Music and Cultural Memory
The film for this lesson, The Language You Cry In, tells a similar story about a Malinke song that was preserved among the Gullah people of South Carolina and passed on across many generations. It also offers an interesting perspective from the Malinke people about the return home of the children of their ancestors. So much of the narrative of the African American experience revolves around the elements of African cultures that were lost or forgotten during the processes of enslavement that people are usually quite surprised when they encounter a direct connection their “African” heritage. A more recent example comes from the experience of Dimas Sanchez who was doing research for a book about the Afro-Puerto Rican dance and musical style known as Bomba. As part of his research he interviewed Thobos Lubamba, a musician from the Democratic Republic of Congo. At one point during the interview Dimas was blown away when when Thobos began to identify the rhythms of Bomba music with a specific place in the DRC and specific villages where they are performed. He was even more surprised when Thobos explained that the word “bomba” has a very specific meaning in KiKongo (you will have to watch this video to find out what it is:
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