Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision June 13, 2023
This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about a YouTube series of compilation videos that were published in 2018 by meleah moon.
Part II presents my summary of the comments about stomp and shake cheerleading that are found in three of the meleah moon compilation videos that have been published to date. Those selected comments are also included in this post.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/10/six-2018-youtube-compilation-videos-of.html for Part I of this series. Part I showcases the six compilation stomp and shake videos in meleah moon's series. Most of these videos are titled "Cute Stomp and Shake cheers for sideline!!!! [with the upload #]. However, Upload #3 is entitled "Cute Stomp and Shake cheers for Basketball!!!!".
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The content of this post is presented for cultural and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to meleah moon for publishing these videos on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who are featured in this post and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
I happened upon meleah moon's 2017/2018 series on stomp and shake cheerleading while surfing YouTube for more examples of stomp and shake cheers. Most of these videos are entitled "Cute Stomp and Shake cheers for sideline!!!! (with Upload #). However, Upload #3 is entitled "Cute Stomp and Shake cheers for Basketball!!!!".
I've been doing online research about stomp and shake cheerleading and writing about this subject since 2010. Many of the comments that are found in discussion threads of stomp and shake compilation videos that were published by meleah moon are quite similar to comments in other YouTube discussion threads about this form of cheerleading.
Click https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/07/21/race-and-the-changing-shape-of-cheerleading/ "Race and the Changing Shape of Cheerleading" for a 2011 post that I wrote on this subject.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/06/examples-of-stomp-shake-cheerleading.html "Examples Of Stomp & Shake Cheerleading Cheers, Part I (A - H)" for the first of three pancocojams posts that presents a compilation of text (word) examples of stomp and shake cheers. Links for the two other posts in this series are included in that post.
Also, click "Stomp and shake cheerleading" for other pancocojams posts about this subject.
Here's my summary of the selected comments that are given below:
1. A number of commenters wrote that the activity called "stomp and shake cheerleading" isn't actually cheerleading because it those teams don't follow "standard" cheerleading rules of comportment and performance. ["Standard" and "traditional" are the terms for the older form of cheerleading that were used in these discussion threads (and others) by many commenters against and for stomp and shake cheerleading.]
For example, stomp and shake cheerleaders were criticized for not smiling, and not "paying attention to the game" [i.e. not chanting cheers about the game or about their athletic squad.]
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2. A number of commenters wrote that stomp and shake cheerleading was [historically Black Greek letter fraternity and sorority] stepping and not cheerleading. This opinion was refuted by some commenters who had been in step teams or still were in step teams.
Click the tag for "Black fraternity and sorority stepping" to find pancocojams posts on stepping.
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3. A number of commenters wrote that stomp and shake cheerleading was "Black cheerleading", i.e. a form of Black culture. Some commenters who self-identified as Black and as former members of HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) cheerleading squads wrote that they cheer/cheer the "traditional way" and not "stomp and shake".
For the record, almost all of the members of stomp and shake squads who were featured in these videos were Black females.
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4. Some commenters wrote that stomp and shake cheerleading was a Southern form of cheerleading. However, one woman from Texas wrote that she wasn't familiar with this form of cheerleading which implies that this form of cheerleading isn't known in all parts of the Southern region of the United States.
Update:June 13, 2023-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/05/correcting-mistaken-belief-that-stomp_25.html that seeks to correct the mistaken belief that stomp & shake cheerleading is the cheer style that is performed at every historically Black college and university (HBCU).
My research strongly suggests that stomp and shake cheerleading began among certain Black universities in [either or both] North Carolina (particularly Winston Salem State University and Virginia (particular Virginia State University) during the mid 1970s. My research also suggests that although stomp and shake forms of cheerleading have spread from those two states, probably largely as a result of the internet, it's still mostly performed in Black (and predominately Black) high schools, middle schools, and colleges/universities in those two states.
Stomp and shake cheerleading is mostly performed in some parts of the Southeast region of the United States.
(Also, click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Intercollegiate_Athletic_Association for information about the CIAA athletic conference whose HBCU universities' cheerleading squads perform stomp and shake cheerleading. A majority of that conference's members are from North Carolina.
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5. Many commenters wrote that they couldn't understand the words that the stomp and shake cheerleaders were saying. One commenter said that this was because they don't enunciate their words. Another commenter wrote that people are suppose to understand the words that stomp and shake teams are saying, implying that you can understand the words to cheers when they are chanted by the better or the best stomp and shake teams.
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6. Many commenters questioned why stomp and shake cheerleaders' voices were so low when they chanted. Among the reasons that some commenters in these discussion threads (and in other discussion threads) gave for this vocal custom were
-Their voices were low so that they could be heard/how they get attention [during a game]
-Their voices were low so that they wouldn't strain or lose their voices
-That's the custom among stomp and shake cheerleaders/That's how they were taught to cheer.
-Black people's voices are naturally deeper [?!!]
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7. A number of commenters were very supportive of stomp and shake cheerleading and favorably contrasted it with "standard" cheerleading which they considered boring.
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8. One commenter wrote two comments indicating that these 2018 videos of stomp and shake cheerleading were very much like the cheerleading that she remembers from the 1970s. I found this interesting as my research suggests that stomp and shake cheerleading began in the early to mid 1970s.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/06/when-did-stomp-shake-cheerleading-begin.html for a 2015 pancocojams post entitled When Did Stomp & Shake Cheerleading Begin? (Online Comments & Website Statements).
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THREE 2018 DISCUSSION THREADS ON STOMP AND SHAKE SIDELINE CHEERS
These comments are gleaned from three of the videos that showcased in Part I of this two part series. The other three discussion threads had minimal or no comments.
These comments serve as the bases for my summary that is found above.
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
Comments From Video #1's Discussion Thread
1. Ashley, September 2018
"these are like step teams🙄 when they clap it makes me cringe and i can’t understand anything they are saying.. when you clap your suppose to cuff your hands and i wish they were more tight"
-snip-
"tight" = being "on point", performing with precision, being "sharp" in their movements
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REPLY
2. BlixyBubbles, September 2018
"I was on a step team, it's not even that close, it's black cheer leading"
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3. Ashley, September 2018
"Channel D.I.Y there is no such thing as “black cheerleading”. I’m black and so is half of my team and we definitely don’t do this “cheerleading”"
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4. Doc Holidaze III, September 2018
" "cup" your hands..."
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5. Ashley, September 2018
"Doc Holidazey my cheer team says cuff sooo.."
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6. Doc Holidaze III, September 2018
"+ItzAshley yeah, there's a lot of people that don't understand how words work. One "cups" their hands to do different things like drink water and when clapping, to make a louder sound. Look up the definition of cuff and cup, then tell me which word more applies."
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7. Margaret Wilson, September 2018
"This is called black cheer leading they use there man voices instead of there real voices and they dont cuff there hands for a reason"
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8. SouthernGirl, September 2018
"Actually it is not called “black cheerleading” it’s Shake and Stomp and it originated in HBCUs. If you want good examples a good place to start is to look up the a&t Aggie’s college cheerleaders.
Also, you CLASP or CLAP your hands in cheerleading. Those are 2 different moves. You cup or cuff your hands in a clasp and your hands are blades in a clap.
Former cheerleader, current coach."
-snip-
Saint Aggie's= St. Augustine University, North Carolina
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REPLY
9. Karizma Malone, October 2018
"Ashley . Umm I’m a cheerleader and I’ve also been on a step team and that’s not it sweetie sorry but you got it wrong we don’t have to cup our hands all the time🙄🙄"
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Comments From Video #2's Discussion Thread
1. AAAnonymous 360, September 2018
"This is 100% not cheer. And if they are cheering like this it is against the rules of cheering. I should know this because alot of my family members are safety judges and coaches"
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2. crown me kris, September 2018
"i guess not everyone cheers the same . I’m on jv and things how we cheer sooo..."
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3. Hira Amani, September 2018
"this is step not really cheer"
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4. Jay Squared, September 2018
"AAAnonymous 360 None of this against the “rules of cheerleading.” There are no rules based on how a team cheers. It may not be the style you prefer but it’s still cheer regardless. They’re cheerleaders. It’s just not your standard style of cheer. Just about every school where it’s predominately people of color have cheer teams just like this."
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5. Imani Perry, September 2018
"Hira Amani how exactly is that sloppy ? Just because you are not used to seeing people cheer like that doesn’t mean it’s not cheer. Also, Step is completely different"
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6. Onaja Johnson, September 2018
"Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not a form of cheer, because it is"
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7.WORLDWIDE DD, September 2018
"Actually yes it is . This is like school cheer teams . There’s also competitive cheer which is very different"
-snip-
By "competitive cheer", this commenter may be referring to stomp and shake "battle offs" and their "battle cheers".
Examples of "battle offs" are found in some pancocojams' stomp and shake cheerleading posts.
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REPLY
8. Princess Ken, September 2018
"Katie Hensley just because it’s not “G O Hey Hey lets go team “ traditional cheer doesn’t mean anything . this is a style of cheering . I am a stomp and shake cheerleader . i agree that they aren’t enunciate and are sharp but not all of the stomp and shake cheer leaders are like that ."
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9. maya idgaf, October 2018
"Analytic ummm no this is how most cheerleaders cheer at basketball games, you would know if ya had a social like and went to one. not all cheerleaders say “GOOOOOOO TEAM! yayayaya!!” like no if you wanna see that, look up cheerleading COMPETITIONS"
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10. Makenzie Mcgee, September 2018
"Ok I was a cheerleader and we didnt yell with a deep voice. when would cheer we have a bright nice smile on our face and we would yell in our normal voices and we did cheers just like them🤷🏽♀️"
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11. hiighoffyahna, September 2018
"cause thats traditional cheer . the videos in this are all stomp & shake"
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12. MiahXoxo, September 2018
"Lmao there voices are supposed to be low because thats how those cheers go, yall know nothing about Southern cheering"
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13. Angel Vargas, September 2018
"They aren't supposed to be low what are you talking about cheerleaders are loud but they deepen their voices it makes them sound like dudes"
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14. Aryel Coats, September 2018
"MiahXoxo I hate how no one knows anything about stomp and shake cheerleaders. All the dumb comments about them not being real cheerleaders are annoying."
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15. MiahXoxo, October 2018
"@Angel Vargas I understand what your tying to say but like maybe those type of cheers are supposed low n loud or maybe it was how I got taught to them, plus they probably do deep loud voices to get the attention in the area."
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16. Kaity Marie, September 2018
"I couldn’t understand anything they were saying..."
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17. Pica Chewww, October 2018
"I like black cheerleading but you can never understand wth we be saying deadass. It just looks nice lmfao"
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18. Hayylehh, September 2018
"Most schools with predominantly black cheerleaders tend to have deeper voices. My voice is naturally deep when I yell and I cheer also so I know the feeling."
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19. Aja Michele, September 2018
"They use a deep voice so they dont lose/ strain their voices."
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20. Catherine G, September 2018
"Schools all over the country are banning “cheer skirts” that don’t meet the dress code regulations for required length. The booty popping, twerking and vigorous hip shaking will be next. Also, when I cheered, we had to use our diaphragm, (not our voice box, or we’d lose our voices in the 1st quarter), which naturally made our voices deeper and LOUDER. We also had to hit each move HARD and SHARP, and enunciate every word. Not only did we have to be strong physically, but we had to SHOW it through our voices and movements."
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21. Belinda Suggs, September 2018
"back in the 70's we didn't call it stomp and cheer but it sure feels like the old school style of cheering is coming back. so refreshing!"
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22. Aniija Williams, September 2018
"what did they say in the first one?"
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23. armyharteu u, September 2018
"Aniija Williams we got the power"
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24. lavette gayles, September 2018
"What did they say in any of em? lol lol, they good, I just can't understand them😊"
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25. Bri Elizabeth, September 2018
"Why do they cheer in such low voice"
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26. Princess Ken, September 2018
"Bri Elizabeth it’s the style of cheer we do. it’s stomp and shake they just aren’t enunciating"
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REPLY
27. Rubber Duckiess, September 2018
"They southern"
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28. Alayna Paul, October 2018
"Bri Elizabeth because that’s how we do it around here😂"
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29. Belinda Suggs, September 2018
"This is exactly the way I remember cheering in the 70's. deep voice and all. I love it! cheering style started changing in the 80's. they took rhythm out of cheering. now it's back!"
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30. Tee Nicole, September 2018
"Looks more like stepping"
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31. Tee Nicole, September 2018
"I’ve never seen cheering like this and I’m from tx but I like it . Cute ladies"
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32. nyrah faith, September 2018
"this is how we cheer , ion know about y’all . schools cheer differently 🤷🏾♀️ ."
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33. nyrah faith, September 2018
"it’s not gon be like “ let’s go team “ , not all schools like that . plus these are stomp n shake cheers"
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Comments From Video #3's Discussion Thread
1. Shana Jones, October 2018
"Ummm bring back the old school cheering please half of that you can not even understand what they are saying. Your supposed to be pepping the team up getting the crowd hype this is not cheering."
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2. Jimaya Graves, September 2018
"Shana Jones not to be mean but the type of cheer is to hype up the crowd and the players the crowd gets hype and the players will feed off of them"
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REPLY
3. jj neverdies, September 2018
"I'm not trying to start anything but only a true cheerleader can criticize another cheerleader and their cheers"
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4. Shana Jones, September 2018
"Sir I cheered all through junior high, high school, 3 years at a HBCU as well."
-snip-
"HBCU" = historically Black colleges and universities
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REPLY
5. M Williams, September 2018
"Shana Jones just because your used to a certain cheer don’t mean that you should keep it that way change is good because personally if I was at a game I could care less about the cheerleaders because they said the same thing and every cheer team do the same thing same flips and everything it’s boring I only cared about the drill team and the players sometimes the band I don’t wanna sit at a game and see stunts all day and a small cheer Ima go home and forget and I’m not speaking for just myself in middle school and high school nobody cared about the cheerleaders at any school I went to but stomp and shake cheer make people pay attention and come to games to see the cheerleaders the drill team the band and the players that’s why you don’t see a lot of people participating in just cheer competition because no one cares but I bet if it was a stomp and shake cheer competition it would be the y’all of the whole city and tickets would be sold out"
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REPLY
6. M Williams, September 2018
"TAlk of the whole city *"
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7. Shana Jones, September 2018
"M Williams the thing is you really can not understand what they are saying. Then if you suppose to be paying attention to the game and being pepped up! That is all I am saying."
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REPLY
8. HEEEY MICAH, October 2018
"@M Williams funny how yall still claiming this to be cheering, 😄😄😄 this stepping."
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9. dee dee, October 2018
"Shana Jones just be quiet because thing change and cheer is changing so no need to cry about it you look like your in your twenties stop being so childish and petty and let things change and become different that’s what makes the world fun CHANGE so let it be for gods sake"
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10. HEEEY MICAH, October 2018
"dee dee this world loves to have their own definition of words. This is not cheer, this is step. Please look up the definition, just like people got there own definition of what a hoe is.... 😂😂 I cant with y’all recreating a definition for words that already exist and have definitions, it’s not change it just make people look more & more stupid. If they choose to do this cool, but don’t call it cheer, use the right term, which is step, a sorority, or something that means the same thing but don’t change the definition of words cause cheer just like the word hoe gone always have the same meaning in the dictionary and that ain’t gone never change."
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11. adoree. kynn, September 2018
"I love all of these 🤗"
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12. Andre Mcfadden, September 2018
"They slayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyying"
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REPLY
13. Shemiah Walker, September 2018
"I know that's right!"
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14. Ilya Dubrovin, September 2018
"🔥🔥🔥"
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15. She Got Next, September 2018
"i dunno im in a white school they think “bleach banging” is ghetto😰😢honestly an embarrassment."
-snip-
My guess is that “bleach banging” is cheerleaders banging out a cheer while sitting or standing in the
bleachers. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/bleacher
"bleachers (noun)
Usually bleachers. a typically roofless section of inexpensive and unreserved seats in tiers, especially at an open-air athletic stadium."
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16. She Got Next, September 2018
"i hml i wanna move a black person should never be this uncomfortable about their skin color."
-snip-
"hml"= hate my life
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17. KC Lopez, September 2018
"What has cheerleading come to!? 😑"
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18. God 74, September 2018
"Why are cheer uniforms so slutty?"
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19. Queen meh meh, October 2018
"Wakanda forever🙅😂😂❤"
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20. haytian05, October 2018
"All were good, but #1 was lit can’t find this from just anyone ❤️ it!"
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21. Yumi Chocolate ASMR, October 2018
"Get it Girl's .. I remember does day's Now I'm PASS all that but it sure hasn't changed much."
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22. Tina Weegman, October 2018
"soo cool! different than when i was a cheerleader back in the late 90's!"
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23. Evon Williams, October 2018
"You go baby girls good job don't let know one stop you"
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24. kmallory100, October 2018
"There are cheerleaders who have to cheer sitting down or in the bleachers? Yikes!"
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25. Lovely Dai, October 2018
"Can someone explain why they make cheerleaders use deep voices? Someone once told me so other schools won't steal them but it's kinda pointless when you can't been hear what they're saying."
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26. The Black Barbie, October 2018
"Lovely Dai. So they can be heard"
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