Harley Ambrose, April 19, 2019
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This post also presents selected comments from various YouTube discussion threads of people sharing their memories of hearing that record. I'm particularly interested in documenting Black Americans' memories of this record from the late 1960s and the 1970s.
The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to James Brown for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these sound files on YouTube.
-snip-
A post with this title was previously published on pancocojams in February 2023.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-meaning-of-your-bad-self-out-of.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "The Meaning Of "Your Bad Self", "Out Of Sight", "Oowee, You're Killin Me", And Certain Other Lyrics In James Brown's 1968 Anthem "Say it Loud- I'm Black and Proud" "
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SELECTED COMMENTS ABOUT JAMES BROWN'S "SAY IT LOUD: I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD
These discussion threads are given in no particular order.
Numbers are added to these discussion threads and to these comments for referencing purposes only.
DISCUSSION THREAD #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb_1NNdf_30 [This is the sound file that was originally embedded in a previous pancocojams post on that subject. That video is no longer available as of August 5, 2023.]
1. Phil Silverman, 2021
"I watched him do this live at the garden . All the whites in the crowd sang along ."
-snip-
"The garden" refers to the James Brown concert at Madison Square Garden, New York. New York on July 4, 1969
2. David Anderson, 2021
"
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DISCUSSION THREAD #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hj1iWqoYEc Say it Loud- I'm Black and Proud James Brown,
published by Harley Ambrose, April 19, 2019
2020
1. elci p
"I was born in the fifties. When this song came out I was in elementary school, umm maybe 4th grade. This song was written and performed for my generation. We were ashamed to be called black. That was a fightin' word. The N word was a term of endearment among Blacks. So that was not a problem, except when white folks used it. Then it was an offense. We came in an array of brown shades, and black too. However we did not want to be called black. THAT ALL CHANGED WHEN THIS SONG CAME OUT. THIS SONG CHANGED OUR ENTIRE CULTURE. WE ALL AT ONCE BECAME BLACK AND PROUD. WHAT A JOY IT IS TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF!!!! WE WALKED HOME FROM SCHOOL. IT ONLY TOOK ONE PERSON TO START THE SONG OFF. EVERYONE WOULD JOIN IN WITH THE CHORUS "I'M BLACK AND I AM PROUD" say it loud "I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD." HISTORIC SONG INDEED. I AM HERE BECAUSE OF CHADWICK BOSEMAN,,R.I.P."
-snip-
As noted in this comment, I believe that references to children singing "Say It Loud, I'm Black And I'm Brown" in this pancocojams compilation and elsewhere refer to the chorus and not the verses of that song.
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Reply
2. "I was around your age and I remember going home from a rival High School Football Game. And back then we walked home very few had cars. It only took a tape player and James belting out this song. Everyone sang in UNISON....”I am Black and Proud”. "
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Reply
3. Atif Hameen, 2021
"The song was like medicine for a people infected with the virus of racism!"
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4. Rick Jones
"I remember buying this record and playing it on my front porch...My first thought was "White Folks gonna kill James"...The song was straight up fire...So you already know it did not get much air time on radio but the brotha's loved it and James Brown became known as "Soul Brotha Number One".That's fact..I was there."
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Reply
5. Glen H
"You are very right about the air time. Even The availability in Europe was poor. Only 3 years ago I was able to get it ordered through Japan. Man I like the song."
6. Sheila Davis
"
7. Agnes Stallworth
"
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8. POND ERSOA
"i remember our lady of victory west philly ...sunday morning mass "james brown is the most dangerous man in america !!!! who does he think he is ..telling colored people ..there black and proud !!!!!!"
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2021
9. Gary Pautard
"I would like to remind certain modern day young people that us baby boomers spent many nights on dance floors getting down to this . And Stax and Tamala Motown and of course reggae. ALL BLACK MUSIC."
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10. Dallas Cash
"In 1968 I was a freshman in college at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio from Cincinnati, Ohio. That year my roommate Gary B., some friends, and I drove up to Columbus. Ohio to see James Brown and the band perform. We got to the stage and saw that only about 25% of the crowd was black. At that point we started taking bets among ourselves, now feeling disappointed, that James Brown was probably not going to sing " Say It Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud " to a mostly white crowd. None of us thought that the "Godfather of Soul" would come thru for us. We didn't have to wait long. The band started up, James Brown stepped out on the stage and the FIRST words out of his mouth were, Umph, with your bad self, "Say it loud I'm Black and I'm Proud." This song for most was the energy and bottom line of the 60's Civil Rights Movement. RIP Godfather."
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11. Ed Vanderslice
"We didn't have any one growing up so I stole James Browns greatest hit from a record store. They seen me and chased me all over the place. I gave somebody at the door a classic head fake.., his legs buckled up and I was ghost.. I listened to that album a million times...."
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2022
12. Tiberius 1701
"I used to play this song loud in my bedroom on my record player when i was 9 years old in 1968, happy memories. 🗣 ✊"
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13. @DudesaLibra
"Just a classic song..and so funky everybody was singing it"
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14. @angasanders172
"This song lifted an entire nation of Black people in 1968. Prior to that, calling someone Black might get you swung on. This was the most transformative song I have ever heard. And God knows, we need it now as much as then. Thank you, Mr. Brown, for recreating Black America."
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15. @bluejazz517
"The first JB record I ever bought. I still have the 45rpm and the album of the same name."
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DISCUSSION THREAD #3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0A_N-wmiMo
published by GStrongRAW, Sep 2, 2009
Anthem of a People...Say It LOUD...WHOever U R,Stand Proud!!
1. Isetayo Criss, 2012
"I was running through the projects in New Orleans when the music truck came in the hood playing this. So many kids and adults ran to the truck that he could not move we bought the 45 but kept him there until he played it twice while we danced. Innocent days of hope and pride."
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2. Phil Silverman, 2013
"I saw JB July 4th, 1969 at Madison Square Garden, along with 25,000 others. I watched the white fans sing these lyrics along with the Black fans."
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3. William Parker, 2016
"The horn lines are funky!! I had the honor of seeing, feeling, and hearing him do this song live hot off the press in New Haven Ct. August 1968 at the Arena! When the crowd responded with the Black And Proud reply , it was so loud you couldn't hear the band!! I was so touched by this as a 12 year old manchild that I cried from happiness that we finally stood with power!! SAY IT LOUD I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD!!! THANK-YOU GOD FOR SENDING THE LITTLE BOY FROM AGUSTA GA. THAT STOOD ON THE FRONT LINE, PROUD!!!"
4. Bert Davis, 2016
"
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5. Lee Harris, 2017
"I was about 12 when it came out,and the one thing i remember liking besides that boost of black pride and ego,was that the older blacks and the young blacks like me had our music in common,something very rare,having old and young people digging the same song,and so it lifted us up a little bit higher! it needed to be said, and sounded well to be the ring of truth, i was and am proud of what God made me to be, and always will love my people regardless of their faults, they have many more strengths to admire, and one of them is this song and Mr. James Brown a real man a leader and a visionary of soul power."
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6. Benefits Consulting Services Of New York x,2017
"This song was a Giant shot in the arm for our people at that particular time. Martin Luther King was killed a few months earlier. And we were angry and hurt. I remember this all too well. We needed this! This was when there was a message in the music. Something I don't hear now."
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7. Adrienne Robinson, 2018
"YES I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD THIS WAS A HUGE HIT IN 1968 AND I WAS A CHILD THEN AND WE LOVED THIS SONG"
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8. Winnie Ford, 2019
"I was 6 years old when this song came out they were teaching young kids then about their heritage and being black and proud of who we were there the revolution was real real some of my friends and I went around the school yard singing this song we were so proud when that song came out say it loud say it proud"
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9. Rita Stokley, 2019
"My fondest memory of this song was around the age of 7 walking down the street with my dad and brother around our neighborhood, my dad was playing it on his walkman and had me and my brother shouting it out loud. Makes me smile everytime I think about that night. I grew up a black girl proud of her blackness from the start."
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10. Taren M, 2021
"I remember hearing this back in the late 60’s at a Birthday Party. We were kids and danced like there was no tomorrow off of this song. Those were the days"
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11. M. Pam, 2021
"I'll never forget seeing James Brown in concert in 1968 Omaha, Nebraska-- a treat from my mom for my 13th birthday. I was a giddy young girl and totally in love with James Brown. I'll never forget that concert for the rest of my life. I even bought a "say it loud..." button before leaving the auditorium that evening. I wore it proudly on the cardigan of my catholic school uniform the following Monday. The school nuns (all white) didn't like it a bit. Of course, my mom was informed that I couldn't wear it to school anymore. It was just my 13 year old way of speaking truth to power; it was my little protest against having to endure the humiliation of being bused into an all white, west Omaha neighborhood to attend an all white catholic school every day. It was James Brown that fortified my sense of racial and self pride!!"
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DISCUSSION THREAD #4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bJA6W9CqvE "Say It Loud It Loud ~ I'm Black & I'm Proud",
James Brown wrote and recorded this funk song in 1968. "Say It Loud ~ I'm Black & I'm Proud" is one of Mr. Brown's signature songs, and one of the most popular Black Power anthems of the 1960s.
2016
1. doc2skate
"Remember many of us kids singing this at every opportunity in elementary school. It gave us dignity and a feeling of empowerment. And a lot of kids were encouraged to embrace their heritage."
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2017
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2018
2. bluewildcat1968 simmons
"My Mom wrote this on my tee -shirt back I 1968. (Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud..."
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3. Michael McGowan
"I was twelve years old when this came out. I recall us going from colored to negro, to black, to afro American, back to black, back to African american. We are now between Black and or African American!"
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4. Aretha Morgan
"l remember when this song was banned in the south. When it first came out. Thank goodness for change."
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5. Denise Mitchell
"gday luv
needed this so much growing up in Lily white
long island
thank goodness for the
Godfather and Queen
stood in the rain 3 hrs for the live album Mum made me
saw him 3 times..best show up
this generation
lacks PRIDE
I am Black and PROUD"
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2019
6. Michael Means
"That was me in the 5th grade with my darshike first ball saying it very loud, power to the people i,m very proud.!!!!
-snip-
"Darshike first ball" may refer to the first dance event (of the school year) when people dressed in African like clothing (including "dashikis").
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7. Cathy Johnson
"I remember as a child screaming this song up and down the street!!! James Brown is and was simply the best. Social justice and sang for the cause rip Mr. Brown!!! 😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇"
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8. Sandra Dee Lawson
"I was one of those kids myself but they won't allow for me to say it for some reasons I do not know
back then. But I'm grown now. Lol!"
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9. Queen Ayana
"This song ran a long time. All the kids sang black and proud in school and every where. What a great feeling it was to say it."
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2020
10. Queen Ayana
"We drove the whole school crazy with this song. Still love it to this day."
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11. C. Callie Coleman
"James Brown was a God-sent, that's why he's called the godfather of soul. When this song came out, when I was a teenager during turbulent times, it's like it sent electricity through me, as my black pride came alive. I've always loved my black race, and loved it even more after this song. EVERYONE WAS BEAUTIFUL. We wore big afros, darskie shirts and dresses. It was a really groovy period. ✌"
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12. Laben Brittenum,
"i seen JAMES BROWN live when i was maybe 6 or 7 and the only part of the show i can remember is hearing this song"
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2021
13. Stacy McGuire
"Born in 1960, this song made me more proud than anything America was dishing out at the time, and still now. Mr. Brown, you will always have my deepest respect.."
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14. firetopman
"I was 11 years old with my 79 cents in hand and this was my first song purchase."
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15. Aristo Three
"I WAS 16 WHEN THIS SONG CAME LIVING IN LOS ANGLES GOING TO FREMONT H.S. AND GOING TO THE RECORD HOP ME MY CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART DOING THE BUMP ARISTO THREE FROM PITTSBURGH LIVE LOS ANGELES BUT WAS RISE IN WATTS. REMBER SAY IT LOUD IM BLACK AND IM PROUD YOU FILL ME"
-snip-
"You Fill Me" may be a typo for the African American Vernacular English saying "You feel me" which means "Do you agree with what I'm saying?"
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16. LaShondra Miller
"I remember when i was a little girl my mother use to sing that song at the top of her lungs...then she would say sing it girl!!!....i would get so embarassed.. Not of being black but because we would be in the grocery store..🙄"
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2022
17. William Parker
"I was 12 years old when this came out in 1968 and I cried like a baby because somebody finally said it! JAMES BROWN! I BEEN BLACK AND PROUD EVER SINCE!"
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18. jan copeland
"Prior to this song, African Americans were referred to as Negroes.After song, overnight we became Black"
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19. Johnny McNeal
"I remember this song too I was 10 years old when this song came out it gave us the power to be proud of our our race and not ashamed of it"
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2023
20. Frederic Boxx
"As a dark skin child this song gave me positive affirmation of self .. Thx James this song sparked pride in myself, it lift'd me up! The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. If you don't know you better ask somebody "
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21. tiray killings
"I was 6,and my mom had a record player andi played it all day."
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22. @johnmorrissey58
"I've been singing this song since I was 7 years old in 1975.
And I'm white
Was on my first album I bought as a kid."
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23.
"When my friends say I'm the whitest person they ever met, I
play them this song😊"
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24. @deborahclay3029
"This was the first record my daddy brought home. He told the
5 of us to sit down and listen to this song…. He played it about 10 times…. We
are proud 😊😊"
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25. @marquettecharles9692
"I grew up believing James Brown was my cousin bc his
cheekbones/ facial features look a lot like my mom & her sisters. They even
claimed James Brown was our cousin. 😂"
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26. @fredericboxx8048
"As a dark skin child this song gave me positive affirmation
of self .. Thx James this song sparked pride in myself, it lift'd me up! The
blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. If you don't know you better ask
somebody."
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Reply
27. @FujishimaAkiko
"Did the same for me as even a lighter skinned child (I was
darker than I am now back in the day, because I practically LIVED in the glory
of the sun, being burn-proof and all...lol) who grew up in the south. I didn't understand when I was little what my
darker fam went through, but I did when I got a little older. I'm so glad this song was able to uplift you,
dark skin is beautiful too! Black is
beautiful, every shade of it! ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼"
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