vampireapologist-archive-deacti:
vampireapologist-archive-deacti:
GIVE TO THE BLACK BANJO RECLAMATION PROJECT
Transcript: Hey y’all! Mallaidh Anne here.
If you’ve followed me for any time at all you know that I’m a huge fan of folk, bluegrass, country, and every single sound around or between those genres. You’ll probably also know that I myself play banjo, and the Appalacian lap dulcimer.
And so that’s why I’m super excited for a project I found out about today, and really want to spread the word to y’all.
So some people don’t know, and it’s a damn shame that they don’t know, but the banjo is actually an instrument with West African roots. And so so much of the music we love today in those genres would not exist without the influence, the work, the collaboration, and the musical mastery of Black Americans. And I mean now we’re getting people in Europe who make music based on that sound. Mumford and Sons is knowns, for example, for their banjo pluckings.
And so if you enjoy music like that - and even if you don’t, if you just want to give back in some way to the people who have the roots and the rights to these instruments and this music - I’d really love for you to follow the link in the description below and consider giving back to the Black Banjo Reclamation Project.
This project is putting banjos back in the hands and the laps of the people who should be learning how to play them. It’s providing lesson space, facilities, teaching, and teachers, and the instruments themselves, to Black people.
I mean, this is super awesome. As someone, myself, who plays banjo, and has often been vocal about the roots of these instruments, and wished “ugh, I-I wish more people knew, because so many people dismiss banjo and country as the white hillbilly genre and instrument” - and this is coming from a white hillbilly - the fact is, like many arts, especially in America, it’s a genre that was made good in the first place by the work of Black people, and then white people were the ones who became famous for it, because that’s what white people wanted to consume.
And so now it’s been considered this white art, but it’s not; its roots are so rich in Black America. And so I think it would be really, really great if you would consider giving a few dollars, if you have any to give, to this project.
I don’t have much to give, but I gave some, and now I’m trying to spread the word, and you can too.
Go ahead and go to the GoFundMe and consider giving back, because it’s so cool that somebody organized this, and now all that we have to do is try to contribute. They’re doing so much work, and now we can help them along the way in our own way.
So please consider giving to the Black Banjo Reclamation Project, please consider reading up on it, please consider looking into the history of Black music and how it has influenced folk music around the world; that would be really awesome.
If you enjoy these instruments, if you like listening to them, if you like playing with them, if you’ve never even thought about them in the first place and now you’re curious, please just get on Google and give it a look. Start looking into old country, I mean OLD country, start looking into true folk, not stadium folk, start looking into bluegrass, and find out how Black influence and collaboration and work made these genres what they are today. That would just be wonderful.
And then, while you’re doing that, give some money to the Black Banjo Reclamation Project.
Thank you so much for considering giving. This is a huge deal, and I really hope it takes off and puts these instruments back into the hands of the people who should be playing them.
Thank you so much for transcribing this!!!!
