From My People: 400 Years of African American Folklore
Item
Title
From My People: 400 Years of African American Folklore
This edition
"From My People: 400 Years of African American Folklore" . Ed. Daryl Cumber Dance. New York: Norton, 2002. xliii+736 pp.
Table of contents
● Acknowledgments
● Introduction
Chapter 1: Folktales
● De Ways of de Wimmens
● Why the Black Man’s Hair Is Nappy
● Why the Whites Have Everything
● Upon This Rock
● Why the Rabbit Has a Short Tail
● How the Black Man Lost His Wings
● The False Message: Take My Place
● The Goldstone
● Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Frog Make Mr. Fox and Mr. Bear Their Riding Horses
● Bobtail Beat the Devil
● Making Butter
● Some Are Going, and Some Are Coming
● The Tar Baby
● Buh Squirrel an’ Buh Fox
● How Brer Wolf Caught Brer Rabbit
● Straighten Up and Fly Right
● De Two Fren an’ de Bear
● De Eagle an’ His Chillun
● Buh Lion an’ Buh Goat
● De Dyin’ Bull-Frog
● The Elephant and the Whale
● Polly Tells on the Slaves
● Hot Biscuits Burn Yo’ Ass
● Lookin’ for Three Fools
● Uncle Monkey
● Sweet-the-Monkey
● The Coon in the Box
● The Mojo
● How?
● Uncle Jim Speaks His Mind
● Pompey
● Thirteen Years
● Why the Guardian Angel Let the Brazos Bottom Negroes Sleep
● You May Fall in Yourself
● I’ll Go as Far as Memphis
● Shall We Gather at the River
● Gone to Meddlin’
● Can’t Get In
● The One-Legged Grave Robber
● Big Fraid and Lil’ Fraid
● The Irishman and the Moon
● The Irishman and the Watermelon
● John and the Twelve Jews
● The Irishman at the Dance
● How Hoodoo Lost His Hand
● Mary Bell
● The Clever Companions
● The Laziest Man
● The Lazy Man
Chapter 2: Folk Music
Spirituals and Other Freedom Songs
● Every Time I Feel the Spirit
● Many Thousand Gone
● I’m Gon’ Live So God Can Use Me
● Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
● Go Down, Moses
● Oh, Mary, Don’t You Weep
● Steal Away
● Oh, Freedom
● Nobody Knows de Trouble I See
● No Man Can Hinder Me
● I Been ‘Buked and I Been Scorned
● Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child
● Rock-a My Soul
● Uncloudy Day
● John Brown’s Body
● My Army Cross Over
● One More Valiant Soldier
● Ride In, Kind Saviour
● We’ll Soon Be Free
● When Dat Ar Ole Chariot Comes
● Lay This Body Down
● Ain’t Gon’ Study War No More
● I Heard from Heaven Today
● Soon I Will Be Done wid de Troubles o’ the World
● I Want to Go Home
● Wade in de Water
● Ole Time Religion
● Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door
● No Hiding Place
● Heaven, Heaven
● O Canaan
● Michael, Row de Boat A-Shore
● Were You There?
● Done wid Driber’s Dribin’
● Dry Bones
● Song of the Coffle Gang
● A Song for Freedom
● Get on the Bus
● I’ll Overcome Some Day/We Shall Overcome
● We’s Free
Blues
● Po’ Boy ‘Long Way from Home
● Look’d Down de Road
● Frisco Rag-Time
● W.C. Handy / The Hesitating Blues
● W.C. Handy / Joe Turner’s Blues
● W.C. Handy / The St. Louis Blues
● Perry Bradford / The Lonesome Blues
● W.C. Handy / Beale Street
● Chris Smith and W.C. Handy / Long Gone
● Richard M. Jones / Trouble in Mind
● W.C. Handy / Careless Love
● Bessie Smith / Backwater Blues
● Bessie Smith and Clarence Williams / Jail-House Blues
● Jimmie Cox / Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
● Ida Cox / Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues
● Ma Rainey / Last Minute Blues
● Charles Cow Cow Davenport / I Ain’t No Ice Man
● Miscellaneous Blues Lines
● Porter Granger and Everett Robbins / ‘Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do
● The New York Glide
● Sam Theard and Fleecie Moore / Let the Good Times Roll
Ballads and Other Folk Songs
● Jimmy Crack Corn
● Charleston Gals
● Marry Me
● Frankie and Johnnie
● The Lynchers
Zydeco and Ballads from Louisiana Creoles of Color
● Sybil Klein / Zydeco Calinda
● Sybil Klein / Salé Dame
● Sybil Klein / Éh, La Bas
● Sybil Klein / Maw-maw’s Creole Lullaby
Rap
● De La Soul / Ghetto Thang
Chapter 3: The Style of Soul
● Harriet Beecher Stowe / Looking Down on Her
● Solomon Northup / The Poetry of Motion
● William Wells Brown / Corn-Shucking and Christmas Festivities
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / The Party
● No Other Preacher Could Walk like Him
● Herman Melville / The Handsome Soldier
● Frederick Law Olmstead / Colored People of Richmond in 1852
● Fashion Plates
● Zora Neale Hurston
● Langston Hughes / Rent Parties
● Willie Morris / Going Negro
● Alan Lomax / Shooting the Agate
● Ralph Ellison / Rinehart, Poppa
● Honky Tonk Bud
● Jane De Forest Shelton / The Election Day Festival
● Alice Morse Earle / Pinkster Day
● Thomas Wentworth Higginson / The Route Step
● Edward Warren / John Koonering
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / The Colored Band
● The Zulus
● Photograph of King Zulu
● The Black Indians
● Alan Lomax / Didn’t He Ramble
● A Different Style
● Ralph Ellison / Learning to Swing
● Jacqui Malone / Stepping: Regeneration through Dance in African American Fraternities and Sororities
● Alfonzo Mathis / Step Show at Virginia State University
● Alfonzo Mathis / The Virginia State University Marching Band
● The Twist
● Dreadlocks
Chapter 4: Folk Arts and Crafts
Carvings and Sculptures
● Seated Figure Holding a Bowl
● Missionary Mary Proctor / My Aunt Betsey Told Me
● Country Preacher
● Henry Gudgell / Walking Stick
● James Hampton / The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly
● J.B. Anderson / Male Angel
● Steven Ashby / Large Lady in Beige Outfit
Pottery
● Afro-Carolinian Face Vessel
● Dave’s Pottery
Dolls and Other Toys
● Ruth Polk Patterson / Toys Fashioned in the Polk Family
● Black Raggedy Ann
Musical Instruments
● Banjo
● Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe / New Orleans Musical Instruments
Everyday Objects
● Abraham Lincoln Criss / Animals
● Abraham Lincoln Criss / Lamp
● Rocking Chair
● Quilting Parties
● Key Basket
● “Tramp Art” Bureau
● Basketmaker and His Tools
● Edward Lee Atkins / Crafts
● Making Mullet Net
● Purse Seine
Graffiti
● Hand Signs from the 79 Family Swan Bloods, 1996
● Pirus Rule the Streets of Bompton [Compton] Fool’s
● No More Prisons
● Graffiti on Second Street
● A Bum Was Here
● Graffiti at Maggie L. Walker High School
● Moving Grafitti
● A Few Items from the Encyclopedia of Graffiti
Chapter 5: Sermons and Other Speeches
● Sojourner Truth / Ain’t I a Woman
● Frederick Douglass / My Slave Experience in Maryland
● Frederick Douglass / What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?
● Prince Lambkin’s Oration on the American Flag
● Sister Lucy
● Silas
● Potee’s Gal
● John Jasper / The Sun Do Move
● Photograph of the Reverend John Jasper
● The Highway That Skirts Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church
● Alex Crummel / Eulogium on Henry Highland Garnet, D.D.
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / An Ante-Bellum Sermon
● William Wells Brown / Let My People Go
● Jean Toomer / Barlo’s Sermon
● Zora Neale Hurston / Behold de Rib!
● Ruth Rogers Johnson / A Love Letter from de Lord
● The Reverend C.L. Franklin / What of the Night?
● The Reverend C.L. Franklin / The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest
● Martin Luther King Jr. / I Have a Dream
● Martin Luther King Jr. / Eulogy for the Martyred Children
● Martin Luther King Jr. / Our God Is Marching On
● Malcolm X / Message to the Grass Roots
● Malcolm X / The Ballot or the Bullet
● Jesse Jackson / Keep Hope Alive
● Maggie Russell / Testimony of Conversion
● John Jasper / Light as a Feather
● I Am Blessed but You Are Damned
● God Struck Me Dead
● Pray a Little Harder
● Langston Hughes / Salvation
Chapter 6: Family Folklore and Personal Memorates
● God Delivered ‘Em
● Grandma
● My Marster . . . Was a Good Man
● My Life
● Fire Sticks
● It’s a Good Time to Dress You Out
● Childhood
● The Smell of Death
● Photograph of Clem Bolder
● Sarah and A. Elizabeth Delany / Our Papa’s People
● Carrie Allen McCray / Freedom’s Child
● T.O. Madden Jr. / We Were Always Free
● Madison Hemings / Life among the Lowly
● Ruth Polk Patterson / Sally
● Nat Turner / Confession
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Ruthville Post Office
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Unrequited Love
● Let the Wheelers Roll
● Melissa Fay Greene / The Sheriff
● I Was Leaving
● I Am a Hard Woman
● The Difference between Us and Them
● I Limit My Syllable Output
● If You Ain’t in the Know, You Are in Danger
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Driving While Black
Chapter 7: Soul Food
● Rabbit in de Briar Patch
● Maggie Pogue Johnson / What’s Mo Temptin to de Palate?
● Ain’t Ready for Integration
● Daryl Cumber Dance et. al / Chitterlings and Fried Chitterlings
● Veronica Bell Cumber / Baked Chicken
● Veronica Bell Cumber / Fried Chicken
● Daryl Cumber Dance et. al / Pigs’ Feet
● Daryl Cumber Dance et. al / Pork Chop Casserole
● Oswald Diamond / Beef Ribs
● Quincy Moore / Spicy Country Meat Loaf
● Nikki Giovanni / I Always Think of Meatloaf
● Wendolyn Wallace Johnson / Baked Shad
● Quincy Moore / Jambalaya
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Saltfish and Cabbage
● Frances Smith Foster / Sloppy Salmon
● Joanne V. Gabbin / Pot Meals
● Joanne V. Gabbin / Chicken Pot Pie
● Ethel Morgan Smith / Aunt Honey’s Rabbit Stew and Peach Wine
● Wendolyn Wallace Johnson / Greens I
● Wendolyn Wallace Johnson / Greens II
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Baked Beans
● Dorothy Montague / Corn Pudding
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Candied Yams
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Potato Salad
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Deviled Eggs
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Cucumber Salad
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Grits Casserole
● Rozeal Diamond / Rolls
● Daryl Cumber Dance et. al / Spoonbread
● Esther Vassar / Cornbread
● Sandra Y. Govan / My Mama’s Corn Pone: or, Hot Water Cornbread
● Veronica Bell Cumber / Eggnog
● Veronica Bell Cumber / Chocolate Fudge
● Daryl Cumber Dance et. al / Chocolate Fudge
● Dorothy Montague / Fruit Cobbler
● Esther Vassar / Applesauce Rum Cake
● Esther Vassar / Aunt Maude’s Sweet Potato Pie
● Dorothy Montague / Sweet Potato Pudding
● Quincy Moore / Blackberry Bread Pudding
● Carol F. Boone / Wine Jelly
● Veronica Bell Cumber / Pear Preserves
Chapter 8: Proverbs and Other Memorable Sayings
● Proverbs and Proverbial Expressions
● S.W. Anand Prahlad / You Reap What You Sow
● S.W. Anand Prahlad / The Pot Calling the Kettle Black . . .
● Aphorisms and Other Proverbial Sayings
● Other Figurative Language
● Reflections on American Justice
Chapter 9: Folk Rhymes, Work Songs, and Shouts
● My Ole Missis/Massa
● Run, Nigger, Run, De Patteroler’ll Ketch You
● Long Gone
● Jack and Dinah Want Freedom
● William Wells Brown / The Big Bee
● Frederick Douglass / We Raise de Wheat
● I’ll Eat When I‘m Hungry
● Aught’s a Aught
● Missus in the Big House
● Charlie
● Destitute Former Slave Owners
● William Wells Brown / Hang Up the Shovel and the Hoe
● The Lord’s Prayer
● If You’re White
● American Justice
● Oh, Lord, Will I Ever?
● Bedbug
● Old Man Know-All
● When I Go to Marry
● Slave Marriage Ceremony Supplement
● Love Is Just a Thing of Fancy
● Interpret Dat
● John Henry
● Shine
● Stagolee
● Railroad Bill
● The Signifying Monkey
● Betty and Dupree
● The Wanderer’s Trail
● Convict’s Prayer
● An Escaped Convict
● World War II Rhymes
● The War Is On
● Craps Rhymes
● Craps Lines
● Jump Jim Crow
● Little Sally Walker
● Ruth Polk Patterson / Hull-Gull and Other Games
● Juba
● Juber
● Mary Mack
● Patty-Cake
● Hambone, Hambone
● Sheila Louise Holmes / Grandma, Grandma
● This Little Pig
● We Must, We Must, We Must
● Anniebelle
● Raise Up
● Damn de Cap’m!
● I’m a Man
● Got One Mind for the White Folks to See
● Roland L. Freeman / Street Cries
● Roland L. Freeman / Photographs of Arabbers
● Street Cries
● William Wells Brown / Baptist Chitlins
● William Wells Brown / I Am Gwine to Glory
● Autograph Album Rhymes
● Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries
● Rhymes and Brags from Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay
● The Ring Shout
● Photograph of Ring Shout
● Art Rosenbaum / We Never Did Let It Go By
Chapter 10: Riddles and Other Verbal Tests and Contests
● Riddles
● More Riddles
● Some More Riddles
● Tall Tales
● More Tall Tales
● Sample of a “Courtship” Conversation
● Antebellum Courtship Inquiry
● Nikki Giovanni / Yo‘ Mama
● The Dozens
● More Dozens
● Insults
● James Percelay et. al / More Insults
● Responses to the Dozens and Other Insults
● Retorts
Chapter 11: Superstitions and Other Folk Beliefs
● Popular Beliefs
● More Beliefs
● Good Luck
● Wedding Colors
● Medical Help
● Cures for Rheumatism
● Signs from the Hampton Folk-Lore Society
● Old Jule
● Zora Neale Hurston / Preparation for the Crown of Power
● Frederick Douglass / Sandy’s Roots
● William Wells Brown / Voodoo in St. Louis
● Magic Power
● Witches Who Ride
● Ruth Bass / Mojo
● Paule Marshall / Returning to Africa
● Flying Africans
● Alan Lomax / Voodoo Had Hold of Him, Too
● Little Eight John
● The Stubborn Piano
● In the Name of the Lord
● What Do You Want Here?
● The Dog Ghost and the Buried Money
● The Boy and the Ghost
● Hold Him, Tabb
● Old Joe Can Keep His Two Bits
● The Witch with a Gold Ring
● Beliefs and Customs Connected with Death and Burial
Chapter 12: The Rumor Mill
● Olaudah Equiano / The Slave Ship
● Liable to Plot Rebellion
● Theodore H. Parker / Caution!!
● Mary Cable / Cinque
● Gladys-Marie Fry / Night Doctors
● Voting Rights of African Americans to Expire
● Social Security Numbers—Odd or Even
● Black Colleges to Close Down Forever
● Health Alert
● You Have Been Infected with HIV
● Patricia Turner / AIDS
● Attention!
● Driving Tips
● Black Blood
● Boycott Tommy Hilfiger
● A Brief Summary of a Few Prevalent Rumors
Chapter 13: Techlore
● N.U.D.
● No Fear
● We Niggas Today
● Ten Indisputable Truths . . .
● You Went to a Black University
● Ghetto Wedding
● You Probly frum da Projeks If:
● Only Black Folks
● Check Black . . .
● Ebonics Version of Windows 98
● Your Office Is Ghetto When . . .
● Two Genies
● You Know You’re at a Black Church
● Alligator Shoes
● Hillbilly First Aid
● When a Yankee Moves South
● The Dayvorce
● Redneck Jokes
● West Virginia Medical Terminology for the Layman
● The Strong Black Woman Is Dead
● Richard O. Jones / The Liberation of Aunt Jemima
● Only a Black Woman
● That’s My House
● Women’s Problems Start with Men
● Three Wise Women
● The Smarter Sex
● The Gender of Computers
● Life before the Computer
● For All Those Born Prior to 1940
● The Really Good Old Days When We Were Young
● A Little Mixed Up
● You Know You’re Old When . . .
● Chuckle for the Day
● Creation
● Precious Memories
● Can You Find the 19 Books of the Bible?
● From the Mouths of Babes
● What My Mother Taught Me
● A Few Things Not to Say to a Cop
● Audiovisual Resources
● Bibliography
● Credits
● Index
Color Illustrations
● Clinton A. Strane / Mr. CIAA, Strolling at the CIAA
● Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack) / Self-Portrait and Self-Portrait as an African King
● Earnest White / New Orleans Jazz Band
● Nellie Mae Rowe / Pig on Expressway
● Johnny W. Banks / My Grandfather’s Funeral
● Sarah Albritton / He Lifted Me
● Home Is a Place
● Anderson Johnson / Portable Pulpit
● Robert Howell / Fish
● Black Dolls
● Harriet Powers / Bible Quilt
● Josie Ella Newburn / Nine-Patch Quilt
● Louisa Gill / Dog Quilt
● Nora Ezell / Martin Luther King Jr. Quilt
● Yvonne Wells / Two Quilts of the Civil Rights Movement
● Pearlie Posey / Hens Quilt
● Sarah Mary Taylor / Mr. Fletcher Quilt
● John Landry / Queen’s Float
● Jewelry Box
● Graffiti in Richmond, Virginia
● Graffiti in Richmond’s North Side
● Introduction
Chapter 1: Folktales
● De Ways of de Wimmens
● Why the Black Man’s Hair Is Nappy
● Why the Whites Have Everything
● Upon This Rock
● Why the Rabbit Has a Short Tail
● How the Black Man Lost His Wings
● The False Message: Take My Place
● The Goldstone
● Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Frog Make Mr. Fox and Mr. Bear Their Riding Horses
● Bobtail Beat the Devil
● Making Butter
● Some Are Going, and Some Are Coming
● The Tar Baby
● Buh Squirrel an’ Buh Fox
● How Brer Wolf Caught Brer Rabbit
● Straighten Up and Fly Right
● De Two Fren an’ de Bear
● De Eagle an’ His Chillun
● Buh Lion an’ Buh Goat
● De Dyin’ Bull-Frog
● The Elephant and the Whale
● Polly Tells on the Slaves
● Hot Biscuits Burn Yo’ Ass
● Lookin’ for Three Fools
● Uncle Monkey
● Sweet-the-Monkey
● The Coon in the Box
● The Mojo
● How?
● Uncle Jim Speaks His Mind
● Pompey
● Thirteen Years
● Why the Guardian Angel Let the Brazos Bottom Negroes Sleep
● You May Fall in Yourself
● I’ll Go as Far as Memphis
● Shall We Gather at the River
● Gone to Meddlin’
● Can’t Get In
● The One-Legged Grave Robber
● Big Fraid and Lil’ Fraid
● The Irishman and the Moon
● The Irishman and the Watermelon
● John and the Twelve Jews
● The Irishman at the Dance
● How Hoodoo Lost His Hand
● Mary Bell
● The Clever Companions
● The Laziest Man
● The Lazy Man
Chapter 2: Folk Music
Spirituals and Other Freedom Songs
● Every Time I Feel the Spirit
● Many Thousand Gone
● I’m Gon’ Live So God Can Use Me
● Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
● Go Down, Moses
● Oh, Mary, Don’t You Weep
● Steal Away
● Oh, Freedom
● Nobody Knows de Trouble I See
● No Man Can Hinder Me
● I Been ‘Buked and I Been Scorned
● Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child
● Rock-a My Soul
● Uncloudy Day
● John Brown’s Body
● My Army Cross Over
● One More Valiant Soldier
● Ride In, Kind Saviour
● We’ll Soon Be Free
● When Dat Ar Ole Chariot Comes
● Lay This Body Down
● Ain’t Gon’ Study War No More
● I Heard from Heaven Today
● Soon I Will Be Done wid de Troubles o’ the World
● I Want to Go Home
● Wade in de Water
● Ole Time Religion
● Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door
● No Hiding Place
● Heaven, Heaven
● O Canaan
● Michael, Row de Boat A-Shore
● Were You There?
● Done wid Driber’s Dribin’
● Dry Bones
● Song of the Coffle Gang
● A Song for Freedom
● Get on the Bus
● I’ll Overcome Some Day/We Shall Overcome
● We’s Free
Blues
● Po’ Boy ‘Long Way from Home
● Look’d Down de Road
● Frisco Rag-Time
● W.C. Handy / The Hesitating Blues
● W.C. Handy / Joe Turner’s Blues
● W.C. Handy / The St. Louis Blues
● Perry Bradford / The Lonesome Blues
● W.C. Handy / Beale Street
● Chris Smith and W.C. Handy / Long Gone
● Richard M. Jones / Trouble in Mind
● W.C. Handy / Careless Love
● Bessie Smith / Backwater Blues
● Bessie Smith and Clarence Williams / Jail-House Blues
● Jimmie Cox / Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
● Ida Cox / Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues
● Ma Rainey / Last Minute Blues
● Charles Cow Cow Davenport / I Ain’t No Ice Man
● Miscellaneous Blues Lines
● Porter Granger and Everett Robbins / ‘Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do
● The New York Glide
● Sam Theard and Fleecie Moore / Let the Good Times Roll
Ballads and Other Folk Songs
● Jimmy Crack Corn
● Charleston Gals
● Marry Me
● Frankie and Johnnie
● The Lynchers
Zydeco and Ballads from Louisiana Creoles of Color
● Sybil Klein / Zydeco Calinda
● Sybil Klein / Salé Dame
● Sybil Klein / Éh, La Bas
● Sybil Klein / Maw-maw’s Creole Lullaby
Rap
● De La Soul / Ghetto Thang
Chapter 3: The Style of Soul
● Harriet Beecher Stowe / Looking Down on Her
● Solomon Northup / The Poetry of Motion
● William Wells Brown / Corn-Shucking and Christmas Festivities
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / The Party
● No Other Preacher Could Walk like Him
● Herman Melville / The Handsome Soldier
● Frederick Law Olmstead / Colored People of Richmond in 1852
● Fashion Plates
● Zora Neale Hurston
● Langston Hughes / Rent Parties
● Willie Morris / Going Negro
● Alan Lomax / Shooting the Agate
● Ralph Ellison / Rinehart, Poppa
● Honky Tonk Bud
● Jane De Forest Shelton / The Election Day Festival
● Alice Morse Earle / Pinkster Day
● Thomas Wentworth Higginson / The Route Step
● Edward Warren / John Koonering
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / The Colored Band
● The Zulus
● Photograph of King Zulu
● The Black Indians
● Alan Lomax / Didn’t He Ramble
● A Different Style
● Ralph Ellison / Learning to Swing
● Jacqui Malone / Stepping: Regeneration through Dance in African American Fraternities and Sororities
● Alfonzo Mathis / Step Show at Virginia State University
● Alfonzo Mathis / The Virginia State University Marching Band
● The Twist
● Dreadlocks
Chapter 4: Folk Arts and Crafts
Carvings and Sculptures
● Seated Figure Holding a Bowl
● Missionary Mary Proctor / My Aunt Betsey Told Me
● Country Preacher
● Henry Gudgell / Walking Stick
● James Hampton / The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly
● J.B. Anderson / Male Angel
● Steven Ashby / Large Lady in Beige Outfit
Pottery
● Afro-Carolinian Face Vessel
● Dave’s Pottery
Dolls and Other Toys
● Ruth Polk Patterson / Toys Fashioned in the Polk Family
● Black Raggedy Ann
Musical Instruments
● Banjo
● Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe / New Orleans Musical Instruments
Everyday Objects
● Abraham Lincoln Criss / Animals
● Abraham Lincoln Criss / Lamp
● Rocking Chair
● Quilting Parties
● Key Basket
● “Tramp Art” Bureau
● Basketmaker and His Tools
● Edward Lee Atkins / Crafts
● Making Mullet Net
● Purse Seine
Graffiti
● Hand Signs from the 79 Family Swan Bloods, 1996
● Pirus Rule the Streets of Bompton [Compton] Fool’s
● No More Prisons
● Graffiti on Second Street
● A Bum Was Here
● Graffiti at Maggie L. Walker High School
● Moving Grafitti
● A Few Items from the Encyclopedia of Graffiti
Chapter 5: Sermons and Other Speeches
● Sojourner Truth / Ain’t I a Woman
● Frederick Douglass / My Slave Experience in Maryland
● Frederick Douglass / What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?
● Prince Lambkin’s Oration on the American Flag
● Sister Lucy
● Silas
● Potee’s Gal
● John Jasper / The Sun Do Move
● Photograph of the Reverend John Jasper
● The Highway That Skirts Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church
● Alex Crummel / Eulogium on Henry Highland Garnet, D.D.
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / An Ante-Bellum Sermon
● William Wells Brown / Let My People Go
● Jean Toomer / Barlo’s Sermon
● Zora Neale Hurston / Behold de Rib!
● Ruth Rogers Johnson / A Love Letter from de Lord
● The Reverend C.L. Franklin / What of the Night?
● The Reverend C.L. Franklin / The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest
● Martin Luther King Jr. / I Have a Dream
● Martin Luther King Jr. / Eulogy for the Martyred Children
● Martin Luther King Jr. / Our God Is Marching On
● Malcolm X / Message to the Grass Roots
● Malcolm X / The Ballot or the Bullet
● Jesse Jackson / Keep Hope Alive
● Maggie Russell / Testimony of Conversion
● John Jasper / Light as a Feather
● I Am Blessed but You Are Damned
● God Struck Me Dead
● Pray a Little Harder
● Langston Hughes / Salvation
Chapter 6: Family Folklore and Personal Memorates
● God Delivered ‘Em
● Grandma
● My Marster . . . Was a Good Man
● My Life
● Fire Sticks
● It’s a Good Time to Dress You Out
● Childhood
● The Smell of Death
● Photograph of Clem Bolder
● Sarah and A. Elizabeth Delany / Our Papa’s People
● Carrie Allen McCray / Freedom’s Child
● T.O. Madden Jr. / We Were Always Free
● Madison Hemings / Life among the Lowly
● Ruth Polk Patterson / Sally
● Nat Turner / Confession
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Ruthville Post Office
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Unrequited Love
● Let the Wheelers Roll
● Melissa Fay Greene / The Sheriff
● I Was Leaving
● I Am a Hard Woman
● The Difference between Us and Them
● I Limit My Syllable Output
● If You Ain’t in the Know, You Are in Danger
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Driving While Black
Chapter 7: Soul Food
● Rabbit in de Briar Patch
● Maggie Pogue Johnson / What’s Mo Temptin to de Palate?
● Ain’t Ready for Integration
● Daryl Cumber Dance et. al / Chitterlings and Fried Chitterlings
● Veronica Bell Cumber / Baked Chicken
● Veronica Bell Cumber / Fried Chicken
● Daryl Cumber Dance et. al / Pigs’ Feet
● Daryl Cumber Dance et. al / Pork Chop Casserole
● Oswald Diamond / Beef Ribs
● Quincy Moore / Spicy Country Meat Loaf
● Nikki Giovanni / I Always Think of Meatloaf
● Wendolyn Wallace Johnson / Baked Shad
● Quincy Moore / Jambalaya
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Saltfish and Cabbage
● Frances Smith Foster / Sloppy Salmon
● Joanne V. Gabbin / Pot Meals
● Joanne V. Gabbin / Chicken Pot Pie
● Ethel Morgan Smith / Aunt Honey’s Rabbit Stew and Peach Wine
● Wendolyn Wallace Johnson / Greens I
● Wendolyn Wallace Johnson / Greens II
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Baked Beans
● Dorothy Montague / Corn Pudding
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Candied Yams
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Potato Salad
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Deviled Eggs
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Cucumber Salad
● Daryl Cumber Dance / Grits Casserole
● Rozeal Diamond / Rolls
● Daryl Cumber Dance et. al / Spoonbread
● Esther Vassar / Cornbread
● Sandra Y. Govan / My Mama’s Corn Pone: or, Hot Water Cornbread
● Veronica Bell Cumber / Eggnog
● Veronica Bell Cumber / Chocolate Fudge
● Daryl Cumber Dance et. al / Chocolate Fudge
● Dorothy Montague / Fruit Cobbler
● Esther Vassar / Applesauce Rum Cake
● Esther Vassar / Aunt Maude’s Sweet Potato Pie
● Dorothy Montague / Sweet Potato Pudding
● Quincy Moore / Blackberry Bread Pudding
● Carol F. Boone / Wine Jelly
● Veronica Bell Cumber / Pear Preserves
Chapter 8: Proverbs and Other Memorable Sayings
● Proverbs and Proverbial Expressions
● S.W. Anand Prahlad / You Reap What You Sow
● S.W. Anand Prahlad / The Pot Calling the Kettle Black . . .
● Aphorisms and Other Proverbial Sayings
● Other Figurative Language
● Reflections on American Justice
Chapter 9: Folk Rhymes, Work Songs, and Shouts
● My Ole Missis/Massa
● Run, Nigger, Run, De Patteroler’ll Ketch You
● Long Gone
● Jack and Dinah Want Freedom
● William Wells Brown / The Big Bee
● Frederick Douglass / We Raise de Wheat
● I’ll Eat When I‘m Hungry
● Aught’s a Aught
● Missus in the Big House
● Charlie
● Destitute Former Slave Owners
● William Wells Brown / Hang Up the Shovel and the Hoe
● The Lord’s Prayer
● If You’re White
● American Justice
● Oh, Lord, Will I Ever?
● Bedbug
● Old Man Know-All
● When I Go to Marry
● Slave Marriage Ceremony Supplement
● Love Is Just a Thing of Fancy
● Interpret Dat
● John Henry
● Shine
● Stagolee
● Railroad Bill
● The Signifying Monkey
● Betty and Dupree
● The Wanderer’s Trail
● Convict’s Prayer
● An Escaped Convict
● World War II Rhymes
● The War Is On
● Craps Rhymes
● Craps Lines
● Jump Jim Crow
● Little Sally Walker
● Ruth Polk Patterson / Hull-Gull and Other Games
● Juba
● Juber
● Mary Mack
● Patty-Cake
● Hambone, Hambone
● Sheila Louise Holmes / Grandma, Grandma
● This Little Pig
● We Must, We Must, We Must
● Anniebelle
● Raise Up
● Damn de Cap’m!
● I’m a Man
● Got One Mind for the White Folks to See
● Roland L. Freeman / Street Cries
● Roland L. Freeman / Photographs of Arabbers
● Street Cries
● William Wells Brown / Baptist Chitlins
● William Wells Brown / I Am Gwine to Glory
● Autograph Album Rhymes
● Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries
● Rhymes and Brags from Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay
● The Ring Shout
● Photograph of Ring Shout
● Art Rosenbaum / We Never Did Let It Go By
Chapter 10: Riddles and Other Verbal Tests and Contests
● Riddles
● More Riddles
● Some More Riddles
● Tall Tales
● More Tall Tales
● Sample of a “Courtship” Conversation
● Antebellum Courtship Inquiry
● Nikki Giovanni / Yo‘ Mama
● The Dozens
● More Dozens
● Insults
● James Percelay et. al / More Insults
● Responses to the Dozens and Other Insults
● Retorts
Chapter 11: Superstitions and Other Folk Beliefs
● Popular Beliefs
● More Beliefs
● Good Luck
● Wedding Colors
● Medical Help
● Cures for Rheumatism
● Signs from the Hampton Folk-Lore Society
● Old Jule
● Zora Neale Hurston / Preparation for the Crown of Power
● Frederick Douglass / Sandy’s Roots
● William Wells Brown / Voodoo in St. Louis
● Magic Power
● Witches Who Ride
● Ruth Bass / Mojo
● Paule Marshall / Returning to Africa
● Flying Africans
● Alan Lomax / Voodoo Had Hold of Him, Too
● Little Eight John
● The Stubborn Piano
● In the Name of the Lord
● What Do You Want Here?
● The Dog Ghost and the Buried Money
● The Boy and the Ghost
● Hold Him, Tabb
● Old Joe Can Keep His Two Bits
● The Witch with a Gold Ring
● Beliefs and Customs Connected with Death and Burial
Chapter 12: The Rumor Mill
● Olaudah Equiano / The Slave Ship
● Liable to Plot Rebellion
● Theodore H. Parker / Caution!!
● Mary Cable / Cinque
● Gladys-Marie Fry / Night Doctors
● Voting Rights of African Americans to Expire
● Social Security Numbers—Odd or Even
● Black Colleges to Close Down Forever
● Health Alert
● You Have Been Infected with HIV
● Patricia Turner / AIDS
● Attention!
● Driving Tips
● Black Blood
● Boycott Tommy Hilfiger
● A Brief Summary of a Few Prevalent Rumors
Chapter 13: Techlore
● N.U.D.
● No Fear
● We Niggas Today
● Ten Indisputable Truths . . .
● You Went to a Black University
● Ghetto Wedding
● You Probly frum da Projeks If:
● Only Black Folks
● Check Black . . .
● Ebonics Version of Windows 98
● Your Office Is Ghetto When . . .
● Two Genies
● You Know You’re at a Black Church
● Alligator Shoes
● Hillbilly First Aid
● When a Yankee Moves South
● The Dayvorce
● Redneck Jokes
● West Virginia Medical Terminology for the Layman
● The Strong Black Woman Is Dead
● Richard O. Jones / The Liberation of Aunt Jemima
● Only a Black Woman
● That’s My House
● Women’s Problems Start with Men
● Three Wise Women
● The Smarter Sex
● The Gender of Computers
● Life before the Computer
● For All Those Born Prior to 1940
● The Really Good Old Days When We Were Young
● A Little Mixed Up
● You Know You’re Old When . . .
● Chuckle for the Day
● Creation
● Precious Memories
● Can You Find the 19 Books of the Bible?
● From the Mouths of Babes
● What My Mother Taught Me
● A Few Things Not to Say to a Cop
● Audiovisual Resources
● Bibliography
● Credits
● Index
Color Illustrations
● Clinton A. Strane / Mr. CIAA, Strolling at the CIAA
● Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack) / Self-Portrait and Self-Portrait as an African King
● Earnest White / New Orleans Jazz Band
● Nellie Mae Rowe / Pig on Expressway
● Johnny W. Banks / My Grandfather’s Funeral
● Sarah Albritton / He Lifted Me
● Home Is a Place
● Anderson Johnson / Portable Pulpit
● Robert Howell / Fish
● Black Dolls
● Harriet Powers / Bible Quilt
● Josie Ella Newburn / Nine-Patch Quilt
● Louisa Gill / Dog Quilt
● Nora Ezell / Martin Luther King Jr. Quilt
● Yvonne Wells / Two Quilts of the Civil Rights Movement
● Pearlie Posey / Hens Quilt
● Sarah Mary Taylor / Mr. Fletcher Quilt
● John Landry / Queen’s Float
● Jewelry Box
● Graffiti in Richmond, Virginia
● Graffiti in Richmond’s North Side
Item Number
A0362