Memories Of Singing The Song "Funga Alafia" In The United States And Elsewhere (Part II-Video & Comments)

The Kennedy Center, Oct. 9, 2013

The Millennium Stage partners with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to present some of the best D.C. area street performers in a MetroPerforms! Showcase. -snip- Total # of views for this video as of 9:48 Am ET November 27, 2024 = 625,642 Total # of discussion comments for this video as of 9:48 AM ET November 27, 2024 = 441
****
Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a four part 2024 pancocojams series on the song "Funga Alafia".

This post showcases a YouTube video of African American dancer Nana Malaya Rucker and two djembe drummers performing "Funga Alafia". Selected comments from that video's discussion thread are included in that post.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-real-origin-of-song-funga-alafia_26.html for Part I of this 2024 pancocojams series. That post is a complete reprint of my 2019 pancocojams post entitled "The REAL Origin Of The Song "Funga Alafia" - Hint: It Isn't A Liberian Song, Or A Nigerian Song, Or A Traditional African Song."

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/what-is-origin-of-word-funga-in-song.html for Part III of this 2024 pancocojams series. That post presents information about the word "funga" and "fanga". That post also presents all of the visitor comments and my replies from the 2019 pancocojams series about the song "Funga Alafia".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/five-youtube-videos-of-fanga-dance.html for Part V of this pancocojams series. That post showcases five YouTube performances of the Fanga dance in the United States.

The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who have sung "Funga Alafia" since that song was composed by LaRoque Bey in 1959 or 1960s in New York City. Thanks to all those who featured in this video and thanks to publisher of this showcase video on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. 
-snip-
*That 2019 post about "Funga Alafia" also consists of three posts. The links for each of those 2019 posts are given in Part III of the 2024 pancocojams series.

****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTegkMJq15M

This compilation includes two comments that I added to that discussion thread as well as a few brief notes that I've added after certain comments. Those notes aren't published in that discussion thread.

Numbers are added for referencing for referencing purposes only.

2014

1. @LeviPlayinMinecraft
"amazing african song"
-snip-
"Funga Alafia" was actually composed by an African American drummer named LaRoque Bey in 1959 or 1960. Read more about this in Part I of this pancocojams series.

****
2015

2. @xbox6886
"saw this in 8th grade. 1994. Still remember this"

**
3. @jfortheday7793
"I sang this yesterday and I love this song I can’t get it out of my head"

**
4. Jimi Cyber, 2015
"Pearl Primus, (1919-1994),the anthropologist and choreographer of African dance introduced Funga to the USA. "Movements and gestures are a language as Ms. Primus spoke the dance story." Quote from Dr. DeAma Battle of Art of Black Dance and Music."

**
Reply
5. Malaya Rucker-Oparabea, 2017
"I DANCED AND TOURED WITH MS PEARL PRIMUS!!!"

**
Reply
6. Susan Kennedy, 2018
"Jimi and Malaya,I have always had great respect for Ms. Primus. Not many know about her, more people know about Ms. Dunham. I got burned out about this song in the elementary music teaching circles, but remembering that Ms. Primus introduced Funga to the US brings back its relevance for me. Thank you!"

**
7. @daniayusuf1719
"We had to sing this at school."

**
Reply
8. @rebeccaelliff4927
"Yeah"

**
Reply
9. @sodacanfactory, 2017
"Dani Yusuf i need to do this on tuesday so your not the only one"

**
Reply
 10. @thuy-anle1793, 2017
"Same. It’s stuck in my head"

**
Reply
11. @mikeg7062, 2017
"You GET to sing this at school :)"

**
Reply
12. @tonicombs7242, 2020
"It’s a right of passage"

**
Reply
13. @youtubekings3853, 2021
"wow, Americans need to sing this at school as well? I didn't know. BTW I am Singaporean"

**
Reply
14. @mikeg7062, 2021
"You GET to sing this at school :)"

**
Reply
15. @alysaidarivera6338, 2021
"Omg imagine if we all went to school together?!! Lol wow!! It was some time in the mid 90's in the bronx PS23!!❤❤"

**
Reply
16. @joaogabrielguerra2598, 2021
"Me too, in Brazil."

**
Reply
17. @TheRealJahCapone, 2021
"That childhood memory brought me to this video , glad I wasn’t the only one"

**
Reply
18. @michaelcavada9489, 2021
"Sang this in elementary in 2005. Randomly started singing it and had to look it up"

**
Reply
19. @ΑποστόληςΜπάκας, 2021
"Greece **same before some years"
-snip-
This is how this comment is written.

**
Reply
20. @katygillie1055, 2021
"Learned this in Middle school in Kansas City! Totally thought the teacher just made it up,
never knew what it meant 😂

**
Reply
21. @morganstewart3558, 2023
"Me too! Fifth grade Christmas concert ❤🎄"

**
Reply
22. @vibrationalresonance, 2023
"I'm on my dad's phone I had to do this today"

**
Reply
23. @maladaa9990, 2023
" @liquidjellybeans657 Same I’m from Macau and I remember singing this at kindergarten like 11 or 12 years ago, I’m 16 now and still remember the lyrics"

**
Reply
24. @Twdfan11, 2024
"We do it for a concert on the 23rd"

**
Reply
25. @halodiablo7268, 2024
"Same here 12 years ago 😂 ms cannon 5th grade"

**
26. @SeanPerkins05
"we learned this in music class on the drums"

**
Reply
27. @acesilva495, 2020
"Yep low high low keep the rhythm going"

**
Reply
28. @longliveliljay1670
"Same 5th grade in music class now I'm 19 i miss elementary and high school so much I missed so many chances and opportunities and didnt make the best of it. Over protective parents I didnt get to live the full high school experience, made  many mistakes, got involved in the wrong things, God how I wish I can go back in time and make everything right as well as live thru it again. Those were the best years of my life. The memories are endless and I can write many books on just the memories alone."

****
2016

29. Azizi Powell, 2016
"Alafia, Nana Malaya! 

I'm glad that I happened upon this video of your and your drummers' performance of "Funga Alafia".

I'm proud to know you.

Here's some information about this multifaceted dancer, choreographer, speaker, teacher, and entrepreneur:

Nana Malaya is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of her children is movie and television actor Lamman Rucker.

The poem "I Am the Original Dance Machine" (3:20 in this video) was written by New York City dancer/choreographer Bob Johnson, who also lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and in 1969/1970 was the founder of the Pittsburgh Black Theater Dance Ensemble. Nana Malaya was a member of this esteemed dance company.

Ase, Nana Malaya!"

**
30. @kruisesimon
"I only searched this song because it was in my violin book and I know how to play it on my violin"

**
31. @victoriathomas1402
"I sing this song in honer choir."

****
2017

32. Mattdog2020
"We had a huge group of African people come and do this at my school 20 years ago."

**
33. @johara3333
"I remember this from Kwanza"

**
34. @stephanandashaelyles2716
"My name... Same pronunciation but different spelling Ashae💙💜💚💛"

****
2018

35. @nightshiin78
"Black people would come to our school ans sing that"

**
36. @rachelfenger7151
"We have to sing this in Choir, We have to dance with scarves and sing. My music teacher today literally said I want to hear those slaps and claps"

**
37. @PicklesBNuts
"My 5 year old came home singing ' Funga I love ya Ashay Ashay' lol. We worked out this is the song he is singing! Love it, thank you x

**
38. @nicolattigalaxy6108
"On my graduation day,some of our schools students need to sing this,we had a practice today,all the other students sang along and a few laughed...😅I don't understand why they thought this was funny,it's also very catchy."

**
39. @ivyhuertas1933
"I remember singing this song in second grade. Mind you I was the only white skinned student in that school"

**
40. @SunnyMackey
"We spent almost 2 years on this song at school. Not necessarily learning it, just adding new parts and repeating it"

**
41. @egotisicalbladeeenjoyer
"I am Nigerian and my school never sang our songs 😣😥😤 Only American"
-snip-
I'm wondering if this commenter is lamenting the fact that he or she never learned "Funga Alafia" since that Nigerian school only sang American songs. Ironically, "Funga Alafia" IS an American song (i.e. a song that was composed by an American. Read the following question (#42) and my reply (#44).

**
42. okallixti5065
"what's the origin of this song? is it in Yoruba? thank you"
-snip-
"Yoruba" is a traditional Nigerian language.

**
Reply
43, @dancinsagittarius
"okallixti Nigerian origin."

**
Reply
44. @azizip171, 2020
"@dancinsagittarius  & @okallixti, The song that is known as "Funga Alafia" isn't a Nigerian song. Here's some basic information about the song "Funga Alafia":

1. The song "Funga Alafia" was composed by African American drummer and dancer LaRocque Bey in Harlem (New York City) in 1959 or 1960.

2. The word "funga" is a folk processed form of the Vai (Liberia, West Africa) word "fanga".

3. The words "alafia" and "ashe" are from the Yoruba (Nigeria, West Africa) language.

4. The tune for the song "Funga Alafia" is from the American folk song "Little Liza Jane".

For more information, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-real-origin-of-song-funga-alafia.html
-snip-
That link leads to the 2019 version of Part I of this 2024 pancocojams series.  

****
2019

45. Bluegirl12865 MSP
"is it sad that I think I’m the only that had to sing this recently when I’m in 6th grade because all the comments I see are about those peoples singing it in elementary? :/

**
46. @sybriabey6118
"We had a show 2 days ago and they played this song at our school"

**
47. @sophie9870
"My music teacher makes my whole class do this on xylophone and with sticks"

**
48. @tiredpeaches
"I remember having to learn this song and then later our entire grade hade to sing it in front of the rest of the school"

**
49. @ncg8224
"This was at school back on 2010"

**
50. @higher3me
"I learned this in Philadelphia in school when I was a young girl 😂😂😂"

**
51. @Brooklyn-xc2ig
"i whatched this in music class"

**
52. @felipereyes5518
"I learned to play this song on a ukulele in music class"

**
53. @feliciacorso6620
"My son just performed this with his kindergarten class yesterday. I’m so glad they are still teaching this in schools."

**
54. @malachigrey4895
"I sang this at school in 1st or 2nd grade, I am 20 years old and it's still stuck in my head LMAO"

**
55. @topmemes7925
"In my German school  a black man sing that in a church 😂"

****
2020

56. @StreetHierarchy
"EVERYBODY had to sing this song in elementary school. At least if you went to school in the 90s."

**
57. @tashachilds4971
"My dance class danced to this song when I was about six and we sang Funga Alafia at the beginning of the dance. And as I watch the dance I realize we almost did the exact dance. Now I understand why we were the opening dance.  We had our heads wrapped and scarves tied to our fingers. SIP LEE ACO, BEST DANCE INSTRUCTOR EVER."

**
58. @joshuaknight8257
"We had a traveling group come to our elementary school in NC USA 32 years ago and I still remember this like it was yesterday"

**
59. @kylefer
"Bless these people came to my school in 1997 and performed.  Amazing they are still doing this."

**
60. @baui2257
"At my school too! I'm from the Philippines"

**
61. @maddieme8590
"We have to learn this song is music right now 2020"

**
Reply
62. @maddieme8590
"5th grade"

**
63. @Mi-Zai
"I watched this in school today it’s so funny XD"

**
64. @Thatssosade
"I remember singing this at school my friends were disrespectful saying funga Alafia your feet ashy ashy😕"

**
65. @carlotemplo5281
"It seems that this was/is a universal standard in elementary music classes all over the world.

 

Also fun fact: Malaya translates as free in Filipino. Not in the monetary sense like free food we have another word for that but freedom as a concept like free from sorrow for example."

****
2021

66. @earlylearningfitnessacadem2154
"We sang this in Elementary school late 80's early 90's in North Carolina! The words were a little different. We performed it with African dances. I was humming this today and Google led me here.

**
Reply
67. @joewhan11, 2024
"I'm from north Carolina and yes they came out and we sung this in elementary school in the 90s."

**
68. @elinachen6224
"I sang this at school Cornwall elementary school lee rd I love this song this is in africa"

**
69. @dariusrice
"I see a lot of comments about school, didn’t know it was this common.. played the African drums 4-8th grade"

**
70. @rorygustin5156
"We had to learn this in middle school. Music class, 1998 I think. Lol"

**
71. @amandaggogo
"I remember learning this from a speaker at my local library one day and my brother and I still sing it to this day. ❤️"

**
72. @PaulCashman
"I've performed this countless times on the djembe at drum-circles.  Nice to see it on the Kennedy Center stage!"

**
73. @nightmare-nightmarenightma1147
"I feel so old. My entire grade had to learn this in the first grade nearly 20 years ago."

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2022

74. @linaluv215
"Did anybody go to Cooke Middle School? Lmao I remember  going to a college field trip where we learned this and the dance. On the school bus ride back home, one of my friends did a beat on the back of the leather school bus seat and the whole bus sang this in hip hop form 🤣🤣 we remixed it, and had the whole bus lit. Omg I will never forget that moment. That was like 17 years ago. Good memories."

**
75. @lucialight6096
"OMG y’all don’t understand how long I’ve been looking for this song. And I use to catch myself singing this song. I was in elementary when I learned it, and of course I use to mix up the words but I remember the “Ashe Ashe” part"

**
76. @donnyjackson1309
"It was 1985 Chicago. My dad decided to put the family in a new direction. I know this song and origin front to back."

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77. @kali8968
"These people came to Astoria projects in queens New York long time ago I remember that “chant” I’m 39 now I was maybe 5 or 6☺️☺️"

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78. @iamyanadotcom
"I learned this is 1st grade from my music teacher Mrs. Anderson. That woman introduced me to the music inside of me. Changed my life forever. Thank you, Ancestors. Asé. 💛"

**
79. @h.b.2003
"I learned this in the early 90s at a camp. It's been so long since I've heard it! Wow. My soul is happy"

**
80. @Amocoru
"I always wondered where this song came from. I remember singing this in my seventh grade chorus class and I still get it stuck in my head sometimes. I spent the day as a 39 year old man trying to figure out how I'm walking around singing Funga alafia and why. Now I know."

****
2023

81. @SonoranVibes
"At my (community neighborhood )after school program program, I would sing this song with me and it NEVER left me. This was when I was 10 years old. I am now 32. & I’m now learning about the Orishas and their importance. As a Christian. I am questioning a lot."

**
82. @lovechild519
"EXCELLENT performance Nana Malaya‼️ Keep making our people proud❣️🙏🏾😁💯💃🏾"

****
2024

83. @pineapplequeen13
"Like a ton of other commenters, I learned this when I was super young in school, but it never left my head. The song is such a sweet message transcending language and culture, and the performance here is wonderful!"

**
84. @-Kidist
"when i was in first grade my class would sing this to anyone that walked in the classroom as a greeting i loved it"

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85. @JaeChanel116
"Okay, so I will be 40 years old this year and I remember singing this in elementary school. Wow! Thank God for Google. Now I just need a translation to know what I was singing"

**
86. @courtneylu7518
"We learned a whole dance and this song in summer camp ❤"

**
87. @loganstacer
"I heard this for the first time in first or second grade. I’m 28 years old now and this song has been stuck in my head almost my whole life but I never thought to look it up because I never even knew what they were saying. Glad I could find this now and can have it stuck in my head for the rest of my life"

**
88. @ThandokaziMeneArcher
"Have to sing this song for my kindergarten kids in China this coming weekend 😂😊"

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89. @dstrong11
"When we had the Real singers come in from West Africa and sing this it was so spiritual!! ❤"

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90. @cg-ny9078
"I learned this in elementary school in the 80s, New York City! Anyone else?"

**
91. @patrickrichardson2518
"I still remember this (the song, not this specific performance) from some random week in preschool...circa 1988 - 1989."

****
This concludes Part II of this four part 2024 pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome. 

The REAL Origin Of The Song "Funga Alafia" (And What The Non-English Words To That Song Mean)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest edition - December 2, 2024

This is Part I of a four part 2024 pancocojams series on the song "Funga Alafia".

This post is a complete reprint with additional content of my 2019 pancocojams post entitled "The REAL Origin Of The Song "Funga Alafia" - Hint: It Isn't A Liberian Song, Or A Nigerian Song, Or A Traditional African Song." * https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-real-origin-of-song-funga-alafia.html

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/memories-of-singing-song-funga-alafia.html for Part II of this 2024 pancocojams series. That post showcases a YouTube video of African American dancer Nana Malaya Rucker and two djembe drummers performing "Funga Alafia". Selected comments from that video's discussion thread are included in that post.

Click  https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/what-is-origin-of-word-funga-in-song.html for Part III of this 2024 pancocojams series.  That post presents additional comments about the song "Funga Alafia" from the 2019 pancocojams series about that song.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/five-youtube-videos-of-fanga-dance.html for Part V of this pancocojams series. That post showcases five YouTube performances of the Fanga dance in the United States.

The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who have sung "Funga Alafia" since that song was composed by LaRoque Bey in 1959 or 1960s in New York City. Thanks to all those who featured in this video and thanks to publisher of this showcase video on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. 
-snip-
*The 2019 post about "Funga Alafia" also consists of three posts. The links for each of those 2019 posts are given in Part III of the 2024 pancocojams series. 

An earlier version of this pancocojams series was published in 2011. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/real-history-of-funga-alafia-fanga-song.html for that post and the links to the other two 2019 posts. Those posts don't include all of the latest edited content.

****
CORRECTING MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "FUNGA ALAFIA" 
I first wrote about the song "Funga Alafia" on this pancocojams blog in 2011.

I decided to revisit this subject because of the relatively widespread inclusion of "Funga Alafia" in school curriculums in the United States and in other non-West African nations and also because of the widespread misinformation about where this song comes from.

Even if people prefer later arrangements of a particular song, I believe it's important to document and share that song's provenance (origin/source).

If possible, it's important to know who composed the song - if not the actual composer/s than which population it came from. It's also important to know what the original words were, which tune and tempo was originally used and what performance activities, if any, where used while singing or chanting the composition.

Knowing where the song came from can help determine the overall meaning of the song itself as well as the meanings of specific words/phrases (including slang and colloquial expressions).

Knowing the provenance of a song can also help instill and reinforce group self-esteem and personal esteem in people from that particular population.

****
BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "FUNGA  ALAFIA"
1. The song "Funga Alafia" was composed by African American drummer and dancer LaRocque Bey in Harlem (New York City) in 1959 or 1960. At that time LaRocque Bey was a drummer with the New York City based group of Babatunde Olatunji drummers and dancers. 

2. The word "funga" is a folk processed form of the word "fanga" from Vai (West African language) or from the Mandinka (West African language).

"Funga" is pronounced like the English word "fun" + "gah". 

3. The word "alafia" (aalafia) is a loan word in the Yoruba language.  "Aalafia" was derived from the Hausa (Nigeria) word "lafiya" which means "good health". The Hausas derived the word from the Arabic word "al-afiyah" which means "health" / "inner peace".

4. The word "ase" is from the Yoruba (Nigeria, West Africa) language.  . The word “"ase" means power,” “authority,” “command,” “energy,” or “that which creates and sustains "life." People in the United Srates often (incorrectly) use the spelling "ashe" or "ashay" for this Yoruba word. in the United States. "ase" is pronounced "AH-shay" and is often used as a synonym for the word "amen".

5. The English words that are spoken in the song "Funga Alafia" and their accompanying gestures weren't part of the original song.

6. The tune for the song "Funga Alafia" is the same tune for the American song "Little Liza Jane"
(Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELNIe_D79xs for a sound file of Nina Simone singing "Little Liza Jane".)

****
COMPLETE REPRINT OF THE WIKIPEDIA PAGE ON "FANGA" (DANCE)*
Retrieved November 30, 2024
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanga_(dance)
"Fanga is a dance "interpretation of a traditional Liberian invocation to the earth and sky".[citation needed] The dance originated in Liberia[1][2] or Sierra Leone.[2] The first performance of a version of Fanga in the United States may have been by Asadata Dafora in 1943;[2][3][4] Marcia Ethel Heard believes that Pearl Primus hid Dafora's influence on her work.[5] The dance was written by Primus in 1959 in conjunction with the National Dance Company of Liberia.[citation needed] Fanga was one of the dances through which Primus sought to stylize and perpetuate African dance traditions by framing dance as a symbolic act, an everyday practice, and a ceremony.[6] It was then further popularized by Primus' students, sisters Merle Afida Derby and Joan Akwasiba Derby.[3][2] Babatunde Olatunji described Fanga as a dance of welcome from Liberia and he, and many others, used a song created by LaRocque Bey to go with the rhythm and dance, assisted by some of the students in his Harlem studio, during the early 1960s. Bey used words from the Yoruba and Vai languages (alafia = welcome; ashe = so be it; fanga = drum) and an African American folk melody popularized by American minstrels (Li'l Liza Jane).[7]"
-snip-
*This pancocojams reprint doesn't includes notes and references.

The definitions that are given for the words "alafia", "ashe", and "fanga" aren't their original meanings. Also, the Yoruba word "ashe" is correctly spelled "ase" in English.

****
CORRECTING MISINFORMATION ABOUT "FUNGA  ALAFIA" DANCES
Excerpt #1
From https://dance1400.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/the-story-of-fanga-from-sule-greg-wilson/ "The Story of Fanga, from Sule Greg Wilson, September 12, 2011 [website: African Dance At Cuyahoga Community College]
"Fanga (pronounced nowadays, almost, like “Funga”, as in “fungus”. Originally, it was closer to “Fahnga”), Fanga is a dance of welcome that, interestingly, came to the United States from a place the United States founded: the West African nation of Liberia (recently infamous for its revolutionary troubles). Liberia was a new nation carved out of traditional territories to house any “slaves” in the U.S. that wanted to return to Africa.

The dance, “Fanga” was made part of the repertoire of the African American concert dance pioneer Asadata Dafora. Dafora came to the U.S. from his native Sierra Leone (a nation set up in West Africa for former British slaves) in 1929, and his early company included persons from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other nations (and colonies). Among the repertoire he developed in the 1930s for his dance company was a staging of the mimed, storytelling dance (as Hawaiian Hula tells stories through gestures), Fanga.

Dancer/choreographer Pearl Primus (1919-1994), who came up after Dafora, went to Liberia, herself, learned the dance/rhythm., and staged it in the States The choreography moved on to Alvin Ailey’s dance company, and it has since become part of U.S. African, and now drum circle, culture.

The lyrics, however, are another matter. Why does the melody sound so much like “Li’l Liza Jane”? Because….that’s what it is. LaRoque Bey, the leader of a local New York children’s African dance school, placed Yoruba (from Nigeria) words to the “old time”/plantation days melody, and added that to the dance."...
-snip-
Here's a comment that was posted to a YouTube video discussion thread for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnju7nD5cR8 Funga Alafia, published by Kathryn Nobles on Jun 14, 2009

comment from Sule Greg C. Wilson, 2011
"They were having fun--great! But: what they're doing is not the dance Fanga, which was created by Pearl Primus after her trip to Liberia. Nor is it the rhythms traditionally played with the dance. The melody is U.S.: Lil Liza Jane, with Yoruba words put to it in New York City by LaRoque Bey. Would it be cute for Blacks to do Swan Lake with Firebird choreography? It would be fine with me--if they knew that's what they were doing. Spread culture around, but try to keep it intact...."
-snip-
Sule Greg C. Wilson is an African American drummer/banjoist. He is commenting about the mostly White American drumming performing a version of the song "Funga Alafia"..

****
Excerpt #2
From "The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography Of Pearl Primus" by Peggy Schwartz & Murray Schwartz:, page 88
" "Fanga" was central to Pearl's school, her performances, and her lectures. A dance of welcome that she brought back from her first trip to Liberia it was probably a variation of a traditional dance that she continued to change over the decade.

[...]

Virtually every black community dance company in America has its version of "Fanga" and most start with the chant "Fanga alafiyah ashe ashe, fanga alafiyah ashe ashe" as its accompaniment. This chant was added by LaRocque Bey, a percussionist in New York in the late 1950s, was not part of the original work. Primus used two other chants "gehbeddy jung jung jung" with a strong, active, insistent rhythm, or "dum dake dake dum dake, dum dake dake dum dum dake", gentler, and with a swing and a sway to it." 

-snip-
That 2012 book documents that the beat of Pearl Primus' "Fanga" dance was different from the beat for the "Funga Alafia" song. Also, Pearl Primus' accompanying chant for that beat was different from the words to "Funga Alafia".  

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DOCUMENTATION AND COMMENTARY ABOUT THE PROVENANCE (ORIGIN/SOURCE) OF THE SONG "FUNGA  ALAFIA"

(numbers provided for referencing purposes only)

1. Information about Sierra Leonean musician Asadata Dafor: [The first introduction of the word "fanga" to people in the United States.] 

"Asadata Dafora Hortan (August 4, 1890 – March 4, 1965) widely known as Asadata Dafora was a Sierra Leonean multidisciplinary musician. He was one of the first Africans to introduce African drumming music to the United States, beginning in the early 1930s...

In 1929 Asadata Dafora journeyed to New York City to try and pursue his career as a musician. He was then 39 years old...

[...]

Dafora co-authored a radio play with Orson Welles entitled "Trangama-Fanga" [in 1941]."
Source: From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asadata_Dafora
-snip-
The [West African nation of] Sierra Leone borders [the West African nation of] Liberia, and some members of Assata Dafor's dance company were from Liberia. It's therefore likely that Dafor would have known the Fanga rhythm and dance. In her PhD dissertation, dance historian Marcia Heard indicates that Asadata Dafor was the first person to introduce the Fanga dance to the United States, and he called that dance "Fugale". Furthermore, multi-instrumentalists, writer, and educator Sule Greg Wilson*, who drummed with Babatunde Olatunji, asserts that Assata Dafor was the first person to introduce Fanga to the United States.

****
2. Information about African American dancer/choreographer Pearl Primus
From http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/h/black-dance/
"[Pearl Primus] was born in Trinidad before her parents immigrated to Harlem in 1919. She worked at the New Dance Group Studios which was one of few places where black dancers could train alongside whites. She went on to study for a PhD and did research on dance in Africa. Her most famous dance was the Fanga, an African dance of welcome which introduced traditional African dance to the stage."

Pearl Primus' Fanga dance was picked up by other African dance companies in the United States and was reconstructed by them. Babatunde Olatunji was the first company to do so, because two dancers from Primus' company left to perform with Olatunji.

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HOW COULD AN AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN IN 1959/1960 BE FAMILIAR WITH THE WORDS "ALAFIA", "ASE", AND "FANGA'?
The word "fanga" was familiar to drummers and dancers in the United States since that dance was introduced in that nation when Asadata Dafora from Sierra Leone, West African came to study in the United States. In 1941 Asadata Dafora co-authored a radio play with Orson Welles entitled "Trangama-Fanga".

**
The words "alafia" and "ase" became familiar to a small number of African Americans in the late 1950s and early 1960s because of the establishment of the Yoruba Temple in New York City. The Yoruba Temple was established under the leadership of Baba Oserjeman, the first African American to be initiated into the traditional Yoruba religion of Ifa. Baba Oserjiman, a former dancer with Katherine Dunham, was initiated into that religion in Cuba in 1959. 

Source http://www.bnvillage.co.uk/news-politics-village/99564-south-carolina-voodoo-sect.html

It's possible that LaRocque Bey was familiar with Baba Oserjiman and the Yoruba drummers & dancers (if he himself wasn't a member of that dance/drum group). And it's also likely that some of the other drummers and dancers who performed with LaRocque Bey or who he knew were (also) members of the Yoruba Temple. 

****
WHAT IS THE GENERAL MEANING FOR THE SONG "FUNGA  ALAFIA" IN THE UNITED STATES 
"Funga Alafia" is generally considered to be a welcome song because of the word "alafia".
The word "alafia" is a Yoruba (Nigerian traditional language) loan word that came from the Hausa (Nigerian traditional language) from the Arabic language. "Alafia" can be interpreted as meaning "welcome" or "peace be unto you" in the same way that the Arabic words a salaam alaikum" is used as a greeting.

The words "Funga alafia ase ase" are the original words for the song "Funga Alafia". All of the other words that are now spoken with that song and the gestures that are made while those words are spoken " weren't a part of the original song's lyrics and performances. 

****

STANDARD LYRICS FOR THE SONG FUNGA  ALAFIA IN THE UNITED STATES
From https://musicwithmrswalle.weebly.com/uploads/2/5/2/4/25246738/funga_alafia_lyrics.pdf

Funga alafia, ah-shay ah-shay.

Funga alafia, ah-shay ah-shay.

Funga alafia, ah-shay ah-shay.

Funga alafia, ah-shay ah-shay.

With my eyes, I welcome you.

With my words, I welcome you.

With my heart, I welcome you.

Today we, all welcome you.

Funga alafia, ah-shay ah-shay.

Funga alafia, ah-shay ah-shay.

Funga alafia, ah-shay ah-shay.

Funga alafia, ah-shay ah-shay."

****
WHAT DOES THE WORD "FUNGA" MEAN IN THE SONG "FUNGA ALAFIA"?
As described earlier in this post, the song "Funga Alafia" was composed in 1959 or 1960s by African American drummer LaRocque Bey to be sung as accompaniment for the Fanga dance. "Fanga" is a welcome dance (or dances), and the word "alafia" can mean "welcome", although it's primary meaning is "peace".

As a result of that second meaning for "alafia", it's understandable that people in the United States think that "Funga Alafia" is a song that means "We welcome you". 

Definitions for the word "alafia" and the word "ase" can be easily found online. However,to date, I've not found any online information about the origin and meaning of the word "funga".

If we accept the widely circulated belief that the song "Funga Alafia" means something like "We welcome you", given that there's documentation that the word "alafia" can mean "welcome", we could say that "funga" can be an intensifier that means something like "very". Hence "Funga Alafia" can be said to mean "You are very welcome". However, that meaning is almost certainly a "back story" i.e. a definition that is made up after the fact.

I have two theories for how LaRocque Bey used the word "funga" instead of "fanga" for "Funga Alafia" song.
1. La Rocque Bey purposely changed the word "fanga" to "funga" because he wanted to distinguish his song and his beat from other Fanga chants and beats that were being played in the United States. 

2. LaRocque Bey accidentally mispronunciation of the word "fanga" as "funga" and he kept that accidental pronunciation because he liked it.

I lean toward theory #1.

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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE NON-ENGLISH WORDS IN THE SONG "FUNGA ALAFIA"

1. FUNGA (pronounced the same as the English word "fun' + gah)
The word "funga" is a folk processed form of the word "fanga".

The word "fanga" is found in more than one West African language. Here's an excerpt from Hillary Sargent's website: http://www.fanga-music.com/myFanga:
"The word FANGA! Originates from the West African Mandingo lingo.

Literally it translates: Power! - It hits you to the core, in its multifaceted, powerful meaning: everybody has his or her own FANGA! - To me it is resilient, not only powerful, in essence the African rhythm in FANGA! inspires me with a spiritual enlightenment which has become the matrix of my soul identity."
-snip-
Another example of the word "fanga" is found in this description of a Malian film:
Taafe-Fanga is the title of a highly acclaimed film from Mali, West Africa. The film is produced "in Bambara and Kaado [languages] with English [language] subtitles", and the title means "Skirt-Power". http://newsreel.org/video/TAAFE-FANGA.

Another example of the use of "fanga" is the French afrobeat group by that name. Here's information about that interracial group's name from http://cd1d.com/en/artist/fanga:
"Fanga means 'Force' (spiritually speaking) in Dioula, one of the numerous dialects of Western Africa. This French group of 7 musicians, deeply immersed in Afrobeat - a musical language pioneered by Fela Kuti in the 70's, combining African music, jazz and funk - was born from an encounter between the hip-hop programmer Serge Amiano and the rapper Yves Khoury (aka Korbo) of Burkina Faso."

I've also read that "Fanga" is a Vai (Liberia) word and I've usually seen "fanga" used as the name for the rhythm and accompanying dance which are based on a traditional Vai (Liberia, West Africa) welcome dance. Given those three examples, I believe that it's possible that the Liberian word "fanga" also means "force" or "power".

Here's some information about the Vai language from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vai_language

"The Vai language, also called Vy or Gallinas, is a Mande language spoken by the Vai people, roughly 104,000 in Liberia, and by smaller populations, some 15,500, in Sierra Leone.[2]

Writing system

Vai is noteworthy for being one of the few African languages to have a writing system that is not based on the Latin or Arabic script. This Vai script is a syllabary invented by Momolu Duwalu Bukele around 1833, although dates as early as 1815 have been alleged. The existence of Vai was reported in 1834 by American missionaries in the Missionary Herald of the ABCFM[3] and independently by Rev. Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle, a Sierra Leone agent of the Church Missionary Society of London.[4]…

Phonology

Vai is a tonal language and has 11 vowels and 31 consonants"...

**
ALAFIA (pronounced ah-LAH-fee-ah)
Although a  number of online sources indicate that the word "alafia" is Yoruba word, that word didn't originate among the Yoruba people. (Yoruba is the name of an ethnic group in Nigeria, West Africa and is the name of that population's traditional language).

The word "alafia" came from the Hausa people (in northern Nigeria)'s word  "lafia". The Hausas got that word from the Arabic word "alaafiyah".  In meaning "health" or "good health" and entered the Yoruba language by way of the Hausa (Nigeria) modification

From https://www.facebook.com/575706419187357/photos/pb.575706419187357.-2207520000.1468493353./1067659546658706/?type=3 IFA: Òrìṣa Scientific Spirituality, July 12, 2016 ·
"For many, the Yoruba term "alafia" (also spelled alaafia) is used to mean "inner-peace" and said as a greeting like the use of the Kemetic word "hotep" and the Arabic word "salaam."

In the past ten years, there has been much controversy about the term alafia and whether or not it is truly Yoruba or derived from Arabic.

It is noted that the Yoruba word alafia shares its meaning with the Hausa (Northern Nigerians) word "lafiya" which means good health. They derived the word from Arabic's al-afiyah which means "the good health." When said as "zaman lafiya" in Hausa, it comes to mean innerpeace.

The indigenous Yoruba word for good health is ilera. Hence the popular Yoruba phrase, "Ilera loro" which means "health is wealth."

However, does all this mean that alafia is not a Yoruba word? Not necessarily....

All of this being said, alafia (whether indigenous or of Arabic origin) is not traditionally a greeting as seen in the Arab's salaam. That is definitely an attempt for people to imitate [sic] the Arab's greeting pattern of "peace" instead of learning Yoruba conversational protocol."....
-end of quote-
From at least the late 1960s, some afro-centric African Americans have used "alafia" as a greeting word that means "welcome, and/or "peace". I believe that "alafia" was first used by African Americans as a traditional African language way of saying the Arabic phrase "A salaam alaikum" ("Peace be unto you").

Furthermore, for some period of time (at least in 1990s to the early 2000s) some afro-centric people in the United States would say "Peace" as greeting words, and especially as a word said when they were leaving a person or people. I don't know how widely the word "Peace" is still used that way in the 2020s.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/02/excerpts-from-online-articles.html for a pancocojams post on the origins and meanings of the word "alafia"

**
THE WORD "ASE"

Here's some information about the Yoruba (Nigeria, West Africa) word "ase":

"Ase" is the Yoruba term for "the energy of creation"; "the spark of life". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_mythology ; hereafter given as "Wikipedia: Yoruba Mythology"
-snip-
From http://asheselah.wordpress.com/about/whats-an-asheselah/
"Ashe (ah-SHAY, also Ase) – A Yoruba word meaning power, command, and authority. The ability to make whatever one says happen. Often summarized as “so be it”, “so it is”, or “it definitely shall be so”.
-end of quote-

"Ase" is often given the same or similar meaning as the word "amen".

I've heard the word "ase" pronounced "AH-shay" or "ah-SHAY" in the United States* 

*I've heard both pronunciations in Newark, New Jersey and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

(Yoruba speakers- please share the correct pronunciation for this word. Thanks!)

In the United States the word ase is often (incorrectly) written as "ashe".

In the context of the song "Funga Alafia", the word "ase" has colloquially (and probably incorrectly) been interpreted as meaning either "amen" or "really". With regard to the "really interpretation, some people believe that "Alafia ashe ashe" means "We really welcome you"  or "We enthusiastically welcome you."

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This concludes Part I of this 2024 pancocojams series. 

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Jonkanoo Traditions & Other Christmas Traditions of Enslaved Black People In North Carolina & Elsewhere In The Southern United States

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents a full reprint of one online article by the Cape Fear* Historical Institute with the title " "Jonkonnu" or "John Kunering" or "John Kooner" at Christmas".

This pancocojams post also includes excerpts from the Wikipedia article on Jonkanoo as well as a reprint of a 2015 ourstate.com article about celebrating John Canoe (Jonkanoo) in North Carolina in the late 20th century through 2015.

This pancocojams post includes Addendum #1 which presents some information about how enslaved Black people in the South celebrated Christmas and Addendum #2 which presents some information about how Jonkanoo was celebrated in the Bahamas. 

The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the online publishers of this content.
-snip-

This pancocojams post replaces two posts on these subjects that were published on this blog in 2019.

*Here's information about the name "Cape Fear"
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Fear_(headland)
"Cape Fear is a prominent headland jutting into the Atlantic Ocean from Bald Head Island on the coast of North Carolina in the southeastern United States. It is largely formed of barrier beaches and the silty outwash of the Cape Fear River as it drains the southeast coast of North Carolina through an estuary south of Wilmington."...

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ARTICLE REPRINT #1
[Pancocojams' Editor's Note] This reprint doesn't include drawings that are inserted throughout that article. This reprint also doesn't include the italics font that is used for much of the content.

From http://www.cfhi.net/JohnKuneringatChristmas.php "Jonkonnu" or "John Kunering" or "John Kooner" at Christmas" by Cape Fear Historical Instutute [sic] Papers

The John Kuners were a chief attraction of the Christmas season since colonial times.”
Dr. James Sprunt
"An old Christmas tradition of Wilmington called “John Kunering” is still remembered, with one similar in Edenton referred to as “John Canoeing.” This was a tradition practiced mainly by black slaves, a custom that would find noisy and gaily-dressed processions “singing strange tunes accompanied by banjo, accordian, tambourine and other instruments.” Some of the participants would dress as women, and they festooned themselves with shreds of cloth sewn to their daily attire.

In Wilmington, the “John Kuners” would dance throughout the town to the rhythmic chants of:

Hah! Low! Here we go!
Hah! Low! Here we go!
Hah! Low! Here we go! Kuners come from Denby!”

"With the rattles of bones, the blowing of cow’s horns, and the tinkling of tambourines, the singing slaves, grotesque in their “Kuner” costumes, would halt whenever an appreciative crowd gathered. Strips of brightly colored cloth sewn to their clothes fluttered gaily as the John Kuners danced merrily. They were bedecked in horned masks, beards, staring eyes and enormous noses with grinning mouths. All were men, but some would dress as women.

After a few songs and dancing, the Kuners would approach the spectators with hat extended to collect a monetary reward for the antics. The Kuners would then depart for another crowd to dance and sing for and the usual reward”(Johnson).

Slave Harriet Brent Jacobs described the custom (Cashman, p.51):
"Every child rises on Christmas morning to see the John Kannaus. Without them Christmas would be shorn of its greatest attraction... a box covered with sheepskin is called the gumbo box. A dozen beat on this while others strike triangles and jawbones to which a band of dancers keep time. For a month previous they are composing songs."

"John Kunering" was a way in which blacks, free and slave, would imitate the Christmas traditions in their own manner, and an opportunity to parade in gaily-dressed musical groups around the city and request gifts and treats from white families. Lacking the long Christian traditions of the annual holiday celebrated by white families, blacks initiated what may be called a pagan ritual of their own.

The custom fell into disuse in the 1880’s after being tabooed by black residents, it was seen "as tending to lower them as a race in the eyes of the public (Moore)."

Though usually viewed as a black custom, historians note that the processions was not limited to blacks, as many white youths would dress and march as well, joining in the Christmas gaiety."

"Slaves Granted Liberty at Holidays:
"Wilmington historian Louis T. Moore wrote that "At Christmas seasons especially, a greater degree of real liberty was enjoyed by the colored people...and they were permitted to band themselves together in groups and from Christmas Eve through the advent of the New Year, Wilmington verily rang with the chants, songs and merry-making of the John Kuners. As the groups would stop in front of the different handsome homes, or pass into the gardens and spacious yards of the stately houses, they would always expect some type of Christmas cheer or gift. Invariably, the Kuners were fed on the substantial viands and appetizing desserts with which the groaning tables were filled during the Christmas season.”

There was substantial support for granting slaves the freedom to enjoy time away from their labor, and antebellum North Carolina’s Chief Justice Ruffin typified this with his view that:
“It would really be a source of regret, if, contrary to common custom, it were denied to slaves, in the intervals between their toils, to indulge in mirthful pastimes…”

Christmas as celebrated by white Wilmingtonians was a quiet and reflective time with families at home, and author Guion Griffis Johnson relates in “Antebellum North Carolina” that:
“Christmas in North Carolina was celebrated without official ceremony, and the town authorities ordinarily made no occasion of the day, “leaving it to quiet church services, visiting parties and pleasant family reunions.” The Wilmington Daily Journal wrote on December 23, 1851: “Christmas is coming…and were it not for the little and big (Negroes) begging for quarters, and the “noise and confusion” and the “Kooners,” . . . and the fire-crackers, and all the other unnamed horrors and abominations, we should be much inclined to rejoice thereat…”

In 1859 the same Journal wrote that “Christmas is past… A crowd on foot preceded by an ox team was quite amusing. John Kuner was feeble. John Barleycorn retained his usual spirit…our town authorities on Christmas generally let the boys have their way so far as mere noise is concerned….much firing of crackers, rockets, sapients, etc…” It was customary to give slaves considerable freedom on Saturday afternoons, Sundays, and on general holidays such as the 4th of July and Christmas. The old Southern custom of ladies staying indoors on Saturday afternoons arose from the great numbers of slaves in town at that time.

Christmas was the time that slaves enjoyed more than others, and it was a general custom to give the workers a rest from the field labors for several days at least, and often the period between Christmas and New Year Day. The masters were liberal in issuing passes so the slaves could visit relatives and former masters on neighboring plantations. The slaves would have more money at this time as masters seldom forgot to give coins and presents on Christmas morning as “the slaves gathered about happily shouting “Chris’mus gif!”

The gifts received were usually gay head-cloths for the women and “hands of tobacco” for the men, plus barbequed pork, molasses and weakened liquor. The Negroes (in Edenton) arose early Christmas morning, singing their John Canoe songs and shouting “Chris’mus gif” at their masters’ doors. With liquor on their breaths and money in their pockets, they spent to day in one long jubilee.”
 
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EXCERPT #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkanoo
..."Historian Stephen Nissenbaum described the festival as it was performed in 19th-century North Carolina:

Essentially, it involved a band of black men—generally young—who dressed themselves in ornate and often bizarre costumes. Each band was led by a man who was variously dressed in animal horns, elaborate rags, female disguise, whiteface (and wearing a gentleman's wig!), or simply his "Sunday-go-to-meeting-suit." Accompanied by music, the band marched along the roads from plantation to plantation, town to town, accosting whites along the way and sometimes even entering their houses. In the process the men performed elaborate and (to white observers) grotesque dances that were probably of African origin. And in return for this performance they always demanded money (the leader generally carried "a small bowl or tin cup" for this purpose), though whiskey was an acceptable substitute.[8]" ...

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EXCERPT #3
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This article excerpt is about Jonkanoo as it is practiced in North Carolina in 2015.]

From https://www.ourstate.com/jonkonnu-is-a-whirl-of-song-and-dance/ Jonkonnu Is A Whirl of Song and Dance

Every Christmas, the little-known antebellum tradition of Jonkonnu, found almost nowhere else in North America, comes to life in New Bern.

by Bryan Mims,  Dec 12, 2015
…."Christmas is a couple of weeks off yet, and the air on this Saturday night is crisp. A crowd gathers expectantly along the brick sidewalks, as if awaiting the fa-la-la-la-la of carolers. But then a woman’s voice makes a shrill call. She emerges from a house, yelling something that sounds like, “John Canoe is coming! John Canoe is coming!”

Before long, others stream out of the house: A man in a getup of rags from neck to toe and wide horns on his head. Another man, dapper in a dark suit, vest, and top hat. Men in straw hats, pounding on drums. Someone in a raccoon headdress. Women in raggedy dresses with white cloths on their heads, dancing. Little girls in bonnets keeping step, smiling. To the beat of the drums, they sing: Funga alafia, ashay ashay! Funga alafia, ashay ashay! 

The West African chant roughly translates to, “I welcome you into my heart.” *

A year’s worth of celebrations

This festive scene plays out four times every December in New Bern for the celebration of Jonkonnu. (It’s pronounced like John Canoe, though the name’s origin is something of a mystery.) Twice each on the second and third Saturdays in December, during the palace’s candlelight celebration, African-American reenactors dance and sing, just as slaves in eastern North Carolina once did on the day after Christmas.

The man costumed in shreds of cloth — the ragman, he’s called — leads the procession after the shrill-voiced woman — she’s the town crier — runs through the crowd to announce the coming spectacle. Revelers go door to door with a big tin cup to collect coins. In plantation days, slaveholders were the ones giving the dancers money and other small gifts. This reenactment lasts 30 minutes or so, but the beat of the antebellum celebrations often would go on all day, with the ragman doing something that was totally taboo the other 364 days of the year: shaking hands with the slave master.

[…]

Blended cultures

Spalding started the drumbeat for a regular reenactment of Jonkonnu in New Bern. In the late ’90s, he was working full-time at Tryon Palace, the first permanent state capitol and governor’s house for the colony. “I was looking for ways to develop more of an interpretation of the African-American history of Tryon Palace,” he says. “I was aware of some of the Jamaican musical traditions, which probably contributed to the Jonkonnu celebrations here in North Carolina.”

Those celebrations, he says, began in the state in the early 1800s, and were likely started by slaves brought from Jamaica. And those celebrations mostly stayed in North Carolina. Spalding says there are no accounts that Jonkonnu took place elsewhere in the South, save for one celebration just north of the state line in Virginia. Why? “Good question,” he says. It’s also unknown whether the festivals ever occurred in New Bern itself. Much of Spalding’s knowledge about what the ritual looked like comes from an 1829 description written by a slaveholder at Somerset Plantation in Washington County. Hillsborough and Wilmington were two other places known to host Jonkonnu festivals.

“I believe what you see in Jonkonnu is a melding of several different West African festival traditions with English traditions,” Spalding says. “The fusion of these different traditions occurred in Jamaica.” Jonkonnu spread to other Caribbean locales, such as the Bahamas and Belize.

The slaves made their costumes with whatever they could scrounge up: tablecloths, sleeping gowns, rags. Records show slave masters, too, often bought regalia for Jonkonnu parties. The crowd roved from house to house in the community, clapping and cavorting and carrying on. “Sometimes, you wouldn’t even know who was living in the next plantation until this event came about,” Bryant says. Unbeknownst to white listeners, some of the songs ribbed and mocked the slave masters.

Jonkonnu festivals faded in North Carolina by the end of the 19th century, with Jim Crow laws discouraging African-Americans from throwing boisterous parties in the street. But now, on two Saturday nights in December, the sounds of shouting, drumming, and clapping burst onto the street like a ragtag dance troupe. There they go, to the middle of Pollock Street, to the wrought-iron fence of Tryon Palace, past spectators smiling and clapping. Some don’t just spectate; they join in.

Jonkonnu is a rare sound of joy born out of a sorrowful episode in American history. That unbridled joy, absent the sorrow, returns every Christmastime among the lovely old houses of George Street."
-snip-
The article that is excerpted in this pancocojams post describes the song "Funga Alafia" as a "West African chant". However, the song "Funga Alafia" was composed by African American drummer and dancer LaRocque Bey in Harlem (New York City) in 1959 or 1960. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-real-origin-of-song-funga-alafia.html for the 2019 pancocojams post entitled "The REAL Origin Of The Song "Funga Alafia" - Hint: It Isn't A Liberian Song, Or A Nigerian Song, Or A Traditional African Song".

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ADDENDUM#1 -HOW ENSLAVED BLACK PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH CELEBRATED CHRISTMAS 

ARTICLE REPRINT #1: THE SLAVE EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLIDAYS
From https://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/holidays.html
[by] DocSouth staff
"American slaves experienced the Christmas holidays in many different ways. Joy, hope, and celebration were naturally a part of the season for many. For other slaves, these holidays conjured up visions of freedom and even the opportunity to bring about that freedom. Still others saw it as yet another burden to be endured. This month, Documenting the American South considers the Christmas holidays as they were experienced by enslaved Americans.

The prosperity and relaxed discipline associated with Christmas often enabled slaves to interact in ways that they could not during the rest of the year. They customarily received material goods from their masters: perhaps the slave's yearly allotment of clothing, an edible delicacy, or a present above and beyond what he or she needed to survive and work on the plantation. For this reason, among others, slaves frequently married during the Christmas season. When Dice, a female slave in Nina Hill Robinson's Aunt Dice, came to her master "one Christmas eve, and asked his consent to her marriage with Caesar," her master allowed the ceremony, and a "great feast was spread" (pp. 24-25). Dice and Caesar were married in "the mistress's own parlor . . . before the white minister" (pp. 25-26). More than any other time of year, Christmas provided slaves with the latitude and prosperity that made a formal wedding possible.

On the plantation, the transfer of Christmas gifts from master to slave was often accompanied by a curious ritual. On Christmas day, "it was always customary in those days to catch peoples Christmas gifts and they would give you something." Slaves and children would lie in wait for those with the means to provide presents and capture them, crying 'Christmas gift' and refusing to release their prisoners until they received a gift in return (p. 22). This ironic annual inversion of power occasionally allowed slaves to acquire real power. Henry, a slave whose tragic life and death is recounted in Martha Griffith Browne's Autobiography of a Female Slave, saved "Christmas gifts in money" to buy his freedom (p. 311).

Some slaves saw Christmas as an opportunity to escape. They took advantage of relaxed work schedules and the holiday travels of slaveholders, who were too far away to stop them. While some slaveholders presumably treated the holiday as any other workday, numerous authors record a variety of holiday traditions, including the suspension of work for celebration and family visits. Because many slaves had spouses, children, and family who were owned by different masters and who lived on other properties, slaves often requested passes to travel and visit family during this time. Some slaves used the passes to explain their presence on the road and delay the discovery of their escape through their masters' expectation that they would soon return from their "family visit." Jermain Loguen plotted a Christmas escape, stockpiling supplies and waiting for travel passes, knowing the cover of the holidays was essential for success: "Lord speed the day!--freedom begins with the holidays!" (p. 262). These plans turned out to be wise, as Loguen and his companions are almost caught crossing a river into Ohio, but were left alone because the white men thought they were free men "who have been to Kentucky to spend the Holidays with their friends" (p. 303).

Harriet Tubman helped her brothers escape at Christmas. Their master intended to sell them after Christmas but was delayed by the holiday. The brothers were expected to spend the day with their elderly mother but met Tubman in secret. She helped them travel north, gaining a head start on the master who did not discover their disappearance until the end of the holidays. Likewise, William and Ellen Crafts escaped together at Christmastime. They took advantage of passes that were clearly meant for temporary use. Ellen "obtained a pass from her mistress, allowing her to be away for a few days. The cabinet-maker with whom I worked gave me a similar paper, but said that he needed my services very much, and wished me to return as soon as the time granted was up. I thanked him kindly; but somehow I have not been able to make it convenient to return yet; and, as the free air of good old England agrees so well with my wife and our dear little ones, as well as with myself, it is not at all likely we shall return at present to the 'peculiar institution' of chains and stripes" (pp. 303-304).

Christmas could represent not only physical freedom, but spiritual freedom, as well as the hope for better things to come. The main protagonist of Martha Griffin Browne's Autobiography of a Female Slave, Ann, found little positive value in the slaveholder's version of Christmas—equating it with "all sorts of culinary preparations" and extensive house cleaning rituals—but she saw the possibility for a better future in the story of the life of Christ: "This same Jesus, whom the civilized world now worship as their Lord, was once lowly, outcast, and despised; born of the most hated people of the world . . . laid in the manger of a stable at Bethlehem . . . this Jesus is worshipped now" (p. 203, 47-48). For Ann, Christmas symbolized the birth of the very hope she used to survive her captivity.

Not all enslaved African Americans viewed the holidays as a time of celebration and hope. Rather, Christmas served only to highlight their lack of freedom. As a young boy, Louis Hughes was bought in December and introduced to his new household on Christmas Eve "as a Christmas gift to the madam" (p. 13). When Peter Bruner tried to claim a Christmas gift from his master, "he took me and threw me in the tan vat and nearly drowned me. Every time I made an attempt to get out he would kick me back in again until I was almost dead" (p. 22).

Frederick Douglass described the period of respite that was granted to slaves every year between Christmas and New Year's Day as a psychological tool of the oppressor. In his 1845 Narrative, Douglass wrote that slaves celebrated the winter holidays by engaging in activities such as "playing ball, wrestling, running foot-races, fiddling, dancing, and drinking whiskey" (p. 75). He took particular umbrage at the latter practice, which was often encouraged by slave owners through various tactics. "One plan [was] to make bets on their slaves, as to who can drink the most whiskey without getting drunk; and in this way they succeed in getting whole multitudes to drink to excess" (p. 75). In My Bondage and My Freedom, Douglass concluded that "[a]ll the license allowed [during the holidays] appears to have no other object than to disgust the slaves with their temporary freedom, and to make them as glad to return to their work, as they were to leave it" (p. 255). While there is no doubt that many enjoyed these holidays, Douglass acutely discerned that they were granted not merely in a spirit of charity or conviviality, but also to appease those who yearned for freedom, ultimately serving the ulterior motives of slave owners.

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ARTICLE REPRINT #2: LITTLE KNOWN BLACK HISTORY FACT: A SLAVES' CHRISTMAS
From Erica Taylor, The Tom Joyner Morning Show
https://blackamericaweb.com/2012/12/23/little-known-black-history-fact-a-slaves-christmas/
"During slavery, some slaves were given a day of rest while others were forced to continue work. In some parts of the country, slaves were given a yule log to burn in the big house. As long as the log burned, they were granted rest during the holiday. Sometimes the log would burn until the New Year.

During the days of rest, some slaves would hold quilting bees, with both men and women. It was also sometimes tradition that slaves could keep the money they earned for the sale of goods during the holiday.

While the holiday season was meant to be a joyous occasion, slaves that worked inside the house would be worked hardest during Christmas, as many owners and their families would host Christmas parties.

The Christmas holiday would also be a time that some slaveowners gave wine and alcoholic beverages to their slaves. With business still in mind, the effects of alcohol were something unknown to many slaves, and most would overindulge. The increased lounge and slumber would discourage runaways during the break. This was a theory held by abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Despite, some slaves were given passes to see nearby relatives during Christmas time and allowed visitors from neighboring plantations.

Along with the traditions of the Christmas holiday in Western culture, slaves had dancing and singing in the slave quarters. Sometimes the white masters would come to the slave quarters to watch the celebration. Parents would give children small, homemade tokens.

Another celebration known as Jonkonnu, or a Christmas masquerade, took place on the plantations. It was a basic traveling show in which the slave would put on makeshift costumes and go from house to house to perform for gifts and money.

The traditions of Christmas during slavery were tools for celebration in the harshest working and living conditions for blacks. While the whites in the “big house” were being showered with gifts and feast, they shared a portion of those with their captives, and at the same time, used the opportunity to convince slaves that slavery was their best option for living peacefully and safely among the masters."

ADDENDUM #2: ORIGIN OF JONKANOO

EXCERPT #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkanoo
"Junkanoo (or Jonkonnu) is a street parade with music, dance, and costumes of mixed African origin in many islands across the English speaking Caribbean every Boxing Day (26 December) and New Year's Day (1 January), the same as "Kakamotobi" or the Fancy Dress Festival of Ghana. There are also Junkanoo parades in Miami in June and Key West in October, where local black populations have their roots in the Caribbean. In addition to being a culture dance for the Garifuna people,[1][2] this type of dancing is also performed in The Bahamas on Independence day and other historical holidays.

Dances are choreographed to the beat of goatskin drums and cowbells.

History
The festival may have originated several centuries ago, when enslaved descendants of Africans on plantations in The Bahamas celebrated holidays granted around Christmas time with dance, music, and costumes. After emancipation the tradition continued and junkanoo evolved from simple origins to a formal, organised parade with intricate costumes, themed music and official prizes within various categories.

The origin of the word junkanoo is disputed. Theories include that it is named after a folk hero named John Canoe or that it is derived from the French gens inconnus (unknown people) as masks are worn by the revelers.[3] Douglas Chambers, professor of African studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, suggests a possible Igbo origin from the Igbo yam deity Njoku Ji referencing festivities in time for the new yam festival. Chambers also suggests a link with the Igbo okonko masking tradition of southern Igboland which feature horned maskers and other masked characters in similar style to jonkonnu masks.[4] Similarities with the Yoruba Egungun festivals have also been identified.[5] However, an Akan origin is more likely because the celebration of the Fancy Dress Festivals/Masquerades are the same Christmas week(Dec 25- Jan 1st) and also John Canoe was in fact an existing king and hero that ruled Axim, Ghana before 1720, the same year the John Canoe festival was created in the Caribbean.[6]

According to Edward Long, an 18th-century Jamaican slave owner/historian, the John Canoe festival was created in Jamaica and the Caribbean by enslaved Akans who backed the man known as John Canoe. John Canoe, from Axim, Ghana, was an Akan from the Ahanta. He was a soldier for the Germans, until one day he turned his back on them for his Ahanta people and sided with Nzima and Ashanti troops, in order to take the area from the Germans and other Europeans. The news of his victory reached Jamaica and he has been celebrated ever since that Christmas of 1708 when he first defeated Prussic forces for Axim. Twenty years later his stronghold was broken by neighbouring Fante forces aided by the military might of the British and Ahanta, Nzima and Ashanti captives were taken to Jamaica as prisoners of war. The festival itself included motifs from battles typical of Akan fashion. The Ashanti swordsman became the "horned headed man"; the Ashanti commander became "Pitchy patchy" who also wears a battledress with what would resemble charms, referred to as a "Batakari".[7]"...

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EXCERPT #2: JONKANOO TRADITIONS IN THE BAHAMAS
From https://www.bahamas.com/junkanoo
"WHAT IS JUNKANOO?
Although the roots of the Junkanoo parade remain subject to long and passionate debates, what is agreed, is that after centuries of practice, today's cultural extravaganzas have become the most entertaining street carnivals of not only The Bahamas, but also the world at large.
With the costumes, dance, and music inspired by a different theme each time, preparations for the Boxing Day, New Year's Day and summertime Junkanoo literally take months, and bring together men and women from all different walks of life.

[...]

THE HISTORY OF JUNKANOO
Legend has it that you haven't needed an excuse to party in The Bahamas for well over 500 years.

But ask folks here at the top of the Caribbean how The Bahamas Junkanoo tradition got started and they'll all tell you a different story—with many believing it was established by John Canoe, a legendary West African Prince, who outwitted the English and became a local hero; and others suspecting it comes from the French ‘gens inconnus,’ which translates as 'unknown' or 'masked people".

The most popular belief, however, is that it evolved from the days of slavery. Loyalists who migrated to The Bahamas in the late 18th Century brought their African slaves with them. The slaves were given three days off during the Christmas season, which they used to celebrate by singing and dancing in colorful masks, traveling from house to house, often on stilts. Junkanoo nearly vanished after slavery was abolished but the revival of the festival in The Bahamas now provides entertainment for many thousands."...

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Videos That Include The Yoruba Word "Ase" (also given as Aché, Axé, Ashe)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about the Yoruba (Nigerian) word "Àṣẹ" (also given as "aché", "axé", or "ashe").

Part II presents several YouTube videos that include the Yoruba word "Àṣẹ".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/03/what-yoruba-word-ase-ache-axe-ashe.html for Part I of this series. Part I presents several excerpts about the word "Àṣẹ".

The content of this post is provided for cultural and linguistic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Video #1: Às̩e̩ | What Does 'Ase' Mean? | The Physical and Spiritual Aspects



Yorùbá Lessons with Adérónké̩, Jul 5, 2019
-snip-
This video is given with captions. However, some of the captions are incorrect. For example, the Yoruba word “Às̩e̩” is incorrectly given as “a shake” or “share”. Those captions sometimes also uses the word “ashay” for “Às̩e̩” and that’s a closer transcription of that word.

Here's one comment exchange from that video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only)

1. claude reed, 2019
"thanks for the explanation. there maybe another confusion what are the tonal usage with asheh and the difference between ashay and asheh. some i fear don't know the difference."

**
REPLY
2. Asabi Fatosin, 2019
"claude reed the diacritical marks give the correct pronunciation."

**
REPLY
3. Beats Boy,2019
"Ashay isn't a thing, it's a mispronunciation. It is pronounced 'Asheh'."

**
REPLY
4. Yorùbá Lessons with Adérónké̩
"Like Beats Boy mentioned earlier, those are incorrect ways of pronouncing 'às̩e̩'. 😃 Everyone who pronounces the word incorrectly is trying their best, at least. God bless everyone. ❤️"

**
5. yaya centella, 2019
"thank you very much for sharing this with the world. many blessings and blessings of peace on earth. ase"
-snip-
Ase" (or "Axé'", "ashe") written at the end of a sentence, or the only word in a sentence is similar to or the same as the English use of the word "Amen" and/or the English saying "So be it" or "More power to you".

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Video #2: Àdúrà àti Gbólóhùn Àṣẹ. Oração vinculado com ọfọ̀.



Ayokunle Omisakin Obalúfè, Apr 2, 2019

"Osun Itaguaí Festival", Rio de Janeiro 2019
-snip-
This video is an example of the call & response use of “Axé” (people saying "Axé" as the response to a “call” [other words].

Here's a comment from that video's discussion thread:
Fabio Sousa, 2019
"Axé!"

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Video #3: Nana Malaya - "Funga Alafia"



The Kennedy Center, Oct 9, 2013

The Millennium Stage partners with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to present some of the best D.C. area street performers in a MetroPerforms! Showcase.

The Millennium Stage is a FREE performance series and part of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It features a broad spectrum of national and international performing arts companies, from dance and jazz, to chamber music and folk, comedy, storytelling and theater, every day of the year. Performances always begin at 6pm.
-snip-
Here are some comments from that video's discussion thread (including two comments that I wrote)

1. Azizi Powell, 2016
"Alafia, Nana Malaya!

I'm glad that I happened upon this video of your and your drummers' performance of "Funga Alafia".

I'm proud to know you.

Here's some information about this multifaceted dancer, choreographer, speaker, teacher, and entrepreneur:

Nana Malaya is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of her children is movie and television actor Lamman Rucker.

The poem "I Am the Original Dance Machine" (3:20 in this video) was written by New York City dancer/choreographer Bob Johnson, who also lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and in 1969/1970 was the founder of the Pittsburgh Black Theater Dance Ensemble. Nana Malaya was a member of this esteemed dance company.

Ase, Nana Malaya!"

**
2. Stephan and Ashae Lyles, 2017
"My name... Same pronunciation but different spelling Ashae💙💜💚💛"
-snip-
Nigerians don't use "Ase" as a name. That said, this variant spelling of that word is a powerful name that Ashae Lyles (or anyone else with that name) can be proud of.

**
3. okallixti, 2017
"what's the origin of this song? is it in Yoruba? thank you"

**
REPLY
4. Angie, 2018
"okallixti Nigerian origin."

**
REPLY
5. Azizi Powell, 2020
"@Angie & @okallixti, The song that is known as "Funga Alafia" isn't a Nigerian song. Here's some basic information about the song "Funga Alafia":
1. The song "Funga Alafia" was composed by African American drummer and dancer LaRocque Bey in Harlem (New York City) in 1959 or 1960.

2. The word "funga" is a folk processed form of the Vai (Liberia, West Africa) word "fanga".

3. The words "alafia" and "ashe" are from the Yoruba (Nigeria, West Africa) language.

4. The tune for the song "Funga Alafia" is from the American folk song "Little Liza Jane".

Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELNIe_D79xs for a sound file of Nina Simone singing "Little Liza Jane"

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-real-origin-of-song-funga-alafia.html "The REAL Origin Of The Song "Funga Alafia" - Hint It Isn't A Liberian Song, Or A Nigerian Song, Or A Traditional African Song" for more information about this song.

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This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.

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