Strummingon his guitar, IU professor Tyron Cooper picked apart the James Brown song “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” and identified the bass line, drums and guitar sections that helped create the song’s distinctive sound.
This was part of his presentation during “Bodies of Sound: Locating the Beautiful in African American Music,” which explored issues of beauty as they relate to African-American music Monday afternoon in the Neal-Marshall Black Cultural Center.
The event was sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences as a part of the exploration of the Themester and Archives of African American Music and Culture. It had an introduction from IU Archives of African American Culture and Music director Mellonee Burnim and three panelists.
One panelist was distinguished scholar Deborah Smith-Pollard from University of Michigan-Dearborn. A professor who teaches an introductory gospel courseand a co-producer of a gospel radio show in Detroit, she offered her insight into how positive and negative perceptions of image affect the artists in the gospel industry.
“Simply put, it’s complicated,” Smith-Pollard said. “A performer steps on the stage and immediately becomes a competitor for social media following and dollars.”
Sharing from her research and experience with the industry, Smith-Pollard also spoke about body size’s, dress’ and skin color’s affects on an artist’s success.
“If they are on the industry side, they must have diva-level hairstyle, face made up, and, no matter how plus their size, time and effort put into the look,” Smith-Pollard said. “This mix of ministry and industry is complicated, and the results are not always beautiful.”
Cooper’s presentation explored beauty less explicitly as he discussed perception of black people in contemporary music. His presentation was focused on two songs, “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” by James Brown and “Brown Skin Lady” by Black Star.
Cooper said James Brown and Black Star championed black racial pride and solidarity against a backdrop of a predominately white society. They confronted issues of racial equality and social justice, he said.
Lastly, Alisha Jones, a professor in the IU Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, gave a more specific perspective on the issue of beauty and African-American music. She spoke about Fantasia Barrino, a former American Idol winner and single mother, and her focus on finding the beauty in the ugly through her music.
Jones said Barrino gives listeners a sense of imperfection, encourages them to pursue self love, reject toxicity and show up for themselves.
The event concluded with a question-and-answer period for the audience and a following reception featuring soul food. In the same room as the reception, a display showed the topics, including black musical aesthetic and the beauty of autonomy, covered during the panel. It even included examples from artists like Beyoncé, Prince, Erica Campbell and Barrino.
