moses, honestly, i defer to you in describing it. all of us have heard the music all our lives, it is probably the most common public music heard everywhere. i associate it with that heavily stressed southern accent, one we can easily make fun of since it is so accentuated. and the guitar twang sound; the easy evocation of emotions--i died, i loved, he was everything, she was the most beautiful, .... but i don't know the music beyond this superficial account.
the politics are very implicit, the kind of thing that we recognize and account for why a conservative politician would want to have their campaign larded with the style and music of country.
k
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
harrow@msu.edu
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2020 9:40 AM
To: USAAfricaDialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Dolly Parton, Africans, Country Music, and Humanitarianism
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2020 9:40 AM
To: USAAfricaDialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Dolly Parton, Africans, Country Music, and Humanitarianism
Ken,
You put a finger on classical country music's thematic preoccupations when you stated that the songs emphasize "love, strength, manliness, [and] feminity." I think that this is what translates and resonates in Nigeria/Africa. Country songs are also, for lack of a better expressive device, what I would describe as the balladic soundtracks of the simple, laid-back, contented life of the working class. A good country song slows life down to a pace that is calming, relaxing, and reassuring while shutting out the noise and bustle of a harsh world on the outside.This may require further reflection and inquiry, but the themes of family, masculinity, love, and femininity that are prominent in country songs are the bedrocks of traditional social conservatism (as opposed to neoconservatism and right-wing nuttery), which many Nigerians and Africans find appealing because it speaks to their anxieties, aspirations, and notions of honor.
On Sun, Nov 22, 2020 at 8:39 PM Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
--i loved moses's posting on country music as well. but the politics of country music in this country is not what it is abroad. i suspect it has onemeaning in nigeria, another in europe, and certainly another here.in this country, i think moses indicated well, we generally associate it with less educated, more rightwing, more down to earth, working class people.it carries a rightwing association. in contrast to it, when i grew up, the liberal, even revolutionary style music was folkmusic. the songs in country emphasized looove, strength, maniliness, feminity; in folk music it was love of land and nature, it was solidarity, especially with unions and the proletariat, and resistance to wealthy classes.country was tied to the south, and its racist politicsfolk music came to the campuses, up north, to resistance movements, etc.i am sure dolly parton got a bum deal from us because of reasons moses suggested. our hero was joan baez. dolly parton dressed to be sexy to truck drivers, joan baez had jewish and mexican roots, and we love her joining the resistance to the vietnam war.day and night differences
ken
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Sabella Abidde <sabidde@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 22, 2020 6:37 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Dolly Parton, Africans, Country Music, and HumanitarianismGood greetings brother Salimonu Kadiri,
I get brother Moses Ochonu's position…
I was born in and grew up in Lagos and went to boarding school in Ilorin. Shortly after Ilorin, I moved to Jos for two years. In between, I spent time with friends, family, and in-laws in Osogbo, Ibadan, Bauchi, Ife, Port Harcourt, Benin, Warri, Sapele, Akure, and Calabar. In all these places -- along with music from the Caribbean/West Indies -- there was country music.
I was never a student at any Nigerian university; however, I visited friends, in-laws, and family members at UI, OAU, UNIJOS, UNIBEN, UNIPORT, and ILORIN. Again, in all these institutions – along with music from the Caribbean/West Indies -- there was country music.
Country music is also a staple in the many Nigerian homes that I have spent time in, in this country especially if they are from the lower half of Nigeria. I have lived in DC, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington State, Florida, Minnesota, and Alabama. And I have visited no fewer than 38 other states. Same thing, same story…country music!
Frankly, I know of no Nigerian my/around my age (48-65) who grew up in Nigeria who does not have an affinity for country music. In addition to the names brother Moses mentioned, I could easily add a couple more, i.e. Johnny Cash, Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Waylon Jennings. The "biggest" of them all (in the Nigeria of my youth) was Don Williams, Jim Reeves, Dolly Parton, and Kenny Rogers.
So, I get brother Moses Ochonu's position.
All the best,
Sabella Abidde
On Sun, Nov 22, 2020 at 4:28 PM Salimonu Kadiri <ogunlakaiye@hotmail.com> wrote:
--..... when I first came to the US as a student, I took pride in telling my African American housemate of my fondness for country music - classical country embodied by Don Williams, Dan Seals, Kenny Rogers and of course Dolly Parton. /....../ My friend (the African American housemate) of course didn't know the extent to which country music was very much a part of our lives in Nigeria, how we woke up to it, how it accompanied us on long trips and how the public airwaves were saturated with it - Moses Ebe Ochonu
If Moses had limited himself to telling his African American friend of his personal love for country music, there would not have been any problem. But the claim that country music was very much a part of our lives in Nigeria, at any period of time in history, cannot be true. In the 50s Calypso music from British West Indies was very popular in Nigeria (mostly in the South) from which the West Africans developed the High Life music. Of course, we have various and different kinds of local music too. In the 60s, Soul music was developed in the US, and became very popular in Nigeria, especially among the educated elites. In the 70s, Reggae and Rap music which developed in Jamaica and the US respectively made inroad into Nigeria. Whether we are talking about Calypso, Soul , Reggae or Rap music, they all have their origins in African rhythms, which explains their embracement and acceptance in Nigeria (Africa). On the other hand, Country Music, also known as bill-hilly music, is a kind of folk songs associated with western cow boys in the south eastern part of the US. Dancers of country music form square or circular figures in which partners in rows face each other. That kind of rhythmless music can never be attractive to Nigerians (Africans) who by tradition and culture are used to not only listening to music but dancing to it. Thus, it is not unlikely that a minority of literate Nigerians came across country music, a white folk's music and decided to adopt it as a symbol of their being civilised and culturally refined. Landing in Nashville the original home of Country music, I can understand the survival instinct in Moses that pushed him to tell his Nashville pal that the most popular music in Nigeria was Country music. The Yoruba aphorism says, Bi a bá dé ibi tí eran'ko péjo si, nse lã nwa nkan ti ojó ìrù fi há ìdi, meaning, when one finds self in the congregation of animals, one must find something that looks like tail to fix to the buttock. The wisdom in that aphorism is that one must pretend to be an animal in the midst of animals in order to attract their acceptance of oneself and avert their hostility. When you are in Rome you do as the Romans. When you are in Nashville, Tennessee, you must pretend to love country music.
Moses eulogised Dolly Parton for donating one million dollars ($1m) to Vanderbilt University Hospital to aid their research for vaccine against COVID-19. The late Chinua Achebe once observed rightly in his book, Anthills of the Savannah that, "Charity is the opium of the privileged, whereas the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary." I agree with Achebe that what the world needs is socio-political and economic justice and when that is done there will be no need for charity. Of what use is the charity of weapon manufacturers and sellers when they donate money to the Red Cross to take care of victims of war? Does a cocoa farmer, for an instance, need charity aid instead of adequate payment for his product so that he can have the same standard of living as the consumers of his cocoa? What has impressed me mostly in Dolly Parton's donation and the behaviour of the recipients of her donation, unlike Nigeria, is that the donation was expended on what it was meant for. In Nigeria, funds paid by the government to research and find vaccine COVID-19 would have been stolen with impunity. At best the EFCC or ICCP will charge the culprits to court where Judges will grant them bail after monetary handshakes and the case will be adjourned sine die. For those who may think I am exaggerating, let me remind them of the Makurdi flood disaster in Benue State in 2012. Jonathan's led Federal Government paid N500 million immediately as flood relief to the flood victims who were forced into refugee camps. But flood victims got nothing and one of them, named Dennis Igbana told Premium Times, Nigeria, "Now some people are making jest of us, they took advantage of our situation to enrich themselves while we live in abject poverty, they are constantly praying yet for another flood because of what they stand to gain." The then Chairman of the Benue State Committee on Flood Disaster Relief Management, Theophilus Adzaagee, attributed the delay in resettling the victims to what he termed, lack of comprehensive data!!! About five months after the camps for flood victims were closed, 24 November 2012, fire gutted Local Government Education Authority in Wurukum, Makurdi, where relief materials meant for the flood refugees were stored. The Governor of Benue State, then, was Gabriel Suswam. When his two terms tenure ended in 2015, he became a Senator. He was charged in Court, in 2016, by the EFCC for stealing billions of naira, he received on behalf of Benue State from the Federal Revenue allocations. He has since been granted bail and his case adjourned indefinitely while he continues to make laws as a legislator. As it is in Benue, so it is in every state in Nigeria. A case like COVID-19, should not depend on individual charity in search for cure or vaccine, rather it should be financed by the entire world under the auspices of WHO. Despite that, I still appreciate the honesty of the team from Vanderbilt University Hospital for spending received donations for the purpose for which the funds were donated.S. Kadiri
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com>
Sent: 20 November 2020 15:54
To: USAAfricaDialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Dolly Parton, Africans, Country Music, and Humanitarianism--Nigerians/Africans' relationship with country music is a subject that requires a sustained academic investigation.
Such is the depth of this relationship that when I first came to the US as a student, I took pride in telling my African American housemate of my fondness for country music—classical country embodied by Don Williams, Dan Seals, Kenny Rogers, and of course Dolly Parton.
My friend, a hip hop connoisseur, was not amused. In fact he was scandalized. In America, young black people do not go around proclaiming their love of country music. Doing so will cost them many coolness points.
My friend of course didn't know the extent to which country music was very much a part of our lives in Nigeria, how we woke up to it, how it accompanied us on long trips, and how the public airwaves were saturated with it.
This post is not about country music per se, and I have given this preamble only because it is relevant to the point I want to make.
To fully grasp the profound ways that American country music speaks to African working and middle class imaginaries and articulates values, hopes, and sentiments popular among Africans of those classes, please read Pius Adesanmi's essay on the subject. It is one of the essays in his award winning book, Africa, You are Not a Country.
Africa's country music fandom underscores the trans-national mobility and resonance of folk mentalities that are nurtured by music--any music--that celebrates and is attuned to the struggles and solidarities of simple working people wherever they may be.
It is not useful to cheapen such transnational musical flows and the sentimental work that they do by subsuming them reductively in an analytical premise of cultural imperialism. That would occlude the ways in which music and other aesthetic expressions travel and are adopted, adapted, appropriated, and repurposed in unexpected places and in unexpected ways outside the familiar nodes of soft imperial power.
Enough of the digression and excessive academic analysis, for I don't want to be guilty of the same over-analyzing that I'm warning against when it comes to the simple folk pleasures of country music. I am here to talk about Dolly Parton. I grew up listening to her music. Her melody and voice were all-purpose soothing balms for us. Her music told us that things would be alright even if they appeared bleak in the moment.
Little did I know that I would end up in Nashville, smacked in the so-called Mecca of country music where Dolly and her iconography and imagery are ubiquitous.
At first I was just happy to be living in the same state/city as a musician who was such a big part of my childhood.
Gradually, however, I came to learn about her multifaceted charitable works and my admiration for her grew even more and began to transcend her music.
I took my family to Dollywood, an amazing theme park she built and which bears her name and oozes her aesthetic proclivities.
Every now and then, there would be a story on her on the local news and the occasional interview about her charitable works.
Then when our younger daughter was born, I experienced firsthand one aspect of her philanthropic generosity. Literally a few months after the birth, we started receiving children's books from a Dolly Parton charity. The books kept coming and were the first books we read to our daughter and in which she first encountered educational pictures of various kinds. The books came monthly until the age of 5 I think.
Dolly does this for every child born in the state of Tennessee and pays for the books from her personal fortune.
She is a major donor to several children's causes and supports children's hospitals across the state.
She makes appearances to cheer up children in distress.
She has made many donations to a variety of medical and health charities. She also supports many social justice and equality causes, not caring what people in her conservative natal Tennessee might think of those gestures.
As I learned of her charitable works, my fondness for her swelled. What's more, in a state and industry dominated by an avowedly conservative political tendency, Dolly Parton chooses to remain doggedly apolitical, helping humanity without reference to its political fault lines.
My admiration for Dolly Parton reached stratospheric heights this week when it was reported that the $1 million she donated to Vanderbilt University Hospital was to aid the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and that she was one of the biggest funders of the Moderna COVID vaccine, which just reported a success rate of 94 percent and will be rolled out next month after approval is obtained.
Dolly Parton is putting her money and attention where her passion and empathy are. She is still rich and it seems that the more she helps humanity the richer she gets.
I could not be prouder to live in the same world, country, state, and city as this iconic musician and humanitarian.
This is my way of thanking Dolly Parton for her timeless music and her enduring humanitarian impact on the world. When the story of the battle against COVID is written, she will feature prominently.
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--Professor of Political Science
Department of History and Political ScienceAlabama State University915 South Jackson StreetMontgomery, Alabama 36104Office: G.W Trenholm Hall 203Office: 334-604-8038 I Cell Phone: 334-538-8628Publications: https://rowman.com/Action/Search/_/Sabella%20Abidde
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