Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a five part pancocojams series that explore the values that are expressed in foot stomping cheers.
This post provides my editorial commentary about and showcases seven examples of the value of "self-confidence" in foot stomping cheers.
Click the "values foot stomping cheers" tag for more posts in this pancocojams series.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, socio-cultural, and recreational purposes.
All content remains with their owners.
Thanks to all those who contributed examples that are included in this post.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-cheers.html for Part I of a three part pancocojams series on foot stomping cheers.
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list.html for Part I of a five part alphabetical listing of foot stomping cheers.
[added August 29, 2017] Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/08/values-expressed-in-foot-stomping_24.html of this series for a few videos that show performance movements that are similar to foot stomping cheers.
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GENERAL OVERVIEW ABOUT FOOT STOMPING CHEERS [slightly revised 8/25/2917]
Foot stomping cheers are recreational compositions that originated with African Americans girls pretending to be cheerleaders in front of pretend audiences. These foot stomping cheers were (are?) usually performed by girls, particularly by working class African American girls ages around 5-12 years. The earliest demographic information about these types of cheers that I've found so far is the late 1970s (Washington D.C. and Atlantic City, New Jersey).
"Foot stomping cheers" are also called "cheers" or "steps".
Foot stomping cheer compositions have a distinctive call & response textual structure that I've termed "group/consecutive soloists". That term emphasizes the fact that these cheers traditionally begin with the group voice, and then the soloist's voice, and these cheers always immediately begin again from the beginning, repeating multiple times until every member of the group has had an equal length turn as the soloist. These chanted words are accompanied by a metronome type synchronized choreographed routine that is made up of bass sounding foot stomps alternating with (individual) hand claps (or sometimes body pats). The word "metronome" is purposely used because the cheer's movement routine is performed without stopping throughout each iteration of the cheer. If someone "messes up the beat" by forgetting a word of the cheer or missing the beat in the movement routine, the cheer must begin again from the beginning.
The values that I've identified in foot stomping cheers and showcased in separate posts in this series are "self-confidence", "physical attractiveness", "sexiness/romantic relationship", "toughness/confrontational language", and dancing/stepping skills. Most of these values are interrelated, but are discussed separately to allow space to showcase selected cheer examples of each value.
As of the date of this publication, I've only found on example of foot stomping cheers that includes profanity other than the mildly profane word "ass". The only two examples of foot stomping cheers that I've found that could be said to refer to race or ethnicity are one example that includes what is commonly known as "the n word" (That example represented that word by the letter "n" followed by randomly selected keyboard symbols) and one example that refers to skin color by the soloist referring to herself as "this light skin chick" (in an example of "Hollywood Swinging").
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As of this date, I haven't found any examples of foot stomping cheers that refer politics (including mention of any President's name), religion, race/ethnicity, skin color, national names or other geographical places except for city or neighborhood references, or historical events. Furthermore, few (pre-2000) examples of foot stomping cheers refer to sports (such as basketball or football, including any sports related activity such as making a basket or scoring a touchdown).
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Part I: THE VALUE OF SELF-CONFIDENCE EXPRESSED IN FOOT STOMPING CHEERS
It's my position that "self-confidence" is the overarching value for all foot stomping cheers.
In order to survive and flourish in often difficult and dangerous African American urban communities, girls (and boys) need to learn how to confidently assert and defend themselves. Excelling in such recreational activities as hand clap routines, performing cheers (steps) and also jumping double dutch (in communities where that recreational activity is still found) provide opportunities for girls in these neighborhoods to develop and reinforce self-esteem and, as a result, to gain status.
Girls performing foot stomping cheers need a certain degree of self-confidence in order to perform these cheers with their peers and in front of other people. The girls promote themselves in these cheers by introducing themselves to their pretend audiences by stating their name/nickname, astrological sign, and more. However, by their textual structure, performance structure, and by some of their words, these cheers also demonstrate the importance of the group (friends) in relationship to the individual. Consider, for instance, that traditionally these cheers always begin with the group voice, and the cheer never actually ends until each person in this informal group has one equal length turn in the starring role of the soloist.
Self-confidence is expressed not only by foot stomping cheers' words, but also by the tone and the "attitude" that these words are chanted. In some sub-group of cheers that I call "command/refusal", the importance of being a strong willed individual is dramatized by the soloist initially refusing to do what the group demands of her. In those types of cheers the soloist eventually consents to do what the group demands the second or third time she is "asked". Examples of these "command/refusal" foot stomping cheers are included in the "toughness"/"confrontation" posts in this series.
As an indication that girls who perform these cheers actually need to be self-confident, in my observations of cheers, if a girl didn't "know a cheer" (meaning she didn't know the words or that particular cheer pattern), rather than possibly make a mistake, causing the group to start the entire cheer again from the beginning, the girl would move away from the cheer line, and "sit out" that cheer until she felt she had fully learned it.
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SEVEN FOOT STOMPING CHEERS THAT REFLECT SELF-CONFIDENCE (given with my editorial comments)
(These cheers are given in alphabetical order).
These examples aren't meant to be all of the examples of in this categories that I've collected or found as of this date.
EXAMPLE #1
1-2-3-4-5
All: 1-2-3-4-5
Soloist #1 My name is Alana
and I say “Hi!”
All: 6-7-8-9-10,
Soloist #1: I’m gonna step aside
and meet my friend
Soloist #2 My name is Jasmine
and I want to say “Hi!
All: 6-7-8-9-10,
Soloist #2: I’m gonna step aside
to meet my friend
Soloist #3 My name is Talia
and I’m here to say “Hi!”
All: 6-7-8-9-10,
Soloist #3: I’m gonna back it up
to meet my friend.
This cheer repeats from the beginning with each member of the squad or group having one turn as the soloist. When everyone has had a turn, the entire group chants the following lines in unison:
All: 1-2-3-4-5
We are Alafia and we say “Hi”
6-7-8-9-10
We’re gonna step together
cause that’s the end.
-African American girls (age 5-12 years) and African American boys (age 5-7) years; Alafia Children’s Ensemble, Braddock, Pennsylvania, 1997
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This is an adaptation of a very popular cheer (in Braddock and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) that I learned from a member of this group. In that cheer, the group name that was chanted at the end was the name of the school or the school's mascot.
Up to and including the age of seven years*, boys had no problem performing this cheer along with girls. In this cheer, each child was in a vertical line. When the first stepper said some version of "I'm gonna step aside to meet my friend", she or he moved to form a vertical line to the right of that initial line. At the end of the second stepper's solo portion, she or he formed a vertical line to the left of that initial line. All subsequent steppers alternately stepped to the front of either the right or the left vertical line. When all of the steppers chanted "We're going to step together because that's the end", the two lines reformed in the middle as one vertical lines.
*The age differences noted above weren't requirements. My experience was that boys older than seven years old considered foot stomping cheers to be "girl stuff" that boys didn't do.
"Alafia" was the name of a children's game song group that I founded and co-led with my daughter in Braddock, Pennsylvania and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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EXAMPLE #2
CHEERLEADER (Version #4)
All: Cheer.
Leader.
Roll.
Call.
Are you ready?
Soloist #1: Shayla.
They call me Rosa.
Soloist #2: Shana.
They call me Poo.
Soloist #3: Shana.
They call me Shay.
Soloist #4: Jamie.
They call me Jay Jay.
Soloist #5: Jackie.
They call me HaJack (HighJack?).
All: Cheer.
Leader.
Zodiac signs.
Soloist #1: Aquarius.
That’s a dog.
Soloist #2: Cancer.
That’s a crab.
Soloist #3: Leo.
That’s a lion.
Soloist #4:Scorpio.
That’s a spider.*
Soloist #5: Scorpio.
That’s a spider.
All: Cheer.
Leader.
Phone.
Numbers.
Are you ready?
Soloist #1: 348-5110.**
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #2: 348-4554.
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #3: 348-3322
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #4: 348-5679
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #5: 348-4285
Group: Always busy.
- Shayla, Shana, Shana, Jamie, and Jackie (African American females about 10 years-12 years old, Talbot Towers Housing after-school program, Braddock, PA; 1985); collected by Azizi Powell, 1985
*Notice that the symbol for Scorpio is wrong. Actually, Scorpio's symbol is a scorpion and not a spider.
**I made up this telephone number to protect this contributor's privacy.
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EXAMPLE #3
HOLLYWOOD ROCK SWINGING
Hollywood rock swinging.
Hollywood rock swinging.
My name is Aniesha
I'm number one
My reputation is having fun
So if you see my just step aside
"Cause mighty Aniesha don't take no jive.
Hollywood rock swinging.
Hollywood rock swinging.
My name is katrina
I'm number two
My reputation is me and you
So if you see me just step on back
'Cause mighty Katrina don't take no slack.
Hollywood rock swinging.
Hollywood rock swinging.
My name is Natasha
I'm number twelve
My reputation is ringing that bell
So if you see my just step aside
"Cause mighty Aniesha don't take no jive
-Apples On A Stick: The Folklore Of Black Children by Barbara Michels and Bettye White (1983; p. 14);
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That book's preface indicates that the source of all of the examples in that book were Black children from Houston, Texas.
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[Added August 23, 2017]
No performance directions are given in this book for any example. But, based on the example given in the "Mother Hippletoe" record as cited above (and other sources such as the "Recess Battles" book, this "Hollywood" example was probably performed as a foot stomping cheer. However, in my collection of rhymes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, "Hollywood Swinging" was performed as a two person hand clap rhymes. Note that the words for almost all hand clap rhymes are chanted in unison while the words to "Hollywood" compositions have a soloist portion like foot stomping cheers.
Soloists don't have to recite a two lined number rhyme that corresponds to their soloist number*. They can recite any two lined number verse that they remember or that they make up "on the spot". However, soloist weren't suppose to repeat a soloist rhyme that was already chanted. Therefore, they had to have another (or more than one other) "back up rhyme" that they could immediately chant in case someone said the rhyme that they were going to chant. And, the girls had to "stay on beat" while thinking about which solo rhyme to say and then while saying it when their soloist occurred.* Notice that the third girl in the above example said that her number was twelve. That doesn't mean that she was the Twelfth soloist.
*In my experience, soloists turns were decided for a particular cheer session (one or more cheers that were done during the same period of time) at the beginning of the cheer session by which girls were the fastest to yell out "One", "Two", "Three" etc.
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EXAMPLE #4
INTRODUCE YOURSELF
Group except soloist: Hey, Shaquala!
Soloist #1: Yo! *
Group: Innn-TRO-duce yourself.
Soloist #1: No way.
Group: Innn-TRO-duce yourself.
Soloist #1: Okay.
My name’s Shaquala.
Group: Hey! Hey!
Soloist #1: They call me Quala.
Group: Hey! Hey!
Soloist #1: My sign is Aries
Group: Hey! Hey!
Soloist #1: I like to dance
Group: Hey! Hey!
Soloist #1: I wanna be a dancer for the rest of my life.
Repeat the entire cheer from the beginning with the next soloist. Each soloist substitutes her identifying information for the same categories (name, nickname, astrological sign, what she likes to do). The cheer continues from the beginning until every member of the group has had one turn as soloist.
-T.M.P.(African American female); Pittsburgh, PA mid 1980s; transcribed from an audio tape by Azizi Powell, 1996
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EXAMPLE #5
INTRODUCE YOURSELF ROLL CALL
All: Chick – boom Ah Ah chick a boom roll call
First Person: Hey Sonji
Second Person: Yeah baby
First Person: Hey sonjie
Second Person: Yeah baby
First Person: Introduce your self
Second Person: Right on
First Person: Introduce your self
Second Person: Right on my name is sonji
First Person: Check
Second Person: I like to sing
First Person: Check
Second Person: And when I sing
First Person: Check
Second Person: I do my thing
All: OOOOHHHH roll call Chick a boom, ah ah chick a boom roll call
Then each person is “called” one at a time. They make up a rhyme about what they like and the cheer repeats itself {African American girls; Late 70’s – early 80’s Elkhart, Indiana}
-Sonjala A. (African American female); collected by Azizi Powell, 3/15/2008
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EXAMPLE #6
STOP, LOOK, AND LISTEN
Group: Stop, Look, and Listen
Soloist #1: My name is Shana
Group: Stop, Look, and Listen
Soloist #1: My sign is Aries
Group: Stop, Look, and Listen
Soloist #1: Mighty, Mighty Aries
Group: Stop *
Look *
and Listen*
* recited slower than previously words; for “stop", use the hand gesture that was popularized by Diana Ross & The Supremes in their song Stop in the Name of Love: hand held waist high palm up facing forward, arm half extended
-TMP; remembered from the mid 1980s, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; transcribed by Azizi Powell in 1996
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EXAMPLE #7
WE ARE THE RIDGEWOOD GIRLS
We are the Ridgewood girls
We are the get-fresh crew
My name's "Sweety" (believe it or not that was the name I had chosen for myself)
My sign's Leo
This is how I show it off: (strike individual pose)
-Yasmin H., visual artist (New York City, New York), 2/25/04 (memories of East Brooklyn, New York, in the late 1980s.; email to me via cocojams.com
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This example and several others on this page are from an email that I received from Yasmin H. Here is an excerpt from her email:
"We would begin each performance session with this piece because every girl had to go through this process and so it became the "introduction" piece. I also want to point out with the above piece that the term "get-fresh crew" was something we had borrowed from the then popular "Get-Fresh crew" which was a hip-hop act consisting of Dough E. Fresh and Slick Rick. The beats in our cheers and even song-tunes usually mimicked popular hip-hop beats of the time."
"cocojams.com" is the name my no longer active cultural website. People visiting that site (including a large number of visitors who appeared to be children, pre-teens, and teenagars) contributed rhyme and cheer examples on an easy to fill out website form.
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This concludes Part 1 of this multi-part pancocojams series on Values Expressed In Foot Stomping Cheers".
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