Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series on the Nigerian dance song "Shekini" performed by P-Square and Barbapappa's song "Hek Nifi Lili", a Moroccan parody of "Shekini" performed by Barbapappa.
Part III showcases the video of that song and also provides selected comments from both of those video's discussion threads. A number of those comments focus on bloggers comments about P-Square's "Shekini" song/video compared to Barbappa' song/video and vice versa. Some other featured comments were selected for this compilation because of they exemplify or include examples of pan-African sentiments, and/or African American Vernacular English*, and/or popular colloquial sayings such as the Jamaican originated saying "Big Up" and the saying "thumbs up" *which may be reinforced by YouTube's discussion threads rating system. I also selected some comments because of their inclusion of other linguistic or sociological elements that I'm interested in.
*Note that some of these sayings aren't necessarily always used the same way they are used in the nations and populations where they originated, probably because the commenter may not be totally aware of how those colloquial expressions are used in their nation of origin. I included some of these comments to document that these sayings have been transmitted to other nations. I definitely don't intend to point out any folk processed errors for criticism or ridicule.
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/01/p-squares-nigerian-dance-song-shekini.html for Part I of this post. Part I provides information about P-Square and information about Barbappa. Quotes from an interview of P-Square, and quotes from an interview of Barbapappa are also included in this post, along with information about the meaning of the word "Shekini". Part I also showcases the official videos of these songs, and includes examples of these songs' lyrics.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-global-reach-of-nigerians-p-squares.html for Part II. Part II documents the global reach of p Square's song "Shekini" by compiling a list of the nationalities that commenters gave (with each nation given one time), and by presenting selected quotes from some of those commenters.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, sociological, cultural and educational purposes.
I believe that some YouTube discussion thread comments should be preserved, studied, and shared for educational and folkloric purposes alone or along with the YouTube sound files or videos that prompted them.
I recognize that other compilations of these videos' discussion threads would probably be different than the one that I'm compiling.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who were associated with the performance and production of "Shekini" and its Moroccan parody. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these video on YouTube.
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UPDATE: STATISTICS FOR THESE TWO OFFICIAL VIDEOS
For what it's worth, since the number of YouTube viewer hits has played such a large part of the discussion threads for these official videos*, here are the statistics as of January 28, 2016 at 2:40 PM - about three hours after I published this post:
official YouTube video for P-Square "Shekini" :
Viewers: 28,249,881
Comments: 4,406
**
official YouTube video for Barbapappa “Shekini” parody "Hek Lili Nifi"
Viewers: 31,516,442
Comments: 8,140
*Both of these songs have other videos published on YouTube. I'm not adding those numbers to these statistics.
****
PART I- "SHEKINI" VIDEO & SELECTED COMMENTS
PSquare - Shekini [Official Video]
PSquareVEVO, Published on Nov 17, 2014
Africa’s biggest singing duo come through with the second video to one of the singles off their recently released 6th studio album, “Double Trouble”. “Shekini” video is an energetic pictorial which sees the artistes combine with youthful dancers to perform moves that’d bring you to life. From garages to underground scenes, the dark-themed flick definitely does justice to the song. Video was directed by Clarence Peters, and song produced by Vtek, who also made a cameo appearance
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SELECTED COMMENTS
This compilation is presented to give a sample of the types of comments that are posted on that discussion thread. Other comments are featured in Part II of this series.
Since this is a YouTube discussion thread, there were there a number of were contentious comments in this discussion thread. Most of the contentious comments revolved around which song and video was best - P-Square's or the Moroccan parody. The fact that that parody has more YouTube viewers than P-Square's song/video also resulted in brags, taunts, and responses.
As is the case with many YouTube discussion threads, some of the comments in this discussion thread include profanity. And, because this is a YouTube discussion thread, there were also a number of racist comments and anti-Muslim comments in this discussion thread. None of the comments from either of those categories are given below.
I wrote a response to one of these featured comments. That response is also included in this compilation. I mostly resisted the urge to respond to other comments and I mostly resisted the urge to add explanatory comments.
Comment Order:
These comments are given in chronological order with the oldest comments given first, except for responses. However, the comments may not be in consecutive order. I've assigned numbers for referencing purposes only.
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCcuzqRRTHQ
June 2015
1. muritala issa
"Man These two brothers are really representing man great video beautiful beats nice steps its amazing and kudos to artistic beauty, thumps up bro"
-snip-
In re-reading this comment, it occurs to me that if punctuation marks were added to the first part of this comment, it would read "Man, these two brothers are really representing." In the context of this comment "representing" is a formal way of saying "reppin" - the African American Vernacular English term meaning publicly standing up for your nation, city, neighborhood, group, etc.
That minimal use of punctuation marks which results in run on sentences is a signature of a lot of online commenting.
**
Mofax Zulu
This is Africa's Pride. Glad to see we are kicking race, religion, and culture to the curb and imitating each other. It shows breaking down barriers. Doing away with our parents and grand-parents misunderstandings and have a united front. Ill be looking forward to Moroccan song parody done by Nigerians. Africa united, The world united
**
2. Nice Place
"the parodie got more views hahaha p square must be angry. Love Both versions."
**
3. adviceologie
"I heard the parody not knowing it's a parody. Loved the beat but hated the lyrics !
Thanks god I found the original song, it's sooo catchyyy !!"
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4. Du Toit
"I just noticed that "Alingo", "Personally", and this share an almost-similar setting--and success. Hmmm! Guess P-Square's director has cracked the code for Afrobeats' hit."
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5. Lim Popo
"Lol people are always fighting on psquares page lol. Nigerians made a song and made money, Morocco and Algeria made a Parody, Nigerians also made money, went to Morocco and made extra money on sold out show, and people are fighting over youtube views hahaha, priorities people? Where are yours?"
**
6. Nouhaila Malid
"Can you guys just stop seriously ?!
Just appreciate the song no need to compare it with the parody something original will always be original and I personally prefer this version of course ! Ps no need to remind us which song has the highest number of views and stop acting like you made PSquare famous or something pff I'm Moroccan by the way"
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July 2015
7. Natu Zo
"U guys hv really bn keepx africa busy fr more than a decade nw. U r true african legends n deserve to be celebrated. Keep makx us proud"
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8. okeyxyz
"I don't understand why some people are bitter that the parody is very popular and has more views. How does it hurt this original?? No way. In fact it helps to give it more publicity. Who ever enjoys the parody is very likely to want to see this original. What the heck are some Nigerians bitter about(Btw I am Nigerian). You guys love to find reasons to complain about everything without differentiating what's actually good for you. You throw the baby out with the bath water. But really you are just manifesting your insecurities because you feel foreigners take away the attention from you, but in fact all they are doing is help promote your good works. Smh. Some people are really retarded."
-snip-
"smh"= Shake my head [in exasperation, or consternation, or amazement etc]
**
9. Malvina Janet Stober
"The brothers way dey scatter all over the borders☺ Nice video guys!!"
-snip-
This sentence combines standard English with Nigerian Pidgin English. "Wey dey scatter all over the borders" refers to the global reach of p-Square. "Brothers" here may refer to the fact that the two men who make up the duo P-Square are brothers and it may refer to the fact that they are Black males.
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August 2015
[These comments are written in response to the comments that the Moroccan parody has more YouTube viewer hits than P-Square's video]
10. Umar “Deblaze22” Mohammed
zzzz'This is a very simple issue. Morocco has more internet users. That is all. This is top song all over the continent. If you came here through the parody, that means nothing except that you are from Morocco. Irrelevant arguments here. This shouldn't have been a controversy. The Sub-Saharan Africa Vrs North Africa divide could have been done some good if we stop trying to belittle each other. This song and parody is a uniting thing, not an item to be divided on."
**
Reply
11. rockii101
"+Umar Mohammed That's not true. Nigeria has the 8th highest number of internet users in the world at 70 million while Morocco's population is only 33 million."
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Reply
12. Umar “Deblaze22” Mohammed
"What you are referring to is not the same thing I am referencing. Active users are different from casual users. With the high cost of data charges in Nigeria, people don't usually stream things online as much as other countries outside Africa. People might go online and watch once or download it on their phones or PCs for friends to copy and for future watching. But in places like the US or even Morocco, people will go back online to watch it thereby increasing the view counts. I am from Ghana and our internet usage and proliferation is about the same as Nigeria(not numbers, but habits)."
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September 2015
13. Devotedly Mine
"Oh my god my hand was so itchy i HAD TO COMMENT ! Sooo much hate and meaningless comments down here, WHAT FOOOOR ?? We all live in Africa alright, we share it alright and stop calling us Arabs, we are Amazighs who speak Arabic and we even have our distinctive language! I personally enjoyed BOTH songs, the parody (because it's close to be understood for me) and the original one and both bands sang at Mawazine Festival standing next to each other look it up. So please let's just stop with the hate and racism, us Africans stick together, and my apologies to some stupid comments made by some Moroccans, keep it going, peace."
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October 2015
14. nada salim
"I like the song a lot. what I don't like is the comments against both Nigerians and Moroccans. Instead of being very united we are divided. Africa is our continent, we have old roots in this world, we have many things in common."
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15. Shafie Shaban Shaban
"Nice Song Bro"
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16. Ruth Willis
"Love this song!!!! Psquare is incredible simply the best music, you do not have to be African or Moroccan to love this great sound."
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17. Reply [January 2016]
Azizi Powell
"+Ruth Willis I recognize your larger point, but please be aware that Morocco is in Africa."
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18. Bukola Odion
"When your song got a parody, then you've made it."
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Reply
19. hyacinthdibley
"Oh crap!!! Is that good or bad? Haha
Where can i find the parody? I guess i can just type in the song title and 'parody' next to it."
**
Reply
20. hyacinthdibley
"I just found and watched the parody. Thanks for that. :)"
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Reply
21. Bukola Odion
"+hyacinthdibley it's a good thing.. You're welcome"
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22. Ismail Bourhaeil
"The parody brought me here :-)"
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23. MEHDIJIJI
"mamma Africa is just soooo wonderful"
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November 2015
24. TechG101
"what does "Alagi" mean?"
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Reply
25. Tia Ade
"+TechG101 Alhaji is a respected member of society who successfully made the trip to Mecca. If it's a woman, she is called "Alhaja".."
**
Reply
26. TechG101
"+Tia Ade I understand the term "Alhaja" or "AlHajj" :P. But in the song, P square said: "Take it, Take it, Allagi" What does "Allagi mean here?"
**
Reply
27. Mutiyat Ade-Salu
"+TechG101 The "Alhaji" is represented by the older man enjoying himself in the video. (The one with the cap and white outfit.)"
-snip-
I think that TechG101 is pointing out the fact that P-Square is using a newer (self-made?) form of the word "Alhaji". In the same way the word "Shekini" may be a P-Square coined form of the Yoruba word (words?) se ki ni.
**
28. tassi amldine
"Africans are cool, cus we are one people one coulor.music dilute stress."
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29. marocoujda90
"one love Afrique"
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30. ADAMA KONATE
"tres coulllllll"
-snip-
French to English - "very cool"
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31. Daniel Teklzghi
"I love Africa 4 ever"
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Muataz Marley
32. "I guess its time for African music been most hearing in the world"
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33. Jawaher Mousa
"If Moroccan and Nigeria sang this song together we would show white people that Africa is actually United stop sending negative comments y'all are one"
-snip-
I wonder why the commenter felt that it was so important to single out White people that Africa is actually united. Sigh.
**
34. Abena Tiwaah
"Dear Moroccans spamming, without the ORIGINAL song you bastards would not have a parody. So pay your respects and keep it moving. Okay. Bye."
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35. aqzs0123
"love you Nigeria , from Morocco. the song is beautiful , i apologize about some moroccans comments comming from some kids and adolescents . we are all african brothers , muslim and chritians"
**
Reply
36. 1LOVE_09 [January 2016]
"yea we all brothers and sisters til the end of time"
**
Reply
37. tracey omoruyi [January 2016]
+aqzs0123 So true, we are, love u too.
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Dania Q
38. "Mamma Africa is going places..... world better leave dancing to us Africans.
much love from Sudan to Nigeria."
**
Reply
39. Ahmed ali
"I agreeee with u"
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Reply
40. My Name isn't written
"+Dania Q You have my thumb up"
**
Reply ·December 2015]
41. timemind4039
"+Dania Q u seen caribbean dancers?"
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December 2015
42. Nancy Modest
"thumbs up p square. make us proud"
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43. abood alamoodi
"my car dance when I play this song !!!!"
**
Reply
44. odinese nwad [Janaury 2016]
"Just died"
-snip-
This saying means "I just died laughing (I laughed so much my stomach heart and I felt like I was dying).
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45. M.E.M
"Moroccan remix is better"
**
Reply
46. pete preston
"+miss chanel You have the right to prefer a mix to the original version. :) Nothing can be better than an original though. A remix is just a copy of someone else's work and it does not take much work.
All the work has been done in the original. Its not actually stealing...but you get the point. It is still profiting off someone else's writing, composition, belief in the product and so many hours spent. I really like the Moroccan version too. Good job!"
**
47. Annie Thoronka
"my country my language don't talk anything bad about it leave us africans alone"
**
[This comments and its replies are part of a long sub-thread that was started by a commenter from Chad who said that Sudanese don't consider themselves African.]
48. Dania Q
"+moe el tshadi Sudanese are the only ppl on earth who consider themselves both Black and Arab. The thing is that we got Arabized centuries ago. We use Arabic and other local languages in the country. However that doesn't mean we r denying our roots.. we're proud blacks n We'll remain so. "
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Reply
49. Shol Gee [January 2016]
"+Dania Q am Sudanese and I welcome you one love one peace"
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50. Lorriane ebrunie [January 2016]
"+Shol Gee North or South sudan?"
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Reply
51. moe el tshadi [January 2016]
"+Lorriane ebrunie nosy"
**
Reply
52. Shol Gee [January 2016]
"+Lorriane ebrunie South Sudanes ma'am but i grew up in North Sudan how about you?"
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53. DANIEL ADEJUMO
"Lmao as a Nigerian; the Comment section is Disturbing [internet speak profanity abbreviation deleted]. I can't believe it. Was so itchy to drop this. Can we enjoy the music without knowing the Parody's amount of Views."
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54. Tatenda Sagomba
"bump to this song still!!!! such a jam!"
**
55. Princess Shopaholic forever
"At the end their doing the whip lol anyways I love this song"
-snip-
The Whip is an African American Hip-Hop dance which became popular around the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014.
**
56. Enock JBL
"the song is nice but what language is THIS ??????"
**
Reply
57. kole ivy
"Yoruba (a language spoken in the western part of Nigeria) , and Nigerian Pidgin English. The singers are originally Igbo (from the Eastern part of Nigeria)."
**
58. Josephine Sekoko
"I love you from Rwanda"
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Reply [January 2016]
Manni Dennis
"1 love my fellow African Sista"
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Anselm Ndumbe Mesue
59. "nice song p square is my jam"
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January 2016
60. je suis un algerien kabyle
"We love the Nigerian people from ALGeria
AL#Geria ♥Ni#Geria"
**
Reply
61. Mojan Kingston
"Love you too!"
**
Reply
62. "je suis un algerien Kabyle
"thanks my sister ♥♥"
**
Reply
63. Mojan Kingston
"Have a happy new year my African brother!"
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64. Hilda Nche
this is perfect more strength
-snip-
"More strength" may be a folk processed translation of the African American saying "more power to you".
**
65. Matt Choge
"Spectacular Boys, Keep On keeping On! Go Nigeria, Go Africa, Let's all Go World!"
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66. okuomose okuns
"this song will never get old, What a global song from PSquare.."
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67. Jifin Varghese
"I m a big fan of Nigerian songs. my favourite - p square, mama africa, mampi. Greetings from KERALA."
-snip-
Kerala is a city in India.
**
68. SpookDogg
"this song makes my african blood tingle"
**
69. Mogoshadi Maserumule
"We love Nigerian Music, Nigerian people..
i love you all from Egypt all trhe way To South Africa..
i am in South Africa.. Africa my home and pride..mwaaah"
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PART II
Parodie: Shekini, P square "Hek Lili Nifi حك ليلي نيفي" - Officiel
Barbapappa TV, Published on Jan 28, 2015
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SELECTED COMMENTS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n5uhr85Zmo
This compilation consists of selected English language comments only, with the exception being comments in or which include Nigerian Pidgin and English language comments that might also include words in another language.
However, it should be noted that a number of the comments in this discussion thread are written in French and most of the comments are written in Arabic and/or a language or languages that I can't recognize and Google Translate doesn't translate. At least one of these languages might be Amazigh since a couple of commenters wrote [in English] that that was one of the languages used in this parody. Another reason why one of the languages that I don't recognize might be Amazigh is because one of the central themes that a number of Moroccan commenters wrote in English was that they aren't Arabs but are Amazigh (Berbers).
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbers
for information about Amazigh.
Also, read my editor's note given above for information about the order of these comments and my other editor's comments about the profanity, anti-Muslim, and racist comments that are included in this video's discussion thread, but not in this compilation.
May 2015
1. Mardhiyah Esin (Mahmadheeyah)
"I PREFER THE ENDING.....SO COOL"
-snip-
Read the information about the ending given after comment #2.
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June 2015
2. Larbi Igout
"I discovered this song by accident, I just can't believe how far the Moroccan creativity and genius can stretch.
I love the part where it says " Casa Abidjan c'est la meme famille" with a jumping hug in the seen.
Proud to be African Moroccan.
love and cheers to Cote D'Ivoire :)
God bless Africa!"
-snip-
A commenter wrote on the discussion thread for P-Square's "Shekini" that the West Africans in the video were from the Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivoire)
"with a jumping hug in the seen" made mean "I jumped up a hugged the television screen when I heard the part that says "We are a family from Casablanca to Abidjan".
Casablanca is Morocco's commercial capital, largest city and main port. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca
Abidjan = "Abidjan is the economic capital of Ivory Coast and is the most populous French-speaking city in West Africa. Its population at the 2014 Ivory Coast census was 4,707,404, which is 20 percent of the overall population of the country. Only Lagos, the former capital of Nigeria, surpasses it within West Africa in population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abidjan
**
3. Abdellatif Outrah
"At the moment all I'm thinking is how 5 millenniums of cohabitation and ethnic similarities between Algeria and Morocco couldn't bring us together, but a video of less than 3 min have done it !!!!!!!!!!!
Is it just me who thinks that the world itself is a parody ?
I'm a moroccan by the way"
**
Reply
4. leila1973ful
"All what have you said is true . it is a real parody . I am Algerian"
**
Reply
5.Nomade Nomade
"LOL..
That's a funny and creative parody.. so why can't people just comment on the song, why would you always have to start the endless dispute about ethnicity and countries?! and cause people to insult each other? I mean, really! as muslims, building up sins so stupidly and mindlessly doesn't make you frightened at all?!!"
**
Reply
6. Mofax Zulu [July 2015]
"+Abdellatif Outrah That is the power of music"
**
Reply
7. Abdellatif Outrah [July 2015]
"I've watched recently a movie which I think some of you will know it, it's name is The Cabinet Of Dr.Caligari (1920), it's about a doctor who controls a somnambulist (sleep-walker) and forces him to commit murders.
The moral is that certains "governments" consider people as cattle and tells them what to think, or what to feel.
The hatred between Algerians and Moroccans is nothing but the consequence of the personals conflicts between our ignorant heartless brainless leaders.
All I want to say is Algerians and Moroccans are one, and the hands of time know no mercy or compassion, in the following years it's gonna be one country united, or simply a giant hole in the Nirth of Africa, if you know what I mean."
**
Reply
8. Amal Amal [July 2015]
"+Abdellatif Outrah well siad Mr abdellatif ... it s all about politics .. most of us , moroccans or algerians, hold no grudge against each others but what the ruling class have instilled in our minds over years of brain washing to divert people's attention from the real concerns and fill the gap with trivialities"
**
Reply
9. Mo Yasso [July 2015]
"This video didn't bring us together !!!!"
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10. Nardjes Hb
"hhhh adorable big respect from Algeria"
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11. Zai nep
"great job bros keep going"
**
July 2015
12. ramaf reza
"What language is that?????"
**
Reply
13. Smixi Ma
"+ramaf reza Moroccan baddy"
-snip-
"Baddy" may be a typo for "buddy".
**
Reply
14. ramaf reza
"+Smixi Ma [profanity initials deleted] l can't understand any thing !!!!"
**
Reply
15. lalakom w taj raskom [August 2015]
"+ramaf reza amazigh + darija its not arabic not English"
**
Reply
16. ramaf reza [August 2015]
"+sara touzani so ,it is amazigh dialect ."
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Reply
17. Smixi [September 2015]
"+ramaf reza yea amazigh + moroccan languge not Arabic"
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18. karima doonat
I don't know why but i can't understand the lyrics . And I'm Even moroccan from germany. sometimes I can understand one world in a sentence but nothing more .
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19. flashekom
"Greetings from Egypt :)
Although i cannot understand all words but i am in love with the tune :D"
**
20. hemam tmp
"From Mauritania: better than original
We love you Marocco"
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21. Hakuna Matata go
"copy is copy never can change to alreginaly"
-snip-
"alreginaly" = originally (original)
****
September 2015
22. raysd victor o
"+Miriame Hammache this is parody the original is from p-square, nigeria musician"
**
23. Amira Amira
"super ♥♥♥♥ the first time i feel that we all africans;brothers and sisters and we belong to each other :-D:-D:-)"
**
24. lekrari mohamed
"cool music"
****
October 2015
25. Andrew Akpoguma
"Simple truth the original is making money not the parody, btw lord knows morocco isn't making close enough headlines and cash as Nigeria."
-snip-
This comment preceded that blogger's transcription of this song. This comment and that transcription are given in Part I of this pancocojams series.
**
26. Youssef Mansour
"The right title of this Parody should be P Square vs Zina Daoudia Shekini vs Neta Wa3r wa3r Parody by Barbapappa instead of that title that mentioned only P Square even if there's another song of Moroccan Artist used in the bridge of the arrangement session, by the way the performance was absolutely amazing."
**
November 2015
27. fard mo
"I'm Persian and don't understand any word of this music
But its soooooo cool
I love it ❤️"
**
28. DAVIDS DEBBIE
"anyone that knows the original song will surely know that their pronunciations of these lyrics are so wrong, i'm Nigerian and i know what am talking about.., lol its so funny thou and i enjoyed watching"
**
29. Mercy Orumwense
"no personality get a life n stop the immetation we nigerians are unique!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! deal with it"
**
Reply
30. Kings & Queens [December 2015]
"We just imitated only one nigerian song !!! Where is the problem?
I think you're just mad because it has exceeded the original version hahahaha
29 670 431 views,, deal with it"
**
Reply
31. Pyro FreakNL [December 2015]
"Its a parody its suposed to be fun its a joke"
**
Reply
32. Hitman Hatim [December 2015]
"+Mercy Orumwense Its a parody not imitation, you shouldnt be so negative and insecure just have fun !
Greetings from Morocco, I wish you a wonderful day sir !"
**
Reply
33. Mercy Orumwense [December 2015]
"no comment same here+hitman hatim"
**
Reply
34. Mercy Orumwense [December 2015]
"hahahah you know what you are just jobless you should think well before making stupid comment Were is the music originated from? IDIOT block head"
**
Reply
35. Hamza Bh [January 2016]
"+Mercy Orumwense its an hommage to the original , a parody ,sang with moroccan words that sound like the original words , its supposed to be funny and entertaining because the moroccan words used are so random. One love, One Africa ."
-snip-
This is only a partial clip of that exchange beginning with the first comment quoted by Mercy Orumwense.
**
36. monii 95
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.Give it up to P-square who allowed your creative juices to flow.Hopefully we can repay the compliment and perform a parody of a good Moroccan song some day.For those people who choose to throw around insults,we were not checking for you ,you took our music and turned it into a parody."
**
37. Jah ka
"lol.. not bad anyway .. Naija rules ;-)"
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38. Samia Malik
"i swear here in germany people go crazy when this song plays on weddings, miss morocco! amazing song though"
**
39. Nikki London
"I came here expecting to be angry as I'm Nigerian. But I found it amusing. I even found myself dancing along! #AfricaRocks"
**
Reply
40. Barbapappa TV
"+Nikki London thank youuu verry much ! even Psquare love it ! they sing it with us in a big festival here in morocco !!!"
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Christine Onyango
41. i love this parody..big up peopl#kenyawatched
**
Reply
42. Christine Onyango
+Christine Onyango still love this parody.Morrocans i will forever give you 100% in this parody
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Reply [January 2016]
43. Yousef Jamal 3 days ago
+Christine Onyango thank u ,, nd morocco loves u ^___^
****
December 2015
44. Hammy Games
"i dont understand arabic but i like thes music goodjob morocco"
**
Reply
45. Barbapappa TV
"+Hammy Games Thank youuuuu ! Enjoy"
**
Reply
46. BRENDA BROWN
"check the original song Psquare ...shekini."
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Reply
47. Ouzid Bouhadri
"+Hammy Games we can teach u some arabic if you want :D"
**
Reply
48. hebah saeed
"+Hammy Games that's not Arabic u see"
**
49. youness razoki
"dance is not as good as that of the original version."
**
50. Ibtihal Hussein
"i wish their was translation for this my eygptian arabic isn't helping mais bon chanson :)"
-snip-
"mais bon chanson" French; English translation "but good song".
**
51. Ibtihal Hussein
"ANY TRANSLATIONS PLEASSSE ??"
**
Reply
52. hacmisitos
"+Ibtihal Hussein
believe me you dont want to know"
**
Reply
53. +Ibtihal Hussein [January 2016]
"i get some of it like where you been ,
this isn't a game"
**
Amine dz [January 2016]
54. "+Ibtihal Hussein
bieleve him, you really dont want to know"
**
Reply
55. Ibtihal Hussein [January 2016]
"how bad can it be . ?"
**
Reply
56. OZPRO ALL [January 2016]
"+Ibtihal Hussein It's noot bad but this song is just a mix of words with no sense but it's so fuunny :D"
-snip-
Click the link for Part I of this series for Two transcriptions of the lyrics for this song that were posted by commenters from this discussion thread.
****
January 2016
57. Mike Fred
"Thanks morroco for this remix straight up love from Nigeria"
**
58. Adewale Lawal
oh my! who and where are these guys from. guy wetin dem dey talk sef?
-snip-
"guy wetin dem dey talk sef" is Nigerian Pidgin English. I think that sentence means "Why do they talk among themselves that way?
**
Reply
59. Videos SO COOL
"+Adewale Lawal from Morocco"
-snip-
I think this blogger's comment means that he or she "co-signs" [agrees with] what Adewale Lawal wrote (as well as the implication/s embedded in Adewale's comment).
**
60. Ray Allen
"Africans stop hating on each other this is backwards behaviour... they are more Moroccans with access the internet and the song is obviously a great song that's why there's lots of views here. both are very good and promotes African culture and unity."
**
61. init bruv
"big love from Somalia"
**
62. Laila Idifo
"Look this one of the best African song ever with Moroccan flaver Viva agadir nas Anza"
-snip-
I don't know which language "Viva agadir nas Anza" is
****
This completes this pancocojams series on these videos.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Pancocojams showcases the music, dances, language practices, & customs of African Americans and of other people of Black descent throughout the world.
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Showing posts with label pan-African. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pan-African. Show all posts
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Why Swahili Terms Are Used For The African American Originated Holiday "Kwanzaa"
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post provides information about the African American originated holiday "Kwanzaa" and specifically explores why that holiday uses terms from the Swahili language.
The content of this post is presented for cultural and sociological purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks also to all those who are featured in these post, and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/12/teddy-pendergrass-happy-kwanzaa-video.html for a related pancocojams post "Teddy Pendergrass - Happy Kwanzaa (video & lyrics)"
Also click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-history-meaning-of-red-black-and.html
for another related pancocojams post "The History & Meaning Of The Red, Black, And Green Flag".
Thanks to Maulana Karenga for creating the Kwanzaa holiday. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
OVERVIEW
Although KiSwahili (commonly referred to as "Swahili") terms are central to the holiday "Kwanzaa", that holiday did not originate in Africa. Kwanzaa wasn't created in the United States by descendants of Swahili speaking East Africans. Few Africans in Africa know about the Kwanzaa holiday, and few African Americans actually celebrate this holiday which was created by Maulana Ron Karenga in 1966 to foster in African Americans' pride in our African heritage.
Swahili terms are central to the Kwanzaa holiday because its Black cultural nationalist creator was a proponent of the pan-Africanists' viewpoint that Swahili should be the language which unites all Africans and all people of the African Diaspora.
Here's information about pan-Africanism from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Africanism:
"Pan-Africanism is an ideology and movement that encourages the solidarity of Africans worldwide.[1] It is based on the belief that unity is vital to economic, social, and political progress and aims to "unify and uplift" people of African descent.[2] The ideology asserts that the fate of all African peoples and countries are intertwined. At its core Pan-Africanism is "a belief that African peoples, both on the continent and in the diaspora, share not merely a common history, but a common destiny".[3]
-snip-
Notice that red, black, and green are the colors of the pan-African flag. Red, black, and green are also the colors of the official flag for a number of African nations, and those colors are also found in the flag used to represent African Americans. Three of the candles for the Kwanzaa holiday are red, three are green, and the central candle which is used to light the other candles is the color black.
-end of quote-
By "Black cultural nationalist" I mean a person who is interested in African cultures. I distinguish that term from "Black nationalist" - a person who is interested in establishing separate nations for Black people. That said, a Black cultural nationalist can be a Black nationalist. For the record, Since 1967, I was and still am a Black cultural nationalist. However, I've never been a Black nationalist. I don't know if that is true for Maulana Karenga.
****
EXCERPTS FROM ARTICLES ABOUT THE SWAHILI LANGUAGE, PAN-AFRICANISM, AND THE KWANZAA HOLIDAY
Note: These excerpts are given in no particular order. I've assigned numbers to the articles excerpted for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.livinglanguage.com/blog/2015/12/15/kwanzaa-an-american-holiday-with-a-swahili-voice/
Did you know that the word “Kwanzaa” is Swahili? And did you know that Kwanzaa is not, in fact, an African holiday, but an American one?
The celebration of Kwanzaa was begun in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga as a way for African-Americans to celebrate their heritage. It draws from the socio-political nature of the Ujamaa (socialist) ideals established by the first president of Tanzania, Julias Nyerere, and thus it uses Swahili words for its holiday lexicon. The word Kwanzaa itself means first, as in the first harvest. Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26th through January 1st, and the days of Kwanzaa are named using Swahili words to explain the seven core principles of the holiday: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination, [literally, to appoint]), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility [lit., communalism]), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics [lit., socialism]), Nia (Purpose, [lit., interest]), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith). These seven principles comprise Kawaida (tradition), and are intended to communicate and celebrate the best principles of African heritage. The Swahili phrase Habari gani? (How are you doing? [lit., What’s the news?]) is used by celebrants as a greeting each day of the week of Kwanzaa."...
****
Excerpt #2:
From http://harvardpolitics.com/books-arts/swahili-language-influence/ April 20, 2015
"A Language of Their Own: Swahili and Its Influences" by Olivia Herrington
..."When the Kenyan government adopted Swahili as its official language in 1970, it lauded the language for being more African than was English, the previous choice for the government and people’s affairs. As The New York Times reported then, “the governing council of the Kenya African National Union, the ruling party, decided that the widespread use of English language smacked of neo-colonialism, or at least was un-African.”
Or so it was said. But Swahili itself appears to be, at least somewhat, “un-African.” Jomo Kenyatta, president at the time, seemingly chose to overlook Swahili’s foreign influences. The language was born from the interactions between dwellers of the East African coast and traders from the Middle East. Those traders spread its vocabulary as they rode their ivory and slave caravans farther inland, reaching the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the west and Uganda in the north. Indeed, the very name “Swahili” stems from the Arabic for “of the coast,” sawahili. The language also incorporates pieces of English, German, Portuguese, and other tongues belonging to the merchants and colonizers who permeated the region. Yet, curiously, Swahili has come to represent pride in post-colonial identity.
...Tanzanians accept the language’s significance more completely than Kenyans and cherish it more ardently. Their relationship with their chosen tongue began at the birth of the country itself, in 1964. From the start, Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s first president, promoted Ujamaa, a nationalist and pan-Africanist ideology that revolved around reliance on Swahili instead of on European languages. Though Tanzanian citizens possess tribal affiliations and typically speak a tribal language in addition to Swahili, they value their allegiance to their country. This priority is rare in Africa, a continent of people whose first loyalty belongs more commonly to their tribe. That general preference is unsurprising: many country borders were drawn by European colonial powers, rulers who disregarded or intentionally opposed grouping Africans according to tribal and linguistic affiliations. Tanzanians, though, feel unified—a credit to the strength of Nyerere’s vision.
...Similarly, some African-Americans have praised the language’s authentic value, an affiliation that Dr. Maulana Karenga, the American founder of the holiday Kwanzaa and a leader of US Organization, supports wholeheartedly. “We wanted to escape Western tradition and tribalism, both. Swahili is not a tribal language—it represents a collective effort and our group does too,” he told a Life magazine reporter in 1968. As the Black Power movement gained strength in the late 1960s, the language became for the movement’s members a symbol of meaningful black identity. The timing was excellently coordinated: just as East Africans themselves were accepting Swahili as both tool and emblem of nationalism, US was offering it a place in America—extending the significance to the swelling Black nationalism in which the organization was engaged.
...Even beyond the tradition of Arab slave traders’ using Swahili, it was true the link between the language and African-American heritage was tenuous. Most African Americans’ ancestors came from the west coast of Africa, where Swahili is not spoken. John McWhorter, linguist and associate professor at Columbia University, has argued for the Ghanaian language Twi as a more suitable option. But Swahili felt to Karenga like an appropriate language for pan-African unity. It became Kwanzaa’s established language, providing the holiday with the roots of its name and the words for its seven principles. Karenga’s preference fit well with Nyerere’s."...
-snip-
I added italics to those sentences to highlight them.
****
Excerpt #3
From discussion thread for video: "Black People Learn About Kwanzaa" https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=bEwxZuShUn4
Matthew Boyce, December 20, 2015
Wikipedia says: Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1965 as the first specifically African-American holiday. According to Karenga, the name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits of the harvest". The choice of Swahili, an East African language, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism, especially in the 1960s, although most of the Atlantic slave trade that brought African people to America originated in West Africa.
Kwanzaa is a celebration that has its roots in the black nationalist movement of the 1960s, and was established as a means to help African Americans reconnect with their African cultural and historical heritage by uniting in meditation and study of African traditions and Nguzo Saba, the "seven principles of African Heritage" which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy".
During the early years of Kwanzaa, Karenga said that it was meant to be an "oppositional alternative" to Christmas.However, as Kwanzaa gained mainstream adherents, Karenga altered his position so that practicing Christians would not be alienated, then stating in the 1997 Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture, "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday."
Many African Americans who celebrate Kwanzaa do so in addition to observing Christmas."
**
Nicole ATCQFAN, December 24, 2015
"Kwanzaa is a fair attempt at getting African-Americans to reattain some kind of African culture that was taken from them. My main issue with the holiday is that it isn't inclusive of all or at least several cultures in Africa. Kwanzaa's major concepts are pretty representative of many African cultures but the nuances like language is not. The creator of the holiday used Kiswahili terms, which is odd in my opinion. This language is actually a creole that emerged from the Swahili people of East Africa who have Bantu and Arabic blood. Today, many non-Swahili East Africans like my family speak it today. I would imagine more focus on the cultures that emerged off the West coast of Africa since many African-Americans (not all), have roots there.*
Fortunately, I'm in a situation where I know where I am from and can trace back my ancestral home/spiritual practices so I Kwanzaa isn't something I partake in. But I feel like it's important for Blacks in North America to have a sense of what their heritage could be like by practicing traditions that their ancestors could have partake in..."
-snip-
*I think that Nicole ATCQFAN meant was "I would imagine [that instead of using Swahili, there should have been] more focus on the cultures that emerged off the West coast of Africa..."
-snip-
I should also note that several commenters wrote that the people in the video didn't use the correct pronunciation for the Swahili words. Also, a few commenters noted that "kwanza" is the name of the currency in the nation of Angola which is located in South Central Africa.
The words in brackets are my addition to her sentence.
****
RELATED LINK
Click http://www.nairaland.com/406297/kiswahili-should-made-official-African "Kiswahili Should Be Made The Official African Language - Culture - Nairaland" [2010]
Most of the bloggers on that forum are from Nigeria.
****
EDITOR'S COMMENT
Other examples of the use of Swahili terms among Black cultural nationalists in the late 1960s are the use of the rallying calls "Uhuru!" = "freedom" and "Harambee" = "all pull together".
The Swahili words "Imani" (faith) and "Nia" (purpose)-terms for two of the days of Kwanzaa- have become relatively common African Americans female names. Also, I believe that more Swahili proper names have been given to African Americans who aren't descended from Swahili speaking Africans than names from another other African culture, although there are probably more African Americans with Arabic names than Swahili names). I believe that this is because in the 1960s and prior to the internet African Americans had little information about Africa, but somewhat more information about Arabic and Swahili names than about names from any other African culture. In large part this was due to 1960s Black cultural nationalists' adoption of that language over Twi, Yoruba, Igbo, Wolof, and other West African languages.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Happy Holidays!
This post provides information about the African American originated holiday "Kwanzaa" and specifically explores why that holiday uses terms from the Swahili language.
The content of this post is presented for cultural and sociological purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks also to all those who are featured in these post, and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/12/teddy-pendergrass-happy-kwanzaa-video.html for a related pancocojams post "Teddy Pendergrass - Happy Kwanzaa (video & lyrics)"
Also click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-history-meaning-of-red-black-and.html
for another related pancocojams post "The History & Meaning Of The Red, Black, And Green Flag".
Thanks to Maulana Karenga for creating the Kwanzaa holiday. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
OVERVIEW
Although KiSwahili (commonly referred to as "Swahili") terms are central to the holiday "Kwanzaa", that holiday did not originate in Africa. Kwanzaa wasn't created in the United States by descendants of Swahili speaking East Africans. Few Africans in Africa know about the Kwanzaa holiday, and few African Americans actually celebrate this holiday which was created by Maulana Ron Karenga in 1966 to foster in African Americans' pride in our African heritage.
Swahili terms are central to the Kwanzaa holiday because its Black cultural nationalist creator was a proponent of the pan-Africanists' viewpoint that Swahili should be the language which unites all Africans and all people of the African Diaspora.
Here's information about pan-Africanism from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Africanism:
"Pan-Africanism is an ideology and movement that encourages the solidarity of Africans worldwide.[1] It is based on the belief that unity is vital to economic, social, and political progress and aims to "unify and uplift" people of African descent.[2] The ideology asserts that the fate of all African peoples and countries are intertwined. At its core Pan-Africanism is "a belief that African peoples, both on the continent and in the diaspora, share not merely a common history, but a common destiny".[3]
-snip-
Notice that red, black, and green are the colors of the pan-African flag. Red, black, and green are also the colors of the official flag for a number of African nations, and those colors are also found in the flag used to represent African Americans. Three of the candles for the Kwanzaa holiday are red, three are green, and the central candle which is used to light the other candles is the color black.
-end of quote-
By "Black cultural nationalist" I mean a person who is interested in African cultures. I distinguish that term from "Black nationalist" - a person who is interested in establishing separate nations for Black people. That said, a Black cultural nationalist can be a Black nationalist. For the record, Since 1967, I was and still am a Black cultural nationalist. However, I've never been a Black nationalist. I don't know if that is true for Maulana Karenga.
****
EXCERPTS FROM ARTICLES ABOUT THE SWAHILI LANGUAGE, PAN-AFRICANISM, AND THE KWANZAA HOLIDAY
Note: These excerpts are given in no particular order. I've assigned numbers to the articles excerpted for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.livinglanguage.com/blog/2015/12/15/kwanzaa-an-american-holiday-with-a-swahili-voice/
Did you know that the word “Kwanzaa” is Swahili? And did you know that Kwanzaa is not, in fact, an African holiday, but an American one?
The celebration of Kwanzaa was begun in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga as a way for African-Americans to celebrate their heritage. It draws from the socio-political nature of the Ujamaa (socialist) ideals established by the first president of Tanzania, Julias Nyerere, and thus it uses Swahili words for its holiday lexicon. The word Kwanzaa itself means first, as in the first harvest. Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26th through January 1st, and the days of Kwanzaa are named using Swahili words to explain the seven core principles of the holiday: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination, [literally, to appoint]), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility [lit., communalism]), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics [lit., socialism]), Nia (Purpose, [lit., interest]), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith). These seven principles comprise Kawaida (tradition), and are intended to communicate and celebrate the best principles of African heritage. The Swahili phrase Habari gani? (How are you doing? [lit., What’s the news?]) is used by celebrants as a greeting each day of the week of Kwanzaa."...
****
Excerpt #2:
From http://harvardpolitics.com/books-arts/swahili-language-influence/ April 20, 2015
"A Language of Their Own: Swahili and Its Influences" by Olivia Herrington
..."When the Kenyan government adopted Swahili as its official language in 1970, it lauded the language for being more African than was English, the previous choice for the government and people’s affairs. As The New York Times reported then, “the governing council of the Kenya African National Union, the ruling party, decided that the widespread use of English language smacked of neo-colonialism, or at least was un-African.”
Or so it was said. But Swahili itself appears to be, at least somewhat, “un-African.” Jomo Kenyatta, president at the time, seemingly chose to overlook Swahili’s foreign influences. The language was born from the interactions between dwellers of the East African coast and traders from the Middle East. Those traders spread its vocabulary as they rode their ivory and slave caravans farther inland, reaching the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the west and Uganda in the north. Indeed, the very name “Swahili” stems from the Arabic for “of the coast,” sawahili. The language also incorporates pieces of English, German, Portuguese, and other tongues belonging to the merchants and colonizers who permeated the region. Yet, curiously, Swahili has come to represent pride in post-colonial identity.
...Tanzanians accept the language’s significance more completely than Kenyans and cherish it more ardently. Their relationship with their chosen tongue began at the birth of the country itself, in 1964. From the start, Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s first president, promoted Ujamaa, a nationalist and pan-Africanist ideology that revolved around reliance on Swahili instead of on European languages. Though Tanzanian citizens possess tribal affiliations and typically speak a tribal language in addition to Swahili, they value their allegiance to their country. This priority is rare in Africa, a continent of people whose first loyalty belongs more commonly to their tribe. That general preference is unsurprising: many country borders were drawn by European colonial powers, rulers who disregarded or intentionally opposed grouping Africans according to tribal and linguistic affiliations. Tanzanians, though, feel unified—a credit to the strength of Nyerere’s vision.
...Similarly, some African-Americans have praised the language’s authentic value, an affiliation that Dr. Maulana Karenga, the American founder of the holiday Kwanzaa and a leader of US Organization, supports wholeheartedly. “We wanted to escape Western tradition and tribalism, both. Swahili is not a tribal language—it represents a collective effort and our group does too,” he told a Life magazine reporter in 1968. As the Black Power movement gained strength in the late 1960s, the language became for the movement’s members a symbol of meaningful black identity. The timing was excellently coordinated: just as East Africans themselves were accepting Swahili as both tool and emblem of nationalism, US was offering it a place in America—extending the significance to the swelling Black nationalism in which the organization was engaged.
...Even beyond the tradition of Arab slave traders’ using Swahili, it was true the link between the language and African-American heritage was tenuous. Most African Americans’ ancestors came from the west coast of Africa, where Swahili is not spoken. John McWhorter, linguist and associate professor at Columbia University, has argued for the Ghanaian language Twi as a more suitable option. But Swahili felt to Karenga like an appropriate language for pan-African unity. It became Kwanzaa’s established language, providing the holiday with the roots of its name and the words for its seven principles. Karenga’s preference fit well with Nyerere’s."...
-snip-
I added italics to those sentences to highlight them.
****
Excerpt #3
From discussion thread for video: "Black People Learn About Kwanzaa" https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=bEwxZuShUn4
Matthew Boyce, December 20, 2015
Wikipedia says: Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1965 as the first specifically African-American holiday. According to Karenga, the name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits of the harvest". The choice of Swahili, an East African language, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism, especially in the 1960s, although most of the Atlantic slave trade that brought African people to America originated in West Africa.
Kwanzaa is a celebration that has its roots in the black nationalist movement of the 1960s, and was established as a means to help African Americans reconnect with their African cultural and historical heritage by uniting in meditation and study of African traditions and Nguzo Saba, the "seven principles of African Heritage" which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy".
During the early years of Kwanzaa, Karenga said that it was meant to be an "oppositional alternative" to Christmas.However, as Kwanzaa gained mainstream adherents, Karenga altered his position so that practicing Christians would not be alienated, then stating in the 1997 Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture, "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday."
Many African Americans who celebrate Kwanzaa do so in addition to observing Christmas."
**
Nicole ATCQFAN, December 24, 2015
"Kwanzaa is a fair attempt at getting African-Americans to reattain some kind of African culture that was taken from them. My main issue with the holiday is that it isn't inclusive of all or at least several cultures in Africa. Kwanzaa's major concepts are pretty representative of many African cultures but the nuances like language is not. The creator of the holiday used Kiswahili terms, which is odd in my opinion. This language is actually a creole that emerged from the Swahili people of East Africa who have Bantu and Arabic blood. Today, many non-Swahili East Africans like my family speak it today. I would imagine more focus on the cultures that emerged off the West coast of Africa since many African-Americans (not all), have roots there.*
Fortunately, I'm in a situation where I know where I am from and can trace back my ancestral home/spiritual practices so I Kwanzaa isn't something I partake in. But I feel like it's important for Blacks in North America to have a sense of what their heritage could be like by practicing traditions that their ancestors could have partake in..."
-snip-
*I think that Nicole ATCQFAN meant was "I would imagine [that instead of using Swahili, there should have been] more focus on the cultures that emerged off the West coast of Africa..."
-snip-
I should also note that several commenters wrote that the people in the video didn't use the correct pronunciation for the Swahili words. Also, a few commenters noted that "kwanza" is the name of the currency in the nation of Angola which is located in South Central Africa.
The words in brackets are my addition to her sentence.
****
RELATED LINK
Click http://www.nairaland.com/406297/kiswahili-should-made-official-African "Kiswahili Should Be Made The Official African Language - Culture - Nairaland" [2010]
Most of the bloggers on that forum are from Nigeria.
****
EDITOR'S COMMENT
Other examples of the use of Swahili terms among Black cultural nationalists in the late 1960s are the use of the rallying calls "Uhuru!" = "freedom" and "Harambee" = "all pull together".
The Swahili words "Imani" (faith) and "Nia" (purpose)-terms for two of the days of Kwanzaa- have become relatively common African Americans female names. Also, I believe that more Swahili proper names have been given to African Americans who aren't descended from Swahili speaking Africans than names from another other African culture, although there are probably more African Americans with Arabic names than Swahili names). I believe that this is because in the 1960s and prior to the internet African Americans had little information about Africa, but somewhat more information about Arabic and Swahili names than about names from any other African culture. In large part this was due to 1960s Black cultural nationalists' adoption of that language over Twi, Yoruba, Igbo, Wolof, and other West African languages.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Happy Holidays!
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