The DISH
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Vol. 8 Issue 27…Dedicated
to the Dialogue on Race…July 8, 2005
Sissieretta Jones (1869-1933)
Born January 5, 1869 in Portsmouth, Virginia to African
Methodist Episcopal minister Jeremiah Malachi Joyner and Henrietta Beale
Joyner, Matilda Sissieretta Joyner became American's leading prima donna. In
1876, her family moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where she attended the
Meeting Street and Thayer Schools. At age fourteen (14), Sissieretta married
David Jones, a news dealer and hotel bellman.
A soprano, she began formal music training with Ada Baroness
Lacombe at the Providence Academy of Music in1883. At age 18, she attended the
New England Conservatory in Boston and studied with Flora Batson, the leading
singer of the Bergen Star Company.
While performing at the Music Hall in 1887, concert managers
Abbey, Schoffel and Grau saw Sissieretta and brought her to New York, where she
successfully debuted at the Wallack Theater in 1888. The manager of famed
Italian operatic star Adelina Patti recommended she tour with the Tennessee
Jubilee Singers of Fisk University. While touring with the Fisk University
Singers, she received the first of many medals she wore during her performances
at home and abroad.
Sissieretta performed for three presidents at the White House
and before the Prince of Wales. She toured South America and Europe, appearing
at the Wintergarten in Berlin and Covent Garden, England. She appeared with
Antonín Dvorák and was the first black to perform at Carnegie Concert Hall.
After her appearance in the "Grand African Jubilee" at Madison Square
Garden in New York (1892), Sissieretta drew international acclaim. Stunned by
the New York Clipper's theatrical critic racially categorizing her as
"the Black Patti" - referring to Italian soprano Adelina Patti- Sissieretta
insisted on being called "Madame Jones."
Her many gifts from admirers included a medal from President
Hippolyte of Haiti, a bar of diamonds and emeralds from the citizens of St.
Thomas, an emerald shamrock from the Irish people of Providence, and a diamond
tiara from the governor-general in the West Indies. She often wore 17 medals
across her chest during performances. Following her European tour, Sissieretta
noticed she encountered far less racial prejudice there than in the United
States. "It matters not to them the color of an artist's skin. If a
man or a woman is a great actor, musician or singer, they will extend a warm
welcome. It is the soul they see, not the color of the skin."
Although Sissieretta signed a contract with Major J.B. Pond,
manager of well-known singers and lecturers, that raised her fees to as high as
$2,000 for a week's appearance at the Pittsburgh Exposition, the highest ever
paid to a Black artist, her compensation did not compare to Adelina Patti's
$4,000 a night. Racism controlled black success. The Metropolitan Opera
considered her for a leading role but rejected her because of her skin color.
Frustrated that racism limited venues for black artists,
Sissieretta formed a troupe known as the Black Patti Troubadours. It combined
vaudeville, minstrel, musical review and grand opera. For almost 20 years,
Sissieretta performed excerpts from such operas as Lucia, Il
Trovatore, Martha, Faust, and El Capitan.
Sissieretta became ill in 1913 and retired to Providence, where
she devoted her later years to church work and caring for homeless children and
her ailing mother. She died on June 24, 1933 at age 74 in Rhode Island.
(Source: www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/jone-sis.htm)
The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is experiencing the
joys of summer with a twist. He is working on Saturdays with a family member.
When asked for comments, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro, who normally avoids work
like the plague, remarked, "It's work! But, a man needs money is his
pockets!"
Minstrels, Blackface and Movies
By John Burl Smith
History shows
American theater began aboard slave ships that brought Africans to the
Americas. Those "performances" were compulsory. Slavers forced blacks
to dance and sing while crossing the "Middle Passage." Such notables
as James Weldon Johnson and W.E.B. Du Bois believed that minstrelsy
"constituted the 'only completely original contribution' of America to the
theater." Minstrel shows developed during the 19th century as whites tried
to emulate blacks and perform their music. This art form not only became the
impetus for ragtime, jazz, blues, bluegrass, country and rock 'n' roll, it is
the bedrock of America's entertainment culture.
Emblematic of hip-hop,
minstrel music and shows, the earliest indigenous form of American
entertainment, were extremely popular during the 1800s and early 1900s.
Originally, between acts of plays or during intermission, whites in
"blackface" impersonated stereotypical black behavior or black
musicians singing with banjo accompaniment on city streets. Few blacks were
allowed on stage before the Civil War, but ironically, at least six companies
of "blackface" white actors toured the country performing adaptations
of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Blacks did not own "minstrelsy" and most did not profit from it. They
were simply the brunt of its cruel racist jokes. Bert Williams and George
Walker are prime examples of this hypocrisy. Probably the best known of the
black minstrels, they billed themselves as "Two Real Coons." Even
though they introduced plots to the minstrel structure and pioneered musical
comedy, Williams and Parker still performed in "blackface."
For a short time between 1900 and 1910, black owned theaters increased, and
black syndicates developed. Over 30 black shows were produced in black
neighborhoods and on Broadway between 1890 and 1915. By the early 20th century
variety, vaudeville acts and limited roles on Broadway allowed more blacks to
survive as entertainers. However, "minstrelsy" was still the mainstay
for black actors. Movies were slowly becoming the most popular form of
entertainment, and some blacks saw new opportunities in film. A dynamic writer,
publisher, director, producer and filmmaker, Oscar Micheaux broke new ground
for black actors. (Sources: www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/BlackFilm.html and www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html)
The Drama in Drama
Short-lived, the African Grove Theater in New York City was the
first exception to blackface performances. Organized by William Alexander Brown
(1821), blacks played Shakespeare, produced dramas and variety shows.
Newspapers agitated until a white mob attacked blacks performing roles that
defied stereotypes. After two years of harassment, the theater shut down but
the audacious attempt inspired blacks for decades.
Oscar Micheaux, the most prolific independent filmmaker in US
cinema between 1919 and 1948, wrote, produced and directed forty-four
feature-length films. Micheaux left South Dakota to start a film company to
turn his novel, The Homesteader, into a movie. At a time when white
film companies only saw blacks through the minstrelsy lens, Micheaux used all
black casts and crews to produce ground breaking, image changing, politically
relevant films that blacks poured into theaters to see.
During this period, black theaters and theatrical companies were
the major source of revenue for black actors and producers. Anita Bush formed a
company in 1915 at the Lincoln and Lafayette Theaters in Harlem. White liberals
founded the Gilpin Players in Cleveland. At the Pekin Theatre in Chicago, black
actors played roles they were barred from playing on Broadway.
After 1917, whites tried to write dramas about blacks. Plays
like Edward Sheldon's Nigger, and Eugene O'Neill's Emperor Jones
and All God's Chillun Got Wings led to black roles on Broadway. The
1920s and '30s saw Shuffle Along, Edna Ferber's Showboat and
George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. While Charles Gilpin, Paul Robeson
and Florence Mills were the toast of Broadway, white companies continued
stereotyping blacks.
Community theaters, university theaters, small amateur drama
groups and professional black companies provided few opportunities for black
performers. The Federal Theater Project's (FTP) Negro unit of the Works
Progress Administration was highly controversial. Designed as the cutting-edge
of New Deal philosophy, it was supposed to confront racial stereotypes, instead
it produced Marionette Vaudeville with stringed puppets dancing to minstrel
tunes or Little Black Sambo performed by puppets with black faces and
"thick red lips." In general, unless a black like Micheaux was in
charge, blacks continued to play stereotypical roles or bit parts until the era
of "Blaxploitation films."
Blaxploitation Films
Applied to a genre developed during the early 1970s,
Blaxploitation films' primary targets were African-American audiences. They
introduced black characters living in urban settings, listening to funk and soul
music and looking like everyday black people. Plots usually featured
anti-establishment heroes, opposing the man, defending the community and trying
to make a big score. Although involving drugs, prostitution and other crimes,
getting back at the "man" in a system that had exploited black people
since slavery, justified the films.
In 1971, black films experienced a rebirth. A low-budget French
film by a black man, Melvin Van Peebles, called Sweet Sweetback's
Baadasssss Song put the world on notice. It was a radical departure. Sweet
Sweetback was not polite. He fell like a bombshell and the reverberations were
felt throughout the US. For the first time, a black man raged, fought and
provoked fear as a masculine hero. Melvin Van Peebles and Sweet Sweetback
opened the floodgate and allowed 400 years of oppression and indignation to
rampage.
No more train porters, waitresses, shoeshine boys, black bucks,
coon or mammy "blackface" stereotypes. Every black man adopted the
"Memphis sanitation strikers" mentality and was ready to stand up and
fight. Coupled with black power, seeing black men like Shaft, the Mack and
Superfly getting over by killing, robbing, and outwitting whites, then getting
away scot-free was more liberating than "40 acres and a mule."
Blacks both hailed and denounced blaxploitation films for their
sexual rawness, macho heroes and for depicting blacks as oppressed and
militants as heroes. Blaxploitation films were about more than simply
reinterpreting black stereotypes. The issue came down to blacks defining
themselves, designing their own heroes and establishing a value system
independent of whites. Blaxploitation films were about a new kind of pride.
Making money and controlling it was the thing. The mass production of
independent films like Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Shaft, The
Mack and Superfly meant blacks in all areas of film making got opportunities,
experiences and knowledge that had been almost exclusively the province of
whites since slavery.
For more about this genre of films, visit the World Wide Web and
your local video store. (Sources: www.blackflix.com and www.producersguild.org)
40 Acres and a Mule
By Oscar Brown, Jr.
If I am not mistaken I
once read
Back during that short
spell I spent in school
Where every slave set
free was s'posed to get
For slaving, 40 acres and
a mule
Now ain’t no tellin' how
much work was done
By my ancestors under
slavery's rule
But sure as hell the
total's got to run
At least to 40 acres and
a mule
Now I'm not saying this
to see folks sweat
'Cause I'm not bitter,
neither am I cruel
But aint nobody paid for
slavery yet
About my 40 acres and my
mule
We had a promise: that
was taken back
And when we hollered it
was, "Hush, be cool!"
Well me, I'm bein' rowdy,
hot and black
I want my 40 acres and my
mule
Don't tell me not to get
myself upset
Don't look at me like I'm
some sort of ghoul
Just answer quietly, when
do I get
My goddam 40 acres and my
mule
No thanks; I'll take my
own self out to lunch
No thanks, I'll dig me my
own swimmin' pool
And lay and play around
with my own bunch
If I get 40 acres and a
mule
'Cause interest's got to
go on just like rent
I may be crazy, but I
aint no fool
One hundred years of debt
at 10 per cent
Per year, per 40 acres
and per mule
Now add that up
....OOooeee, looka there!
No wonder y'all called
great gran'ma a jewel
Just pay me that and call
the whole thing square
Yes, Lordy; 40 acres and
a mule
About Me: The multi-talented Oscar Brown, Jr., who died May 29, 2005,
defied labels. For more about Brown’s life and work, log on to www.oscarbrownjr.com.
"Love Doctor" (excerpts, response to the AJC article)
By Tiy-E Muhammad
I would like to thank those who have supported me in my career
here in Atlanta, and across the country. I have been blessed with opportunities
to teach people how to have healthy relationships. A recent article in the
Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC 6-22-05), tried to paint me as a
"phony," therefore, this statement is to clarify any confusion about
my credentials.
I earned my bachelor's and master's degrees in counseling and
education from Eastern Illinois University. I began my post-graduate work at
the University of Southern Illinois in Carbondale and completed my Doctoral
program, earning a Ph.D. in Psychology from an online university. Like most
fields, when you complete your course work and begin working, you have the
right to call yourself a Psychologist.
I started working as the head of counseling at Morris Brown
College and then went on to teach in the Psychology department at Clark Atlanta
University. I have never claimed to be a "licensed psychologist." I
did like many others, Iyanla Vanzant and Dr. Phil, who call themselves
"life coaches." I am also a "licensed sex therapist" here
in Georgia.
As for my company, "Man II Man Development, Inc.," it
is a community-based organization that is dedicated to uplifting Inner City
Youth. It has not yet been classified as a "non-profit," however,
that process is underway. I have never made a penny from the work that I have
done with several churches and youth groups through Man II Man Development,
Inc. My company, Man II Man Publishing, is the for profit arm of Man II Man
Development, Inc. That is the company under which I earn money from book sales.
As far as my role on The Real Gilligan's Island on TBS and
various local radio stations, they have all called me either "Professor
Tiy-E or the "Love Doctor." I am thankful for the opportunity to work
in those environments. As a "life coach" I pray that God continue to
use me to help save relationships and teach people how to love themselves. I
thank Him for preparing me for a life full of joy and pain. Thank you again for
your continued support and concern. For more information please visit www.drtiye.com.
On Tiy-E
This issue of The DISH was designed to show that
since slavery, blacks in America have been seen as caricatures not people.
Intended to ridicule slave behavior and appearance with ludicrous
exaggerations, the minstrel show trivialized slaves' conditions and distorted
the cruel and inhumane treatment slaves endured. Moreover, whites harassed and
lynched blacks to maintain the minstrel image of inferiority in their minds
long after slavery ended. The slave master mind-set still dominates white
attitudes toward blacks today.
Following this scenario, an article in the AJC (6-22-05) by
Andrea Jones tarred Dr. Tiy-E Muhammad as a "phony psychologist." The
American news media has always functioned as an attack dog to tear down blacks.
This was true for Sissieretta Jones, Marcus Garvey, Paul Robeson, Malcolm X,
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and most recently Michael Jackson. No exception,
Tiy-E was berated for everything from his education to participating in the TBS
reality show "The Real Gilligan's Island." However, the AJC's article
should have been a reality show called "The New Get Smart."
Emulating Maxwell Smart, AJC reporter Jones put Tiy-E under a
magnifying class, critically examining his credentials, work history, community
service, even "his crisp white pants, embroidered denim blue shirt and
black leather Gucci sandals." Slinging suppositions and innuendos like
mud, the AJC charged Dr. Muhammad flimflammed his way to fame and fortune. This
hatchet job is reminiscent of how newspaper critics labeled Sissieretta, Oscar
Micheaux and blaxploitation films.
As in those cases, Tiy-E is providing opportunities for aspiring
young actors like Yohannes Sharriff and Atlanta director Janean "Lady
J" Hightower to gain priceless knowledge and invaluable experience on
stage as his book, "Secrets Men Keep," becomes a play. Attacking
Tiy-E as a fraud on such flimsy evidence creates an air of suspicion around
other black producers looking for financial backers, such as Robert Townsend,
Tim Reid and Bill Duke. If William Alexander Brown had not persisted with the
African Grove Theater when attacked by whites and newspapers of his day, there
may not have been an Oscar Micheaux, blaxploitation films, the Wayans Brothers'
In Living Color's Wanda, "the world's ugliest woman," or Ray
and the Academy Award winning performance by Jamie Foxx.
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