk into
the church or the temple,
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00:05:35,750 --> 00:05:38,940
because the frequency
is still there,
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00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,500
there is a reminiscence of it
that is in the space,
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00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:44,050
that stays there,
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00:05:44,070 --> 00:05:46,990
you can't really get rid of it
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00:05:47,010 --> 00:05:51,000
- it becomes part of
the fabric of that space.
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00:05:57,710 --> 00:06:00,060
This is the house
I grew up in.
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00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,010
It sits on a patch of
overly-taxed landfill
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00:06:03,030 --> 00:06:05,960
in Hamden, Connecticut.
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00:06:07,380 --> 00:06:09,170
I've sailed to South
and Central America.
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00:06:09,190 --> 00:06:12,120
I've lived in Los Angeles,
New York, and Montreal.
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00:06:12,140 --> 00:06:15,078
Finally, I settled in Berlin.
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00:06:16,498 --> 00:06:19,230
After ten amazing years
in that city of ravens,
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00:06:19,250 --> 00:06:22,050
a place I felt
was my natural home,
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00:06:22,070 --> 00:06:24,750
Hamden was the last place
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00:06:24,770 --> 00:06:27,460
I ever imagined
I would end up in life.
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00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,370
I'd rather fight
flesh-eating zombies
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00:06:31,390 --> 00:06:35,260
in a isolated pocket
of Pennsylvania.
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00:06:41,390 --> 00:06:43,540
My name is Darius James.
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00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,330
If you're familiar
with me at all,
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00:06:45,350 --> 00:06:47,120
its because I published
two books
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00:06:47,140 --> 00:06:49,600
- "Negrophobia" and
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00:06:49,620 --> 00:06:53,070
"That's Blaxploitation:
Roots of the Baadasssss'Tude"
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00:06:53,090 --> 00:06:57,940
back in the nineties.
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00:07:11,380 --> 00:07:14,330
I came back to this house
in January of 2007.
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00:07:14,350 --> 00:07:18,650
My time in Berlin had come to
an abrupt end.
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00:07:18,670 --> 00:07:22,140
My father had died.
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00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,240
He was 81 years old.
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00:07:25,260 --> 00:07:28,250
All that remained of my father
was his mask collection
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00:07:28,270 --> 00:07:32,600
and a cardboard box filled with
ashes.
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00:07:32,620 --> 00:07:35,610
I have not touched either since
my return.
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00:07:35,630 --> 00:07:41,210
My childhood home had
become a mausoleum.
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00:07:41,230 --> 00:07:44,580
I live in this house with
my younger sister, Jeri.
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00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,120
She is the sweetest person
I know
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00:07:47,140 --> 00:07:53,005
and she is the only reason
why I am still here.
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00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:05,840
In an early stage of my search
I went to an exhibition
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00:09:05,860 --> 00:09:08,610
at the Caribbean
Cultural Center in Manhattan,
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00:09:08,630 --> 00:09:13,280
titled "Standing with Papa Legba
- Vodu at the crossroads".
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00:09:13,300 --> 00:09:17,130
It was an unusual look at
Haitian spiritual traditions
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00:09:17,150 --> 00:09:22,290
through the lens of
contemporary art.
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00:09:22,310 --> 00:09:26,690
That's where I met its
young curator, Shantrelle Lewis.
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00:09:26,710 --> 00:09:29,960
Shantrelle reminds me of
a young Muhammad Ali.
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00:09:29,980 --> 00:09:32,900
She has the distinct lines
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00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,850
and grace of a dancer
and the mind of a boxer.
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00:09:39,070 --> 00:09:41,570
I wanted to know more about her.
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00:09:41,590 --> 00:09:44,860
I had a feeling she was more
than professionally involved
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00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:48,280
with the themes of
her exhibition.
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00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:51,220
So a few weeks later
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00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,170
I dropped by
at her home in Brooklyn.
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00:10:02,470 --> 00:10:08,293
Hey - welcome to mi casa.
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00:10:13,230 --> 00:10:16,150
So, I practice Lukumi,
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00:10:16,170 --> 00:10:20,090
which is a derivative
of Yoruba spirituality.
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00:10:21,510 --> 00:10:26,600
A part, a basic part of that is
the understanding of the role
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00:10:26,620 --> 00:10:29,370
that ancestors play in
your existence
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00:10:29,390 --> 00:10:32,130
and the way you move
about the world
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00:10:32,150 --> 00:10:36,810
on a daily basis and you know.
Ancestors walk with you...
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00:10:36,830 --> 00:10:39,740
They're not just off somewhere
in this random kingdom
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00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,270
but they protect you
every single day
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00:10:42,290 --> 00:10:47,360
and so on basic altars you may
see glasses of water
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00:10:47,380 --> 00:10:49,965
and again each glass
representing
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00:10:49,985 --> 00:10:52,570
a different group
of ancestors...
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00:10:52,590 --> 00:10:57,220
What is what you actually
acknowledge in your ancestors?
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00:10:57,240 --> 00:10:59,780
This is a daily practice.
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00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,330
I try to acknowledge them
on a daily basis.
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00:11:02,350 --> 00:11:05,230
I generally try to
refresh my altar,
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00:11:05,250 --> 00:11:08,130
the glasses of water
on Sundays.
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00:11:08,150 --> 00:11:11,090
Maybe this has something to do
with my Catholic upbringing,
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00:11:11,110 --> 00:11:13,850
the Christian upbringing but
that's the day
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00:11:13,870 --> 00:11:15,800
where I kind of starting
my week of so
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00:11:15,820 --> 00:11:17,760
I like to do that
on a Sunday.
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00:11:17,780 --> 00:11:20,680
I understand that.
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00:11:20,700 --> 00:11:23,608
It's kind of interesting, too,
cause there is a wall,
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00:11:25,028 --> 00:11:27,960
in my home is surrounded
by masks
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00:11:27,980 --> 00:11:31,890
and things which is my family,
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00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:37,070
of the paternal side
in my family...
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00:11:37,090 --> 00:11:40,020
although my father insisted that
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00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,970
he wasn't influenced
by voodoo at all.
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00:11:44,390 --> 00:11:46,130
Everything that I've discovered
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00:11:46,150 --> 00:11:50,020
since moving back in the house
seems to contradict that.
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00:11:52,220 --> 00:11:55,850
On another visit to New York
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00:11:55,870 --> 00:11:58,650
I happen to be invited
to spend the afternoon
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00:11:58,670 --> 00:12:01,450
in the home of
Danny Simmons.
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00:12:01,470 --> 00:12:04,080
Danny is a worldly and
unpretentious man
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00:12:04,100 --> 00:12:06,600
who is much more than
the sum of his parts
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00:12:06,620 --> 00:12:09,890
- painter, writer, art collector
and,
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00:12:09,910 --> 00:12:12,830
with his brother Russell,
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00:12:12,850 --> 00:12:15,773
producer of HBO's
"Def Poetry-Jam".
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00:12:17,193 --> 00:12:19,880
He is a system of refuge and
support for a broad artistic
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00:12:19,900 --> 00:12:25,763
and intellectual community
in New York and beyond.
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00:12:28,070 --> 00:12:31,980
Thinking about my father
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00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,900
- this is an extraordinary
collection.
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00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:39,670
My father collects masks
from all over
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00:12:39,690 --> 00:12:43,610
and he has got some
good pieces.
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00:12:46,100 --> 00:12:50,010
But when I've tried to talk
with him about it in the past
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00:12:50,030 --> 00:12:54,970
in terms of spiritual powers
of Africa
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00:12:54,990 --> 00:13:00,550
- he was kind of blind
to that,
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00:13:00,570 --> 00:13:03,340
he was looking at it purely...
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00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:05,560
For aesthetic reasons?
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00:13:05,580 --> 00:13:08,440
That's what he was telling me
- you know what I am saying?
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00:13:08,460 --> 00:13:10,900
Which kind of let to
this project.
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00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:16,570
That there are these African
influences in peoples lives...
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00:13:16,590 --> 00:13:17,970
Sure.
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00:13:17,990 --> 00:13:20,280
...that they don t want to
acknowledge.
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00:13:20,300 --> 00:13:24,160
And I am - obviously, based on
what I know about you,
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00:13:27,140 --> 00:13:32,760
you recognize those powers
and you respect them.
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00:13:32,780 --> 00:13:37,680
Well, yeah. We've been taught,
and people have been taught,
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00:13:37,700 --> 00:13:42,080
especially these generations
prior to ours have been taught
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00:13:42,100 --> 00:13:44,050
that anything associated
with Africa was bad.
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00:13:44,070 --> 00:13:46,080
Unless it was
an aesthetic thing.
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00:13:46,100 --> 00:13:48,880
You can relate to the aesthetic
of a mask
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00:13:48,900 --> 00:13:50,610
or you can relate to
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00:13:50,630 --> 00:13:52,330
the aesthetic of fabric
or the aesthetic
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00:13:52,350 --> 00:13:54,390
- but the actual culture,
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00:13:54,410 --> 00:13:56,460
the actual people
that was eshewed.
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00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,290
You can go to any museum and
you can see African masks.
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00:13:59,310 --> 00:14:01,040
But they don't concentrate.
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00:14:01,060 --> 00:14:04,220
They call it art
and it's not really art.
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00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:06,680
These are ritual items
and objects
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00:14:06,700 --> 00:14:10,330
that people use for
points of power
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00:14:10,350 --> 00:14:13,610
and for points of
spiritual reference.
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00:14:13,630 --> 00:14:16,370
They don't talk about that
and it s eshewed,
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00:14:16,390 --> 00:14:20,070
anything that's non-christian
in this society is looked at
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00:14:20,090 --> 00:14:22,820
You can look at the same object
as a European
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00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:24,540
and say this is a great mask.
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00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:26,840
Let me put some wax on it
and shine it up
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00:14:26,860 --> 00:14:30,600
and put it next to
a Picasso or something.
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00:14:30,620 --> 00:14:32,140
Once if you start
talking about it
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00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,420
in its natural setting as
a religious object,
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00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:37,680
people get upset and
that s what we were taught.
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00:14:37,700 --> 00:14:40,160
You are
one hundred percent right.
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00:14:40,180 --> 00:14:42,080
They're afraid because they
really don't know it.
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00:14:42,100 --> 00:14:44,920
But if we look at
what we have here
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00:14:44,940 --> 00:14:47,360
we will see what the truth
is in that.
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00:14:47,380 --> 00:14:49,720
People have walked in here
and looked at this stuff
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00:14:49,740 --> 00:14:51,680
and turned around
and walked out.
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00:14:51,700 --> 00:14:54,080
People talk a lot of
black stuff and say:
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00:14:54,100 --> 00:14:56,470
Oh no no, I can't be in a
room with that stuff.
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00:14:56,490 --> 00:14:58,280
No its doen't work that way.
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00:14:58,300 --> 00:14:59,850
It's the absence of faith.
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00:14:59,870 --> 00:15:02,980
To begin with...
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00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,930
The more we look at what
we have here - from Africa -
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00:15:05,950 --> 00:15:08,480
the more we look
and get to understand
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00:15:08,500 --> 00:15:11,140
and let some of it
be revealed to you
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00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,730
than you really see
how fortunate you are.
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00:15:13,750 --> 00:15:15,250
And you see where
your power lies
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00:15:15,270 --> 00:15:16,650
Absolutely.
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00:15:16,670 --> 00:15:18,050
The Power lies
in your history...
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00:15:18,070 --> 00:15:21,610
For me I started collecting
African art.
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00:15:21,630 --> 00:15:24,800
My father taught Black History.
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00:15:24,820 --> 00:15:30,693
But when I started painting
years and years and years ago
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00:15:32,113 --> 00:15:34,320
and I started looking
at the European Masters,
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00:15:34,340 --> 00:15:38,530
immediately I was attracted to
Picasso and his cubist stuff
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00:15:38,550 --> 00:15:43,120
not knowing that that time he
had been referencing African Art
200
00:15:43,140 --> 00:15:46,550
or African objects to create
this paintings
201
00:15:46,570 --> 00:15:47,980
and to create this stuff.
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00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,570
You know I am a self-taught
artist and as I looked deeper,
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00:15:50,590 --> 00:15:53,660
I started looking at where did
he get this from?
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00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:55,890
Where did all these Europeans
who are considered Masters
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00:15:55,910 --> 00:15:57,290
getting this stuff from?
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00:15:57,310 --> 00:15:59,700
So I moved beyond that and
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00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:01,420
started looking at things
that were closer.
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00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,300
Like this painting here
by Wifredo Lam,
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00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,320
an Afro-Cuban painter
and the way he painted it.
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00:16:08,340 --> 00:16:11,130
It has deeper spiritual meaning
than what Picasso put out there.
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00:16:11,150 --> 00:16:13,820
Picasso put figures out there
212
00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:16,500
-Wifredo Lam tapped into
spirits of Santeria.
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00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:21,860
And I had a natural affinity
for that beyond the surface
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00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:26,320
to this actual spiritual of
what an object is.
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00:16:26,340 --> 00:16:28,820
You mentioned the Cubans.
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00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,430
Okay. The Cubans
they were able to maintain
217
00:16:31,450 --> 00:16:34,030
a lot of their
African heritage.
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00:16:34,050 --> 00:16:36,390
My godfather in my religion,
219
00:16:36,410 --> 00:16:38,760
I m a Palo Mayombe,
here did he ome from?
220
00:16:38,780 --> 00:16:42,420
Cuba. What he brought
came from Africa.
221
00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,600
I felt when I walked
into this house.
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00:16:45,620 --> 00:16:49,600
I thought:
Man, I am amongst my people.
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00:16:49,620 --> 00:16:51,050
That's how I feel.
224
00:16:51,070 --> 00:16:54,840
That's how I feel.
I am a mongst my people.
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00:16:54,860 --> 00:16:58,740
I am glad we are now, some of
us are looking a little deeper.
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00:17:06,620 --> 00:17:10,840
Together
with my friend Kanene
227
00:17:10,860 --> 00:17:14,080
I went to join our ancestors
occupying Wall Street.
228
00:17:14,100 --> 00:17:17,080
They weren't pounding drums in
Zuccotti Park, though.
229
00:17:17,100 --> 00:17:20,080
They took their movement
underground;
230
00:17:20,100 --> 00:17:24,080
camping out in silent protest
underneath lower Broadway
231
00:17:24,100 --> 00:17:26,840
since the 1690s.
232
00:17:28,260 --> 00:17:29,840
Kanene is a dedicated
233
00:17:29,860 --> 00:17:32,050
New York City
public school teacher;
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00:17:32,070 --> 00:17:35,300
actress; and
Zora Neale Hurston scholar.
235
00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,321
Talking to her is like staring
into
236
00:17:37,483 --> 00:17:40,080
the high beams of
a speeding, on-coming car.
237
00:17:41,500 --> 00:17:43,890
Do you know much about
the African burial ground?
238
00:17:43,910 --> 00:17:48,050
Ironically
I do and I don't and I do.
239
00:17:48,070 --> 00:17:50,500
But it was like breaking news.
240
00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,130
Because they were busy building
some building.
241
00:17:53,150 --> 00:17:55,820
That was the goal.
Some financial building
242
00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:57,980
- whatever building
they were trying to build
243
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,500
and you just have to go,
dig up the ground
244
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,890
and in that process of
building the foundation
245
00:18:04,910 --> 00:18:06,840
this became breaking news
like oh oh
246
00:18:06,860 --> 00:18:10,050
- we can't just build
the foundation on these graves
247
00:18:10,070 --> 00:18:13,740
and so it really started to
come out. Was it like 95 or 96?
248
00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:15,840
I think it was 95.
249
00:18:15,860 --> 00:18:19,430
Yeah, it was 95, so I was in
the fifth grade, so yeah, 95.
250
00:18:19,450 --> 00:18:23,300
And they were like wow, shuut
- we can't just build on this land
251
00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:27,050
and the whole notion of
the fact that these are slaves
252
00:18:27,070 --> 00:18:29,840
it's not just any random grave.
253
00:18:29,860 --> 00:18:32,050
These are the slaves that
actually built New York City.
254
00:18:32,070 --> 00:18:33,410
They literally build this city
255
00:18:33,571 --> 00:18:35,860
and they were buried underneath
rock and granite.
256
00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,780
And the whole notion of it,
you can't erase it.
257
00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:40,180
And that's funny
258
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,430
because even now me
as a social studies teacher,
259
00:18:42,450 --> 00:18:46,000
I taught fifth grade
social studies two years ago
260
00:18:46,020 --> 00:18:49,300
and I had to prepare them for
a fifth grade states test,
261
00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,110
it's all this stuff about
New York history
262
00:18:52,130 --> 00:18:55,430
they need to know,
fifth graders should know
263
00:18:55,450 --> 00:18:58,860
- the difference between rural,
suburban, and urban -
264
00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,110
they need to know about
the Niagra falls
265
00:19:02,130 --> 00:19:07,450
and the New Trade routes,
that were developed
266
00:19:07,470 --> 00:19:10,530
they need to know these things.
267
00:19:10,550 --> 00:19:12,780
And I usually feel like
268
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:15,860
because it's all war, it's all
the glorification of war.
269
00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,000
War of 1812, French
and Indian War.
270
00:19:18,020 --> 00:19:22,290
It's war, war, war and it
never talks about the people,
271
00:19:22,310 --> 00:19:25,130
it never talks about the
real stories about people
272
00:19:25,150 --> 00:19:27,420
and the rebellion
and the revolution.
273
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,360
And so they gave me this book,
and it was like this thick
274
00:19:30,380 --> 00:19:33,558
just to prep them for the test,
the test is in November,
275
00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:35,210
school starts in September
276
00:19:35,230 --> 00:19:37,601
and they had maybe
two paragraphs
277
00:19:37,763 --> 00:19:40,060
on slavery
in this entire book.
278
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,410
It's the stuff on the
Constitution
279
00:19:42,571 --> 00:19:45,660
they had to learn,
stuff on the Supreme Court,
280
00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:48,055
the judicial branch,
legislative branch,
281
00:19:48,216 --> 00:19:49,610
branches of government,
282
00:19:49,630 --> 00:19:51,850
all this stuff.
283
00:19:51,870 --> 00:19:53,630
The Industrial Revolution
284
00:19:53,650 --> 00:19:57,410
- all this stuff these little
fifth graders need to know...
285
00:19:57,430 --> 00:20:00,430
Wow, which is interesting
because knowing about slavery
286
00:20:00,450 --> 00:20:03,920
would put everything else
in the perspective.
287
00:20:03,940 --> 00:20:06,100
It would, because
the whole capitalistic structure
288
00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:08,280
of New York City
and all of America
289
00:20:08,300 --> 00:20:10,790
New York was the hub
of capitalism at that time
290
00:20:10,810 --> 00:20:14,860
and still is was all based on
all of the slave labour.
291
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,490
The whole notion of
Wall Street, Bank of New York
292
00:20:17,510 --> 00:20:21,120
they all either insured slaves,
invested in slaves.
293
00:20:21,140 --> 00:20:23,201
The East India Company,
West India Company,
294
00:20:23,363 --> 00:20:24,280
all these companies
295
00:20:24,300 --> 00:20:28,150
that we do or do not know, we
do or do not recognize,
296
00:20:28,170 --> 00:20:31,010
a lot of them, Lehmann Brothers,
all of these companies
297
00:20:31,030 --> 00:20:35,600
which are on Wall Street today
- not all of them obviously,
298
00:20:35,620 --> 00:20:37,360
but some of them still have a
legacy
299
00:20:37,521 --> 00:20:39,360
and wouldn't be
the companies they were
300
00:20:39,380 --> 00:20:42,640
if they weren't investing in
slave labor back in the day.
301
00:20:42,660 --> 00:20:47,080
The burial ground is at the
heart of American capitalism.
302
00:20:47,100 --> 00:20:48,830
Exactly!
303
00:20:48,850 --> 00:20:52,010
Which was an interesting thing
because as I was going
304
00:20:52,030 --> 00:20:57,370
through the rotunde here
they had a symbol from Legba...
305
00:20:57,390 --> 00:21:00,100
Yes, the crossroads, yes!
306
00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:02,000
The crossroads.
307
00:21:02,020 --> 00:21:07,030
Which told me that the
crossroads wasn't about
308
00:21:07,050 --> 00:21:10,660
deciding what direction
you are going to take,
309
00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,350
what faded decision
you are going to make
310
00:21:13,370 --> 00:21:16,040
but rather it was
about contradictions.
311
00:21:16,060 --> 00:21:17,440
Hmhm.
312
00:21:17,460 --> 00:21:20,405
Which is probably the reason
313
00:21:20,425 --> 00:21:23,680
why Legba is considered
a trickster.
314
00:21:23,700 --> 00:21:26,140
Exactly, and I love Legba,
315
00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,610
I mean Legba is Bugs Bunny.
You know.
316
00:21:28,630 --> 00:21:30,010
Yeah.
317
00:21:30,030 --> 00:21:32,690
That whole notion of
what is reality
318
00:21:32,710 --> 00:21:35,490
and I can shift it
based on perception
319
00:21:35,510 --> 00:21:38,930
and what you are beholding to
as reality.
320
00:21:38,950 --> 00:21:44,810
That s existentialism, that can
become nihilism and denial.
321
00:21:44,830 --> 00:21:49,600
Because what is reality?
322
00:21:49,620 --> 00:21:52,000
I mean New York
would not be New York
323
00:21:52,020 --> 00:21:54,400
without the backs of slaves.
324
00:21:54,420 --> 00:21:58,600
Just like in a book by
Zora Neale Hurston about Moses.
325
00:21:58,620 --> 00:22:00,400
The whole story starts of
with the fact
326
00:22:00,420 --> 00:22:02,200
that there are these
slaves in Egypt.
327
00:22:02,220 --> 00:22:05,160
All the slavers on our back and
we can't do anything about it.
328
00:22:05,180 --> 00:22:06,990
We learn nothing but sorrow.
329
00:22:07,010 --> 00:22:10,810
If nothing else, that's that
lasting legacy that this leader,
330
00:22:10,830 --> 00:22:13,930
this pharao wants to sit there
and impart to us...
331
00:22:13,950 --> 00:22:18,130
You mean nothing other
than your labour.
332
00:22:18,150 --> 00:22:20,140
Right, you see these
beautiful temples,
333
00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,160
you see these
beautiful pyramides, right,
334
00:22:22,180 --> 00:22:24,740
but that lasting legacy of
the blood,
335
00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:27,330
the sweat and the tears is
still in everything that we see
336
00:22:27,350 --> 00:22:31,420
and ironically that's the path
that we must choose.
337
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,830
And the path that a lot of
history books choose
338
00:22:33,850 --> 00:22:37,240
is in one direction which is ah,
erase that, it doesn't matter,
339
00:22:37,260 --> 00:22:41,930
again nihilism,
denial of the truth.
340
00:22:41,950 --> 00:22:45,450
And I would literally sitting
there, looking at this book,
341
00:22:45,470 --> 00:22:48,060
under the pressure of preparing
fifth graders -
342
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:50,770
seventy percent can not read
on a fifth grade level.
343
00:22:50,790 --> 00:22:53,710
This is in 2008 - so if you can't
read on a fifth grade level
344
00:22:53,730 --> 00:22:56,650
you really can't read.
345
00:22:58,070 --> 00:23:01,530
And I have two month
to prepare these kids.
346
00:23:01,550 --> 00:23:03,548
And I am looking at the history
again,
347
00:23:03,710 --> 00:23:05,920
and I am really thinking
to myself and say:
348
00:23:05,940 --> 00:23:09,450
Wait a minute, did slavery
not happen?
349
00:23:09,470 --> 00:23:12,040
And so I had to go back and
find other books
350
00:23:12,060 --> 00:23:17,130
and other resources and teach
that whole portion of history.
351
00:23:17,150 --> 00:23:20,590
It s interesting, because
you talked about lines
352
00:23:20,610 --> 00:23:21,990
and here is a circle...
353
00:23:22,010 --> 00:23:24,770
In the middle of
Manhattan's financial district
354
00:23:24,931 --> 00:23:26,000
is a sacred space.
355
00:23:26,020 --> 00:23:28,123
It seems to exists as if some
356
00:23:28,285 --> 00:23:30,840
mysterious happenstance
of history
357
00:23:30,860 --> 00:23:33,790
has joined forces with
all the world's religions,
358
00:23:33,810 --> 00:23:35,750
including Vodu,
359
00:23:35,770 --> 00:23:38,363
to confront the very powers
of Mammon
360
00:23:38,525 --> 00:23:40,540
that Wall Street
represents.
361
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:42,990
And I find, even here,
we all must ask Legba
362
00:23:43,010 --> 00:23:46,440
for his permission
to pass through the gates.
363
00:23:47,860 --> 00:23:49,240
And I think it's beautiful,
364
00:23:49,260 --> 00:23:52,640
the way they designed
this entire burial ground.
365
00:23:52,660 --> 00:23:55,320
In terms of it does actually
reference a lot
366
00:23:55,340 --> 00:23:57,990
of the Sankofa symbols.
367
00:23:58,010 --> 00:24:00,680
This is a monument
to give these people
368
00:24:00,700 --> 00:24:03,430
some form of a voice.
369
00:24:03,450 --> 00:24:06,930
The thing that I am thinking
about: past and present coexist.
370
00:24:06,950 --> 00:24:08,330
Yes.
371
00:24:08,350 --> 00:24:09,730
Past, present.
372
00:24:09,750 --> 00:24:11,130
They're parallel.
373
00:24:11,150 --> 00:24:12,530
Yeah.
374
00:24:12,550 --> 00:24:15,090
And sometimes when
you ask questions
375
00:24:15,110 --> 00:24:17,540
they can become perpendicular
and that's the power,
376
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:18,640
that's the power of
asking questions:
377
00:24:18,660 --> 00:24:23,680
Why? How? Where? Who? And then
they also notice, it's raining.
378
00:24:23,700 --> 00:24:25,080
Yeah.
379
00:24:25,100 --> 00:24:26,480
I am noticing that.
380
00:24:26,500 --> 00:24:28,740
I kind of like the image.
381
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:30,360
Hm?
382
00:24:30,380 --> 00:24:32,250
I like the image.
383
00:24:44,700 --> 00:24:47,180
My father never
really understood
384
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,690
why I prefered
living abroad.
385
00:24:49,710 --> 00:24:52,280
I once wrote him a letter and
explained the reasons
386
00:24:52,300 --> 00:24:56,490
why I vowed I would never live
again in the United States.
387
00:24:56,510 --> 00:24:59,810
His only reply was that he
didn't understand.
388
00:24:59,830 --> 00:25:04,700
For me, why was simple.
This place had nothing for me.
389
00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:08,270
Or at least that's what
I thought until
390
00:25:08,290 --> 00:25:10,410
I was struck by
a cold realization.
391
00:25:10,430 --> 00:25:11,810
I was wrong.
392
00:25:11,830 --> 00:25:15,210
There was something,
maybe something unique.
393
00:25:15,230 --> 00:25:18,150
One of the reasons
I started this journey was
394
00:25:18,170 --> 00:25:22,090
to find out
what that something is.
395
00:25:36,540 --> 00:25:39,070
Outside of a couple of trips
to New Orleans,
396
00:25:39,090 --> 00:25:42,430
this is my first visit
to the deep south.
397
00:25:42,450 --> 00:25:45,610
We rolled passed
the manicured lawns
398
00:25:45,630 --> 00:25:47,800
of Greenwood's
middle class,
399
00:25:47,820 --> 00:25:50,780
literally crossing the tracks,
over into ''Baptist Town''.
400
00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:14,770
As we arrived, we were greeted
by an unexpected surprise
401
00:26:14,790 --> 00:26:17,210
- Pastor McArthur McKinley -
402
00:26:17,230 --> 00:26:20,750
Baptist Town's gold-tooth
and gheri-curled reverend
403
00:26:20,770 --> 00:26:22,300
in a Stacy Adam's suit.
404
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:26,010
Homeboy knew he was clean.
I shook his hand and asked,
405
00:26:26,030 --> 00:26:28,280
"Where can I get me
a suit like that?"
406
00:26:28,300 --> 00:26:31,010
"Are you a married man,
son?", he asked.
407
00:26:31,030 --> 00:26:32,410
"No, why?"
408
00:26:32,430 --> 00:26:34,820
"Well, that's good, because
if you were married,
409
00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:37,320
and you wore a suit like mine,
410
00:26:37,340 --> 00:26:40,380
it would only lead you
into temptation",
411
00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,220
he said, gold tooth glittering
in the mississippi sun.
412
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:48,330
As you noticed I just read a
scripture where Jesus promised
413
00:26:48,350 --> 00:26:52,930
that he would go and
prepare a place for us.
414
00:26:52,950 --> 00:26:55,860
And I am going to do
at this time
415
00:26:55,880 --> 00:27:00,800
Sweet Home...
it's a beautiful home.
416
00:27:00,820 --> 00:27:04,200
♪ Sweet Home,
417
00:27:04,220 --> 00:27:10,600
♪ Sweet Home,
418
00:27:10,620 --> 00:27:14,410
♪ Lord I know
419
00:27:14,430 --> 00:27:19,210
♪ Lord I wonder
420
00:27:19,230 --> 00:27:24,010
♪ will I ever
421
00:27:24,030 --> 00:27:28,610
♪ get home.
422
00:27:28,630 --> 00:27:33,510
♪ Sweet Home
423
00:27:33,530 --> 00:27:39,460
♪ it's a beautiful home,
424
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,940
♪ Sweet Home
425
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:48,420
♪ Lord I know
426
00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,220
♪ Lord I wonder...
427
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,830
I'm feeling really ambivalent
428
00:27:54,850 --> 00:27:56,450
for a lot of reasons.
429
00:27:56,470 --> 00:27:58,120
I'm not in New York.
430
00:27:58,140 --> 00:28:01,540
I'm among solid church-going
folks who pay taxes to god
431
00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:04,450
and have barbecues
after service.
432
00:28:04,470 --> 00:28:07,120
But the deep south is also
Hoodoo country
433
00:28:07,140 --> 00:28:09,080
where two-heads lay tricks,
434
00:28:09,100 --> 00:28:11,940
sprinkle goofer dust
and work mojos.
435
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,800
And this is stuff people don't
talk about openly here
436
00:28:14,820 --> 00:28:16,570
unless they're telling tales
437
00:28:16,590 --> 00:28:19,940
about the one-eyed man deep in
the woods makin' gris-gris bags
438
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,840
or singing about it in songs
by Robert Johnson.
439
00:28:23,860 --> 00:28:27,920
To them, asking the kind
of questions I asked,
440
00:28:27,940 --> 00:28:33,810
I'm just talking about
"The Devil". Period.
441
00:28:37,810 --> 00:28:40,600
Right here, right now
we are in Baptist town.
442
00:28:40,620 --> 00:28:43,650
Baptist town is like the save
haven for the blues singer
443
00:28:43,670 --> 00:28:45,771
like Robert Johnson,
Honeyboy Edwards,
444
00:28:45,933 --> 00:28:46,600
Guitar Slim.
445
00:28:46,620 --> 00:28:48,563
All those guys would live
in this area,
446
00:28:48,725 --> 00:28:49,890
they live in this area,
447
00:28:49,910 --> 00:28:52,610
so they wouldn't go to
the cotton field and go to work
448
00:28:52,630 --> 00:28:54,580
cause they live
across the river
449
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,080
where the balls man would make
sure they would be at work.
450
00:28:57,100 --> 00:28:58,500
But they lived over here
451
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:00,640
and hide out in the houses
and wouldn't go to work
452
00:29:00,660 --> 00:29:02,740
and that's what guys like
Robert Johnson
453
00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:04,850
or guys like Honeyboy Edwards
would do
454
00:29:04,870 --> 00:29:06,770
because they can make
more money
455
00:29:06,790 --> 00:29:08,680
playing music on
the corner
456
00:29:08,700 --> 00:29:11,570
then they would picking cotton
in the fields...
457
00:29:28,950 --> 00:29:33,640
Robert Johnson would have been
one hundred years old today.
458
00:29:33,660 --> 00:29:39,515
And Greenwood
was throwing the party.
459
00:29:47,300 --> 00:29:50,740
But I really honestly
didn't understand
460
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,610
who or what
was being celebrated
461
00:29:57,420 --> 00:29:59,990
If what Mr. Hoover
said was true,
462
00:30:00,010 --> 00:30:03,370
how was it that a man
who played the blues
463
00:30:03,390 --> 00:30:08,253
was being celebrated in
a cotton museum?
464
00:30:16,770 --> 00:30:20,090
So I thought I'd go talk
with Steve LaVere.
465
00:30:20,110 --> 00:30:23,560
Steve is a big presence in
Greenwood's blues community.
466
00:30:23,580 --> 00:30:26,510
And he plays an
even bigger part
467
00:30:26,530 --> 00:30:29,455
keeping the legacy of
Robert Johnson alive.
468
00:30:48,898 --> 00:30:51,880
Greenwood is the world's
first long-stapled Cotton market
469
00:30:51,900 --> 00:30:55,240
and it moved to Memphis
about 1900.
470
00:30:55,260 --> 00:30:59,040
So things don't move to quickly
in the Delta as you know.
471
00:30:59,060 --> 00:31:01,970
Things have a tendency
to maintain
472
00:31:01,990 --> 00:31:07,848
and retain and be retained and
so that's what that's all about.
473
00:31:09,268 --> 00:31:11,780
But as far as who owns
Robert Johnson is concerned
474
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,710
which I think was
one of the early posits
475
00:31:14,730 --> 00:31:17,650
that you set for us
in your question.
476
00:31:20,460 --> 00:31:26,320
Robert Johnson and what is
considered country blues
477
00:31:29,860 --> 00:31:32,780
and really I think that's just
478
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,800
a small portion of all
indiginous American music:
479
00:31:36,820 --> 00:31:41,600
Jazz, American black gospel,
white gospel
480
00:31:41,620 --> 00:31:44,520
- it all has its roots
in two primary cultures
481
00:31:44,540 --> 00:31:47,440
that the world has produced:
482
00:31:47,460 --> 00:31:50,800
the European culture
and the African culture
483
00:31:50,820 --> 00:31:53,460
and they came together
on this continent.
484
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:55,810
Okay, I understand
that aspect of the story
485
00:31:55,830 --> 00:31:58,920
but that from what I
understand there
486
00:31:58,940 --> 00:32:02,510
is this whole generation
of British musicians
487
00:32:02,530 --> 00:32:08,363
who had discovered blues,
you know American blues
488
00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:14,420
and which was discarded by
489
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,430
and large but they picked it up
490
00:32:17,450 --> 00:32:20,250
and created this whole
sensation in rock music
491
00:32:20,270 --> 00:32:23,060
in the 60s and the 70s.
492
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,930
When British musicians (who)
were looking for songs to play
493
00:32:26,950 --> 00:32:29,060
rather than write their own.
494
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:31,540
Why write your own when there
is a guy like Robert Johnson
495
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:33,610
and has written the great song
that we can do?
496
00:32:33,630 --> 00:32:35,250
Let's do "Dust my broom",
497
00:32:35,270 --> 00:32:36,650
lets do "Sweet Home Chicago",
498
00:32:36,670 --> 00:32:38,050
let's do "Come on in my
kitchen"
499
00:32:38,070 --> 00:32:39,450
Right.
500
00:32:39,470 --> 00:32:43,690
You know and so they got
their energy behind that
501
00:32:43,710 --> 00:32:45,090
and sold it back to America.
502
00:32:45,110 --> 00:32:47,890
Yeah, I understand.
I can see that.
503
00:32:47,910 --> 00:32:51,460
Actually I heard a tape,
it was an acoustic tape
504
00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:54,990
that Keith Richards had done
covering Robert Johnson songs.
505
00:32:55,010 --> 00:32:59,560
That's when I began to have
respect for Keith Richards,
506
00:32:59,580 --> 00:33:03,710
knowing that he was a serious
student of the music.
507
00:33:03,730 --> 00:33:07,580
He said so on numbers
of occasions.
508
00:33:35,035 --> 00:33:39,680
We are here at the site
where Robert Johnson is buried.
509
00:33:39,700 --> 00:33:42,250
Let's go. It's right out here.
510
00:33:42,270 --> 00:33:45,190
Most of the people
do not have stones.
511
00:33:45,210 --> 00:33:48,128
Lot of em early 1900s.
512
00:33:49,548 --> 00:33:51,220
And you see some of them
handmade
513
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:55,730
and a lot of them where just
made with wood,
514
00:33:55,750 --> 00:33:59,280
a cross made out of wood and
they stuck it in the ground.
515
00:34:00,700 --> 00:34:02,600
And Robert Johnson
516
00:34:02,620 --> 00:34:05,720
he died right across
this field over here
517
00:34:05,740 --> 00:34:08,880
because he followed
a girl home that night.
518
00:34:08,900 --> 00:34:11,810
You'd be in this cotton field,
519
00:34:11,830 --> 00:34:14,780
picking and jumping cotton
all way down
520
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,740
to where you see them trees.
521
00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:21,200
You would hear music
coming from here.
522
00:34:21,220 --> 00:34:24,890
Do you hear that singing,
do you hear that singing?
523
00:34:24,910 --> 00:34:28,770
And you would hear sound
coming from this graveyard.
524
00:34:30,310 --> 00:34:32,885
Legend has it
Robert Johnson
525
00:34:32,905 --> 00:34:35,480
went down to the crossroads
526
00:34:35,500 --> 00:34:40,570
and gave the devil his guitar
and a fried-chicken sandwich.
527
00:34:40,590 --> 00:34:43,330
The devil tuned the guitar and
ate the sandwich, saying:
528
00:34:43,350 --> 00:34:47,200
"But your soul would taste a
hell of a lot better. Yum yum!"
529
00:34:47,220 --> 00:34:49,400
So Robert Johnson
shrugged his shoulders
530
00:34:49,420 --> 00:34:51,170
and handed over his soul.
531
00:34:51,190 --> 00:34:54,060
The devil gave him back his
guitar and belched.
532
00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:56,770
Robert Johnson went on to
533
00:34:56,790 --> 00:34:59,480
impressed a lot of folks
with his singin'
534
00:34:59,500 --> 00:35:02,100
and playin' during
his short life.
535
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,190
Within
African American culture,
536
00:35:04,210 --> 00:35:06,280
I think people are
leaving out,
537
00:35:06,300 --> 00:35:10,570
they miss a part of it in terms
of understanding
538
00:35:10,590 --> 00:35:13,200
where this whole notion of
539
00:35:13,220 --> 00:35:16,435
Robert Johnson going to
the crossroads
540
00:35:17,855 --> 00:35:19,520
to sell his soul to the devil.
541
00:35:19,540 --> 00:35:22,050
That is sort of a
Christian perspective.
542
00:35:22,070 --> 00:35:26,210
But in African American culture
we don't all buy into that
543
00:35:26,230 --> 00:35:30,540
because we know that there is a
larger culture related to that
544
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:35,410
such as understanding the
African perspective of that
545
00:35:36,830 --> 00:35:41,470
as that eventually came down to
African American culture as well
546
00:35:41,490 --> 00:35:44,400
and that was understanding
547
00:35:44,420 --> 00:35:47,330
the trickster of
the god figure Legba
548
00:35:49,150 --> 00:35:53,690
that was part of
African culture.
549
00:35:53,710 --> 00:35:56,670
And Legba himself
was not the devil
550
00:35:56,690 --> 00:35:59,640
- that's to strong of a term,
551
00:35:59,660 --> 00:36:02,590
but Legba was
really a trickster,
552
00:36:02,610 --> 00:36:05,533
that some people can call on.
553
00:36:06,953 --> 00:36:09,210
You said that people
should begin to
554
00:36:09,230 --> 00:36:15,060
acknowledge these African
presences in our lives.
555
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,850
That is something the culture
has largely ignored,
556
00:36:18,870 --> 00:36:21,160
the reason why of course
is that there
557
00:36:21,180 --> 00:36:23,480
is a lot of misinformation
558
00:36:23,500 --> 00:36:28,370
regarding African spiritual
practices in this country.
559
00:36:29,790 --> 00:36:32,360
It is a motive. We have
no proof for any of this.
560
00:36:32,380 --> 00:36:36,800
But I think its worth exploring
in terms of understanding
561
00:36:36,820 --> 00:36:42,690
as some would call it this
voodoo kind of mystique
562
00:36:44,110 --> 00:36:47,840
around Robert Johnson.
563
00:36:57,230 --> 00:37:02,940
♪ There's a Black Sun rising
564
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:07,810
♪ Underneath the water
565
00:37:07,830 --> 00:37:13,090
♪ There's a Black Sun rising
566
00:37:13,110 --> 00:37:17,780
♪ Under the bounding mane
567
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:22,670
♪ Sit in motion by the greed
568
00:37:22,690 --> 00:37:26,770
♪ of Midas
569
00:37:26,790 --> 00:37:29,710
♪ And the arrogance
570
00:37:29,730 --> 00:37:32,650
♪ of Cain
571
00:37:36,100 --> 00:37:40,330
♪ A dark ritual of Moloch
572
00:37:40,350 --> 00:37:44,480
♪ Straight from
Bohemenian Grove
573
00:37:44,500 --> 00:37:50,363
♪ The Creamation of Dull Care
574
00:37:51,783 --> 00:37:56,380
♪ And the City
they could not hold
575
00:37:57,810 --> 00:38:04,250
♪ Fire on the water
576
00:38:04,270 --> 00:38:10,590
♪ Fire in the air
577
00:38:10,610 --> 00:38:16,550
♪ And below the
Black Sun burning
578
00:38:16,570 --> 00:38:21,800
♪ With an evil glare
579
00:38:46,340 --> 00:38:48,720
The thing that
always impressed me
580
00:38:48,740 --> 00:38:50,440
about New Orleans,
581
00:38:50,460 --> 00:38:53,650
the thing I really dug,
was that it's the city
582
00:38:53,670 --> 00:38:57,420
that gave the rest of the
United States its flavor,
583
00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:00,480
its spice.
584
00:39:00,500 --> 00:39:04,810
It is a city reknown for its
celebration of life through
585
00:39:04,830 --> 00:39:08,560
its food, music, dance
and sex.
586
00:39:08,580 --> 00:39:12,120
It was the city in America that
wasn't afraid of the body.
587
00:39:12,140 --> 00:39:15,330
It was the one place in America
that didn't outlaw the drum
588
00:39:15,350 --> 00:39:21,240
and permitted
black people to dance.
589
00:39:23,820 --> 00:39:26,240
New Orleans is Europe bathing
590
00:39:26,260 --> 00:39:29,685
with Africa in the
waters of the Carribean.
591
00:39:31,105 --> 00:39:34,390
And no, I am not
a "spiritual tourist" here.
592
00:39:34,410 --> 00:39:36,980
I'm not searching for a path
to "enlightenment"
593
00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:39,620
by gawking at
the Hindus of India
594
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,690
or the Buddhists of Japan
or Tibet.
595
00:39:42,710 --> 00:39:47,650
I am an American
in an American city.
596
00:39:47,670 --> 00:39:51,090
I am not looking outside
of my culture.
597
00:39:51,110 --> 00:39:53,640
I am traveling along
a tributary,
598
00:39:53,660 --> 00:39:57,080
searching for a central spring
599
00:39:57,100 --> 00:40:00,530
that nourishes America
in a spiritual way.
600
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:08,560
Jesus Christ, It's
fucking hot. Miss Glasman...
601
00:40:09,980 --> 00:40:11,360
It's great to see you.
602
00:40:11,380 --> 00:40:12,760
How are you?
603
00:40:12,780 --> 00:40:15,705
You traded wonderful
New England spring
604
00:40:15,725 --> 00:40:18,610
like weather for
this heat, humidity...
605
00:40:18,630 --> 00:40:21,450
Yes, I must have been
out of my mind...
606
00:40:21,470 --> 00:40:26,130
You established that
long time ago. I need a chair.
607
00:40:26,150 --> 00:40:27,980
I know you need a chair.
608
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:30,780
And all the chairs are
covered in boxes
609
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,730
cause I am moving the shop.
610
00:40:33,750 --> 00:40:38,570
Let's... Let's... here is a
chair.
611
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:48,330
And I'll sit on the box of salt.
612
00:40:50,950 --> 00:40:53,950
That way I am cleansing myself
as we speak.
613
00:40:53,970 --> 00:40:57,040
Indeed.
614
00:40:57,060 --> 00:40:59,090
Yes, there you go.
615
00:40:59,110 --> 00:41:04,000
So, what's happening
and what you are doing?
616
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:09,010
Seriously?
617
00:41:11,900 --> 00:41:14,020
Hmhm.
Last time you were here
618
00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:16,970
we were initiating people
in my temple
619
00:41:16,990 --> 00:41:19,360
in the miserable,
unbearable heat
620
00:41:19,380 --> 00:41:23,020
and Edgar, my papa from Haiti
was here.
621
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:24,420
Yes.
622
00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:27,130
And you were making
recordings of him
623
00:41:27,150 --> 00:41:29,520
and nobody was speaking
each others language
624
00:41:29,540 --> 00:41:31,880
but everybody understood
everything.
625
00:41:31,900 --> 00:41:36,970
Yeah, that's true. I wanted
to get to that a little later.
626
00:41:36,990 --> 00:41:39,005
Okay.
627
00:41:41,060 --> 00:41:43,990
Cause actually
since that time
628
00:41:44,010 --> 00:41:46,930
a couple of questions
occurred to me
629
00:41:48,350 --> 00:41:53,655
given the horrific nature of
the natural disasters
630
00:41:56,180 --> 00:42:02,045
that hit two of the major
voodoo centers in the west.
631
00:42:08,070 --> 00:42:13,938
How? I mean I don't
understand how one can...
632
00:42:34,190 --> 00:42:35,980
You look fabulous...
633
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:39,840
Happy Easter.
634
00:42:55,275 --> 00:42:59,490
Okay, natural disasters.
635
00:42:59,510 --> 00:43:02,420
In the face of
two horrific disasters
636
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,353
of monstrous proportions
637
00:43:08,460 --> 00:43:14,293
that some might say
are acts of god.
638
00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:22,970
How do you retain
your faith in a religion
639
00:43:24,390 --> 00:43:29,643
that's disparaged by
the society we live in.
640
00:43:31,110 --> 00:43:34,610
I have so many things to say
about this.
641
00:43:34,630 --> 00:43:36,010
I was sure you did.
642
00:43:36,030 --> 00:43:37,570
I'll try to be succinct.
643
00:43:37,590 --> 00:43:40,510
First of all, when I hear
644
00:43:40,530 --> 00:43:43,443
disasters of monstrous
proportions
645
00:43:44,863 --> 00:43:49,740
and than I think these are
at least natural,
646
00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:52,890
these are mother earth rising up
647
00:43:52,910 --> 00:43:55,830
and when I think
about the proportion
648
00:43:55,850 --> 00:43:58,768
of the disaster
that was slavery,
649
00:44:01,710 --> 00:44:06,740
that was the supposedly
founding of this country
650
00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:12,633
and the discovery
of the New World,
651
00:44:16,070 --> 00:44:18,990
I think at least there is
652
00:44:19,010 --> 00:44:21,933
something aligned
and that Haiti,
653
00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:28,610
like New Orleans has somehow
become the conscience keeper
654
00:44:28,630 --> 00:44:32,540
for the western world
and the violence
655
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:37,490
that was done upon humanity
at those times and
656
00:44:37,510 --> 00:44:41,240
in the same way that
people say to me that
657
00:44:41,260 --> 00:44:45,440
possession trance is this
terrifying demonic thing
658
00:44:45,460 --> 00:44:50,250
and I think instead that it's
exactly the opposite
659
00:44:50,270 --> 00:44:53,280
- our ego identities
having such control
660
00:44:53,300 --> 00:44:59,280
and such a lock hold on us
is really scary
661
00:44:59,300 --> 00:45:01,800
and that possession trance
662
00:45:01,820 --> 00:45:04,320
where you get to go beyond
those boundaries
663
00:45:04,340 --> 00:45:07,450
and become spirit for a while...
664
00:45:07,470 --> 00:45:11,090
I see things always at askew
and I always been that way.
665
00:45:11,110 --> 00:45:13,570
I mean from the time I was
first born
666
00:45:13,590 --> 00:45:16,050
I see things backwards,
I do things backwards and
667
00:45:16,070 --> 00:45:20,640
New Orleans is very much
that way...
668
00:45:20,660 --> 00:45:22,730
everything is backwards
and upside down.
669
00:45:22,750 --> 00:45:24,820
Haiti - everything is backwards
and upside down.
670
00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:28,650
When I was initiating
myself in Haiti,
671
00:45:28,670 --> 00:45:33,120
all through the initiation
which went on for a week,
672
00:45:33,140 --> 00:45:37,130
houngans, priests and
mambos, priestesses
673
00:45:37,150 --> 00:45:41,530
came into the chamber that
I was in and they would all say:
674
00:45:41,550 --> 00:45:44,680
Don't think that this will make
your life any easier, it's not.
675
00:45:44,700 --> 00:45:47,380
If anything it gonna
make it harder
676
00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:50,160
because you are
basically upside down
677
00:45:50,180 --> 00:45:54,130
and backwards compared to the
rest of the world and so what,
678
00:45:54,150 --> 00:45:57,290
you have entrée
into the invisible,
679
00:45:57,310 --> 00:45:59,930
it's gonna make it
hard for you
680
00:45:59,950 --> 00:46:02,560
in the physical mundane
material world.
681
00:46:02,580 --> 00:46:05,610
Don't think it's gonna make
anything easier for you.
682
00:46:05,630 --> 00:46:09,520
But what it does do it tells
you at what level
683
00:46:09,540 --> 00:46:12,440
and to what degree you can
engage in your own life
684
00:46:12,460 --> 00:46:18,330
and your own experience and how
we respond to spirit is
685
00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:22,980
whether we gonna survive this
or not.
686
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:26,540
So I don't think that Haiti or
New Orleans is unique.
687
00:46:26,560 --> 00:46:29,140
I don't think we're being
punished by anybody,
688
00:46:29,160 --> 00:46:34,280
Voodoo is not about judging
good and bad,
689
00:46:34,300 --> 00:46:38,470
so that whole premise
that this is great evil
690
00:46:38,490 --> 00:46:41,400
and god is going to punish
691
00:46:41,420 --> 00:46:44,330
doesn't make any sense
in the context of voodoo
692
00:46:45,755 --> 00:46:47,540
but what does matter is balance
693
00:46:47,560 --> 00:46:52,540
and consciously creating
a balance in your life,
694
00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:54,560
in your well being, in your
community,
695
00:46:54,580 --> 00:46:56,900
in how you address spirit
696
00:46:56,920 --> 00:46:59,250
and no wonder all these
amazing people
697
00:46:59,270 --> 00:47:01,470
are collecting in New Orleans
698
00:47:01,490 --> 00:47:07,350
and creating a front line and
preserving what is unique.
699
00:47:07,370 --> 00:47:11,850
You talk about going beneath
the surface.
700
00:47:11,870 --> 00:47:15,240
The waters of the invisible.
701
00:47:15,260 --> 00:47:21,118
What do you mean
when you say that?
702
00:49:18,950 --> 00:49:22,610
In the voodoo world view
we could say
703
00:49:22,630 --> 00:49:27,540
and actually the way I perceive
and always have perceived,
704
00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:30,890
there is a surface level
in the world.
705
00:49:30,910 --> 00:49:33,240
That's the physical,
that's the visible.
706
00:49:33,260 --> 00:49:35,390
And there is also
simultaneously within,
707
00:49:35,410 --> 00:49:37,530
beyond,throughout,
708
00:49:37,550 --> 00:49:40,430
around all of the physical
709
00:49:40,450 --> 00:49:43,600
- there is an invisible
ocean of spirit.
710
00:49:43,620 --> 00:49:49,040
By spirit I mean basically
intelligent energy
711
00:49:49,060 --> 00:49:51,990
and this intelligent
energy to me
712
00:49:52,010 --> 00:49:54,930
radiates from the presence
of the divine.
713
00:49:57,270 --> 00:50:01,510
And spirit is in everything.
714
00:50:01,530 --> 00:50:04,800
It is literally the water that
we bath in,
715
00:50:04,820 --> 00:50:08,460
the earth that we walk upon,
the air that we breathe.
716
00:50:08,480 --> 00:50:13,740
The entire world is
enrolled with spirit
717
00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:16,410
and is contained
within god's life force.
718
00:50:16,430 --> 00:50:21,170
And these two worlds interact
and interpenetrate each other.
719
00:50:21,190 --> 00:50:23,450
They reveal things about
one another
720
00:50:23,470 --> 00:50:28,330
and they affect one another and
we can say that they...
721
00:50:29,750 --> 00:50:32,440
The visible world is influenced
by the invisible world
722
00:50:32,460 --> 00:50:35,360
in ways that are invisible.
723
00:50:37,340 --> 00:50:39,760
So we think of them as magic.
724
00:50:39,780 --> 00:50:41,670
They appear to us
725
00:50:41,690 --> 00:50:43,570
on the physical side
of things as magic.
726
00:50:43,590 --> 00:50:46,420
To me they are just mere images
727
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:51,320
that the physical world is a
mirror of the invisible world.
728
00:50:51,340 --> 00:50:56,560
And so we can act in ways
in the physical
729
00:50:56,580 --> 00:50:59,280
that will effect
the invisible world, too.
730
00:50:59,300 --> 00:51:02,230
We can open the doors between
these two realms
731
00:51:02,250 --> 00:51:05,173
and invite them to dance.
732
00:51:32,650 --> 00:51:38,358
a Legba qui garde la porte
733
00:51:53,590 --> 00:51:59,478
a Legba qui garde la porte
734
00:52:06,908 --> 00:52:10,250
au tambour
735
00:52:10,270 --> 00:52:13,480
de l'homme à l'homme dans le
Ashè
736
00:52:13,500 --> 00:52:15,870
I didn't really
understand the
737
00:52:15,890 --> 00:52:18,250
deeper meanings of friendship
until I met Sallie.
738
00:52:18,270 --> 00:52:20,160
We met in high school.
739
00:52:20,180 --> 00:52:22,420
She had recently
lost her mother.
740
00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:25,590
I had lost my own
the year before.
741
00:52:25,610 --> 00:52:29,090
It's a loss I've never really
recovered from, either.
742
00:52:29,110 --> 00:52:32,610
It remains the most painful
experience of my life.
743
00:52:32,630 --> 00:52:35,568
The world fell from beneath
my feet and
744
00:52:35,588 --> 00:52:38,528
I tumbled into
infinite darkness.
745
00:52:39,948 --> 00:52:43,640
Sallie was the one person then
who understood those feelings.
746
00:52:43,660 --> 00:52:49,243
We formed a bond of
empathetic intensity.
747
00:53:05,060 --> 00:53:10,923
La famille de ma mère,
la famille de mon père
748
00:53:12,343 --> 00:53:17,013
Nous dansons ici et
en Guinèe on danse
749
00:54:49,310 --> 00:54:51,980
When you are dancing
in the ceremony
750
00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:54,880
and the drums are beating
and there is lots of vibration
751
00:54:54,900 --> 00:54:57,780
and frequency happening.
752
00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:00,930
Every colour you see, every
gesture that there is,
753
00:55:00,950 --> 00:55:03,480
every song, every beat is
focusing the mind
754
00:55:03,500 --> 00:55:05,020
in a
particular way
755
00:55:06,700 --> 00:55:10,620
and accentuating
a particular vibration,
756
00:55:10,640 --> 00:55:12,560
a particular frequency.
757
00:55:12,580 --> 00:55:17,420
And it allows ordinary,
everyday people
758
00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:21,850
in the ordinary,everyday
world to suddenly
759
00:55:21,870 --> 00:55:24,790
break through that
ordinary world into
760
00:55:24,810 --> 00:55:27,738
this realm of spirit
and become spirit.
761
00:55:29,158 --> 00:55:31,480
It is interesting
you described
762
00:55:31,500 --> 00:55:34,160
the spirit as like
intelligent energy
763
00:55:34,180 --> 00:55:39,040
as opposed to these personified
forces of nature.
764
00:55:40,460 --> 00:55:42,710
Through our interaction
with them
765
00:55:42,730 --> 00:55:45,220
we start to perceive
beyond our own boundaries
766
00:55:45,240 --> 00:55:47,740
and what happens
in possession trance
767
00:55:47,760 --> 00:55:50,280
is not that you are being
shut out or shut down
768
00:55:50,300 --> 00:55:54,040
and being taken over by
some force out there.
769
00:55:54,060 --> 00:55:57,480
Instead you just going past
770
00:55:57,500 --> 00:56:00,923
what you think of as
your limitations.
771
00:58:27,130 --> 00:58:31,128
Cigar!
772
01:00:10,880 --> 01:00:15,130
What goes on here is that
my family is together again.
773
01:00:15,150 --> 01:00:18,500
I didn t grow up here
but I've been here long
774
01:00:18,520 --> 01:00:21,120
and I been here
seven years living.
775
01:00:21,140 --> 01:00:24,350
And I'm really interested
in African spirituality
776
01:00:24,370 --> 01:00:30,210
as it is practiced in Africa
and was historically.
777
01:00:30,230 --> 01:00:32,860
What I found out is
that it works
778
01:00:32,880 --> 01:00:34,740
and that is why the why
the French lost their colonies
779
01:00:34,760 --> 01:00:36,140
because they thought
it was entertainment,
780
01:00:36,160 --> 01:00:38,100
but it was really working.
781
01:00:38,120 --> 01:00:42,520
So I come here to take part
in African spirituality,
782
01:00:42,540 --> 01:00:44,680
connect with my
ancestors directly
783
01:00:44,700 --> 01:00:46,760
and it's really nice because
I go to another church
784
01:00:46,780 --> 01:00:49,780
which is a catholic church and
the people on the walls,
785
01:00:49,800 --> 01:00:51,880
on the murals they
don't look like me,
786
01:00:51,900 --> 01:00:53,820
they look like somebody else
787
01:00:53,840 --> 01:00:55,770
and some of like
my great grandmother,
788
01:00:55,790 --> 01:00:57,470
but they don't look like me.
789
01:00:57,490 --> 01:01:00,660
So when I come here I see
representations of spirits
790
01:01:00,680 --> 01:01:06,628
that look like me and that is
easier to connect with.
791
01:01:10,790 --> 01:01:14,800
The ceremony was
generous in more than one way.
792
01:01:14,820 --> 01:01:17,430
It gave me the gift of
a new friend
793
01:01:17,450 --> 01:01:20,070
in the person of
Hassan Sekou Allen?
794
01:01:20,090 --> 01:01:23,010
a charming man with an
incredible breath of knowledge
795
01:01:23,030 --> 01:01:25,760
concerning New Orleans'
complex history
796
01:01:25,780 --> 01:01:31,730
and its ongoing parade
of surprises.
797
01:01:33,153 --> 01:01:37,560
He is very much an ambassador
of New Orleans magic,
798
01:01:37,580 --> 01:01:43,538
even if he is actually from L.A.
799
01:02:15,013 --> 01:02:17,610
I am really interested
in knowing
800
01:02:17,630 --> 01:02:23,603
how the voodoo that bloomed
here in New Orleans
801
01:02:25,023 --> 01:02:30,295
contributed to the evolution of
the different musical genres
802
01:02:32,860 --> 01:02:36,810
that came out of that city.
Can you give me some insight.
803
01:02:38,230 --> 01:02:41,850
Okay, you know that
fundamentally African music
804
01:02:41,870 --> 01:02:44,848
is a rhythmic music,
805
01:02:46,920 --> 01:02:50,520
it's polyrhythmic whereas
European music is,
806
01:02:50,540 --> 01:02:53,500
we speak of polyphonic music,
807
01:02:53,520 --> 01:02:56,180
more than one phonic going on
at a time.
808
01:02:57,600 --> 01:02:59,720
Well, here it is more than
one rhythm going on at a time.
809
01:02:59,740 --> 01:03:03,690
Polyrhythmic democracy,
810
01:03:03,710 --> 01:03:07,680
this democracy of rhythm
which is intrinsic
811
01:03:07,700 --> 01:03:10,960
not only to
African ritualistic music
812
01:03:10,980 --> 01:03:13,770
but also to social music.
813
01:03:13,790 --> 01:03:18,060
And these rhythms
being brought across
814
01:03:18,080 --> 01:03:20,560
I mean really fundamental
815
01:03:20,580 --> 01:03:25,740
to what becomes every strain of
popular music down to today.
816
01:03:25,760 --> 01:03:31,728
The rhythm of for example
the bambola rhythm.
817
01:03:39,148 --> 01:03:40,528
Well, you can hear that
all the way down
818
01:03:40,548 --> 01:03:43,670
to the washboard players on
royal street this afternoon
819
01:03:43,690 --> 01:03:48,620
or the lady that we met at
Sallie Anns place on Sunday
820
01:03:48,640 --> 01:03:51,510
also for a minute tapped into
that rhythm.
821
01:03:51,530 --> 01:03:54,330
You know just naturally, never
having drummed before
822
01:03:54,350 --> 01:03:57,980
she did that bambola rhythm,
isn't that very interesting?
823
01:03:58,000 --> 01:04:00,310
You know and there are
other fundamental rhythms
824
01:04:00,330 --> 01:04:02,030
like what we call the key.
825
01:04:02,050 --> 01:04:08,000
In Afro-Yoruba percussion
it is the clave,
826
01:04:09,220 --> 01:04:12,460
so it is a rhythmic pattern
which I learned is two ways:
827
01:04:12,480 --> 01:04:17,450
hair cut shave shampoo and
shave hair cut shampoo.
828
01:04:19,865 --> 01:04:22,010
Depending on the determination
of the phrase.
829
01:04:22,030 --> 01:04:25,000
Well that rhythm we know
830
01:04:25,020 --> 01:04:27,995
travels through many
different variations.
831
01:04:29,415 --> 01:04:32,400
Bizets Habanera from Carmen
is one variation of it
832
01:04:32,420 --> 01:04:38,370
or the second line beat of the
famous New Orleans bab bab bab..
833
01:04:39,790 --> 01:04:41,170
That is also
one variation of that
834
01:04:41,190 --> 01:04:44,470
one,two,three, one,two,three,
one, two,
835
01:04:44,490 --> 01:04:47,850
That is an important aspect
of the music.
836
01:04:47,870 --> 01:04:53,830
I remember reading about
this man who would sharpen
837
01:04:53,850 --> 01:04:56,280
and would go through
New Orleans neighbourhood
838
01:04:56,300 --> 01:04:59,300
and sharpen like knifes things
839
01:04:59,320 --> 01:05:02,690
like that who apparently carry
the same rhythms
840
01:05:02,710 --> 01:05:06,150
- a vegetable seller,
the ice man.
841
01:05:06,170 --> 01:05:08,610
But even down to the
second line marches
842
01:05:08,630 --> 01:05:13,640
you go to a Mardi Gras parade,
there are 47 crews in row,
843
01:05:13,660 --> 01:05:16,200
most of them use
- highschool,
844
01:05:16,220 --> 01:05:18,550
junior highschool,
elementary school -
845
01:05:18,570 --> 01:05:20,960
bands from the area
846
01:05:20,980 --> 01:05:23,030
and one of the big things is
847
01:05:23,050 --> 01:05:26,310
that these bands have
to have a drum cadence
848
01:05:26,330 --> 01:05:28,150
that is distinctly their own
849
01:05:28,170 --> 01:05:31,270
and if you don't hear bits of
Africa, Haiti and Brazil
850
01:05:31,290 --> 01:05:33,590
through all of that and Cuba,
851
01:05:33,610 --> 01:05:36,340
you aren't listening
because it's out there
852
01:05:36,360 --> 01:05:42,313
and it's happening on the
streets every day in this city.
853
01:06:06,340 --> 01:06:08,540
I've known
David Goat Carson since
854
01:06:08,560 --> 01:06:12,050
my boho days in a now-vanished
New York.
855
01:06:12,070 --> 01:06:14,740
David is a novelist
and songwriter.
856
01:06:14,760 --> 01:06:17,290
He studied with the
blues legend Skip James
857
01:06:17,310 --> 01:06:21,550
and shares a Grammy with
musical collaborator Dr. John.
858
01:06:21,570 --> 01:06:23,930
It wasn't until after he left
859
01:06:23,950 --> 01:06:26,320
New York for New Orleans,
however,
860
01:06:26,340 --> 01:06:29,300
I learned he was
a respected shaman
861
01:06:29,320 --> 01:06:32,290
of the White Buffalo tribe.
862
01:06:34,840 --> 01:06:38,790
You see, this is the most
sacred spot for me.
863
01:06:38,810 --> 01:06:42,470
This is the oldest tree
in New Orleans.
864
01:06:42,490 --> 01:06:45,990
This tree is obviously over a
thousand years old which means
865
01:06:46,010 --> 01:06:49,180
it was a baby when
the crusaders marched
866
01:06:49,200 --> 01:06:51,480
into Jerusalem.
867
01:06:51,500 --> 01:06:55,690
And you see the roots are as
big as the trunk of the trees
868
01:06:55,710 --> 01:06:58,310
and every time I have something
869
01:06:58,330 --> 01:07:00,920
to do that's I feel
life changing
870
01:07:00,940 --> 01:07:03,870
this is where I come to pray.
871
01:07:03,890 --> 01:07:08,840
Look at this, what
a comfortable chair.
872
01:07:13,600 --> 01:07:18,850
I was actually interested in
how Native American practice
873
01:07:18,870 --> 01:07:22,080
merged with African spirituality
874
01:07:22,100 --> 01:07:28,048
that's been a repeating theme
in many of the people
875
01:07:29,468 --> 01:07:32,630
I've talked to
all over this trip.
876
01:07:32,650 --> 01:07:37,140
Here is the story
as it has come to me.
877
01:07:37,160 --> 01:07:39,530
When they moved the slaves here,
878
01:07:39,550 --> 01:07:44,530
when they moved the Africans
their gods became like them.
879
01:07:44,550 --> 01:07:48,560
Powerful gods like Legba would
suddenly be a cripple,
880
01:07:48,580 --> 01:07:53,160
a drunkard, living in rags.
881
01:07:53,180 --> 01:07:57,730
But what happened is that
when they came here,
882
01:07:57,750 --> 01:08:01,360
two peoples with a very similar
understanding of the earth,
883
01:08:01,380 --> 01:08:03,670
the relationship
with the planet,
884
01:08:03,690 --> 01:08:05,980
the relationship
with trees, everything
885
01:08:06,000 --> 01:08:10,940
and they were both being
oppressed by the same guy.
886
01:08:10,960 --> 01:08:12,900
So they came together
887
01:08:12,920 --> 01:08:15,940
and they did this in the hills
and mountains of Haiti.
888
01:08:15,960 --> 01:08:18,130
The natives there, that
Columbus hadn't killed
889
01:08:18,150 --> 01:08:21,720
had run off to the mountains.
890
01:08:21,740 --> 01:08:24,810
So the Africans would do
their religion
891
01:08:24,830 --> 01:08:26,480
which was a devil worship
892
01:08:26,500 --> 01:08:29,090
according to
the catholic church.
893
01:08:29,110 --> 01:08:30,940
They would go up in the woods
894
01:08:30,960 --> 01:08:32,730
and when they was in the woods,
895
01:08:32,750 --> 01:08:34,400
they ran into
the Native Americans.
896
01:08:34,420 --> 01:08:35,800
And they got together,
897
01:08:35,820 --> 01:08:37,370
they began to Powwow,
898
01:08:37,390 --> 01:08:40,660
Powwow originally meant
healing ceremony.
899
01:08:40,680 --> 01:08:43,760
That's what Powwow means.
900
01:08:43,780 --> 01:08:47,840
And they came together
and from this merging,
901
01:08:47,860 --> 01:08:52,710
the Petra, the fire ceremonies,
New Orleans voodoo,
902
01:08:52,730 --> 01:08:56,540
Haitian voodoo came about
through this blend.
903
01:08:56,560 --> 01:09:00,560
Which is where the Mardi Gras
Indian tradition comes from
904
01:09:00,580 --> 01:09:04,640
and I think it is
very telling that
905
01:09:04,660 --> 01:09:08,800
the Mardi Gras Indians
use the Indian.
906
01:09:08,820 --> 01:09:12,450
Cause they gotta had somebody
who fight the Gods of Europe
907
01:09:12,470 --> 01:09:14,330
and so they started talking
to the Indians,
908
01:09:14,350 --> 01:09:17,430
and the Indians fell in love
with the black people
909
01:09:17,450 --> 01:09:19,120
because they thought
they were pretty.
910
01:09:19,140 --> 01:09:21,200
Totally different view,
you know,
911
01:09:21,220 --> 01:09:23,090
white folks they found them
ugly, stupid,
912
01:09:23,110 --> 01:09:25,370
like monkeys but the Indians
thought:
913
01:09:25,390 --> 01:09:30,730
Oh, beautiful, oh, fearless,
powerful.
914
01:09:30,750 --> 01:09:32,980
They had no problem
in falling in love,
915
01:09:33,000 --> 01:09:37,550
not at all and the thing
they had to consider
916
01:09:37,570 --> 01:09:39,600
because the Indians had
no slavery.
917
01:09:39,620 --> 01:09:42,760
If you married, if your slave
married an Indian woman,
918
01:09:42,780 --> 01:09:44,630
that Indian woman was not
your slave,
919
01:09:44,650 --> 01:09:47,130
nor were their children.
920
01:09:47,150 --> 01:09:49,780
They would live
on your plantation
921
01:09:49,800 --> 01:09:51,740
and they would help
their husband
922
01:09:51,760 --> 01:09:53,620
but they would have
their own garden
923
01:09:53,640 --> 01:09:58,540
and they would eventually
buy their husbands freedom
924
01:09:58,560 --> 01:10:01,110
and this is where you get this
925
01:10:01,130 --> 01:10:03,560
whole thing of
free people of colour.
926
01:10:03,580 --> 01:10:05,610
That's like one of the
big New Orleans things,
927
01:10:05,630 --> 01:10:08,050
that's one of the
few places in the south
928
01:10:08,070 --> 01:10:10,290
where there were
free people of color.
929
01:10:10,310 --> 01:10:12,290
It was the only place
in the South
930
01:10:12,310 --> 01:10:14,190
where the Africans were
allowed to drum
931
01:10:14,210 --> 01:10:16,270
cause they were afraid
of the African drum
932
01:10:16,290 --> 01:10:18,450
because it was to much like
the Native American drum.
933
01:10:18,470 --> 01:10:22,290
"They're talking to the Indians,
what are they saying?"
934
01:10:22,310 --> 01:10:25,260
And they would freak out.
935
01:10:42,290 --> 01:10:48,250
I am in my Easter Sunday best.
936
01:10:50,360 --> 01:10:55,220
My brother. How is it going?
937
01:10:55,240 --> 01:11:00,690
Guess what... we have got
a date this evening...
938
01:11:00,710 --> 01:11:04,950
for the opening of Treme.
939
01:11:04,970 --> 01:11:09,330
What time will it be on?
Around 9,9:30?
940
01:11:09,350 --> 01:11:11,950
Something like that.
941
01:11:11,970 --> 01:11:14,560
I don't remember.
It's been so long.
942
01:11:14,580 --> 01:11:18,400
They said, my episode was
on last Thursday.
943
01:11:18,420 --> 01:11:24,090
I've got royalties from the
first Treme episode I shot
944
01:11:24,110 --> 01:11:26,970
That song?
The revelator...
945
01:11:26,990 --> 01:11:28,745
The revelator.
You heard that.
946
01:11:28,765 --> 01:11:30,520
I gave you a copy
947
01:11:30,540 --> 01:11:32,360
Yeah, I heard a copy of it.
948
01:11:32,380 --> 01:11:35,700
♪ John the Revelator knocked
a song to me.
949
01:11:35,720 --> 01:11:39,540
♪ We were given a peek into
the future you see.
950
01:11:39,560 --> 01:11:43,420
♪ What we saw words
can't explain.
951
01:11:43,440 --> 01:11:46,810
♪ No, we just sending pictures
from the astral plane -
952
01:11:46,830 --> 01:11:50,760
♪ visions and riddles
- you connect the dots...
953
01:12:08,540 --> 01:12:11,145
Its hot.
All I can think about is
954
01:12:11,165 --> 01:12:13,770
air conditioning
955
01:12:13,790 --> 01:12:15,890
and the end of the civil war.
956
01:12:15,910 --> 01:12:18,090
And how the newly freed needed
to celebrate.
957
01:12:18,110 --> 01:12:20,890
So they picked up
the brass instruments
958
01:12:20,910 --> 01:12:22,700
discarded in the streets
959
01:12:22,720 --> 01:12:26,170
by the military's departing
marching bands.
960
01:12:26,190 --> 01:12:30,320
A new music evolved out of the
ashes of slavery and war.
961
01:12:30,340 --> 01:12:33,000
This new music was called
a lot of things
962
01:12:33,020 --> 01:12:36,000
but eventually it was called
Jazz.
963
01:12:36,020 --> 01:12:38,880
Jazz is played for all
occassions in New Orleans,
964
01:12:38,900 --> 01:12:44,873
including funerals,
especially funerals.
965
01:12:59,270 --> 01:13:01,870
I am just glad to see
everybody out here,
966
01:13:01,890 --> 01:13:05,330
because I always knew my father
was an icon here in this city
967
01:13:05,350 --> 01:13:08,810
and from the likes
of Jimi Hendrix,
968
01:13:08,830 --> 01:13:10,210
you can name it.
969
01:13:10,230 --> 01:13:12,760
If you wanna go on Youtube
and look at it,
970
01:13:12,780 --> 01:13:15,500
it's all there about my father,
you know.
971
01:13:15,520 --> 01:13:17,270
And my brothers are right here.
972
01:13:17,290 --> 01:13:20,210
I am glad to see them.
973
01:13:20,230 --> 01:13:23,160
Because with our father's legacy
974
01:13:23,180 --> 01:13:26,930
we are all glad to share
with everybody.
975
01:13:26,950 --> 01:13:30,060
Right here. Especially for
this week of Jazzfest.
976
01:14:00,350 --> 01:14:04,120
The technical name is
a traditional funeral
977
01:14:04,140 --> 01:14:05,920
and it comes in two sections:
978
01:14:05,940 --> 01:14:08,420
the first line and
the second line.
979
01:14:08,440 --> 01:14:09,930
The second line is the part
980
01:14:09,950 --> 01:14:11,440
that most people
are familiar with.
981
01:14:11,460 --> 01:14:14,120
But you need a first line
to have a funeral
982
01:14:14,140 --> 01:14:17,290
and in the first line
you have the deceased,
983
01:14:17,310 --> 01:14:20,410
the grand marchall, the band,
984
01:14:20,430 --> 01:14:23,840
and some very close members
of the family
985
01:14:23,860 --> 01:14:28,800
and the person who will
release the spirit.
986
01:14:35,810 --> 01:14:38,240
Once the casket or the urne
987
01:14:38,260 --> 01:14:41,520
or whatever is placed
inside the vault
988
01:14:41,540 --> 01:14:46,110
it is the responsibility and
the honour of this spouse,
989
01:14:46,130 --> 01:14:49,490
partner, child, husband,
whoever is the closest to
990
01:14:49,510 --> 01:14:51,950
the diseased to take
their index finger
991
01:14:51,970 --> 01:14:54,280
and make a gesture
just like this.
992
01:14:54,300 --> 01:14:55,680
And when they do that
993
01:14:55,700 --> 01:14:58,960
they have cut through
an imaginary tether
994
01:14:58,980 --> 01:15:02,520
which has bound
that soul to earth.
995
01:15:02,540 --> 01:15:05,290
When that occurs, generally
those people fall out
996
01:15:05,310 --> 01:15:07,060
cause it's so intense.
997
01:15:07,080 --> 01:15:09,070
But once this gesture is made,
998
01:15:09,090 --> 01:15:11,330
that's when the high steppin,
999
01:15:11,350 --> 01:15:14,350
the baton twirlin,
the umbrella spinning,
1000
01:15:14,370 --> 01:15:19,320
dancing takes place and
that's the second line.
1001
01:15:32,750 --> 01:15:35,130
The living cuts
the teather,
1002
01:15:35,150 --> 01:15:39,040
the spirit breaks free and,
so too, the music breaks,
1003
01:15:39,060 --> 01:15:42,990
reaffirming life,
reaffirming freedom.
1004
01:16:06,490 --> 01:16:08,710
But it's still too hot.
1005
01:16:08,730 --> 01:16:11,700
I love this city,
but after two weeks
1006
01:16:11,720 --> 01:16:14,685
I'm ready for cooler climes.
1007
01:16:48,300 --> 01:16:51,210
I was first introduced
to the work of Ishmael Reed
1008
01:16:51,230 --> 01:16:55,030
by one of my creative writing
instructors in high school.
1009
01:16:55,050 --> 01:16:59,170
Mr. Reed has remained an
influence in my life ever since.
1010
01:16:59,190 --> 01:17:01,390
Slightly more than
ten years later,
1011
01:17:01,410 --> 01:17:04,530
while trying to establish
my own voice as a writer,
1012
01:17:04,550 --> 01:17:06,980
I found myself part of
a group of writers
1013
01:17:07,000 --> 01:17:10,030
and other artists on the
Lower Eastside of Manhattan
1014
01:17:10,050 --> 01:17:12,440
who had descended from
The Umbra Workshop;
1015
01:17:12,460 --> 01:17:15,210
an arts collective Mr. Reed
had been involved
1016
01:17:15,230 --> 01:17:20,810
with in the very early sixties.
1017
01:17:20,830 --> 01:17:23,370
During Mr. Reed's frequent
visits to New York
1018
01:17:23,390 --> 01:17:27,340
I was able to establish a
growing friendship with him.
1019
01:17:28,760 --> 01:17:32,150
What I love most about Mr. Reed
1020
01:17:32,170 --> 01:17:34,880
is his absolutely grotesque yet
incisive sense of humor.
1021
01:17:34,900 --> 01:17:36,280
For example,
1022
01:17:36,300 --> 01:17:38,400
we were discussing
Basquiat's fate
1023
01:17:38,420 --> 01:17:41,780
at the hands of
Andy Warhol.
1024
01:17:41,800 --> 01:17:43,760
"It was like
Renfield's encounter
1025
01:17:43,780 --> 01:17:47,090
with Count Dracula" he said,
1026
01:17:47,110 --> 01:17:52,060
"In the end, Warhol had him
cowering eating flies."
1027
01:18:02,100 --> 01:18:06,020
We've been on the road for
quiet a few weeks.
1028
01:18:06,040 --> 01:18:09,100
We've absorbed a lot
1029
01:18:09,120 --> 01:18:11,680
and we've realized I am just
1030
01:18:11,700 --> 01:18:14,880
scratching the surface
of my subject.
1031
01:18:14,900 --> 01:18:19,200
I think that is the essential
element of all of this,
1032
01:18:19,220 --> 01:18:21,600
that this is a process
that can absorb.
1033
01:18:21,620 --> 01:18:25,720
Unlike Protestantism
where you are with them
1034
01:18:25,740 --> 01:18:27,760
or you are not with them.
1035
01:18:27,780 --> 01:18:32,410
If you want a summary, an
abstract of African religion,
1036
01:18:32,430 --> 01:18:35,290
you can say that it is something
1037
01:18:35,310 --> 01:18:40,160
that always was able to
incorporate new ideas,
1038
01:18:40,180 --> 01:18:44,860
incorporate religions that are
hostile to it.
1039
01:18:44,880 --> 01:18:47,500
Like Christianity.
1040
01:18:47,520 --> 01:18:49,990
I went to a funeral at
The Church of God in Christ.
1041
01:18:50,010 --> 01:18:53,930
This is a church,
a 19th century church,
1042
01:18:53,950 --> 01:18:57,190
they keep the
African tradition going.
1043
01:18:57,210 --> 01:19:02,330
They got the drums,
they got the whole thing.
1044
01:19:02,350 --> 01:19:04,710
Middle class people,
the strivers,
1045
01:19:04,730 --> 01:19:07,650
bourgeoise Afro-Americans
look down upon them.
1046
01:19:07,670 --> 01:19:11,940
In the situation that we are in
in this hemisphere,
1047
01:19:11,960 --> 01:19:17,030
our religions always had to be
one step ahead of the law.
1048
01:19:17,050 --> 01:19:20,160
Our cultures always had to be
one step ahead of the law.
1049
01:19:20,180 --> 01:19:22,890
Always had to improvise.
1050
01:19:22,910 --> 01:19:27,750
Improvisation is something that
we have used as a tool.
1051
01:19:27,770 --> 01:19:30,130
The spiritual force
was able to
1052
01:19:30,150 --> 01:19:34,950
incorporate elements from
other religions and practices.
1053
01:19:34,970 --> 01:19:37,500
If you look at Haitian art.
1054
01:19:37,520 --> 01:19:42,070
I saw a show in Paris and
I saw a show in New York
1055
01:19:42,090 --> 01:19:45,650
where people use scraps,
1056
01:19:45,670 --> 01:19:49,980
they use scraps to
assemble these collages.
1057
01:19:50,000 --> 01:19:52,290
Which is what I do in my work.
1058
01:19:52,310 --> 01:19:54,520
I mean my work is not influenced
1059
01:19:54,540 --> 01:19:58,000
by other writings as much as
by the collage.
1060
01:19:58,020 --> 01:20:01,070
Because that's what the people
I knew in New York were doing.
1061
01:20:01,090 --> 01:20:03,680
The painters were
doing collages,
1062
01:20:03,700 --> 01:20:05,850
the musicians were
doing collages,
1063
01:20:05,870 --> 01:20:07,840
in the sense that if you listen
to John Coltrane,
1064
01:20:07,860 --> 01:20:09,550
Miles Davis and all of them
1065
01:20:09,570 --> 01:20:12,870
they take bits and snatches
from popular tunes.
1066
01:20:12,890 --> 01:20:15,000
They were mixing and sampling
1067
01:20:15,020 --> 01:20:17,670
before these kids had these
machines and everything.
1068
01:20:17,690 --> 01:20:20,060
The blues players
were doing that also.
1069
01:20:20,080 --> 01:20:23,050
Absolutely, so we had
to improvise
1070
01:20:23,070 --> 01:20:26,048
in order to stay alive.
1071
01:20:27,490 --> 01:20:33,458
When we talk about reclaiming
a African based religion
1072
01:20:35,460 --> 01:20:40,960
and how that religion
has informed the identities
1073
01:20:40,980 --> 01:20:46,920
of a lot of Afrocentricists
for example.
1074
01:20:48,340 --> 01:20:53,253
What I find interesting
is that the idea
1075
01:20:54,850 --> 01:20:59,780
of identity becomes meaningless
in the face
1076
01:20:59,800 --> 01:21:03,120
of a genuine voodoo experience.
1077
01:21:03,140 --> 01:21:07,540
You need an interpretation
of religion that is modern.
1078
01:21:07,560 --> 01:21:10,490
That doesn't involve
a lot of paraphernalia.
1079
01:21:10,510 --> 01:21:13,160
I got Eshu (Legba) up there.
1080
01:21:13,180 --> 01:21:16,350
But it doesn't involve a lot
of paraphernalia and ritual,
1081
01:21:16,370 --> 01:21:21,360
and I don't consider myself
a follower of any religion.
1082
01:21:21,380 --> 01:21:24,590
All these saints require
gifts...
1083
01:21:24,610 --> 01:21:26,250
Sustenance
1084
01:21:26,270 --> 01:21:28,570
I think the mind is like that
1085
01:21:28,590 --> 01:21:34,563
and what one does is
to feed the mind.
1086
01:21:39,190 --> 01:21:41,150
I don't feel religion
1087
01:21:41,170 --> 01:21:45,140
can answer complex questions
of the universe.
1088
01:21:47,300 --> 01:21:49,900
The mind is the house
of the spirit unencumbered by
1089
01:21:49,920 --> 01:21:52,790
trappings of ritual and dogma.
1090
01:21:52,810 --> 01:21:56,040
This is the last thought
Ishmael Reed had left me with.
1091
01:21:56,060 --> 01:21:59,000
I ponder this as I leave
Oakland to explore
1092
01:21:59,020 --> 01:22:04,970
how this view might play itself
out in contemporary art.
1093
01:22:40,070 --> 01:22:42,710
With his gifts of sewing
and dance combined
1094
01:22:42,730 --> 01:22:45,010
with a sharp eye
for found objects,
1095
01:22:45,030 --> 01:22:47,050
visual artist Nick Cave
has made
1096
01:22:47,070 --> 01:22:51,120
a unique contribution
to American culture,
1097
01:22:51,140 --> 01:22:53,780
clearly influenced
by the religious customs
1098
01:22:53,800 --> 01:22:59,768
and ritual traditions of
West African masquerade.
1099
01:23:08,390 --> 01:23:13,440
We spent a day looking
at your exhibition in Seattle.
1100
01:23:13,460 --> 01:23:16,070
What I would like to know is
1101
01:23:16,090 --> 01:23:21,710
how you make the transition
from fabric to movement.
1102
01:23:21,730 --> 01:23:24,280
You went to an art school
1103
01:23:24,300 --> 01:23:28,130
but you also have this
interest in dance
1104
01:23:28,150 --> 01:23:33,580
and you manages somehow to find
a way to combine the two.
1105
01:23:33,600 --> 01:23:38,250
What was that process,
that growth process?
1106
01:23:38,270 --> 01:23:41,710
Well, I went to art school
to study art.
1107
01:23:41,730 --> 01:23:45,300
And at the same time
I studied dance.
1108
01:23:45,320 --> 01:23:50,320
So I had these dual majors
at the same time
1109
01:23:50,340 --> 01:23:56,293
and was interested at some point
1110
01:23:57,713 --> 01:24:01,120
in this sort of collaboration
of these two disciplines.
1111
01:24:01,140 --> 01:24:03,320
I can look at it as
a sculptural object
1112
01:24:03,340 --> 01:24:08,260
but then I also can
think about it as something
1113
01:24:08,280 --> 01:24:11,170
that can be brought to the body.
1114
01:24:11,190 --> 01:24:16,390
And then how does the body
inform that object?
1115
01:24:16,410 --> 01:24:18,480
May it be through performance,
1116
01:24:18,500 --> 01:24:20,470
may it be through photography,
1117
01:24:20,490 --> 01:24:26,430
may it be through
a collaborations.
1118
01:24:39,858 --> 01:24:41,460
I read an
interesting story about
1119
01:24:41,480 --> 01:24:46,950
how you came upon
the twig sound suit.
1120
01:24:46,970 --> 01:24:52,930
You were gone through
a period of questioning yourself
1121
01:24:54,350 --> 01:24:57,650
or more importantly
questioning the idea
1122
01:24:57,670 --> 01:25:01,010
what it meant to be
a black male in this society
1123
01:25:01,030 --> 01:25:06,080
around the time of
the Rodney King beating.
1124
01:25:06,100 --> 01:25:10,620
You know that horrific incident
was very sort of emotional.
1125
01:25:10,640 --> 01:25:13,320
Particularly for me
as a black male.
1126
01:25:13,340 --> 01:25:17,130
To think about the role
of racial profiling.
1127
01:25:17,150 --> 01:25:21,260
What I was responding to
was the sort of readings
1128
01:25:21,280 --> 01:25:24,560
and how they brought
description to his character.
1129
01:25:24,580 --> 01:25:29,180
Larger than life, worked out
with prison weights.
1130
01:25:29,200 --> 01:25:33,050
Six men me to bring him down,
scary.
1131
01:25:33,070 --> 01:25:34,930
and just trying to visualize
1132
01:25:34,950 --> 01:25:37,960
what that would look like
as an image.
1133
01:25:37,980 --> 01:25:41,710
And then I created this sort of
suit in response
1134
01:25:41,730 --> 01:25:47,690
to looking at materials
that were discarded.
1135
01:25:49,110 --> 01:25:52,210
And then I realized that
I saw this as sculpture
1136
01:25:54,480 --> 01:25:57,030
and I didn't even think that
1137
01:25:57,050 --> 01:26:00,600
I could physically
put this thing on.
1138
01:26:00,620 --> 01:26:03,160
Then I put it on and
then I was thinking:
1139
01:26:03,180 --> 01:26:07,010
am I making a sort of
second skin?
1140
01:26:07,030 --> 01:26:08,730
A suit of armor?
1141
01:26:08,750 --> 01:26:11,570
Something to protect my spirit.
1142
01:26:11,590 --> 01:26:15,060
And then I started
to think about, you know,
1143
01:26:15,080 --> 01:26:19,340
the role of a Persona and
hidden identity
1144
01:26:19,360 --> 01:26:23,840
and the fact that the sound
suits hide
1145
01:26:23,860 --> 01:26:26,410
gender, race, class and so
1146
01:26:26,430 --> 01:26:28,350
you are forced to reckon
1147
01:26:28,370 --> 01:26:31,680
with something
without judgement.
1148
01:26:31,700 --> 01:26:34,720
It made me think about myself
as an artist differently.
1149
01:26:34,740 --> 01:26:40,695
That there is something more
behind this than I realized.
1150
01:27:15,820 --> 01:27:18,190
My exploits may have
taught me a few things
1151
01:27:18,210 --> 01:27:22,260
but the Hoodoo road is still
a lonely place.
1152
01:27:22,280 --> 01:27:24,680
So it was good to be back
in New York
1153
01:27:24,700 --> 01:27:26,890
with my gumbo of friends;
1154
01:27:26,910 --> 01:27:29,670
who, by the way,
were celebrating my return
1155
01:27:29,690 --> 01:27:35,630
by preparing a pot of gumbo.
1156
01:27:40,020 --> 01:27:46,000
Do we have all the celery
and everything together?
1157
01:27:50,640 --> 01:27:53,750
Who first taught you
how to do Gambo?
1158
01:27:53,770 --> 01:27:56,080
My mother.
1159
01:27:56,100 --> 01:27:57,480
And she learned it from...
1160
01:27:57,500 --> 01:28:03,440
..a book...
1161
01:28:05,310 --> 01:28:09,740
A year a ago I called
all my friends
1162
01:28:09,760 --> 01:28:13,740
and I asked for their
gumbo recipe and I mixed them...
1163
01:28:13,760 --> 01:28:16,860
I mixed them all together.
1164
01:28:16,880 --> 01:28:22,490
So we are using her roux
and her fond
1165
01:28:22,510 --> 01:28:25,410
but the sauteeing of the shells
1166
01:28:25,430 --> 01:28:28,330
comes from a friend
in Mississippi
1167
01:28:28,350 --> 01:28:30,250
and the use of okra
1168
01:28:30,270 --> 01:28:35,870
is the staple of my aunt
and my cousins.
1169
01:28:35,890 --> 01:28:40,610
You use fishheads in yours?
1170
01:28:40,630 --> 01:28:44,040
I use fishheads, shrimp
shells,
1171
01:28:44,060 --> 01:28:50,003
and vegetables for the fond and
I cook it over night...
1172
01:28:51,423 --> 01:28:56,898
Here's the folklore: when I
went to Togo several years ago.
1173
01:28:58,980 --> 01:29:02,140
I wanted to get okra stew,
right?
1174
01:29:02,160 --> 01:29:06,390
In Ghana, okra stew is like a
really important dish.
1175
01:29:06,410 --> 01:29:11,170
Obviously, Ghana is anglophone
and Togo is francophone,
1176
01:29:11,190 --> 01:29:12,960
so I was having a hard time.
1177
01:29:12,980 --> 01:29:14,800
No one knew what I meant
when I said okra.
1178
01:29:14,820 --> 01:29:17,450
Like: okra! Like: okra stew!
1179
01:29:17,470 --> 01:29:20,140
And they were like, oh, Gambo!
1180
01:29:20,160 --> 01:29:22,840
Ca c'est gambo en francaise.
1181
01:29:22,860 --> 01:29:25,190
So I found out then
1182
01:29:25,210 --> 01:29:30,170
that the word for okra in
francophone West Africa,
1183
01:29:31,590 --> 01:29:33,990
in the Dahomé region, is gambo.
1184
01:29:34,010 --> 01:29:36,980
And basically that's
how Gumbo became Gumbo
1185
01:29:37,000 --> 01:29:40,320
in the Louisiana basin,
in that area,
1186
01:29:40,340 --> 01:29:46,288
because the principle
ingredient was okra.
1187
01:29:47,708 --> 01:29:51,000
But then there was
the Native American
1188
01:29:51,020 --> 01:29:53,510
influence with the sassafras.
1189
01:29:53,530 --> 01:29:56,540
That's what I came about.
1190
01:29:56,560 --> 01:29:58,050
And I was just curious.
1191
01:29:58,070 --> 01:29:59,670
The reason why I brought that up
1192
01:29:59,690 --> 01:30:02,180
was that I was just curious
1193
01:30:02,200 --> 01:30:06,300
if the two of you had
the okra/gumbo argument...
1194
01:30:06,320 --> 01:30:10,710
We just had an argument about
how to make Gumbo,
1195
01:30:10,730 --> 01:30:15,240
because I asked her if
I'm partially using her recipe
1196
01:30:15,260 --> 01:30:16,930
and she said:
1197
01:30:16,950 --> 01:30:19,630
"No, I don't make it like that"
and I am just like:
1198
01:30:19,650 --> 01:30:22,360
"What's Gumbo without ocra?".
1199
01:30:22,380 --> 01:30:23,760
I mean: Gumbo IS okra!
1200
01:30:23,780 --> 01:30:25,160
So I understand that
1201
01:30:25,180 --> 01:30:27,090
you want to deny
a whole line of tradition
1202
01:30:27,110 --> 01:30:29,870
where there's a lot of people
who make gumbo not with okra.
1203
01:30:29,890 --> 01:30:31,270
And that's okay?
1204
01:30:31,290 --> 01:30:34,500
But Gumbo is okra and it
wouldn't be called Gumbo
1205
01:30:34,520 --> 01:30:36,480
when it didn't have okra in
it...
1206
01:30:36,500 --> 01:30:40,880
That's okay... there is
lots of kinds of Gumbo.
1207
01:30:40,900 --> 01:30:42,830
I agree.
1208
01:30:42,850 --> 01:30:45,540
Would you like to way in
on this discussion.
1209
01:30:45,560 --> 01:30:47,160
We always use okra.
1210
01:30:47,180 --> 01:30:51,460
I think the idea of Gumbo,
the metaphor,
1211
01:30:51,480 --> 01:30:56,590
is that it's a stew that
combines
1212
01:30:56,610 --> 01:30:59,760
a lot of different cultural
elements and blends them.
1213
01:30:59,780 --> 01:31:01,160
Absolutely.
1214
01:31:01,180 --> 01:31:02,560
Okay.
1215
01:31:02,580 --> 01:31:06,690
And your technique can be drawn
from a lot of different regions.
1216
01:31:06,710 --> 01:31:10,390
I think that's the point of
Gumbo.
1217
01:31:10,410 --> 01:31:14,700
What I understand is that
okra wasn't native to this area
1218
01:31:14,720 --> 01:31:17,990
and it was brought over in the
hair of the enslaved women.
1219
01:31:18,010 --> 01:31:19,450
That's the folklore.
1220
01:31:19,470 --> 01:31:22,910
It would be interesting to be
really like research.
1221
01:31:22,930 --> 01:31:28,890
Yeah, to do the research...
1222
01:31:35,490 --> 01:31:38,480
I'm not playing
on this dinner party.
1223
01:31:38,500 --> 01:31:41,180
I just want to get
something to eat.
1224
01:31:41,200 --> 01:31:42,920
Why didn't you just
put that in this.
1225
01:31:42,940 --> 01:31:45,540
Cause it was
too hot to handle.
1226
01:31:45,560 --> 01:31:48,210
But you can handle me,
can't you?
1227
01:31:53,810 --> 01:31:59,800
- Diverse Voices -
1228
01:32:06,230 --> 01:32:07,610
That was amazing.
1229
01:32:07,630 --> 01:32:10,690
Tell me what you think
of the magazine...
1230
01:32:10,710 --> 01:32:12,090
Yes Baby.
1231
01:32:12,110 --> 01:32:14,660
I see you all on facebook...
1232
01:32:14,680 --> 01:32:17,060
Please somewhere else!
1233
01:32:17,080 --> 01:32:18,460
I'm free.
1234
01:32:18,480 --> 01:32:20,350
That's why you've got
to make me
1235
01:32:20,370 --> 01:32:22,890
the mixtape with the free songs.
I'm free...
1236
01:32:22,910 --> 01:32:25,880
Allright, got you...
1237
01:34:01,220 --> 01:34:03,570
I know I've only
scratched the surface
1238
01:34:03,590 --> 01:34:05,520
of what I what I've been
looking for.
1239
01:34:05,540 --> 01:34:07,050
But the one thing I learned
1240
01:34:07,070 --> 01:34:09,580
standing among the tombs
of New Orleans is,
1241
01:34:09,600 --> 01:34:11,490
that the spirits of
the dead must be
1242
01:34:11,510 --> 01:34:13,790
set free to do their work
1243
01:34:13,810 --> 01:34:17,180
in order for the living
to continue their own.
1244
01:34:18,903 --> 01:34:22,500
Its no wonder my home
feels like a mausoleum.
1245
01:34:24,923 --> 01:34:28,200
I know now what I must do.
1246
01:37:50,780 --> 01:37:55,080
Glinda looms large,
drizzling a rain of star dust.
1247
01:37:55,100 --> 01:38:01,020
I can hear the beat of her
electronic drum.
1248
01:38:01,040 --> 01:38:05,480
I click my ruby heels.
1249
01:38:07,900 --> 01:38:09,280
♪ Hey my man,
1250
01:38:09,300 --> 01:38:11,940
♪ You know, who's cooking
up that jive,
1251
01:38:11,960 --> 01:38:14,370
♪ selling it to these
folks 'round town,
1252
01:38:14,390 --> 01:38:17,620
♪ makin 'em have them
funny dreams.
1253
01:38:17,640 --> 01:38:19,020
♪ Well, you ve got them.
1254
01:38:19,040 --> 01:38:20,420
♪ That s right.
1255
01:38:20,440 --> 01:38:22,980
♪ Somebody done hoodoo'd
the hoodoo man
1256
01:38:23,000 --> 01:38:25,650
♪ Ol' Joe Hannah
from Lousiana,
1257
01:38:25,670 --> 01:38:27,940
♪ A hoodoo king
in every manner
1258
01:38:27,960 --> 01:38:30,350
♪ But I found out
without a doubt,
1259
01:38:30,370 --> 01:38:32,840
♪ The tables had turned on him
1260
01:38:32,860 --> 01:38:35,950
♪ He ain't got a tooth
in his head,
1261
01:38:35,970 --> 01:38:37,940
♪ Poor Ol' Joe is almost dead
1262
01:38:37,960 --> 01:38:42,510
♪ Somebody done hoodoo'd
the hoodoo man
1263
01:38:42,530 --> 01:38:44,770
♪ 10, 10,
double 10, 45, 15,
1264
01:38:44,790 --> 01:38:47,120
♪ Joe cant drink no gin
1265
01:38:47,140 --> 01:38:49,330
♪ And nothing goes over
the devil's back
1266
01:38:49,350 --> 01:38:51,790
♪ that don't buckle
under his chin
1267
01:38:51,810 --> 01:38:54,040
♪ His face looks just like
gravel sand
1268
01:38:54,060 --> 01:38:56,900
♪ And everybody's got Joe
on the pan
1269
01:38:56,920 --> 01:39:02,490
♪ Somebody done hoodoo'd
the hoodoo man
1270
01:39:02,510 --> 01:39:08,500
♪ shabada, duu, bab
1271
01:39:08,520 --> 01:39:13,500
♪ shabada, dii, da da da
1272
01:39:13,520 --> 01:39:16,500
♪ shabada, bii, bii, du
1273
01:39:16,520 --> 01:39:21,000
♪ shaba, dup, di, di, da...
1274
01:39:21,020 --> 01:39:27,510
♪ shaba, dup, di, di, di...
1275
01:39:27,530 --> 01:39:32,085
♪ da, da, dab, ba, dap,
oh, ip, pi...
1276
01:39:43,540 --> 01:39:46,720
♪ Oh man, you re making
me hungry
1277
01:39:46,740 --> 01:39:49,330
♪ Somebody done cooked up
some stuff in a pot,
1278
01:39:49,350 --> 01:39:51,710
♪ Not too cold and not to hot
1279
01:39:51,730 --> 01:39:53,970
♪ They put a few drops in
Joe's beef stew
1280
01:39:53,990 --> 01:39:56,480
♪ Now he's blowing his top,
he don't know what to do
1281
01:39:56,500 --> 01:39:57,950
♪ They don't know who did it
1282
01:39:57,970 --> 01:39:59,350
♪ They can't find out
1283
01:39:59,370 --> 01:40:04,653
♪ But he's done hoodoo'd his last
hoodoo without a doubt
1284
01:40:06,073 --> 01:40:08,440
♪ Somebody done hoodoo'd -
1285
01:40:08,460 --> 01:40:12,440
♪ Done hoodoo'd the hoodoo man.
101894
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