"Kings And Queens And Partners Too" & Other Old Examples Of Jump Rope Rhymes From An African American Woman's 2007 University Dissertation

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents some American English jump rope rhymes along with some folkloric and socio-cultural analysis of those rhymes from Wynnetta Ann Scott-Simmons' 2007 Georgia Southern University dissertation "Self, Other, and Jump Rope Community: The Triumphs of African American Women." 

The jump rope rhyme examples in this dissertation are from the memories of four African American women* of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 1960s.

*The four African American women are the dissertation candidate Wynnetta Ann Scott-Simmons and three of her female school friends.

Part of this folkloric analysis is from the 1996 American book "The Jump Rope Book & the Jump Rope Paperback" by Elizabeth Loredo (Author), Martha Cooper (Photographer)

https://www.amazon.com/Jump-Rope-Book-Classic-Games/dp/0761104488

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, socio-cultural, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Wynnetta Ann Scott-Simmons for her research and writing. Thanks to Elizabeth Loredo and Martha cooper for their book on children's recreational rhymes. Thanks to all those who were responsible for publishing this dissertation online and thanks to the composers of these featured rhymes.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/04/pancocojams-compilation-of-double-dutch.html for Part I of a pancocojams series on Double Dutch rhymes. The link for Part II of that series is given in that post.

****
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THIS 2007 DISSERTATION
"Self, Other, and Jump Rope Community: The Triumphs of African American Women" is a long 2007 dissertation (401 pages, including references) that was written by Wynnetta Ann Scott-Simmons, an African American woman. This dissertation partly fulfilled Scott-Simmons' requirements for a Doctorate in Education at Georgia Southern University in the United States.

This dissertation provides a scholarly review of the history of jump rope rhymes in general and Double Dutch jump rope rhymes in particular. This dissertation also provides Scott-Simmons' autobiographical remembrances and analysis of her experiences from folkloric perspectives and from her socio-cultural, and political perspectives. In addition, this dissertation includes some responses to interview questions that Scott-Simmons' asked three of her female childhood friends who jumped Double Dutch with her in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 1960s.

The words of many of these jump rope rhymes and part of the analysis that is presented in this dissertation are quotes from Elizabeth Loredo's 1996 book " "The Jump Rope Book & the Jump Rope Paperback".

****
EXCERPT FROM THIS 2007 DISSERTATION

[Pancocojams Editor's note: The page numbers in this dissertation are found at the bottom of each page and refer to the content that is given before that number.]

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1507&context=etd

"Electronic Theses and Dissertations Jack N. Averitt College of Graduate Studies

Fall 2007

Self, Other, and Jump Rope Community: The Triumphs of

African American Women

Wynnetta Ann Scott-Simmons

Georgia Southern University

[...]

© 2007

Wynnetta Scott-Simmons

All Rights Reserved

[…]

PROLOGUE

INTRODUCTION TO TRIUMPHANT POTENTIAL

“Hambone, Hambone where you been?

Round the world and back again!

Hambone, Hambone whereís your wife?

In the kitchen cooking rice.

Hambone, Hambone have you heard?

Papaís gonna buy me a mockingbird.

If that mockingbird donít sing,

Papaís gonna buy me a diamond ring.

If that diamond ring donít shine,

Papaís gonna buy me a fishing line.

Hambone, Hambone where you been?

Round the world and Iím goiní again”

[page] 11

[...]

The Hambone, Hambone jump rope rhyme is a story of possibility, of dreams, of hopes, of setting new goals, and of the potential borne of options. It is also a story of community, relation, and survival. The Hambone was passed and shared 'Round the world from pot to pot, neighbor to neighbor to flavor the soup. As it was passed it picked up new flavors and deposited remnants of previous meals. The hambone was passed

[page] 12

bringing fellowship, relation, and connection. To serve the needs of the community, to resist, and to provide sustenance for the struggle, it would keep goiní again.

My grandmother used to save not only the hambone and the pot liquor it seasoned when cooking the collards, but also the grease that remained in the cast iron skillet after frying chicken or bacon. Cooking among the African American community is a combined story of creativity, invention, and survival. It is a story that is passed ëround the world among the community. It is a story of hope and triumph over the daily struggle as a minority that comes to life in the jump rope rhyme - Hambone, Hambone where you been?

[…]

CHAPTER 1

LEARNING THE ROPES

Five, ten, fifteen, twenty,

Nobody leaves the rope empty.

If they do, they shall suffer,

Take an end and be a duffer.

[…]

Personal Jump Rope Game

Tap-whoosh-tap, tap-whoosh-tap, tap-whoosh-tap. The sound of a jump rope hitting the ground is distinctive. It is predominantly a girlís game and is deceptively powerful in is ability to create trans-generational connections with each turn of the rope.

Its power to awaken childhood memories of social connection through a cultural activity and experience only strengthens the sisterhood of expression and definition through movement and word. Learning the ropes requires a commitment of individual style, a desire to connect, and a willingness to let go of self for the greater good of the jump rope session. We each bring parts of ourselves with us to the jump rope session and leave the session transformed through connection. That connective transformation ensures that as the chant states - Nobody leaves the rope empty.

Estelle, Joanne, Theresa and I each jumped rope and sang jump rope rhymes with friends and neighbors in different geographic sections in and around Philadelphia during our childhoods in the 1960s.

[...]

[page] 21

Jump Rope Traditions and Connections

Kings and Queens and partners too,

Here are the things that you must do;

Stand at ease,

Bend your knees

Salute to the east,

Bow to the west,

Shake to the one,

That you like best.

[page] 33

[…]

Jumping rope and jump rope chants are a form of communication that seeks to continue the storytelling traditions of the griot and the djeli as they combine words and action to entertain and to teach. They will be used in this research project as the metaphorical representation of and links to historical resistance and triumph through the creative expression of self and community. Jump rope chants and jump rope communities are generational links of capability, possibility and hope in the chain that seeks to end the discourse of failure and ineptitude that has been applied to the descendants of African royalty.

Each rhyme is a story, an answer to and a connection with questions borne of need, hope, desire, wonder, and social justice promises yet fulfilled. The words and beat of a jump rope chant combine to demand involvement, participation, and action. The call and response connection of the chant is rooted in the African spiritual, the play and work songs recited during slavery (Sale, 1992). The coordination of body and verse, and the challenge of verbal manipulation combine to create a form of connection,

[page] 35

metacommunication and expression...

[...] 

Jumpers, Skippers, and Enders: Autobiographical Roots

Fortune teller, fortune teller,

Please tell me

What do you think,

Iím going to be?

Butcher, baker, undertaker

Tightwad, tailor, bow-legged sailor,

Rock Star, painter, cowpoke, thief,

Doctor, lawyer, teacher, chief!

[page] 53

[…]

We learned lessons through the hidden curriculums of life (Grumet, 1988; Pinar, 2004; Purpel, 1999), outside of the ethnically divided schools and within the confines of our distinct, yet connected neighborhoods. Street games set the standards for competitive spirit, community pride and personal self esteem. Stick ball, basketball, jacks, and marbles all became yardsticks by which to measure and be measured. We were as good as we were and played to be recognized as such. Another activity, which served as a transcendental thread to race and culture, was the jump rope. 

[page] 78

We turned the readings into Hop Scotch chants and jump rope rhymes....I do not remember taking books home from school. I remember needing to share books with classmates. In addition to homework, I remember replaying the lessons learned in class in our games out on the playground during school recess and after school at home. History, Math, and Geography lessons became jump rope rhymes. Book facts, were played out and reinforced in the rhymes.

The verbal, repetitive practice of the jump rope rhymes also served to support our Reading and Language Arts development....

Our jump rope rhymes were filled with life lessons, history lessons, and math lessons. Surrounded by the beat and security of the ropes we learned what was expected of us; we learned what it would take to succeed; we learned the value of a good education; we learned what it felt like to be special and loved; we learned about trust, motivation, dedication and grit.

Banana, banana, banana split

What did you get in arithmetic?

Banana, banana, banana free

What did you get in geometry?

We succeeded in the lessons provided by our neighborhood teachers... We were determined to be the people that our teachers knew we could be.

[page] 79

[...]

We learned our lessons well and made promises to do our teachers proud.

Here comes teacher -

Better think quick!

Now itís time for arithmetic

1 and 1 are 2

2 and 2 are 4

3 and 3 are 6

4 and 4 are 8

[...]

[page] 80

[...].

Through the Tunnel Jumping: Rememory

Mother ran the butcher shop,

Father cut the meat.

I was just their little kid,

Running cross the street.

How many times do I cross?

[page] 90

One, two, three

[…]

Jump rope chants have the power to take us back, to awaken the memory and call us back not only in chronological time, but also in cultural time. Remembered Double Dutch sessions bring to mind other street games, memories of friends at the time, water ice, soft pretzels, stoop confinements due to some violation of a parental rule, plaits rather than braids, and feelings of safety. The rhymes, the repetitions, and the memories they stimulate, serve as a verbal link to a period in time when you were guided by generational expectations and shaped by the wants, wishes, and gonna beís shared with friends, family, and community members.

[…]

[page] 91

Baking Bread: Jump Rope Comm-Unity

All in together girls,

How is the weather girls?

Please jump in

All in together,

Very fine weather,

I see teacher

Looking out the wind-er

Ding dong, fire drill!

[page] 99

Ding dong, fire drill!

[…]

When jumpers play Baking Bread (Loredo, 1996) they bring a prop with them into the ropes. The prop is left between the ropes for the next jumper to retrieve, jump with and then leave as they exit the ropes to be replaced by the next jumper. The enders are expected to raise the ropes, if needed, to avoid punching down the prop and to allow time for each jumper to retrieve the prop. The motion and activity is meant to resemble the kneading of dough with several pairs of hands taking up the massaging in succession. 

The baking of bread is an appropriate m metaphor for this game and this activity of connection. Bread is a symbol of fellowship, community, and an opportunity for discussion. It is about sharing and breaking bread together, of dialogue as well as mercy of sharing fundamentally that which is most oneís own. Sharing the word and it has to do with a critical recovery and a critical revision of oneís past, of oneís traditions, of oneís history, of oneís heritage the breaking bread that could lead toward our critical understanding of the past and present and our transformation of the present into a better future (hooks, 1991, p. 2).

[…]

[page] 100

[…]

Alternate-Foot Jumping: Cultural Identity

In the dark, dark world,

There is a dark, dark country.

In the dark, dark country,

There is a dark, dark wood.

In the dark, dark wood

There is a dark, dark house.

In the dark, dark, house

There is a man trying to fix the fuse!

[page] 116

Alternate-foot jumping (Loredo, 1996) involves the raising and lowering of each foot as the rope passes beneath your feet. Balance is required. Awareness of self, awareness of ability, and awareness of positioning within the rope is also a must for success. The ability to hop on one foot while timing the replacement of the other foot at just the right moment requires concentration and responsiveness to the approaching rope.

It also requires an acknowledgement of the attempt at making peace with our personal complexities brought on by the many contradictions of alternate existences.

[…]

[page] 117

[…]

Jump-The-Shot: Resiliency

Angel,

Devil,

Angel,

Devil,

Angel

[…]

Jump-The-Shot (Loredo, 1996) is a version of the jump rope game that requires coping, an ability to beat the odds, and a quick recovery in order to face the next round of challenges. To play, an ender ties a sneaker to one end of the rope and then stands between two players or in the middle of a circle of players. The ender spins while holding the rope close to the ground. The players jump over the attached sneaker as it spins by while chanting, Angel, Devil, Angel. The game continues as the ender spins the rope faster and higher. As each player is ìdoomed to be whatever she misses on, (Loredo, 1996, p. 225) an angel or a devil. Each jumper must, function in the face of pressure not to be labeled a devil, adapt to the changing conditions of the game, and recover quickly in order to clear the approaching sneaker. Each jumper must display some level of resiliency in order to achieve and remain an active participant in the game. 

[…]

[page] 130

[…]

CHAPTER 3

LETíS GET JUMPINí: TOOLS OF THE GAME

Good Morning to you Joseph

Good Morning to you too.

What is your intention?

I want to be a doctor

You canít be a doctor.

I will be a doctor!

Well, Jump shamador my darling,

Jump shamador my dear.

When we played Double Dutch the best type of rope wasnít a rope at all; it was telephone wire. Friends and jumping companions who had relatives employed by the phone company held a slightly elevated status in the world of jump rope. They could more easily get their hands on a length of rope. The rest of us would watch and wait for the phone repairman to visit the neighborhood and the phone repairman to visit the neighborhood and put our begging skills to work.

The wire had enough weight to cut through the air and to hold the rhythm set by the enders. It could also cut legs and arms if you failed to move to the established beat or raise you feet high enough. The wire also came covered in a wide assortment of plastic coatings and graded weights. Most important of all ñ the telephone wire was the best at making the tap-whoosh-tap sound as it cut through the air and hit the pavement.

[page] 136

In addition to the wire rope, you needed a great pair of sneakers. Keds or Converse, especially Chuck Taylorís, were the popular choice during my childhood. One summer my mother failed to understand the associated status in jump rope footwear and
purchased a pair of sneakers affectionately called BoBoís. These were the discount version
of the real things.  My motherís frugality far outweighed my desire to follow the fashion trend. I was severely teased on the first day of their unveiling. Were it not for my jumping skills and my decorative creativity I might have spent the summer sitting on the curb in shame and exclusion. Rather than let my motherís budget sideline me, I combined my needlework skills with some glue and my motherís extra buttons and bobbles to create an original pair of jumping sneakers. While the trend did not catch on, the sneakers were so unusual and my defensive tongue so quick that they were never an issue after that first embarrassing day.

The final requirement for a jump rope session was an interruption-free location.The best locations for a long morning or afternoon of jump rope were paved areas away from foot or car traffic. My friends and I played Double Dutch and jumped rope in the small street, beside my grandmotherís row house in West Philadelphia. The street was too narrow for cars, so we were able to hone our skills for hours on end with few interruptions. We also played on the street in front of our family home close enough to the curb to allow cars to pass and far enough away to prevent the curb from interrupting the flow of the ropes. Style, skill, individuality, and a sisterly togetherness were the consistent tools of the jump rope game.

[page] 137

Mary Mack, All Dressed in Black: Critical Race Theory

[...]

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack,

All dressed in black, black, black,

With silver buttons, buttons, buttons,

All down her back, back, back.

She went upstairs to make her bed,

She made a mistake and bumped her head;

She went downstairs to wash the dishes,

She made a mistake and washed her wishes;

She went outside to hang her clothes,

She made a mistake and hung her nose 

Mary Mack's existence is one of confusion and incompetence. Try as she might to complete a task, she is faced with one mistake after another. If we were to create a persona of Mary as a Black female, her ineptness would be acknowledged and accepted due to the negative societal construction of race and racial characteristics. Mary, despite her best wishes, as an African American female would have her mistakes highlighted, rather than receive praise and validation based on her honest attempts.

[page] 138

[…]

Oliver Twist, He Canít Do This: Critical Literacy

Oliver Twist, he can't do this,

So whatís the use of trying?

Number One: Touch your tongue.

Number Two: Touch your shoe.

Number Three: Bend your knee.

Number Four: Touch the floor.

Number Five: Wave good-bye.

Number Six: Do the splits.

Good-bye, Oliver Twist.

Language is power. The power exists in the ability to manipulate language in order to communicate and direct. The directions which we receive and respond to, as well as, the directions that we in turn provide speaks to our development of self. Without the power to dissuade through the use of language, we become defined by and live at the mercy of those who do.

We are what we say and do. The ways we speak and are spoken to help shape us into the people we become. Through words and other actions, we build ourselves in a world that is building us. We can remake ourselves and society, if we choose, through alternative words and dissident projects... 

[page] 157

[…]

Tell Me, Tell Me, Tell Me True: Oral History

A my name is Alex,

My sister's name is Anna.

We grow lots of apples

In the state of Alabapple.

B my name is Bonnie,

My brother's name is Brendan.

We grow lots of Belly Beans

In the town of Buffaleen

[…]

[page] 174

This is an example of the type of jump rope rhyme that involves manipulation of the alphabet. While the rhyme requires the ability to think quickly on your feet as you jump, it is also used to tell a story as unique as the jumper. The rhyme also provides the jumper with the ability to self name, self create, and self define in an oral display of language manipulation. Each time the words are chosen and then uttered, they claim a place in the present and leave a marker for memories to return to in the future. If written, captured through interview and with the assistance of modern technology, we are able to preserve the created story of self for others to enjoy and gain examples of knowledge and experience. The oral history of a jumper in session is here for the there of the future through memory.

[…]

Page 175

[…]

Keep the Kettle Boiling: Educational Heritage

In (your town's name)

There is a school,

In that school

There is a class,

[page 183]

 

In that class,

There is a desk,

In that desk,

There is a book,

In that book,

There is a picture,

In that picture,

There is a ghost!

[…]

In the jump rope game called Keep the Kettle Boiling skippers run through turning ropes one after another as their names are called. The two enders set the pace of the game through the speed of the turning rope. They are also responsible for gauging the skill and ability levels of the skippers and matching the pace to suit their needs. The game involves concentration on the skippers who run through in front of you and a connection with the skipper yet to come through behind you. Expected performance is demonstrated and followed as each entering skipper models the behavior set by the preceding skipper who is in turn aware of the model they are establishing for those to follow.’…

[page] 184

Eggbeater: Divergent Literacies 

Aliah jumped in the fire

Fire so hot, jumped in a pot

Pot so little, jumped in a kettle

Kettle so black, jumped in a crack

Crack so high, jumped to the sky

Sky so blue, jumped in a canoe

Canoe so shallow, jumped in the tallow

Tallow so hard, jumped in the lard

Lard so soft, jumped in the loft

Loft so rotten, fell in the cotton

Cotton so white, she stayed all night.

[…]

Page 201

[…]

Eggbeater requires practice and coordination between two distinct and separate jumpers. As the rope of one jumper reaches its highest point, the rope of the other jumper should be passing under their feet. Initially, it is best to practice side-by-side until the timing is just right. Once the individual timing has been established and practiced the jumpers turn slightly toward each other and continue to jump with the ropes just missing each other. (Loredo, 1996). Each jumper is able to establish and perfect their own unique style and technique within the coordinated and choreographed rhythm of the jump rope session. That individual style may be maintained or conveyed through a picture in the mindís eye, an internal song, a personal dance, a beat, a chant, or an expressive fashion. It is through that individual, divergent style that a jumper comes to know and understand their place between the ropes. It is through personal expression between the ropes that each jumper comes to know themselves.

[…]

[page] 202

[…]

Rock the Baby: Segregation

I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more,

There's a great big policeman at the door, door, door.

He grabs you by the collar,

And makes you pay a dollar.

I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more.

[…]

Rock the Baby (Loredo, 1996) jumping rope begins with a solitary jumper and two enders. The enders swing the rope from side to side as the skipper clears the rope. 

There is no turning of the rope overhead, only the raising of the rope for each successive

[page 2017]

jumper. The enders continue to raise the ropes higher and higher until someone misses and is put out of the game.

[…]

[page] 218

[…]

Over the Rainbow: Civil Rights

I was standing on the corner,

Not doing any harm.

Along came the policeman

Who took me by the arm.

He took me round the corner,

And he rang a little bell.

page 232

Along came a police car

And took me to my cell

I woke up in the morning

And looked up at the wall

The cooties and the bedbugs

Were playing a game of ball

The score was six to nothing

The bedbugs were ahead

The cooties hit a homerun

And knocked me out of bed.

[…]

Over the Rainbow (Loredo, 1996) jumping requires the coordination of five jumpers and enders. There is a single jumper in the center who jumps with her own personal rope. On either side of this lone jumper are two enders turning a slightly longer rope over the center jumper. On either side of these two enders are two additional enders with an even longer rope that turns over the other two enders and the center jumper. The three ropes turning in unison creates an impressive vision of twirling ropes and jumpers.

It is a different jump rope vision, an attention grabbing jump rope vision that presents an alternative to the standard form of jumping. It is radical in its methodology yet well

[page] 233

within the bounds of jumping definition. At the center of the multiple ropes is the lone female jumper ñ the whip in the whirlwind (Collier-Thomas & Franklin, 2001, p. 1)

[…]

[page] 234

[…]

Chase the Fox: Desegregation and Integration

Teacher nearly had a fit

When I learned the alphabet.

Seems I wasnít very bright ñ

I could never get it right.

I always got stuck after

A, B, C, D…

[…]

[page] 246

Chase the Fox (Loredo, 1996) is a jump rope game similar to follow-the-leader. The leader, in this case, is the fox. The fox runs through the turning rope and is followed by all of the other players so as not to touch the rope. Once all of the players have run through the fox runs back through the rope in the other direction with all of the players following again. The third time through the fox jumps once and each of the players must also jump once. The fox jumps twice, then three times, and so on with the players repeating the foxís actions. Any player who misses is replaced by an ender and the game continues.

[…]

[page] 247

[…]

Double Dutch: Single Gender Education

All in together girls

its fine weather girls

when is your birthday

please jump in (now really fast)

January, February, March, April, May, June,

July, August, September, October, November, December

All out together girls

its fine weather girls

when is your birthday

please jump out

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, etc., etc., etc.

Double Dutch (Loredo, 1996) requires twice the work and practice, is twice the challenge, and creates twice the confusion of jump rope. It is also twice as much fun in its 

[page] 257

ability to create twice the excitement. Just as with jump rope, you need two enders, however, Double Dutch requires two ropes instead of one. This means twice the jumping on alternate feet and twice the level of concentration. The enders turn the ropes, which alternate in position with one missing the other much like the beaters on a mixer. The enders turn the ropes with one hand turning clockwise and the other hand turning the rope in a counterclockwise direction. A concerted series of moves, of ups, downs, twists, and turns combine to create a Double Dutch session. Practice and collaboration are required of every member of a Double Dutch session. It is an exercise in creative aesthetics. It is an exercise in perseverance. It is an exercise in the contradictions inherent in concentration.

[…]

[page] 258

[…]

CHAPTER 5

TRIUMPHANT CHANTERS

On a mountain stands a lady.

Who she is, I do not know.

All she wants is gold and silver.

All she wants is Big Fat Joe.

So jump in - - -

And jump out, - - -

On a mountain stands a lady

[…]

The triumphant nature, the triumphant chant of African American women stems from living and gaining knowledge from those experiences. Our unique subjectivity provides an equally unique perspective. It is a knowledge that emanates from living through a marginalized double consciousness as an inside out and an outside in minority female. Our double marginality places us in positions of opposition and stances that cause us to jump in and jump out of daily struggles. Our lived struggles and experiences, our daily quests start from various points of quiet determination and determined silence. Yet, even in our marginal states, just as a jumper between the ropes, we stand at the center of potential. We stand as the focus of refusal. We stand out as the lady who knows what she wants. We recognize that what we want, our silver and gold, rests in recognition and continuation.

[page] 270

African American females stand today upon a mountain of female shoulders built stronger over time through a sisterhood of connection. That connection is the result of struggle and sacrifice, as well as determination and directed movement. As a genderized and racialized group, we possess a connection to that heritage of struggle and resistance due to everyday experiences caused by exclusion, conflict, and denial in a White-male dominated society. As a group of women whose progress has at times been slowed due to oppression and erasure, these women have never lost sight of the need for strategies of resistance on behalf of the race. Anna Julia Cooper, Septima Clark, Maria Stewart, Harriet Jacobs, and Ida B. Wells have provided their shoulders as the foundation upon which we have built our current sisterhood. It is from there at the mountain-top of the present that we are able to view both the past and the future. It is from here that we recognize our claimed positions of privilege as the subject of marginalized states, as a site of radical possibility (hooks, 1990, p. 341) and are able to set the rhythm of the chant to match our personal chants of resistance and triumph.

In my sisters' voices the unique timbre of our particular chant takes shape. Just as the chapters of Iris Jacobís (2002) book, our chant is more than skin deep, is greater than our roots, is person to person, is ourselves inside and out, is a sharing of our sorrows.

Through my sisters' chants our jump rope journey was revealed. In my sisters' chants the pace, the beat, the rhythm, and the rhyme combined to create a unique chant, a unique
theory of struggle, survival, and triumph. In my sisters' chants the stories of our lives combined

[page] 271

our histories, memories, and communities. Our identities were framed by the pace, the beat, the rhythm, and the rhyme; by the question, the determination, the wonder, and the imagination of our unique jump rope chant and session.

[…]

[page] 272

[…]

Baking Bread: The Background of Our Comm-Unity

The jump rope session is set by the pace of the rope. Fast, slow, or something in between, the pace of the ropes determines the development of the session. If the enders turn the ropes with a slow pace the jumpers loose interest; too quickly and motivation is the casualty. The beat is added as a steadying backdrop. It is to the beat that each jumper 

[page] 275

and ender can come home to when the session gets confusing or foreign. The rhythm keeps the ropes moving with interest and personality. The rhyme is the reason for the entire exercise. It is the union of the voices in the chant that creates a collage of the stories that is both physical and artistic; it is the narrative story that unites the members of the session. The pace, beat, rhythm, and rhyme of our early lives was regulated by a circle of community enders; parents, teachers, friends, and classmates. It also set in progress, the movement, and the development of our later and current lives…..

[…]

[page] 276

[…]

Theresa

"Where do I start? Early childhood experiences, huh? I grew up in North Philly. I remember summers when from sun up until sun down all that we did was jump rope.

Thatís why I was so thin back then. Yeah, this title resonates with me. If you say plaits or Double Dutch you know itís an ole school sister talking. Today itís braids and do they even do Double Dutch anymore? We jumped until you couldnít even see the rope. You could hear it because it was that telephone wire. But, you couldnít see it. But, you definitely did not want that thing to hit you. We were in with all the girls on the block if you could jump rope. We jumped Double Dutch, drew the Hop Scotch on the street with chalk, and the boys played stick ball. I remember sitting on the steps and plaiting hair.”

[…]

[page] 287

[…]

Getting In and Out of the Ropes: Alternate Foot Jumping

Each jump rope session has a unique personality that is set by the beat. Whether up on the down, or down on the up, the beat of the ropes combines with the bodily beat of the jumpers and enders to provide the life of the session. The tap-whoosh-tap, the beat, provides the background for the jumps and the pulse of the chant. If the beat is too subtle, enders will fall off of the necessary pace to keep the ropes moving. If the beat is too strong or too overpowering the voices, the individual components, are no longer able to be heard…

[page] 300

[…]

CHAPTER 6

IMPROVISING COMMUNITY AMONG THE ROPES

Everybody, Everybody

Come on in.

The first one misses,

Must take my end.

[…]

Stars Overhead: Interpretation and Significance

The Stars Overhead jump rope game begins with the jumper in a crouched position. The enders begin turning the ropes above the jumperís head. Upon the enders signal the jumper stands up to jump while they simultaneously begin turning the ropes so that they pass below the jumperís feet. Timing, trust, and coordination are major considerations of Stars Overhead. The sense of community exists in the rotation of opportunities; if a jumper misses they take their turn as an ender. There is great significance in the ability of the enders and the jumpers to interpret each other's intent, movement, desire, and capability. Success of the session, much like the stars overhead, hangs on the ability of the team members to assess the environment and make a way through the turning ropes.

[…]

[page] 339

[…]

It is with sincere hope that in our collective and common jump rope session as a social structure that we will arrive at a point where as African Americans will see 

[page] 353

ourselves as kings and queens who are able to stand at ease in the creation of a social reality that includes justice and a story that we like the best.

Kings and Queens and partners two,

Here are the things that you must do:

Stand at ease.

Bend your knees.

Salute to the east.

Bow to the west.

Shake to the one,

That you like best.

[page] 354

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