Inspiration
When my current Creativity and Community class (a creative writing class) began we were given the opportunity to participate in “service learning” and to base the class’s required, semester long creative project on that experience. I decided to take that option because I had no idea what I wanted to do for the project, and (admittedly) because of the testimony of a former student who said, “It’s easier and more fun than just sitting at a desk and doing research.” As an English major with a concentration in literature and minors in both creative writing and professional writing, I had had enough research and paper writing to last me a lifetime (or at least until I start grad school next fall). I like the research itself, but it (at least in college) invariably leads to paper writing. It was this decision to take the offered service learning option that first led me to TRJE.
TRJE is the Three Rivers Jenbe Ensemble, a group of kids from a variety of communities and backgrounds ranging from age seven to seventeen who study and perform West Afrikan drumming and dance. That is the simplest way to describe them and all I really knew about them going into the experience. Two of the older members of the group had come and spoken to our class when the option was first offered, and they did a great job of trying to show us what TRJE is about, but it was still just someone else’s description. TRJE is something you really have to see and experience to understand. That is my goal here, to give a glimpse into TRJE through my eyes.
The first time I attended TRJE was for one of their regular Saturday practices. One of the first things that I experienced was opening circle. At the beginning of each meeting of the group they start out with an opening circle that lasts about thirty minutes. Everyone gathers on the dance floor (no shoes allowed!) and sits in a big circle. Many things are discussed here including: recent performances, upcoming performances, and news any of the kids may have (to name just a few). Usually, opening circle begins with libation.
Libation is a ritual that honors those who have come before us and impacted our lives. This can be ancestors, grandparents, community leaders, famous leaders, or anyone else who has passed away and who a member of the group feels like honoring. Libation begins with the member performing the ritual asking for permission of the eldest member of the group to proceed. Once permission is granted, the member explains the purpose of libation and asks the members of the group to call out names as he/she pours. Water is then poured onto the libation plant in the center of the circle and the group calls out the names of those who have come before them as the water is poured. When no one is calling out names, the pourer asks three times if there will be anymore. If there are not, the ritual ends. Libation is a tradition that can send chills down your spine and at the same time make you feel terrible for not thinking enough about those from the past who have impacted your life. Remembering the past and those who worked and struggled in it is a big part of what TRJE is about.
I first started spending time with TRJE in February which is, of course, black history month. That month all of the kids were given assignments to research a specific event or person that related to black history. Some researched major events like the Orangeburg Massacre and others people like filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. On the occasion of my third Saturday visit to TRJE the kids were supposed to be prepared to present their research projects to the group during opening circle. One group was ready and gave a really great presentation. The others, however, were for one reason or another unprepared. Maybe they had things going on in their personal lives, maybe they had a lot going on in school, or maybe they just hadn’t done the work. There were a variety of reasons; none were accepted. The kids were told in no uncertain terms that this was not OK. People die from unpreparedness. Laziness and apathy are not acceptable attitudes. The lecture seemed to go on forever. Those of us who were visitors felt incredibly uncomfortable. Not only because it is always uncomfortable to be present when someone else is being lectured, but because we felt guilty as well. At least I know I did. I may not have had a presentation to give, but I realized that I know very little about those who have sacrificed so that I can be here and have the life I live today. I have never made it a priority to educate myself beyond what I have been taught in school. In this way I was guiltier than the kids were. It was this experience that helped cement in my mind just how important knowing and honoring the past is to TRJE and helped shape the project I chose to do.
From the time I first chose the service learning option for class, I had had a vague idea that I wanted to do research into West Afrikan literature, or as it turns out, storytelling. For a lit student who plans to go into library science this just seemed logical. It also fit into TRJE’s values very well as the kids had already studied the traditions to some extent, and it fit well with the theme of knowing and honoring the past. So, I did my research and found information on two main types of West Afrikan oral tradition, folktales and histories and genealogies maintained by those called griots (very roughly comparable to bards). I learned how it was the responsibility of griots to protect and pass on the histories and genealogies of families and kingdoms and how folktales were told mostly to children to teach lessons about things like obedience to parents and the dangers of greed. I decided to share my finding with the kids of TRJE.
I put together a lesson plan for the kids’ weekly creative writing class. I gave them a very short synopsis of what I had found (many of them knew much of it already) and told them how some of the traditions are being lost to modernization. I then had them read a poem and a short folktale out loud. The poem was a prayer called “Greeting God at Sowing Time” which asked not only for god’s blessing on the planting, but that of the ancestors as well. The folktale was called “The Cow-Tail Switch” and was about a man whose sons bring him back from the land of the dead spurred by their baby brother’s question “where is my father.” The moral or theme of this story was that a person is not really dead until he/she is forgotten. I then asked the kids to write in response to the lesson, poem, and/or story. I was very impressed and pleased with what they wrote. Many of the kids wrote poems of their own. One girl wrote a beautiful poem about how the past is not lost. One of the boys wrote about how the stories of the past can change us but we can change our culture. Another boy wrote about the power of poetry and stories. There was also a story written about a young man who hears a modern performance by a griot and realizes how much different things would be if cultures remained unchanged and uninfluenced but then goes right back to his normal, modern life.
All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better response to the lesson. The kids of TRJE showed me once again that they truly do understand not only how important the past is, but also how it is affecting us every day. They once again exceeded my expectations. I wanted to respond by exceeding theirs. In addition to my lesson, I decided to put all of my findings on West Afrikan storytelling on a website of my creation. I included my research, a sampling of full text stories and poems, links and resources for learning more, and this reflective essay. The site will (hopefully) be linked to TRJE’s site when it is completed.
My goal in doing this project and creating this website is that it not only be a starting place for kids and adults interested in learning about West Afrikan culture, but that it will also give those wanting to find out more about TRJE themselves a broader picture of what they are about. I hope that someone who stumbles upon their website or hears them perform can learn from my work that TRJE is about much, much more that drumming and dance. They are about respect for history and those who have made their lives possible and also about using that knowledge and respect to create a better future for themselves and for their society. I think this is a goal that we can all respect and one that we can all work to be a part of.