Title- "He Aint Gon Make It"
@SAGINAWDANCESHOW, Jan 26, 2025
-snip-
This cheer is usually titled "He's Scared. He's Shakin" Hee are the words to that cheer which is chanted when a basketball player from the opposing team is tying to make a free throw basket.
"He scared.
He
shakin.
He knows he ain’t gonna make it"
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II in a two part pancocojams series about alopecia.
This post showcases a YouTube video of an unnamed American high school stomp & shake cheerleading squad that includes a girl who has Alopecia. That post presents my editor's notes about the reasons why I'm showcasing this video and selected comments from that video's discussion thread that refer to that girls' baldness. That post also presents some general information about stomp & shake cheerleading and information about why it is customary for stomp & shake cheerleaders to cheer with deep voices.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/05/information-about-alopecia-hair-loss.html for Part I of this three part series. That post presents some information about Alopecia with a focus on Alopecia and Black people.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/05/video-of-high-school-stomp-shake_0599040167.html for Part III of this series. That post showcases a YouTube video of an unnamed American high school stomp & shake cheerleading squad that includes a girl who has Alopecia, Selected comments from that video's discussion thread that refer to that girls' baldness are included in that pancocojams post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural purposes, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unnamed American high school cheerleading squad that is showcased in this video and thanks to the unnamed member of that squad who is the focus of these discussion thread comments. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this pancocojams post.
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT SHOWCASING THIS VIDEO & THESE DISCUSSION THREAD COMMENTS
Some commenters in this video's discussion thread disliked comments that singled out the cheerleader who was bald because she did nothing different than the rest of her cheerleading squad.
I recognize the well meaning reasons why commenters wrote their comments about criticized those whose comments called attention to this particular cheerleader just because of her baldness. However, I'm showcasing this video and highlighting these comments for the historical record because this is the first time I have come across an online video of a cheerleader who is bald and because I want to document some commenters' reactions to a cheerleader who is bald.
I'm also publishing this video and some selected comments from this video's discussion thread for socio-cultural reasons, especially because-as one commenter shared- a video of a female cheerleader who is bald can provide a role model to and help increase the self-esteem of other females who are bald whether or not they also want to be a cheerleader.
****
WHAT IS STOMP & SHAKE CHEERLEADING?
Stomp & shake cheerleading is a form of cheerleading that originated among African Americans in the 1970s. That cheerleading style is documented to have independently been created first at the Historically Black Greek letter university Virginia State University and shortly thereafter at the Historically Black Greek letter university Winston-Salem State University. However, before the 1970s Black American pre-university high schools and other community cheerleading squads included elements of stomp & shake cheerleading such as stomping alternating with hand clapping as well as planned or improvised cheers that included group bragging and dissing their opposition's athletic teams in their planned or spontaneously created group cheers.
Stomp & shake cheerleading squads are found on the middle school, high school, and university levels. Most stomp & shake cheerleading squads consist of Black females. Some stomp & shake cheerleading squads have had and/or currently have one or a few cheerleaders non-Black female cheerleaders.
Some stomp & shake cheerleading squads have had and/or currently have one or a few cheerleaders who are Black males. As of this date (in 2026) I have never come across any information or videos of male stomp & shake cheerleaders who are non-Black. Male cheerleaders don't perform all of the movements or all of the movements the same way as female cheerleaders in their squads.
Stomp & shake cheerleading focuses on hyping up their athletic teams' fans at football games and at basketball games. However, these squads do so as show entertainment more than leading fan participation in their cheers.
Certain motions such as "high steps" (formerly referred to as "upstomps") and "double shakes" (formerly referred to as "jigga pops") distinguish stomp & shake cheerleading from traditional cheerleading routines or modified cheerleading routines that combine traditional & stomp & shake routines. Unlike traditional cheerleading, stomp & shake cheerleading routines rarely if ever include cheerleading stunts.
In 2026 stomp & shake cheerleading is mostly found on the Black pre-university and Black university levels in North Carolina (USA) and in Virginia (USA). However, those styles of cheerleading can now be found throughout many Black communities throughout the United States. That said, it's historically and currently incorrect to say that stomp & shake cheerleading is associated with every Historically Black College & University (HBCU).
This pancocojams blog has multiple posts about stomp & shake cheerleading. Here are links two of those posts:
"When Did Stomp & Shake Cheerleading Begin? (Online Comments & Website Statements)"
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/06/when-did-stomp-shake-cheerleading-begin.html
and "Examples Of Stomp & Shake Cheerleading Cheers, Part I (A - H)" https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/06/examples-of-stomp-shake-cheerleading.html
[This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series that document some examples of stomp & shake cheerleading cheers. The links to the other posts in this series is found in each post in this series.
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT THIS PERFORMANCE OF THAT STOMP AND SHAKE CHEERLEADING CHEER
A lot of commenters in the discussion thread for this showcase video indicated that they couldn't understand what the cheerleaders were saying. A number of those commenters and others were highly critical of the custom of cheering with deep voices that is associated with stomp & shake cheerleading.
Here's a portion of the result of an AI Overview about this custom (retrieved on April 25, 2026 in response to my query "Why Do Stomp & Shake Cheerleaders Chant With A Deep Voice?"
"The deep, guttural chanting style [of stomp & shake cheerleading] serves a few specific purposes:
-Vocal Preservation: Yelling at the top of your lungs for
hours during a game takes a massive toll on the vocal cords. Using a deeper,
relaxed "cheer voice" acts as a protective mechanism, preventing
hoarseness and injury."...
-end of quote-
That said, it is possible to cheer with a deep voice and be understood.
Winston-Salem State University (WSSU)'s cheerleaders are on example of stomp & shake cheerleaders who use the deep stomp & shake cheer voice and are easily understood.
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkpOiVssR0s "WSSU CHEERLEADERS 2010-11 Basketball BATTLE" published by cavettaj, Jun 11, 2011 for a Winston-Salem State University for a video of their now iconic cheer "You Gets No Respect In Here". The beginning portion of the cheer routine that WSSU created for their cheer was used by the unnamed high school cheerleading squad in their "You Scared You Shakin" cheer that is embedded in this pancocojams post.
My personal opinion is that this unnamed high school stomp & shake cheerleading squad scores very high points for the performance of the moves for this cheer routine and very low points for their articulation of this cheer.
Note that the squeal that is heard at the end of this cheer is a "call" that is performed during or at the end of some stomp and shake cheers by certain cheerleading squads. "Calls" aren't part of every stomp and shake performance. Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) are particularly known for including this call in some of their cheer performances.
An unoffical description of the unnamed high school cheerleading squad's routine is found in the comment section for this pancocojams post. My daughter Tazi Hughes wrote her description of this showcased video's cheer routine upon my request. Thanks Tazi!
Additions and corrections to these cheer routine instructions are welcome.
****
This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Here's a description of the stomp & shake cheerleading routine that is showcased in the video that is embedded in this pancocojams post.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter, Tazi Hughes wrote these instructions upon my request after watching this video multiple times. She was a member of Roland Ford's Dance And Be Fit line dance group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Those credentials make her much more capable than me to write a description of any stomp & shake routine.
Thanks Tazi!
This description is given in the following comment.
Additions and corrections are welcome.
Description of a stomp & shake routine for the cheer "He Ain't Gon Make It" (also entitled "He's Scared. He's Shakin")
DeleteBy Tazi Hughes, May 24, 2026
[These aren't official instructions for this cheer routine. Additions and corrections are welcome.]
All of the cheerleaders are standing in the gym bleachers wiith the exception of one cheerleader who is standing on the middle of the gym floor in front of the bleachers.
The cheerleaders mostly stomp, stomp twist moves.
The 1st stomp stomp twist is different because it has a little hop or jump to it.
The cheer starts with all the cheerleaders standing with their arms bent and held up near their face. Their hands are in a fist.
The cheerleaders do two stomps with their right foot, twist their body to the left.
Their left foot pivots. Their hands change to praying hands and their upper body sharply twists to the left.
The cheerleaders then clap their hands two times and step with their right foot out to the right side and then side step to the left side. When they do this their arms are held straight out in front of their body. The cheerleaders then bring their arms down, slap their both sides at the same time, and bring both their arms up like they are feeling their body up to their chest.
The cheerleaders do a little wiggle motion when they are doing those side steps.
The cheer routine ends with the cheerleaders clapping their hands again a posing with their right leg slightly bent and their right foot pointed down.