19th Century African American Spiritual/Ring Shout "You Got A Right To The Tree Of Life" (also known as "Run, Mary Run") -Part II: YouTube Sound File & Videos

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on the 19th century African American Spiritual/Ring Shout "You Got A Right To The Tree Of Life" (also known as "Run, Mary Run" and "Ain't You Got A Right To The Tree Of Life").

Part II showcases several YouTube examples about the religious song "You Got A Right To The Tree Of Life" (also known as "Run, Mary Run" and "Ain't You Got A Right To The Tree Of Life").

Selected comments from one of these video's discussion thread are also included in this post.

The Addendum to this post presents information about the Gullah Geechee people, the population of African Americans who are most often associated with the ring shout.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/04/19th-century-african-american.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I presents information about and a few text (word only) versions of the 19th century Southern African American Spiritual/Ring Shout "You Got A Right To The tree Of Life" (also known as "Run, Mary Run" and "Ain't You Got A Right To The Tree Of Life").

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown composer/s) of this song. Thanks also to the collectors of versions of this song and the known adapters/arrangers of this song. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to all those who are featured in these showcased YouTube examples. Thanks also to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

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SHOWCASE YOUTUBE EXAMPLES
Example #1: RUN MARY RUN: FUNDRAISER--Rashida Bumbray & Dance Diaspora Collective



Rashida Bumbray, Apr 20, 2012

Curator and choreographer Rashida Bumbray has been performing the ring shout—a spiritual dance developed during slavery—for about a decade. This is a fundraising and promotional video for the newest installment of her dance work, RUN MARY RUN: for which she considers the harmonic ideas and tonal vocabulary of the McIntosh County Shouters—master ring shout artists—as a point of departure. Creating an active ritual for the ceremony of the ring shout, Bumbray and the performers take us on a ride through the cosmologies of the Low Country, Geechie Sea Islands, Tennessee Blues, P Funk, and Hip Hop—relating the shout to the history of Black American music. This iteration of Run Mary Run is developed in collaboration with a large ensemble, the Dance Diaspora Collective and special guest master dancer, Adenike Sharpley, Professor, Oberlin College.

Released on: 1994-04-19

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Example #2: Weeksville Heritage Center



Mireille Liong, Jul 8, 2012

RUN MARY RUN: Jubilee Curator and choreographer Rashida Bumbray's newest installment of her dance work, RUN MARY RUN : Jubilee, considers the harmonic ideas and tonal vocabulary of the McIntosh County Shouters. Creating an active ritual for the ceremony of the ring shout, Bumbray and the performers take us on a ride through the cosmologies of the Low Country, Geechie Sea Islands, Tennessee Blues, P Funk, and Hip Hop. This iteration of Run Mary Run is developed in collaboration with Dance Diaspora Collective and special guest master dancer, Adenike Sharpley, Professor, Oberlin College.
-snip-
Here are some comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Azaka86, 2012
"I have to say as a member of The McIntosh County Shouters. This is by far the greatest reinactment of the ring shout in a ceremonal fashion I have ever seen. Growing up and watchin the ring shout as a child the elder never took the shout to the point it was taken in this clip, because of the rules of "church" against dancing but to see that you guy held true to the shuffling of the feet while making the circle truly make me proud. The only thing that was missing was the beating of the stick. :)"
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/african-american-ring-shouts-origins.html for a 2013 pancocojams post on ring shouts that features the The McIntosh County Shouters

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REPLY
2. Rashida Bumbray, 2012
"You have no idea how meaningful your comment here is. You have blessed us innumerable ways by giving us your compliment and thoughts. My dream has always been to come to Watch Night with you all, or to come and study, interview, etc. Your comment renews my faith that this will happen. Thank you for your thoughts. We will get the stick situation in order. Much much love and respect."

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3. Jason Shi Roberts
"i'm so grateful to have found this. i am researching the early Black church and having this visual will contribute to my work immensely!"

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4. K. D. Wilson, 2015
"Such a beautiful tradition, said to have set the "ball in motion" as they say for later music forms that African people in the US have produced. Lovely in its construction is the ring shout, and a cool way to give God some praise. Indeed, in Christ Jesus do we have the right to Life."

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6. Anwar Uhuru, 2016
"That moment when my ancestors are smiling down in gratitude that they aren't forgotten bless you for uploading this and Sister Bumbray for birthing this for us to see!"

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7. Unison Global Ministries, 2018
"This looks like the Ringshout in its original form. I had a big disagreement with a member of the McIntosh Ringshouters based in Georgia because they feel they have a monopoly on the Ringshout. He even went on to say that no one outside of McIntosh county can ever effectively do the Ringshout right because it’s inherited by people of that county. And he insisted if people do not do it the McIntosh way they shouldn’t attempt do it at all. I’m African American felt his comments were completely silly. In fact The original Ringshout was not shuffling feet. It was all out African Dances in a counterclockwise fashion as seen in this video. But anyhow keep up the great work."

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REPLY
8. Jasmine Pearls, 2018
"Did he mean only Geechee people can do it?"
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"Geechees" (also known as "Gullahs" and "Gullah Geechees" are a sub-set of African Americans. Read an excerpt about the Gullah Geechee people in the Addendum below.

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REPLY
9. Jasmine Pearls, 2020
"There was an old former slave saying she was doing it in Texas. There is also easter rock which is similar because they move in a circle.
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/video-examples-of-winnsboro-easter-rock.html for a pancocojams post on Winnsboro, Louisiana's "Easter Rock" traditions.

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Example #3: You Got a Right to the Tree of Life



Various Artists – Topic, May 19, 2015

Provided to YouTube by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

You Got a Right to the Tree of Life · The Seniorlites

Wade in the Water, Vol. 2: African-American Congregational Singing

℗ 1995 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
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The lyrics for that version are given as 3c in Part I of this pancocojams series.

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ADDENDUM- INFORMATION ABOUT THE GULLAH GEECHEE PEOPLE
Excerpt #1:
From
https://gullahgeecheecorridor.org/thegullahgeechee/
"THE GULLAH GEECHEE PEOPLE
The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of Africans who were enslaved on the rice, indigo and Sea Island cotton plantations of the lower Atlantic coast. Many came from the rice-growing region of West Africa. The nature of their enslavement on isolated island and coastal plantations created a unique culture with deep African retentions that are clearly visible in the Gullah Geechee people’s distinctive arts, crafts, foodways, music, and language.

Gullah Geechee is a unique, creole language spoken in the coastal areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The Gullah Geechee language began as a simplified form of communication among people who spoke many different languages including European slave traders, slave owners and diverse, African ethnic groups. The vocabulary and grammatical roots come from African and European languages. It is the only distinctly, African creole language in the United States and it has influenced traditional Southern vocabulary and speech patterns.


ARTS, CRAFTS AND MUSIC

[...]

Deeply rooted in music traditions brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans, their music evolved out of the conditions of slavery that characterized their lives. The influence and evolution of musical forms that arose out of Gullah music can be heard in many musical genres such as spirituals and gospel music, ragtime, rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop and jazz."...

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Excerpt #2:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah
"The Gullah ... are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, in both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. They developed a creole language, the Gullah language, and a culture rich in African influences that makes them distinctive among African Americans.

Historically, the Gullah region extended from the Cape Fear area on North Carolina's coast south to the vicinity of Jacksonville on Florida's coast. Today, the Gullah area is confined to the Georgia and South Carolina Lowcountry. The Gullah people and their language are also called Geechee, which may be derived from the name of the Ogeechee River near Savannah, Georgia.[1] Gullah is a term that was originally used to designate the creole dialect of English spoken by Gullah and Geechee people. Over time, its speakers have used this term to formally refer to their creole language and distinctive ethnic identity as a people. The Georgia communities are distinguished by identifying as either "Freshwater Geechee" or "Saltwater Geechee", depending on whether they live on the mainland or the Sea Islands.[2][3][4][5]"
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Among the other information on that Wikipedia page are theories for the referents "Gullah" & "Geechee" and West African words and custom that are part of Gullah Geechee history and culture.

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This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.

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