Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series about New Orleans, Louisiana's second line music and dancing.
Part III of this series showcases a video of a New Orleans, Louisiana second line dancing and includes selected comments from that video's discussion thread. The Addendum to Part II provides information about the New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs (which were referred to as "Benevolent Societies" in the documentary that was showcased in Part I of this pancocojams series.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/video-documentary-of-new-orleans.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I showcases a YouTube video about the history and culture of New Orleans, Louisiana's second line music and dancing. My unofficial transcription of that video that corrects some of that video's captions is also included in this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/youtube-video-comments-about-new.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II showcases a video of a New Orleans, Louisiana second line funeral and includes selected comments from that video's discussion thread.
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The content of this post is presented for cultural, historical, enterainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and all those who are featured in this embedded video. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
Hat tip to Denise Oliver Velez for writing the article "Black History Month: Celebrating 'Iko Iko,' Mardi Gras Indians, and the second line" on dailykos https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/23/1913217/-Black-History-Month-Celebrating-Iko-Iko-Mardi-Gras-Indians-and-the-second-line. That article inspired me to research and publish this pancocojams series on New Orleans, Louisiana second lines.
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SHOWCASE VIDEO: BEST OF TERRYLYN DORSEY AKA SECOND LINE SHORTY ,, BENJIMANZROOM
Benjiman Speaks, Sep 27, 2017
TERRYLYN IS A LIVING LEGEND IN NEW ORLEANS THIS IS JUST A FEW OF HER MOVES I MANGEDTO CAPTURE PLEASE LIKE COMMENT AND SHARE HOPE YOU ENJOY
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Zondalyn Noble, 2017
"Yesssssss I Love My People! Aint nobody like Us Ya Heard Me!!! Creole Red"
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REPLY
2. Ton Robert, 2019
"Zondalyn Noble YES , ain’t no place LIKE New Orleans not a soul on earth can disagree with you on that hun"
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3. atlantabrookyngal, 2019
"@Ton Robert thats right! And amen! ❤"
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4. cheerTILidie, 2018
"Does this parade only happen during mardi Grads? If not how often and where in New Orleans?"
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5. nola305, 2018
"NO, NO, NO...........Don't confuse secondlines with mardi gras, it's a separate celebration in the backstreets of New Orleans (Black) neighborhoods on Sunday afternoons hosted by various Social aid and Pleasure Clubs. You'll have to spend countless hours (continuously) watching all of the secondline videos here on youtube. If you wan't to learn more about this (New Orleans) tradition and culture, google it BUT, don't associate them with those so-called "secondlines" in the French Quarter, that's only "cultural appropriation" to attract tourists and wedding parties!"
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6. Ginia Maxwell, 2018
"cheerTILidie no. Secondlines are almost year-round. Mardi Gras lasts a few weeks. :)"
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7. PGsfinest07, 2018
"nola305 hope me and best friend can watch this live and direct when we come back down in July"
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8. nola305, 2018
"Good, but don't just 'watch', jump in and participate, ya' heard me!"
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9. Keisha Hernandez, 2018
"brass bands play daily on the streets, some are good and some suck (especially the ones without soul) but there is always a brass band playing in the quarter! just jump in and let it take you!"
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10. A D, 2018
"Keisha Hernandez when I visited it took me. I love to dance and never danced to a jazz band before in my life. But it just took me. And it just felt right. Can’t wait to visit or even move there"
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11. Nothing Left, 2018
"I always wondered. The saying, "ya heard me!!!" I know it was popularized by Master P and No Limit but is that why everyone from NEW Orleans says that? Or was that popular long before P made it nationwide?"
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12. Benjiman Speaks, 2018
"Nothing Left yeah it had been used before master p but he’s from the project and all the trends come from the projects so people like to make songs using words people use the most We been saying ya heard me probably as long as I been alive and ya dig these are jazz terms and Jazz was born here"
-snip-
"Ya heard me" is similar to "You hear what I’m sayin" which the second line dancer Squirtman repeatedly said during his exchange with an interviewer in the video embedded in Part I of this pancocojams series. My transcription of that video's captions are included in that post whose link is given above.
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13. Mike Scott, 2018
"I remember as a young man I used to Buck jump and have fun at the second line and when I see these videos it brings tears to my eyes because I still see some of my old time childhood friends are still buck jumping makes me happy to see people coming together having fun.. Third Ward 4 Life"
-snip-
"Buck jumping" is another term for "second line dancing". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/new-orleans-buck-jumping-information.html for the 2013 pancocojams post entitled "New Orleans Buck Jumping (Second Line Parade dancing) information & videos)". Here's an excerpt from that post:
""Buck jumping" is a rhythmic, percussive style of dancing that emphasizes fast foot work. This style of dancing is closely associated with members of New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs and with New Orleans second line paraders who aren’t affiliated with any Social Aid & Pleasure Club...
Buck jumping is closely related to- if not the same as- the 21st century Hip-Hop dances known as footwork, gangsta walkin, jookin, buckin, and other terms."...
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14, GWEN WILSON, 2018
"MY PPL NOla for life bayyybbbaayyybbyyyy"
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15. Chef Ms Dee, 2018
"DEY HIT N DA MARCH STRUT!!!"
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16. Mugsy, 2018
"Yo can anyone please help me find the song that starts @ 1:17 The Stooges Brass band? my goodness"
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REPLY
17. Mecca Souxl, 2018
"Jackson 5, I Want You Back..."
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18. James Brown, 2019
"That ain't nothing but a Holy Ghost dance😂😂😂"
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REPLY
19. GivinUNew, 2020
"Yeaahhhhh Secondline shorty goes in!
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20. Von Indigenous, 2019
"A lot of y’all don’t know but this is spiritual... if y’all ever wanted to see a sun dance here it is this is a secret thing that why it takes her over... and it’s nothing she can’t do when the spirit take her over 🏹👩🏾🦱🏹"
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ADDENDUM- INFORMATION ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS SOCIAL AID & PLEASURE CLUBS (SAPC)
From http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/multicultural/multiculturaltraditions/socialaid.html
"Strutting and jumping and high-stepping underneath their decorated parasols, blowing whistles and waving feathered fans, the African-American members of New Orleans’ social aid and pleasure clubs are the organizers, originators, and sponsors of the second line parades for which the city is famous. The brass band that follows the parade’s grand marshal and club members, who are always dressed in coordinated suits and classy hats, blast out exuberant rhythms to propel everyone’s high-spirited march through the streets. The club and brass band are known as the first line, and the audience that forms behind the parade to join in the festivities is the second, hence the term second line parade.
African-American social aid and pleasure clubs aren’t just about parading, however. They grew out of organizations of the mid to late 1800s called benevolent societies, which many different ethnic groups in New Orleans formed. Serving a purpose that today has largely been supplanted by insurance companies, benevolent societies would help dues-paying members defray health care costs, funeral expenses, and financial hardships. They also fostered a sense of unity in the community, performed charitable works, and hosted social events. Benevolent societies always had strong support in the African-American population, and some scholars trace the roots of the African-American societies back to initiation associations of West African cultures from where the majority of New Orleans blacks originally came."
-snip-
The members of New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs (SAPC) & the second line paraders certainly strut, and they may also jump. But their dancing is a particular fast hopping kind of jumping, sometimes with leg lifts and squatting, and more that typifies "buck jumping". It seems to me that the brass bands perform the high stepping more than the SAPC members or the second liners. Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwGxSV5-cR0 for a video of such a brass band in a SAPC parade.
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This concludes Part III of this pancocojams series.
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