Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora

358 Pages·2013·3.571 MB·English

by  Shana L. Redmond

Anthem
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Anthem
Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity
in the African Diaspora
Shana L. Redmond
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2014 by New York University
All rights reserved
Parts of the Introduction and chapters 1 and 2 were previously published as “Citizens of
Sound: Negotiations of Race and Diaspora in the Anthems of the UNIA and NAACP,” Black
and African Diaspora: An International Journal 4, no. 1 (2011): 19–39.
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that
may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Redmond, Shana L.
Anthem : social movements and the sound of solidarity in the African diaspora / Shana L.
Redmond.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-8932-2 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-8147-7041-2 (pb)
1.  African Americans—Music—Political aspects. 2.  Anthems—Political aspects. 3.  Civil
rights movements—History—20th century. 4.  Music—United States—Political aspects.  I.
Title.
ML3917.U6R43 2013
782.42089’96—dc23
                                                            2013023733
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials
to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Also available as an ebook
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: Anthem: Toward a Sound Franchise 1
1. From Race to Nation: “Ethiopia” and Pan-African Pageantry
in the UNIA 21
2. Extending Diaspora: The NAACP and Up-“Lift” Cultures
in the Interwar Black Pacific 63
3. Songs of Free Men: The Sound Migrations of
“Ol’ Man River” 99
4. Women’s Work: “We Shall Overcome” and the Culture of the
Picket Line 141
5. Soul Intact: CORE, Conversions, and Covers of
“To Be Young, Gifted and Black” 179
6. Sounds of Exile: “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” and ANC
Ambassadors 221
Conclusion: The Last Anthem: Resonance, Legacy, and Loss
at the Close of the Century 261
Notes 289
Index 331
About the Author 345
>> v
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Acknowledgments
Anthem is the product of labor; it is some of the evidence of years of
reading, listening, interpreting, writing, conversing, and soul search-
ing. It is also a labor of love, however, due to the many people whom
it brought me into contact with, formally and informally. It is a nearly
overwhelming honor to thank the many people who have oriented me
on my life’s course. To imagine the many hours spent on my behalf by
the individuals and communities acknowledged here is humbling. The
names on the printed page do not do justice to most of the relationships
that I signal, but I nonetheless take this opportunity to try to make your
efforts legible.
In a very real sense, my intellectual genealogy begins with those who
taught me as a child in Wisconsin. Their support helped me to develop
the determination that has made all of what I’ve done possible. Thank
you Mona Lewis, Patricia Dickert, Greg Nyboe, Rick Weigel, Mary Jo
Perry, Wm. Mark Murphy, and especially Everett McKinney. My time at
Macalester College introduced me to the “life of the mind” with a three-
dimensionality that I continue to note and cherish. The friends with and
from whom I learned so much are still with me: Sarah Fuentes, Cyndy
Harrison, Chad Jones, Grant Loehnig, Sele Nadel-Hayes, Auyana Orr,
Kwame Phillips, and Kara Von Blasingame. Professors Mahmoud El-
Kati, Robert Morris, and Leola Johnson fomented my passions for the
study of Black life and culture and trusted my process, even as they
challenged me on it. Peter Rachleff has, for more than a decade, been
my biggest cheerleader. He modeled for me the political necessity of
this work as well as its limits, encouraging me to be the intellectual
that I desired to be while also being the activist that I needed to be. For
being my mentor and so much more, I thank him.
The journey begun in the Midwest led me east to a community of
thinkers who continue to influence my every action. While at Yale
University I had the pleasure of being part of numerous contiguous
>> vii
viii << Acknowledgments
communities who made me again, helping me to get closer to the
promise of this work and this life. A shout-out to my peoples who sus-
tained me: Mike Amezcua, Kimberly Juanita Brown, Martina Forgwe-
Fongyen, Stephanie Greenlea, Brandi Hughes, Nicole Ivy, and Melissa
Mason. Aaron Carico, Amanda Ciafone, Alejandro Delgado, Dan Gil-
bert, Chris Johnson, Uri McMillan, Bethany Moreton, Theresa Runst-
edtler, Melissa Stuckey, Brandon Terry, and Sam Vong helped me to
process and fight as well as smile and laugh. My colleagues in GESO and
the broader UNITE HERE community in New Haven challenged me in
ways that I couldn’t have predicted and sharpened my analysis of the
academy and other industries. Thank you Jeffrey Boyd, Brenda Carter,
Mandi Isaacs-Jackson, Mary Reynolds, and David Sanders, the mem-
bers of Locals 34 and 35, and organizers Lisa Bergmann and Andrea van
den Heever. I so appreciate the university staff who labored in order to
make my path a smooth one: Janet Giarratano and Geneva Melvin held
me down during my time in African American studies, Liza Cariaga-
Lo and Pat Cabral in the Office for Diversity and Opportunity coun-
seled and supported me, and Yvette Bernard was a generous aide as I
sought employment. During my studies Glenda Gilmore and Paul Gil-
roy sat and thought with me, Alondra Nelson facilitated my growth as a
teacher, and Gerald Jaynes and his partner Pat graciously opened their
home to me on a research trip. I had the good fortune to train under
three amazing scholars while at Yale—mentors who believed in me
and my project and continue to provide guidance: my profound grati-
tude is offered to my chair, Hazel Carby, for attuning me to the stakes
of this work, her wise counsel, and good humor; Michael Denning for
his critical eye and contagious enthusiasm; and Matthew Frye Jacobson
for his big-picture narrative and constant encouragement. In addition
to those on my committee, I had the opportunity while in New Haven
to learn from two individuals who continually show me how to be a
better scholar and person: David and Martel Montgomery embody the
courage and integrity that I aspire toward every day. I am so proud to
call them family. Though David has departed, he is with me now and
always.
Beyond my institutional affiliations, I have been mentored and cared
for by scholars who model for me how theory meets praxis. First among
them is Robin D. G. Kelley, an incomparable thinker, mentor, and
Acknowledgments >> ix
comrade. Vijay Prashad and Ruth Wilson Gilmore ground and inspire
me. George Lipsitz has been a constant reservoir of knowledge and zeal.
This book was made possible through the brilliance and friendship of
two men with whom I shared limited time but unlimited benefits; I
often smile at thoughts of Rudolph P. Byrd and Clyde Woods, two fierce
and observant men who made every community that they touched bet-
ter and who have forever marked my thinking, my work, my life.
I have benefitted from a number of intellectual communities along
this path. The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship and Social Sci-
ence Research Council continue to be a resource for me all these years
later; the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers grew my confidence
and my opportunities; the Erskine Peters Dissertation Fellowship at
the University of Notre Dame assisted me in finishing and brought me
into communion with Richard Pierce; a year in the James Weldon John-
son Institute for the Study of Race and Difference at Emory University
connected me to Dr. Byrd, Calinda Lee, Lawrence Jackson, and Vin-
cent Lloyd, and allowed me time to write; as did the Woodrow Wilson
Career Enhancement Fellowship for Junior Faculty, which additionally
made possible the important counsel that I received from Brent Hayes
Edwards. Funding through the Advancing Scholarship in the Humani-
ties and Social Sciences fellowship from the University of Southern
California facilitated my passage to South African archives. Archival
workers across the country and world made this project viable; thank
you to those librarians and archivists at the Beinecke Rare Book and
Manuscript Library at Yale University where the project began, the
Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison), and the Library of Congress. I
especially thank Steven Fullwood and his colleagues at the Schomburg
Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City and Randall
Burkett at the Manuscript and Rare Book Library (MARBL) at Emory
University. In South Africa, the staff of the National Heritage and Cul-
tural Studies Centre at the University of Fort Hare (UFH) provided the
space and resources necessary to excavate crucial materials. Bernhard
Bleibinger of the Music Department at UFH was a gracious host and
guide, and Graeme Gilfillan of the ZM Makeba Trust offered important
documents and information while I was in Johannesburg.
Robin D. G. Kelley, Vincent Lloyd, and Fred Moten read the
entire manuscript. They understood the passions of this project and