Leimert Park: Foot Prints Through Leimert
Carlos Nino/Sol Oni
English 103 Research Paper
Introduction: Shining Light
"I Believe with brotherhood, there would be no poverty...there would be no war. Music
is an expression of higher ideals...brotherhood is there." John Coltrane
Leimert Park is an area in Los Angeles known to many as a center point of Afro-
centric arts and music-and to many, just a place to hang out. It is not much of a sight if
you are going to the park for a picnic and want to be lost in a great stretch of grass.
However if you are trying to uncover the history of progressive forms of improvisation
and unyielding, bold exhibitions of music and the arts in Los Angeles, this might be the
first place that you should go.
Spanning only a small area of land it would seem that one could easily confine
Leimert to certain street crossings-a confining that is impossible and that should be
avoided when looking at any community. When I asked some residents how they
would define the boundaries in Leimert, people responded, ÒLeimert, itÕs just this small
park. Look itÕs small...No really, go down from Crenshaw [east] to 8th Ave., and from
Vernon [north] to like Stoker. Take Crenshaw [east] all the way to Arlington, then take
say Leimert [north] to like Martin Luther King from like Vernon. Boundaries, what do
you mean by boundaries? Leimert is the way you see it. It is, what you make it.Ó
The street signs are only really useful if you are trying to find something on a map.
The truth, is that most maps do not distinguish areas by their people and businesses.
The streets are merely signs, or markers that help to allow a person to travel through
the maze of cities. Just as words are used for communal, you may take words in a
conversaation to mean something to you, but a full understanding of the conversation
can only be reached when people are mindfull of their full ability to recieve and to give
vibrations. The streets, can at best be links between different communities, the symbol
of a vibration. The streets in no way have an impact on the actual functions of the
people and businesses that inhabit them, just as words often don't. The people impact
each other and create myth by street action. People impact one another through their
individual contribution to the whole. The way a person carries themself, speaks, and
acts are the things that we look at in regard to our own self attitudes and motions.
When changes are made in a community or in a society, mentally or geographically it
is because people go into action, not because a new street is erected, though a new
street may be erected if people are to join in erecting it. The people and businesses
make up the attitude of the area. It is not the streets themselves that you see. It is
important to understand that all of the people who have ever happened upon Leimert
Park will take a piece of it with them where ever they may go.
This is true about every place. In particular though, Leimert Park is very rich in its
internal resources, making the influence that it has great. The resource comes in the
shape of dedicated teachers, and continuous utilization of materials for creation. The
distinction can be made of people who make things out of materials and people who
create materials with which they make things. It is the span of the influence of the
people and their personal and collective creations that can be the only true boundary.
And even that boundary is not something that is concrete. It is a boundary that can
never be fixed. I focus on music as the root element of a communities uprising into
itself because music cannot be defined through words for the purpose of
discriminating to create boundaries. Without the use of music and the involved
celebration of the conectedness that we all share in life through music, uniting us in
common modes of communication (verbal and motional,) communities would not be
able to stand upright. Leimert Park has grown from a similar focus.
The Davis Brothers: "Teaching Made It Happen!"
Leimert Park has gone through many changes over the years since itÕs birth in the
early Twenties. From its inception by land developer Walter E. Leimert and his
covenant to have no Black men or woman able to buy or rent land, Leimert Park has
gone through intense transformations, being now a beacon in Los Angeles continuing
to progress and involve itself in culture. The people that live, work, govern, and patron
the area have changed in different times and for many reasons. As the expansion of
Los Angeles and other regions of neighboring California continues, so does the study
to try and figure how that expansion started, and from where. How has industry and
culture expanded in its involved tangles throughout this history? Leimert was in no
way the offspring of some larger effort by people to create an ideal community. It was
the product of this expansion and is luckily blessed with a layout that makes it
accessible to the foot traffic of its people, who knew that it could be a "pocket, an
exclusive out of the way area." Thought of by many as the "key point between Watts
and Hollywood," Leimert is a shining example of community and the ever engrossing
struggle that comes from trying to maintain a rich business function while promoting,
supporting, and participating in the arts, as is what Watts is in part , and as is what
Hollywood may claim to be.
Much of what we know of Leimert today came from the daring, grueling, risks made
by Dale and Alonzo Davis during the third wave of changes in that area. These too
young brothers worked as students and teachers, spearheading one of Leimerts
essential organs, The Brockman Galleries. Brockman, the maiden name of their
mother, was a series of galleries run by artists who worked lived and created in these
spaces. Closed in the early 90's, Brockman Galleries still remain one of the key
movements in the development of Leimert's progression. Dale Davis said that the
whole idea had the theme of "combating racism," that is so often the learned delusion
of inferiority or superiority complexes based on class and ignorance-causing hatred.
Coming from the understanding that it would be difficult if not impossible to be an artist
at that time, in the late 60's and still be able to support a family, or just a bachelor life,
these brothers embarked on, and largely, in full, accomplished the mission to create
solidarity for the communities artists, by the artists. For the most part, Black people
showed their work in "bank and church basements, or outside in the park some
where," says Dale. Alonzo had the original idea to have the galleries based around
the Black artist and Black experience, while including all others who would participate,
and with the help of his brother, the torch that is Leimert Park was lit. Dale said that he
and his bother, "knew that they could create, or recreate the communities that we had
seen from traveling in other parts of the world, like Jamaica, that celebrated the arts."
He stressed, "that the decisions to go ahead with the galleries were like a reflection of
how we had been raised, to look out for one another...though we had no experience,
we gave it our best shot." Funded by their "relentlessness," and their own dollars, the
galleries started to grow with small grants and further, "word of mouth," from
neighboring communities that also started their own movements in the 60's, such as
the Watts Writers Workshop, Studio Watts, "a clay workshop," and others.
Leimert, in the 60's was thought of as the "west side," and it had already been
attracting a "middle class and more affluent kind of people, viewed at times by those
who didn't know better as sell outs." The big question was how to get all different
kinds of people together to buy and look at the art? Of course the answer was to bring
music into the swing. Dale said that "it was important to be a part of carnivals and
festivals in the past so that we could do it ourselves." And festivals they had, built in
full by the artists and volunteers, and people came, "they brought a more non-
sophisticated audience, non art literate, and the middle class, people of all ages"-and
the birth took place. When they became involved with the government organization
CITA, the grants got larger and their capacity to facilitate even larger park exhibitions
during festivals was possible. "When we got hooked up with CITA we were able to
train people and hire musicians for all sorts of things. We had total sovereignty, no
one outside could tell us what to do," said Dale. Since everyone was welcome to
involve themselves, there didn't' t ever have to be outsiders!
Dale is a long time teacher of ceramics, sculpture, and jewelry making at Dorsey High
School, a proud father of two, and an inspiring, dedicated, neighbor. Alonzo is also
teaching in the US. Dale said, "you had us if you participated, "meaning that if there
was some effort put in by some, that the rest would be there to support the collective.
Even Jack Sydney, the son of the woman who had owned the store fronts on Degnan
street where the galleries were, though conservative like his family, was very
supportive and did his share as the owner to participate with us...he believed in what
we were doing." During several of the high times that the galleries went through, the
Davis Brothers tried to buy the buildings. They were unable able to for several
reasons though, with what they did, Dale expresses "things in Leimert are limitless.
You have a cultural body that has established a history that is rebuilding itself-vital,
poetic, current..." Indeed!
Beyond All That Jazz
ÒFor almost every activity in the life of the individual or the community there was an
appropriate music; it was an integral part of life from the hour of birth to beyond the
grave.Ó This is a very important observation about the African, or Nubian cultures
made by Olaudah Equiano, the first Black man to write a book in English. Leimert
Park tries in many ways to identify itself with some of the universal laws of the African
culture by incorporating music into all of its functions.
As the expression of Olaudah Equiano implies, Jazz, a piece of the Blues, a Black
music, a piece of the worldÕs folk music, is an integral part of life. L.A. has a
paradoxically long, and glorious Jazz history. It has moved from Watts, Central Ave.,
and Mid-City club scenes to Leimert Park. The history has been filled with horror,
though there is no questioning the glory that Jazz has been brought to life it and
conversely the genius that has been lost in itÕs game. The history of Los Angeles's
Jazz has been largely marginalized to that of New York and New Orleans, but it
shouldn't be. There is a great wealth of artists and music to write a new chapter.
In Los Angeles, musicians have struggled with fierce racism, police brutality,
segregation, and a systematic, mechanistic, enslavement in the club scene as in many
other places. The artist has had to try and maintain their work playing-entertaining,
while they compose and create. This is the case for many musicians around the world
and a common affair for the Black musician in the United States. Though some of
these Jazz musicians had a great deal of success, even in the white clubs, there did
not exist any real solidarity and autonomy in the United States for so-called jazz men.
However, many Jazz musicians did search to regain the root forms that were played by
their ancestors. The more revolutionary communal movements and union efforts did
not exist to entertain and smile at the rich white audiences. The music in these cases
was for something more. It was intentionally mastered to bring life to the celebration
of community, and the common struggles we all face in life.
These musicians worked to heal and to strengthen communities. Through the fog of
the hyped, wonderful, surface stories of Jazz and its players, a dark and foul reality
was clear. Though some fought Jazz and its wrath of heroin, prostitution, and cocaine
that was taking over many musiciansÕ habitat, they did succeed to divide and conquer
or make Jazz a commodity for mass consumption.
In the dreadfully depressing book Beneath The Underdog by Los Angeles native
bassist and composer Charles Mingus, the author drives home the point that jazz is
nothing more then a shuffling for Òthe man,Ó and that it is a part of the over all limitation
that to which outsiders have tried to confine Black music. He writes, ÒJazz has too
many strangling qualities for a composer... if music lovers knew the wealth of talent
being wasted in the name of Jazz, theyÕd... refuse to settle for the crap theyÕre getting!
How many Jazz musicians would stay in the clubs if they could even make a living
playing in parks and simple places without the big build-up thatÕs now an absolute
necessity for survival? ... guess IÕll have to leave Jazz - that word leaves room for too
much fooling.Ó He argues a lot about certain words. But he is really upset with how
they are used and what the words have come to mean, from more humble beginnings.
He says of his own music, Òthere once was a word used, Swing. Swing went in one
direction, it was linear, and everything had to be played with an obvious pulse and
thatÕs very restrictive... I use the term Ôrotary perception.Õ If you get a mental picture of
the beat existing within a circle, youÕre more free to improvise. People used to think
the notes had to fall on the center of the beats in the bar at intervals like a metronome,
with three or four men in the rhythm section accenting the same pulse. ThatÕs like
parade music or dance music. But imagine a circle surrounding each beat. Each guy
can play his notes anywhere in that circle and it gives him a feeling he has more
space. The notes fall anywhere inside the circle but the original feeling for the beat
isnÕt changed.Ó
In the book As Serious As Your Life, photo-journalist and author Valerie Wilmer,
discusses, Òthe new music.Ó The Ònew musicÓ was a movement within the jazz
underground that tried to heighten the innovation of improvisers and to uproot the
hindrance of conventional methods of expression, to reunite the Black man to his
home in ÒAfrica,Ó and to create new ways for collective development. In the intriguing
section dedicated to the drummer, Ed Blackwell explained what he had experienced in
Morocco and Ghana on one of his quests to learn about the ritual and traditional
practices of his ancestors. He said, Ò... they would be playing with these very strict
rhythms but there would be so much freedom because each one would be doing a
very simple rhythm yet the whole thing would be complex in its simplicity... Some cats
would be playing maybe just a bunch of eighth notes, and somebody else would be
playing maybe sixteenths, and another might be playing quarter note triplets... When
you heard the overall thing, man, itÕd make you tap your foot.Ó Blackwell went on to
explain further how he feels that the drums can be expressed harmonically. ÒThe
drummer has to really hear the drums as a singing instrument.Ó Jazz, like most labels
is very constricting. The book has some truly wonderful insights, including a dozen
references to Leimerts musical father, drummer Billy Higgins. The people who have
tried their best to further the building of a strong foundation for Jazz casualties and
young musicians have had it the hardest! They chose not to take the easy way out,
Like Horace Tapscott and his Pan-Afrikan Arkestra that was dedicated to lifting the
fetters of the "Jazz scene," and the despair of the artist who had no where to turn. Both
Higgins and Tapscott live and do work in Leimert.
Footprints And Inspiration
You wonder what would let you know that you were entering Leimert Park rather
than another community in South Central Los Angeles, or in Los Angeles County, or in
California. Leimert is in Council District 8 which spans from Central to Figueroa in the
Southeast, Hoover to Van Ness in the Southwest, Florence and Martin Luther King
(MLK) in the South, Exposition to Santa Monica Freeway in the North, and La Cienega
to Van Ness in the West.Ó One merchant that I spoke with told me, Òit looks and feels
like a village, even like an East Village, with the streets open for pedestrians to travel
from around shop to shop.Ó As pointed out to me , ÒLeimert is blessed with the ÔTÕ or ÔI,Õ
that leaves it open for foot traffic," and which secludes it from the furious traffic of
Crenshaw. First you might notice the businesses between Crenshaw and Leimert on
43rd Place, the top of the ÔTÕ. Or you may notice the park itself. On a Òjazz caravan,Ó
you might have stopped by, but who knows what is really going on here?
On 43rd Place, you will find a small coffee house called 5th St. Dicks, founded about
five years ago. This place is home to many up and coming artists in the jazz world of
L.A. as well as many artists who have already established a name for themselves. The
business is managed and run by Richard Fulton, and as he explains, he "was
homeless on skid row, 5th St., and my name is Richard,Ó in regard to how the name
came to be. Richard was homeless for nearly 15 years. Leimert is the reflection of the
triumphs that men and women, like Richard, have achieved.
In front of his small space, which is in the process of being expanded, Richard has
set up tables for people to engage in chess matches. The environment is tranquil and
at the same time it is charged with an energy felt when around close family and old
friends, or the tension of people on the verge of out cry. Take about ten steps east and
you will be in front of The Vision Theater owned by actress Marla Gibbs. This theater
is a big, seldom used space for the performing arts. Gibbs is the owner of many other
buildings in the area as well, such as spaces that are used for acting clinics and night
clubs. Two more steps and you will be in front of the newly erected Great Negis, also
run by Richard, Òa word smith shop,Ó that is home to various poetry and art exhibitions.
Two more steps and you will be in front of the once I Fresh, now Kaos Network, run by
Ben Caldwell, a Vietnam veteran and Cal Arts professor. Ben teaches both
animation and film making courses out of his space, that he says "is the space's main
focus." This space is also an art gallery that sells African jewelry that Ben collected
throughout his time in Africa. We sat in his spot discussing what Leimert was
composed of and how it has come to function the way that it does. First of all, like
many of the people who work in Leimert, including its district council representative
Mark Ridley Thomas, Ben lives in Leimert. His main objective has been, "to have a
total community and to have a space that people can come to realize in, that the
culture is going through a healing process-people coming together to create a heart."
He started working with the Davis brothers in the Brockman Galleries which he felt
was the "only artistic focus in the area-1975." Ben has felt strongly that "community is
about people coming together to create a heart." He has made a film on Leimert for
PBS called "Word, Music, Power." He is in the process of arranging, with other
merchants, the Leimert Art's Council to focus on the aspects that the Leimert Business
Council does not.
Since 1995 it has been largely Ben who has "brought in the strong youth culture, to
Leimert." His Kaos Network is the meeting place for some of L.A.Õs most talented
young freestyle rhymers. These rhymers congregate in a battle like seminar called
Project Blowed. Project Blowed has been running strong for nearly two years as a
Thursday night Hip-Hop gathering. Kaos Network has also been the home for
negotiations between rival gangs, including the Bloods and Crips, that have brought
about their Òtruce.Ó
Across the street from these places, is the actual park. No matter what time you go
there or on what day you will see a wide variety people: the young and old,
roughnecks, rude boys, and homeless, and the creative and the addict. They have all
made claims to this small stretch of grass that is interrupted by a robust and ugly
fountain.
One of the greatest things about this community is that there is no certain age group
or type of people dominating it. Whether it is listening to music and poetry or playing
chess, people are always doing something. In the park people have demonstrations
for human and civil rights. They have joined together in the efforts to have political
prisoners in this countryÕs jail system released. The park is used for educational
displays by different people who want to discuss history and religion that is rarely
discussed elsewhere. Where do you come from?
The Music: Drum Circle
Music is always at the center of the operations of Leimert Park, as it is at the center of
many things in the world. For the most part it reflects the pulse of any given time.
Where so called ÒjazzÓ has been limited to being a truly ÒAmericanÓ creation, the real
truth about the music in Leimert, like jazz, is that it is Black Music or "collective music
rather than a competative music." The activism of this community is strongest in its
music. The festivals and workshops, that have helped to further the music tradition, are
wonderful. The voices of all that have ever been to Leimert are present in its music.
In the city you have all kinds of influence. Many people fall to the strains of having to
hustle in a job or on the streets. The consciousness that is crucial to peopleÕs growth
is found here in this Black arts and business Mecca, no matter how many beauty,
barber, hair, or b.b.q. places you might find. The consciousness is created through the
music.
In Leimert, you cannot help but feel surrounded by the drums of Africa. The drum is
not afraid to talk about the horror. The drum is not afraid to encourage joy. The drum
tells it like it is, just like the ancient Yoruba religion Ife, from Nigeria. Onje of the only
Ife temples around is in Leimert. Leimert is an inspiration as it is a wake up call to
many. The best way for me to explain to you what I mean is to tell you about the drum
makers and the griots. A griot is the verbal historian who relays all of the tribal stories
in rhythmic structure. In Africa, he is the keeper of tradition and family.
Walk north on Degnan from 43rd Pl. to Bak-Tu-Jua and you will find Òa little big
manÓ named Juno Lewis. He is one of the most gifted musicians anywhere. He lives
above an African clothing and crafts store designing trumpets, and percussions. He
describes himself as Òa man of tribalism, not commercialism.Ó This to him explains why
he is not featured on more recordings, though he was just signed to make a CD for
Impulse Records. This 65 year old man was brought up in New Orleans and has a
keen way of describing his ancestry. He was in the drum and bugle core as a kid and
is now a nomadic instrument maker and sound innovator. After playing some time with
John Coltrane, Juno was known for his distinct vocal and percussive improvising. On
the albums Kulu Se Mama(Juno Se Mama), and Selflessness, Juno expresses how
the drum maker is the center point of the music.
Leimert is the drum maker of Los Angeles in many ways and as Juno explained it to
me, ÒLeimert is rich because it gives back. You cannot expect people, whose goal is to
make money, to be able to know how to administer it. They have to learn. The people
here are doing a good job of that.Ó That is why he chose to make his home in Leimert.
He went on to further say that he feels music is important because, Òit doesnÕt kill
anybody. I donÕt want to kill any body! he saysÓ
Juno is very perceptive as is Sika, the owner of Bak-Tu-Jua. Sika is a jewelry maker,
merchant, and local artist, as well as the one only people who knows the history of
Leimert, it was he who told me to track down the Davis Brothers.
I sat on the sidewalk, in front of Bak-Tu-Jua, which is about 20 foot steps from the
World Stage. The drums have rarely been expressed so melodically, sensitively, and
so ferociously than by Billy Higgins, founder of the World Stage. He and one of
LeimertÕs prize poets, Kamau Daoud, run this spot that has existed for the purpose of
show casing some of the finest progressive musicians that have ever come to Los
Angeles. Players from all over the world are sure to stop and say hello to Billy when in
town. He has played extensively with the likes of Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, Pharoah
Sanders, Dexter Gordon, Gary Bartz and Bobby Hutcherson. Kamau, along with
running the ever popular record store Final Vinyl, next door to 5th St. Dicks, was one of
the founding fathers of the Watts poetry movement that started in the mid Ô60s. The
drummers and the griots go hand in hand preserving and strengthening culture,
fueling the festivals and teaching the young. Two steps away from the World Stage
is Ramsees Inc. This is the place where stained glass, t-shirt, canvass, and sticker
designs are made. All of the themes that Ramsees paints and draws are of black
musicians, artists, and leaders. When I asked them about Leimert they explained that
Òit is not only a Black art community but you got an Asian laundry on the corner and an
Asian upholster. You got Mexican food too. There are doctors, dentists, bakeries, and
eye wear across the street...Ó The businesses that she pointed out, also make up a
large part of the areaÕs layout and are in no way isolated from the music. ItÕs like a
trend. ÒYou want this positive energy around your business.Ó
On the west side of Degnan across from Bak-Tu-Jua, you will see Museum in Black.
The Museum in Black was founded about ten years ago. ÒStudy in black,Ó as it says in
Arabic on the front window. This is a very good way to describe what this museum is
all about. Brian Breye runs this place and all of itÕs operations. He says, Òif you know
from where came, you know where you should be. The Museum in Black is the study
of a culture and people and before you can consider the things in here art, you must
consider the spirit of the art.Ó
To further explore the importance of the griot in Leimert, it is a must to step into this
drum of historical artifacts. The griot passes along history. This museum is the home
of the symbols of that history. Brian has been named the honorary mayor of the
community. Even without this title, it is clear that there are no others in the area that
have such a huge impact on it. With a strong sense of pride, Brian said that "about this
time (when he started in the mid 80's,) a few galleries were opening. Now, it is Òthe
oasis and the watering hole.Ó Brian said, Òno area in the United States can compare to
this one. There is a cohesiveness between the financial, educational, and business
matters. There is a great level of tenacity and pride. I even sweep the sidewalk.
These are the things that keep Leimert in tack. You know itÕs Leimert from the
banners, flowers, and well-kept, flourishing businesses.Ó Brian is as much Leimert
Park as anyone or anything. ÒI was shot at, spit at, and locked up. But no matter how
you look, no matter the hardships, such as the riots, we have overcome. Here, there is
a hodge-podge of things, people from all over.Ó
From four feet high mummies with ornaments and limbs glued with blood to large
posters of Little Sambo, this museum tells the story of the riches of Africa, the horrors of
the African in America, and the African becoming a part of America. The assortment is
dizzying. Nearly every kind of weapon, every kind of instrument, crafts, sculptures,
paintings, slave shackles, books, records, plants, African tools, photographs of
lynching, and pictures glorifying the triumphs of black leaders in this country can be
found in many variations at the museum. The museum shows the sheer honesty that
is good and evil, happiness and despair all goes together. The plight that men and
women have had to face in order to stay alive is tremendous. This museum celebrates
the triumphs of all people who are involved in the struggle and upkeep of humanity.
Leimert Park is one of the only places that I know of that you can see these kinds of
things...It is rare that a community would support so many educational facilities, and
the music goes on.
4. Development: Hip-Hop
DoinÕ It In The Park: The Ideal
From the celebrating of the drum, to its legendary ÒjazzÓ artists, to its embracing of
Hip-Hop, Leimert Park has been at the for front of culture and education. In Leimert,
people have worked hard to build a strong and vibrant community for the arts. Strong
expresses the artsÕ deep roots in traditional forms and purpose. Vibrant expresses the
wondrous ways that these artsÕ are celebrated, through festivals, jam sessions,
workshops, and exhibitions. In some ways Leimert has become that food, and that
shelter. ÒEach man has a job to do and when he realizes what it is, he develops a
personal technique about himself and it comes out in his music. Some peopleÕs job is
to stay in the community because of the need for their knowledge to raise the young
warriors. If all the warriors left the village, the young boys wouldnÕt have anybody.Ó
Music is the life force of our world and is a rudimentary element in every facet of our
creativity. Rhythms and sounds are around us from birth and are with us in death.
Music brings us in tune with the oneness of all things, the oneness that truly is beyond
the duality of concepts expressed by words.
The spectrum of questions that we ask ourselves about our origin as beings and our
purpose on Earth span the depths of our imagination. Every attempt that we could
ever make to answer these questions is expressed through music. Even when deaf,
rhythms dance in countless ways. The questions we ask will continue to be pondered
for the duration of our existence. It will continue to change, in our collective reality, as
we continue to experiment with sounds and harmonies. There are many ancient and
new age methods that people have studied in an attempt to find the truth and to
understand the universe beyond. We question these methods, practices, and our faith
to no end, rarely realizing that our opposition to a non-discriminatory way of thinking is
what binds us to our hurt. Music cannot discriminate. Ultimately it is something
beyond all that we could conceive it being.
Saxophonist Albert Ayler said that Òmusic is the healing force of the universe.Ó We
suffer from birth, perplexed with the anguishing reality that we are going to die. We
suffer because we want more than what the music gives. We then wonder what drives
us to our desire. We have a way to transcend this suffering and the disparity of our
thoughts-music. In protest and in meditation we chant, clap, and dance...music.
Music is often expressed through words. The very question of what the words mean,
whether we are aware of it or not, are things that we try to understand in depth. Where
do these words come from? How does language develop and evolve? If we are
going to read and write and try to relate our experiences to others, we must first know
what the words mean and be conscious that the words take forms in different way with
the conceptualization and recall of the person hearing or reading them. We must
allow our diversity to be our bond and our words in action to be the cultivators of that
bond.
Words serve as a link, an element of the music, a common tool for our
communication. Even more importantly than the actual word is how the words are
used, accented, and stressed, like notes or keys. Unfortunately, often with words
comes an expression that is discriminatory, for Òin conceptualizing we cut reality into
small pieces that seem to be independent of one another.Ó Besides just being a
common tool for basic communication, words express concepts. There could never be
any separation between the subject and object of the expression and when we try to
identify, classify, and define, we loose sight of the actual purpose of the actions that we
make. There is no separation from moment to moment. Just as the world has seen
many forms of expression, these forms cannot be independent of the creative process
that we all share.
Griots use words in music with the talking drum; hieroglyphics tell stories through
drawings. Both of these forms of expression allowed people to pass on their history
and express respect for the Òmost high.Ó Today people of the world write and recite
poetry, write words on the wall, and dance, just the same. Nothing has changed-
except for maybe the degree and intensity of the forms. But who can say?. People
can believe many different things, but they all communicate them through languages
in tune with rhythm. Communication is any thing that helps one person relate
something to another person, even silence. There are countless dimensions and
depths that we travel through trying to relate and understand. These travels are not
separate from right now, this very moment, they do not depart or return.
The music may be inspired by the belief that there is prophecy that we must live by,
directly given to us by a supreme God through prophets who lead us. The music may
be inspired by the belief that all life is the variation of dream scapes wrapped into time
and space, that are ever expanding. You may be dreaming now... ÒWhether the world
is finite or infinite, limited or unlimited, the problem of your liberation remains the
same,Ó says the Buddha. Some make music by their practice of meditation to realize
full mindfulness and compassion, in the incessant work of emancipation from ÒKarma.Ó
It really doesnÕt matter what guides and influences you individually, because we are all
a part of one living process, a musical process. We are constantly restimulating our
lives, leaving our footprints, by way of creation.
Music transcends the limitations that we set for our lives by discrimination based on
the selfish and internal narcissistic tendencies of clinging to the ÒI.Ó Music is the
causeway to understanding and togetherness. Whether they express these things or
not, music and the arts are the only things that we have that are not agents of injustice,
death, or hatred. Music is not a business, an entertainment industry about recording.
Music does not pimp or exploit. The process to create music cannot be blemished, it
stays sacred and divine!
For everything in life, there is music, ever changing, splendid, and communal. Music
has had a place in every ceremony celebrating every part of the community from
ancient times, battles, hunts, victories, defeats, judiciary proceedings, trades, spiritual
festivals, weddings, prayer, and reenactments of important historical events. The core
of the community is its people and as the heart beats, the relentless rhythms of our
creative being make music.
Drum circles may have been the first communities. At every point in the progression
of the human race, there have stood thriving communities. These communities are
shinning examples of the triumphs of our collaborative creativity. No matter what we
may find, communities are the reflection of our most involved attempts to answer the
unanswerable through governing, markets, agriculture, and festival.
Carlos Nino-Sol Oni
Leimert Park:
Footprints
Fall 1996
Bibliography:
1. Hanh, Thich Nhat. Zen Keys. New York: Image Books., 1974
2. Kofsky, Frank. Black Nationalism And The Revolution In Music. New York:
Pathfinder Press.,1970
3. Mingus, Charles. Beneath The Underdog. New York: Vintage Books., 1971
4. Southern, Eileen. The Music Of Black Americans: A History. Newe York: Norton &
Company., 1971
5. Wilmer, Valerie. As Serious As Your Life. London: Pluto Press., 1977