K.K.T Productions, Apr 7, 2021 -snip- This entrance dance was filmed at the wedding of (Celina & Jean-Luc) Phoenix, Arizona
**** Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams series showcases five YouTube videos of Congolese wedding entrance dances. All of these videos were filmed in the United States.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos. Thanks to all others who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
**** SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: Beautiful Congolese Wedding Entrance Dance
Sondasi Luundo, Sep 13, 2019 -snip- This summary doesn't identify the bride and groom or name the city where it was filmed. However, this video was probably filmed in the United States as online information for film maker/editor Sondasi Luundo indicates that he resides in Buffalo, New York. His Facebook page also indicates that he is from Kalamie, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
**** SHOWCASE VIDEO #3: Best Congolese Wedding Entrance Dance - ONCTION (EPAKWA) Jonas and Dina Wedding
Sondasi Luundo, Aug 4, 2021 -snip- This video was probably filmed in the United States as online information for film maker/editor Sondasi Luundo indicates that he resides in Buffalo, New York. His Facebook page also indicates that he is from Kalamie, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
**** SHOWCASE VIDEO #5: Best Congolese Wedding Entrance | BM & Arlette | Phoenix Arizona | Song: BM - Ye Le
BM Official, Oct. 12, 2021
Our second entrance to my wedding. We came out to my new song titled BM - Ye Le. The dance choreography was made by 'Brotha E'. We hope you enjoy this entrance and hope you dance along...
-snip- Unlike the other videos in this compilation, this video features professional dancers, instead of the bridesmaids and groom's men.
A maasai super wedding 2020
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a 2020 YouTube video of a Maasai wedding.
A hyperlink to a YouTube video of a 2010 Maasai wedding is included in this post along with a hyperlink to a 2018 Maasai wedding and a hyperlink to another 2020 Maasai wedding.
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that focuses on changes in the traditional Maasai customs regarding hair for females and males.
The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the publisher of this embedded video and the publishers of the videos whose hyperlinks are included in this video. Congratulated to the brides and grooms whose weddings are showcased in this post.
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
I'm an African American woman who has watched a number of YouTube videos of Maasai culture and has read a number of online articles and offline books about Maasai culture. I've done so as part of my general interest in Black cultures around the world.
By no means am I suggesting that I am an expert on Maasi culture. I'm also not a beautician and, therefore, these hairstyle descriptions may need some corrections.
As a result of perusing numerous YouTube videos of secular and religious Maasai music -especially videos published after 2017 - it appears that few young Maasai women shave their hair. This contradicts the descriptions of Maasai women that are found in most internet articles. I decided to search for and then post information and videos on this subject to help correct what appears to me to be outdated and erroneous information about this African culture.
In the religious and secular YouTube videos of Maasai culture that I've watched, the Maasai women (particularly those who wouldn't be categorized as "older women") wear their hair in very similar (if not the same) hairstyles as some of the hairstyles that are worn by African American females, although the percentage of these hairstyles that are worn by Maasai females and the percentage of these hairstyles that are worn by African American women vary.
In most of the YouTube wedding videos that I watched, the Maasai women who were part of the wedding party have hairstyles that consist of multiple long braids (probably made with extensions of fake hair). In these videos the long braids are usually worn in one ponytail, sometimes the hair in the ponytail and/or other strands of that hair are dyed a "pop up" color such as one woman with her ponytail braids dyed blue, another with her ponytail braids dyed red. Sometimes the entire hair is dyed red. Choosing that particular color links back to Maasai traditions. However, hair coloring is also commonly done among contemporary African Americans and other non-Maasai cultures.
Other Maasai hairstyles for women that I saw in contemporary Maasai wedding and non wedding videos were "medium" length hair (not down to the shoulders or below the shoulders) that is straightened (by a perm). These hairstyles may include some strands with curls or coils. (My sense is that the hair lengths that are worn by African American females who wear these straightened hairstyles is often much longer than the hairstyles that are worn by the Maasai women in the YouTube videos that I watched).
In some Maasai wedding videos, some women who were part of some Maasai bridal parties had natural hair that was braided on the sides with one big puff on the top of their head. In the Maasai wedding video that is embedded in this post, one of the bridesmaids has a two toned light brown medium length (not shoulder length) curly hair style that might have been created from a "twist out" or "braid out" hair style or might have been a wig. Some Maasai women in the videos that I watched (other than the wedding videos) could have worn a hair piece in a bun on top of their straightened hair.
Some other Maasai women (particularly younger and middle age women) who watched the wedding processions/services also wore their hair in those braided styles or in short afros, but not in the straightened hair styles. In one video of a Maasai wedding, I recall seeing a woman with a medium length gray dreadlock.
In some other YouTube videos of Maasai women, some young women wear their hair in fuller "twist out", "braid out" natural styles. However, it appears to me that far fewer Maasai women wore these hairstyles than the percentage of African American women who wear these styles, particularly the styles where you unbraid or untwist the hair and leave it "as is" (without combing the strands out) or in "blow out"/flat ironed" hairstyles (where the natural hair is somewhat straightened without chemicals or a hot iron.)
In the contemporary YouTube Maasai videos that I watched, I don't recall seeing Maasai women wearing natural hair where one or both of the sides and the back of the hair is completely shaved. Since at least 2018 those hairstyles have been popular with some young African American women.
Although women are the focus of these pancocojams posts about changes in Maasai hairstyles, these showcased videos (and some other YouTube videos) also document changes in the ways that some Maasai men wear their hair (including young men with tapered hair and other barbered hair, and young men with closely shaven moustaches and hair on their chin.)
Some of the videos that I watched also showed young girls with shorter braided hair that was worn in various hairstyles.
** The pancocojams posts in this series aren't meant to suggest any positive or negative valuation about the changes in hair shaving and hair styling customs among the Maasai people. However, it seems likely that such significant cultural changes as the ways that women-and men- wear their hair has had and may continue to have societal ramifications for Maasai people.
Recent changes in Google blogs makes it difficult to showcase more than one YouTube video.
Here's one hyperlink to a video of a traditional Maasai wedding in 2010 that I tried to embed in this post: Maasai Wedding Ceremony 2010 Supukuu Enkiama
This pancocojams post presents eight videos of traditional Liberian wedding celebrations.
Selected comments from some of these videos' discussion threads are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
In addition to noting the customs that are shown in this video (such as "spraying money", placing material down for the bride and groom to walk on in their entrance to the wedding ceremony, spraying money, and performing the wedding Grand March), I'm interested in the fashions that are worn by the bride, the groom, and the guests at these weddings.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Congratulations and best wishes to the brides and grooms whose weddings are celebrated in these videos. Thanks to all those whose music is featured in these videos and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS:
Example #1: Liberian Wedding/bone helena 07/05/08 wedding
rallyhugie ha, Published on Jul 6, 2008
bone helena 07/05/08 wedding
-snip-
A commenter wrote that this song was sung by Kanvee Adams, but didn’t give the title of the song
****
Example #2: Grand March at our wedding 08-08-08 (Rommel's camera)
Posted by reynandvalenzuela, August 19, 2008
"Grand March. 08-08-08 wedding" (Liberia)
-snip-
I wrote the video uploader on that video's viewer comment thread asking for more information about that dance. Here's the response I received:
"My wife works with Liberians and having been there for almost 10 years, they offered to do the march at our wedding. my wife and i are both filipino's. this march was led by one of her co-workers. other than that, i don't know much, except that it was fun :). It was fun for the non-Liberians as well.
hope that helps."
-Rey
-snip-
The comment that I wrote on that video's discussion thread is no longer showing. That comment indicated that the Grand March tradition is derived from descendants of Black Americans who were emigrated to Liberia bringing that custom to that country (Read the excerpt in the comment section below). Here's a comment from a blogger on that discussion thread who disagrees with this position:
cece2711, 2011
"@Azizip17 You have it backwards. European proessional dancing is an adaption of this type of wedding dance tradition that originated in Liberia, West Africa. You actually think Africans would copy a European dance? I think not. lol."
-snip-
Here are some additional comments from that video's discussion thread:
Zeramey, 2012
"@cece2711 Im liberian and let me tell you its the African adaptation of the American South/European grand march."
**
vibrantkitty1, 2013
"I'm not sure I agree with you. I've seen Ugandans march. Actually, most african culture march. Liberians are a more elaborate. You are a Liberian you should know the march-two steps in front and two backwards with hip actions. There is the traditional march, political march which includes a white handkerchief, and theres the wedding march. But Im sorry Americans and Europeans were not teaching blacks to march during those days."
**
Arnold Xavier, 2014
"Can someone tell me the name of the song and the singer please: )"
**
REPLY
Masa Hall, 2015
"It is a bassa song , it's hard to find"
-snip-
"Bassa" is an ethnic group in Liberia, West Africa.
**
REPLY
XxMaryAnnMgxX, 2015
"+Masa Hall zuo po
****
Example #3: Liberian Wedding Grand March
THEONEEYEKING, Published on Sep 21, 2014
The Grand March at a Liberian wedding in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA. African attire and hearty well wishers makes the event cheerful and colorful.
-snip-
Here are some comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers assigned for referencing purposes only) 1. Queen Faith and Princess SoRaYa, 2014
"This is my wedding grand match. Don't know who put it up but thanks it look beautiful. We had so much fun. God bless our union...Steve and Faith Sept 20th 2014"
2. Eve Heart, 2015
"Amazing job with the fashion
So much details in each outfit. Love the video"
**
3. Jean Paul, 2015
"Steve and Faith may you'll be blessed with many happy years, enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing."
**
4. Rami, 2016
"Anyone know the name of the songs being played"
****
Example #3: Liberian Wedding, Bride and Groom Entrance
MonseoTV, Published on Feb 9, 2015
Liberian Weddings are full of joy and traditions. In this clip, you see everybody all happy dancing as the Mothers welcome the bride and groom
****
Example #4: Traditional Liberian Wedding Dance at a Wedding Reception~ James and Lucy kudee
Gotellitmedia Productions, Published on Aug 17, 2015
July 18, 2015 in Grayson GA
Here are some comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers assigned for referencing purposes only)
1. MrSivram28, 2016
"why dressed like Nigerians?"
**
REPLY
2. Angeline Freeman, 2016
"Because we are all African."
**
REPLY
3. Francess K., 2018
"MrSivram28 this is not "Nigerian" its also a liberian culture dress like also in Sierra Leone they wear The same Thing bcos we are all The same people, Nigerian liberian and Sierra Leone Are very similar in ther culture and food
Ps: sorry for my bad english"
****
Example #5: Liberian Weddings Entrance
Afranca Creations, Published on Jun 16, 2016
All of these comments are from 2016.
1. Ellie Saye
"Aye shout out to you for representing LIB with your wedding colors👌🏽😊"
**
2. Leasha Vigabo
"Very cute but too much people in the bridal party. I attended a Liberian wedding with about 20 bridesmaid. TOO MUCH"
**
REPLY
3. Allison McInnis
"you know Liberian people always doing the most"
**
4. Jeanell Johnson
"what the song name that the bridal party is dancing to."
**
REPLY
5. Lolo14_85
"the second song is Dapee liberian Music...."
**
6. Zeker Zeon
"what's the name of that song in the beginning during the church scene?"
Rawtalent Tv, Published on Oct 4, 2016
-snip-
The video's caption indicates that this is the wedding for Mr & Mrs Wuduwelh, September 10, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia.
This video and others shows the custom of "spraying money". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/09/pinning-birthday-dollars.html for a 2011 pancocojams post entitled "Pinning Birthday Dollars". I believe this custom in the United States comes from the West African custom of "spraying money".)
Click the "spraying money tag" below for other pancocojams posts that include this custom.
-snip-
Here are some comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers assigned for referencing purposes only).
1. Venice Cooper, 2016
"God bless both of them Amen"
**
2. Amina Bangura, 2016
"I was at teetoe and Marthalyn wedding"
**
3. thegigadykid1, 2016
"Liberians are finally starting to play their own music"
**
4. George Wolo, 2016
"What is the name of the song at 31:39?"
This pancocojams post provides some general information about the nation of South Sudan, as well as some general information about the Dinka people and the Shilluk people.
This post also showcases five YouTube videos of music and dancing at traditional South Sudanese weddings.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
I’m particularly interested in the traditional clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, singing, and dancing that are shown in these videos.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
Best wishes to all those couples whose weddings were celebrated in these videos.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT SOUTH SUDAN
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Sudan
"South Sudan officially the Republic of South Sudan,[15] is a landlocked country in northeastern Africa that gained its independence from Sudan in 2011. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city. It was planned that the capital city would be changed to the more centrally located Ramciel in the future before civil war broke out.[16] South Sudan is bordered by Sudan to the north, Ethiopia to the east, Uganda to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southwest, and the Central African Republic to the west. It includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd, formed by the White Nile and known locally as the Bahr al Jabal...
Ethnic groups
The major ethnic groups present in South Sudan are the Dinka at more than 1 million (approximately 15 percent combined), the Nuer (approximately ten percent), the Bari, and the Azande. The Shilluk constitute a historically influential state along the White Nile, and their language is fairly closely related to Dinka and Nuer. The traditional territories of the Shilluk and the Northeastern Dinka are adjacent."...
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE DINKA PEOPLE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinka_people
"The Dinka people are an ethnic group inhabiting the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Nile basin, Jonglei and parts of southern Kordufan and Upper Nile regions. The Dinkas are mainly agripastoral people, relying on cattle herding at riverside camps in the dry season and growing millet (awuou) and other varieties of grains (rap) in fixed settlements during the rainy season. They number around 4.5 million people according to the 2008 Sudan census, constituting about 18% of the population[1] of the entire country, and the largest ethnic tribe in South Sudan. Dinka, or as they refer to themselves, Muonyjang (singular) and jieng (plural), one of the branches of the River Lake Nilotes (mainly sedentary agripastoral peoples of the Nile Valley and African Great Lakes region who speak Nilotic languages, including the Nuer and Luo).[2] Dinka are sometimes noted for their height. With the Tutsi of Rwanda, they are believed to be the tallest people in Africa."...
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHILLUK PEOPLE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilluk_people
"The Shilluk (Shill: Chollo) are a major Luo Nilotic people of Southern Sudan, living on both banks of the river Nile, in the vicinity of the city of Malakal. Before the second Sudanese civil war the Shilluk also lived in a number of settlements on the northern bank of the Sobat River, close to where the Sobat joins the Nile, with Doleib Hill as an important mission station. Doleib Hill mission has ceased after Nuer armed militia Jiech Mabor and Dr. Riek Machar's rebels stormed Doleib and burned Shilluk villages, and looted Shilluk (Chollo) community properties in 1987, 1997, 2013 and 2014 (by Dr. Riek Machar's rebels).
The Shilluk are the third largest ethnic group of Southern Sudan, after the Dinka and their neighbours the Nuer."...
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Minister Nhial Deng's wedding
jenaro aken Published on Aug 26, 2013
this gathering is a traditional aspect of Southern Sudanese weddings, the communities of both parties; the groom's and the bride's family, joins togather in celebration of the union. This core South Sudanese tradition transients generations and remains a unified and vital part of South Sudanese society. enjoy!
-snip-
Here's three comments from that video's discussion thread:
Nanyal1, 2014
"If the groom's family is Dinka, why is his name "Nhial"? or is it a name in Dinka as well as Nuer?"
**
Reply
jenaro aken, 2014
"+Nanyal1 I believe the name is shared, just like many other names amongst different tribes in South Sudan."
**
Reply
Nanyal1, 2016
"Alright. Thank you for letting me know!"
****
Example #2: Marriage Between Wut Deer-Adeweng & Ajuong -Nyapiny part 1
jangdit dengajok, Published on Jan 15, 2015
This video is about marriage between Deer clan of Adeweng (Bor South Makuach) and Ajuong clan of Nyanpiny ( Bor North/Twic East Paliou). Between Mabior Dengajok & Athok Warabeck
This video was recorded during the marriage ceremony which was conducted on January of 2012, when Mothers in-laws from Ajuong Nyanpiny came and happily sung their traditional songs of Ajuong clan and Nyanpiny in particular. Its Dinka Bor cultural thing when the marriage is organised, various dancing and singing occurred from sides to marks the happy beginning and ending…
****
Example #3: Dinka culture in South Sudan traditional marriage
Kuol Juac, Published on Oct 20, 2015
"The marriage, it is a blessing to whole community, according to Sudanese culture or Dinka {jieng}culture is the way of sharing their happiness and not because the girl is sold away by parents , but the important of marriage is to bring community together creating new relationship, begin from both parents Fathers and mothers in both side grandmothers and grandfather,uncles, brothers, sisters, aunts, nephews, and all close relatives and friends all those people have right to be involves.
clans and tribes are welcome, to came together to share and celebrate with the joy and happiness. they sharing some word of encouragement,food and Wealthy examples cows, goats money and e g , the size of man give prizes to the size of girl and same the of girl give some prize to the size of man bringing their food and everything and they share together, during the marriage the stranger is the most person welcoming to share and enjoy any color of enjoyment the used to practicing examples dancing singing e.g. our marriage had been celebrated three time in 1993, 2006 again 2014 in the blessing of God we still yet for more celebration if God will."
****
Example #4: shiluk traditional dance at the wedding
John Michael Published on May 22, 2016
****
Example #5: Shilluk Dance ( Weding Ceremony )
This pancocojams post provides general information about Somali Bantus and extensively quotes a Pittsburgh Pennsylvania newspaper about Somali Bantus who live in that United States community.
This post also showcases two videos of Somali Bantu weddings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, historical, sociological, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT SOMALI BANTUS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantus_(Somalia)
"The Bantu (also called Jareer, Gosha, and Mushunguli) are an ethnic minority group in Somalia who primarily reside in the southern part of the country, near the Juba and Shabelle rivers. They are descendants of people from various Bantu ethnic groups, whom were captured from Southeast Africa and sold into slavery in Somalia and other areas in Northeast Africa and Asia as part of the 19th-century Arab slave trade.[2][3] Bantus are ethnically, physically, and culturally distinct from Somalis, and they have remained marginalized ever since their arrival in Somalia.[4]
These Bantu are not to be confused with the members of Swahili society in coastal towns, such as the Bajuni, who speak dialects of the Bantu Swahili language.
All in all, the number of Bantu inhabitants in Somalia before the civil war is thought to have been about 80,000 (1970 estimate), with most concentrated between the Juba and Shabelle rivers in the south.[5] However, recent estimates place the figure as high as 900,000 persons.[1]
Etymology
The term "Somali Bantu" is an ethnonym that was invented by humanitarian aid-supplying agencies shortly after the outbreak of the civil war in Somalia in 1991. Its purpose was to help the staff of these aid agencies better distinguish between, on the one hand, Bantu minority groups hailing from Somalia and thus in need of immediate humanitarian attention and on the other hand, other Bantu groups from elsewhere in Africa that did not require immediate humanitarian assistance. The neologism further spread through the media, which repeated verbatim what the aid agencies' increasingly began indicating in their reports as the new name for Somalia's ethnically Bantu minorities. Prior to the civil war, the Bantu were simply referred to in the literature as Bantu, Gosha, Mushunguli or Jareer, as they still, in fact, are within Somalia proper.[6]”...
Resettlement in the United States
In 1999, the United States classified the Bantu refugees from Somalia as a priority and the United States Department of State first began what has been described as the most ambitious resettlement plan ever from Africa, with thousands of Bantus scheduled for resettlement in America.[27] In 2003, the first Bantu immigrants began to arrive in U.S. cities, and by 2007, around 13,000 had been resettled to cities throughout the United States with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the U.S. State Department, and refugee resettlement agencies across the country.[27]
Among the resettlement destinations, it is known that Salt Lake City, Utah received about 1,000 Bantus. Other cities in the southwest such as Denver, Colorado, San Antonio, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona have received a few thousand as well. In New England, Manchester, New Hampshire and Burlington, Vermont were also destinations selected for resettlement of several hundred. Plans to resettle the Bantu in smaller towns, such as Holyoke, Massachusetts and Cayce, South Carolina, were scrapped after local protests. There are also communities of several hundred to a thousand Bantu people in cities that also have high concentrations of ethnic Somalis such as the Minneapolis-St. Paul area,[28] Columbus, Ohio,[29] Atlanta,[30] San Diego,[31] Boston,[32] Pittsburgh,[33] and Seattle,[34] with a notable presence of about 1,000 Bantus in Lewiston, Maine.[35][36] “...
****
ARTICLE EXCERPT: A NUMBER OF SOMALI BANTU REFUGEES HAVE RESETTLED IN PITTSBURGH, BUT HOW ARE THEY ADJUSTING?
From http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/a-number-of-somali-bantu-refugees-have-resettled-in-pittsburgh-but-how-are-they-adjusting/Content?oid=1953072
by Ryan Deto @RyanDeto, September 21, 2016
“I am Somali Bantu, but that does not mean that I am not also American.”
... Welcoming Week (Sept. 16-26) is currently being celebrated throughout the county. The week-long celebration highlights the city’s success in attracting and resettling immigrants to Pittsburgh — more than 18,000 since 2000 — and the diversity they bring to the region.
But for refugee groups like the Somali Bantu, there is little to celebrate. The community, comprising 200 to 300 people, has been living in Pittsburgh since 2004, but hasn’t achieved many markers of immigrant success. Few of their children are attending college, few families have purchased homes, and discrimination is still very much a part of their lives.
“There are not a lot of Bantu in Pittsburgh,” says Mwaliya. “We cannot live the same life we lived back home. If you don’t have enough people to open [Americans’] eyes and to advocate, our struggles will continue.”
So what is holding Bantus back? The answer may be as complex as the journeys many of them took to arrive on U.S. soil.
Mwaliya is a Somali Bantu who originally resettled in Salt Lake City in the early 2000s, and came to Pittsburgh in 2011. “Most people I knew lived here,” he says. “The community here needed help. We were missing an organization so we could help ourselves.”
Mwaliya says when he arrived, only five elders in the community had received citizenship, and there were problems obtaining interpreters in the county courts and area hospitals. He started the Somali Bantu Community Association of Pittsburgh in 2012. Since, he says, most Bantus have gained citizenship, and interpreters have been provided in schools, courts and medical centers.
Some of these achievements came with a fight. In 2006, Education Law Project on behalf of the Bantu community sued Pittsburgh Public Schools for better language and cultural services. PPS settled and developed policies to help second-language learners and guard against ethnic intimidation.
But these improvements haven’t propelled Bantus into great educational attainment. Kristen Tsapis, who has volunteered with the community for years, says the several young Bantu are currently working towards associate degrees at schools across Southwestern Pennsylvania. But according to Mwaliya, only three college-age Bantus are currently enrolled in four-year universities, and few Pittsburgh Bantus have obtained degrees. “Wherever we go, we are educationally behind,” says Mwaliya.
The Bantus, while living in Somalia, were banned from going to school, and many are illiterate as a result. When they were sent to refugee camps in Kenya, schooling was available, but girls didn’t attend and the classes were taught in English and Swahili, not the Bantus’ native language, Kizigawa.
To understand the Bantus’ struggles is to understand their history. Originally brought to Somalia as slaves from west and southeast Africa during the 1800s, Bantus were freed during the Italian colonization of Somalia in the early 1900s. Many converted to Islam to avoid persecution by ethnic Somalis during the slave-trade era and continue to practice the religion today.
Bantus eventually settled in the Jubba Valley of southwestern Somalia. However, they were denied access to modern amenities due to their minority status. The Somali civil war broke out in 1988, and military groups invaded the Jubba Valley, bringing violence, rape, starvation and death.
A few years later, many Bantus walked to refugee camps in Kenya, and while they were safe from Somalis, the camps still had a litany of problems. Mwaliya says that both he and many other Bantus he knew spent more than 12 years in the camps, where they were brutalized by Kenyan authorities, and no real jobs were offered. Farmland was not provided, and many Bantus abandoned their farming traditions.
Mwaliya recognizes the problems of the camps, but says nothing was as bad as their lives in Somalia during the civil war.
“You can’t even compare the camps to Somalia,” says Mwaliya. “You can see a kid dying there, just asking for something to eat or drink.”...
Mwaliya says without work or farming access, and with little education, the camps put many Bantus into a cycle of dependency, something he wants to see his community break out of.
“You can advocate when your rights are violated, and you can advocate to move forward,” says Mwaliya. “You don’t get people to move you forward without moving yourself forward.”
In order to help refugees transition more easily, resettlement agencies offer language, housing, and job-placement services as well as a few months’ cash for rent and food. But agencies often have limited resources. After about a year, many refugees must provide for themselves.
Local groups like Northern Area Multi-Service Center offer cultural-assimilation programs, and the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council offer free English classes. These programs have helped thousands of refugees and immigrants adjust to life in Pittsburgh, but those programs might not be reaching the Bantus.
A 2007 graduate thesis by Leah Taylor on Pittsburgh’s Bantus from University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health points to some problems in the early years of the Bantus’ resettlement: “This lack of cooperation among providers and the system of resettlement in the U.S. that encourages refugees to work as soon as possible, regardless of language ability, further hindered the ability of the Somali Bantus to exercise personal agency after arriving in the U.S.”...
When Bantus arrived in Pittsburgh, the community spent years moving from subpar housing to subpar housing: from Lawrenceville and Homewood to the Hill District and Manchester in the North Side, and finally to Northview Heights, where around 80 percent of them live today.
“They were used to operating alone. They were excluded in Somalia, they were used to operating in their own world,” says Dyer. “... [Many] don’t even speak and write in their native language, let alone English. They were really up against it.”
A 2007 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal article on Bantus argued that if they were not given adequate support, they would become vulnerable to “an intergenerational cycle of poverty, which is hardly a humanitarian act and could have dire consequences for both the African refugee and their American neighbors.”
The Bantus also differ starkly from their African counterparts in terms of education. Slyvester Mejer hails from Nigeria and is the associate director of the Union of African Communities of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Unlike most of the Bantu, he says 60-70 percent of other Africans arriving to Pittsburgh come from educated backgrounds.
Despite such challenges, Dyer believes Pittsburgh’s Bantus are on the right track. He says many youth performed well in high school, an “extreme achievement considering their background,” and almost none of them have criminal records. Dyer adds that while living in Northview Heights presents problems (census figures show that 41 percent of households in the neighborhood make less than $10,000 a year), it has provided Bantus an opportunity to live close to one another, and has provided a safe place for them to practice their cultural traditions.
“They found a challenge of concentrate[ed] poverty, but they also found a community that understood social challenges,” says Dyer. “Perhaps it wasn’t so broken to the Somali Bantu. It gave them this sort-of village. They could recreate the life they wanted.”
...In Pittsburgh, many African refugees, including the Bantus, were resettled in predominantly African-American neighborhoods. And while relationships between American and immigrant communities in Northview Heights are going smoothly now, Fatuma Muya, a Bantu from Northview Heights, told City Paper in December 2015 that many African Americans have bullied Bantu youth over the years, calling them names like “Africa” and “stink.”
Police relations haven’t gone over very well either. Chirambo says when some Bantus in Pittsburgh call the police to settle disputes, the police sometimes arrest the father out of confusion. In December 2015, five boys were arrested by Port Authority Police during a ruckus at Wood Street T station. Out of hundreds present during the commotion, all the boys arrested were Bantu and at least four of the five cases never went to trial. The boys’ families claimed they were discriminated against, which Port Authority denied.
“The events of last year, when you see stuff like that happening, it is disappointing,” says Mwaliya. “It seems hopeless. The solution is to have it come from the inside.”
But the county seems to be providing more outside help too. Betty Cruz, formerly of Mayor Peduto’s Welcoming Pittsburgh initiative, helped create a community blueprint with Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services to make it easier for immigrant communities to connect to services and funding. She says more can, and needs, to be done to help immigrant and refugee groups in the Pittsburgh region...
Cruz says while Pittsburgh groups do offer English as a Second Language classes, the region doesn’t offer professional English-language services to help immigrants obtain high-skilled jobs like engineering and health-care work. Mwaliya says many Bantu men work as janitors and dishwashers and the women work in laundry service.
“It makes the difference from being stuck in survival jobs, to moving along the pipeline into [high-skilled] work,” says Cruz. “It is a big barrier right now.”
Another Bantu group was recently created to take on these issues. Abdulkadir Chirambo came to Pittsburgh from Erie to study at Pitt eight years ago, where he earned a degree in criminal justice. Chirambo, a relative of two of the boys arrested during the Wood Street ruckus, was recently tapped by community elders to start the United Somali Bantu of Greater Pittsburgh group. He has been integral in the Northview Heights garden project and has started providing family crisis counseling within the community.
“We want to let people know we are alive and here,” said Chirambo, while weeding the community garden one Saturday. “[We were invisible] in Somalia, we don’t want that here.”....
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS: SOMALI BANTU WEDDINGS IN PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
Example #1: madina and dadiri wedding [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]
Abdikadir muya Published on Aug 24, 2013
mjomba Audio & video Center in Pittsburgh, PA (Abdikadir Muya)
-SNIP-
Notice the custom of giving paper money to the bride and groom (as seen at around 6:00 in this video and at other times.) I've noticed this custom of "spraying money" -and other referents - in other African videos, but particularly in Nigerian wedding and party videos.
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Example #2: somali bantu Pittsburgh wedding mberwa and Asia A new journey together
This post presents six videos of Igbo (Nigeria, West Africa) weddings. A bonus video that provides information about traditional Igbo weddings is also featured in this post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
In addition to the other marriage customs, I'm particularly interested in the custom of money spraying. I'm also interested in the female & male clothing, and the music & dancing that are performed in these videos.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
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FEATURED VIDEOS
(These examples are posted in chronological order based on the date of their posting on YouTube with the oldest date presented first.)
Example #1: Oge's Wedding reception (Igbo attire)
rewordblog Uploaded on Jul 13, 2011
Recorded on July 9, 2011 using a Flip Video camera.
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Example #2: Traditional Ibo Wedding
Kimeke, Uploaded on Jul 17, 2010
Scenes from a traditional wedding ceremony: Find your husband in a crowd and offer him palm wine.
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Example #3: Traditional Ibo Wedding
Arthur Pinkney, Uploaded on Aug 20, 2011
The Traditional Wedding of Francisca Eziafakaego Emefiene and
Francis Arthur Pinkney. It took place on 19 October 2006 in Ubulu-Okiti, Delta State, Nigeria.
**Please excuse a couple of typo's in the subtitles.
-snip-
The groom is African American
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Example #4: Traditional Igbo Wedding of Onwutalobi Anthony-Claret and Naomi Anulika (Codewit)1
Codewitz, Uploaded on Sep 20, 2011
Traditional Wedding of Onwutalobi Anthony-Claret and Naomi Anulika (Codewit) on the 3rd of September 2011. The bride takes action in 'body movements' to celebrate her day
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Example #5: Traditional Igbo Wedding of Onwutalobi Anthony-Claret and Naomi Anulika (Codewit)2
Uploaded on Sep 21, 2011
Traditional igbo Wedding of Onwutalobi Anthony-Claret and Naomi Anulika In this clip, The groom is ushered in to his in-laws place.
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Example #6: Igbo Bride Prize & Wine Carry Ceremony of Onwutalobi Anthony-Claret & Naomi Anulika
codewitz,Uploaded on Sep 21, 2011
Igbo Bride Prize & Wine Carry Ceremony of Onwutalobi Anthony-Claret & Naomi Anulika.
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BONUS VIDEO: Traditional Igbo Wedding
Firegrlnikki,Uploaded on Jan 4, 2010
A Brief Description of a Grand Tradition in my Culture- A Wedding!!!
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RELATED LINKS
To contrast the Igbo (Nigerian) marriage customs shown in these videos with the Yoruba (Nigerian) marriage customs, watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2fLp1RxhbM "Sam & Abiola's Engagement 22". There are 40 other videos of this engagement (wedding/reception) on YouTube.
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ACKNOWLEGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to all of those persons who are featured in these videos. Also, much respect and best wishes to each of the wedding couples. Thanks also to the uploaders of these videos.
This post presents selected user names from YouTube videos of four African weddings. Most of these made up user names refer to the blogger's race, skin color, ethnicity, or nationality. This sample also includes user names that refer to the continent of Africa.
As a bonus, I've added a video of a Nigerian themed African American wedding that was held in Maryland, USA.
Selected user names from that video's viewer comment thread can be found after that video.
All of those posts focus on examples of made up user names that are found in the viewer comment threads of these featured video/s. By "made up names" I mean a name other than a person's first name & last name, or a person's first name, middle initial, and last name, or a person's first name & the initial of his or her last name. Those names are often referred to as a person's "full name" or a person's "real name". In this context, a person's first name could also be a nickname that is derived from that first name.
I'm interested in documenting types of made up user names on YouTube comment threads because I believe that a review of those types of names can be of folkloric & sociological value. That documentation is of particular urgency because, since June 2012, YouTube has tried to convince its commenters & its video uploaders to switch to the use of their "real names". And it appears that many people have done so.
The Cocojams post whose link is given above contains a larger list of the types of user names that I've found on YouTube comment threads. That post also includes more of my comments about made up user names.
With regard to this specific post, I believe that user names that reference race, skin color, ethnicity, or nationality as well as a person's continent can be indications of self-esteem & self-confidence, and/or an indication of the person's pride in his or her ethnic group and/or nation. All of these can be positive attributes.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, educational, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
FEATURED VIDEOS, SELECTED USER NAMES & COMMENTS
Note: Most but not all of the user names that fit this category from each video are presented here. My failure to include any user name in this post should not be construed to mean that I didn't like those names or didn't approve of those comments.
WARNING: YouTube comment threads often contain profanity, racist, homophobic, sexually explicit, sexist, violent language , and other language that may be NSFWOCV (not suitable for work or children's viewing).
These user name examples are placed in chronological order with the oldest comments posted first, except for any response to a comment. The date of the user names for a particular year are placed under that year.
Example #1: Mary and Emeka Nigerian Traditional Wedding - Procession
Ade Obadina Uploaded on Jul 27, 2011
Union of the Igbo and Yoruba cultures - Mary Temitope Obadina and her bridesmaids make an epic entrance during the traditional Nigerian wedding on 23rd July 2011. This is Mary's bridal procession with her beautiful eligible bridesmaids as she wow's Emeka Kenneth Okoroafor (Igwe - King) with a surprise dance in spectacular style!
-snip-
Notice how the wedding guest converge on the bride and "dash" (spray) her with money.
[2012]
MsAfricanbeauty1
**
ghanaianbeauty90
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noirrosa
-snip-
Editor: The English translation for the French word “noir” is “black”.
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Update: July 11, 2015: This is another clip of the initial video (published by Shadreck Rukweza, Uploaded on Jul 29, 2010) that I initially embedded for this post. That video doesn't appear to be available any longer. The names listed below the video are from the initial video.
Example #3: Wedding Dance Moves in HD
Published on Jan 25, 2014
Extraordinaire dance très beau mouvement d'ensemble
-snip-
This is a wedding in Zimbabwe.
Editor: I added the first two comments for informational purposes.
[2011]
congobk10
"this is wonderful!! where are you guys from?"
Reply
zulunatic1
"@ congobk...we are all from Zimbabwe but we based in the UK"
[2012]
missbenin91
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lightskin003
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africankween24
-snip-
Editor: "kween" is an alternative way of spelling "queen".
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malawianbabe1
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kenyagirl2009
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MsAfricana1
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MrShonaguy
**
hausasfinest
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Example #4: Wedding exit dance
Samuellyc, Uploaded on Oct 19, 2011
Bevis and Mutale's exit dance at their incredible wedding in Zambia. For all those asking the track is Grippe Aviaire by DJ Lewis.
-snip-
This is a wedding in Zambia.
[2012]
Boricua StayBlem
"Amazingly stunning Bride! anddddd You guys had FUN! thats a real wedding. Love the dance."
-snip-
Editor: “Boricua” is the Taíno term for Puerto Rico.
**
baby9ja
"this is cute :)"
-snip-
Editor: I believe that “9ja” is a texting way of writing “Naija”. “Naija” is the colloquial term for Nigeria; Nigerian.
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MsAfricanbeauty1
"Grippe Aviaire by DJ Lewis. [response to the question “whats the name of this song?”]
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indialove101
"dis is wassup :-) i love this"
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africanpride69
"Ohhh les africaines. Love it. Bride looks soo lovely."
[2013]
ebonyladyy 3 weeks ago
"J adore!!!!"
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datghanabeautyAfia
"awwww luv de dance wat country is that?"
-snip-
Editor: This user name is "dat (that) ghana beauty Afia". “Afia” is a Akan [Ghanaian]female name.
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BONUS VIDEO
African Wedding/Sharon and Mike Pt 3
gospeltributes, Uploaded on Jan 7, 2010
Sharon and Mikes Wedding at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel in Maryland.
-snip-
A number of comments from Nigerians & other Africans pointed out that while the wedding parties' outfits were Nigerian, a masquerade (meaning a stilt walker) would never be included in a Nigerian wedding. Another difference that a commenter shared other differences between this ceremony and Nigerian wedding ceremonies is that the guests in Nigerian weddings don't remain standing separate from the official wedding party. Compare this bridal party entrance to the entrance that occurs in Example #1 of this post. That said, I sincerely commend Sharon & Mike for the obvious research that went into their conceptualization of their Nigerian themed wedding ceremony.
Here's a list of the user names from that video's viewer comment thread that referenced skin color, race, ethnicity, nationality, or a continent (i.e. "African") http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICnYVrCKjPQ
[2012]
gold9ja
-snip-
Editor: gold9ja probably means gold naija ("Naija" is a colloquial way of saying "Nigeria"/"Nigerian"
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blackbono lala
**
blaquecherry419
-snip-
Editor: "blaque" is an alternative contemporary way of spelling "black"
**
Africaunite2020
[2013]
blkghanaprincess
-snip-
Editor: blkghanaprincess= black ghana princess
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ACKNOWLEGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to all of those persons who are featured in these videos. Also, much respect and best wishes to each of the wedding couples. My thanks also to all of the commenters whose user names are featured in this post. Thanks also to the uploaders of these videos.
This post provides videos of dance performances in the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa that remind me of descriptions of the 17th and 18th centuries Caribbean and United States dance the "Calenda".
I'm certain that these comparisons have already been documented by dance historians. However, they are noteworthy to people like me who approach YouTube videos as an introduction to various music & dance traditions and as a way of comparing aspects of those traditions.
Here's a brief description of the Calenda for those who may not be aware of that dance or dances:
From Lynne Fauley Emery: Black Dance From 1619 to Today, Second Revised Edition (Princeton Book Company, 1988, p. 24)
"The Calenda, according to most accounts, had certain characteristics: it was performed by one or more couples encircled by a singing, clapping ring; the movement of a couple consisted of a rather shuffling advance and retreat, with most of the movement originating in the hips, while the limbs played a very small part of the dance. Except for the description given by Labat, there was no physical contact between dancers."
-snip-
Here's the description of the Calenda dance in the Caribbean that was written in 1698 by the French monk Father Jean-Baptiste Labat:
"The dancers are arranged in two lines, facing each other, the men on one side and the women on another. Those who are tired of dancing form a circle with the spectators around the dancers and the drums. The ablest person sings a song which he composes on the spot on any subject he considers appropriate. The refrain of the song is sung by everyone and is accompanied by great handclapping. As for the dancers, they hold their arms a little like someone playing castagnettes. They jump, make swift turns, approach each other to a distance of two or three feet then draw back with the beat of the drum until the sound of the drums brings them together again to strike their thighs together, that is, the men's against the women's. To see them it would seem that they were striking each other's bellies although it is only the thighs which receive the blows. At the proper time they withdraw with a pirouette, only to begin again the same movement with absolutely lascivious gestures; this, as many times as the drums give the signal, which is many times in a row. From time to time they lock arms and make several revolutions always slapping their thighs together and kissing each other, it can readily be seen by this abridged description to what degree this dance is contrary to all modesty.
(quoted in Emery: pps 21-22)
Emery goes on to describe a men's stick dance that was also called "Calenda". That dance is not the focus of this post.
The Calenda is documented to have been a popular dance in 19th century Congo Square, New Orleans, Louisiana. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/bamboula-dance-and-music-then-now-part_10.html for descriptions of that dance.
-snip-
Without any further comments, presented in no particular order, here are three Youtube videos of dances that are somewhat similar in format if not in their entire performance to Labat's description of Calenda:
Welsh Folk Dance "Jac y Do"
Uploaded by Pluckandsqueeze on Jan 22, 2010
The Welsh folk dance is "Jac y Do" (the Jackdaw) which is also the title of the first tune, and has an uncanny resemblance to the The Grand Old Duke of York.
The venue was a the Temple of Peace in Cardiff Civic Centre, with a beautiful Art Deco interior.
We played as a three piece band with Heulwen on fiddle, Lorna on accordion and Peter on guitar, with Alun calling the dance steps.
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Video #2: Bèlè - Mabello - Bourg de Schoelcher
MrDjipe, Published on May 4, 2012
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Video #3: Zambia Wedding Dancing
Uploaded by daviddamberger on Jul 4, 2009
One of my favorite parts about Zambia weddings are that the wedding party, the flower girl, the knife boys and pretty much anyone else involved in the wedding enters into the room dancing.
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The two dance characteristics in those videos that remind me of the Calenda are the "longways set" formation (a line of men facing a line of women - although the Mabelo wasn't always danced in that line formation), and the approaching & retreating movement with physical touch (Martinique, and Zambia) and without physical touch (Wales).
I happened on the video of the Mabelo and then found the video of the Welsh dance which looked so much like it (except for the absence of the belly thrust and hip shaking). The southern African nation of Zambia was colonized by England from the end of the 19th century until 1964 when it declared its independence from colonialization. Therefore, in hindsight, it's not all that surprising that Zambians would have the same Calenda or Calenda-like dance tradition as people from other formerly English colonized nations.
This is an essay I wrote in January 2006 (with minor revisions).
I've a confession to make. The real reason why I started wearing African dresses was to impress a certain man. Yeah I know-wrong reason. But my excuse was that I was only 20 years old.
I had just started going out with an African American man who had given himself the Arabic name of "Zayd". A little later in our relationship, Zayd would give me the Swahili name "Azizi", and that's the name most people know me by.
Zayd owned & operated an African book, jewelry, and clothing shop in northern New Jersey not too far from the college that I attended. He impressed me as a handsome, intelligent, somewhat older man who had traveled to Africa a couple of times. Perhaps because of that travel, Zayd knew an African man who was affiliated with the United Nations. As a result of this contact, Zayd received an invitation to a United Nations reception for some African dignitary, and he invited me to attend this reception with him.
Well, I didn't have the faintest idea what to wear to a United Nations reception, and being a poor college student, I had no money to go out and buy a dress.
I shared my dilemma with a college classmate who I had recently met. That Black girl lived with a White family as a foster child or in some such arrangement. When she heard about my dilemma, she convinced me that my best bet was to buy a sewing machine pattern and make my own dress. So we went out and bought a pattern, and then we took the pattern back home to her house, and enlisted the help of her White foster sister. That girl was around our same age, and had the sewing machine skills that we lacked. With their considerable help, I ended up with a long, light green "African dress" that looked quite good on me -if I do say so myself. So my aura was shining brightly at that reception.
I don't remember what the other women wore that evening, but I do remember pretending not to notice the looks of admiration that I received from the men. Yeah, I had it goin on that night. After that success, I bought a couple of long dresses from Zayd's store (or did he give them to me? Probably both). And that's how I started to wear African long dresses in my daily life.
A year or so after I started wearing African clothing, I joined a cultural nationalist organization that was based in Newark, New Jersey. Zayd was one of the leaders of that organization. Poet, playwright, activist Amiri Baraka (formerly kn own as LeRoi Jones) was another one of that group's leaders. Through that organization I met several women who were members of New York's Grandassa models*, and I even modeled with them one time. These women and a few other African American women who were members of that Newark organization taught me how to wrap fabric on my head. I would sometimes wrap those geles in the shape of a rounded crown. But I preferred wrapping them the Nigeria way with pieces of fabric sticking out. During this time and for a long while afterwards, my entire outdoor wardrobe consisted of long "African" dresses or tops & long wraparound or sewed skirts.
A few years after I moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania I met a Yoruba woman named Olabisi (Bisi) Ogunleye. Bisi's husband was attending the University of Pittsburgh. She was a wonderful seamstress & she made some African dresses for me from authentic Nigerian material. Bisi also shared some Yoruba stories and songs with me that I adapted for my school & community presentations as an "African storyteller". And one Thanksgiving Bisi invited me and my then husband over for dinner. That was our first time eating fu fu. And even though Bisi said that she hadn't made that traditional Nigerian dish with a lot of hot spices because she knew most African American weren't used eating food that was too hot, I quickly reached for a glass of water because that food was burning my mouth.
Bisi joined me in some of the community cultural presentations that I did. And when I stopped working at Carnegie Library as an African storyteller, she was hired to fill this position. About a year later, Bisi and her husband and children returned to Nigeria and we lost touch with each other. Blessings on you, Bisi, wherever you are. Thanks for helping your African American sister.
Time passed. Time passed. Time passed and around about 1987 I stopped wearing African clothing all the time. But I still wear authentic African wraparound skirts and matching tops, or 'real' African dresses, and I still wear African geles for cultural presentations or just because I want to. And if somebody asks me why I started to wear African clothing, I say it's to celebrate my African culture. But I know the real reason I started wearing those clothes. And now so do you. :o)
*The Grandassa models were a Harlem (New York City) based group of afro-centric Black female models.
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Here are two videos that demonstrate how to wrap Nigerian headwraps (geles) and Nigerian wrap around skirts (lapas)
How to tie Gele, Aso Oke, Head wrap, Head tie, Scarf, Damask, Single
Uploaded by DupsiesAfricanAttire on Jan 19, 2010
How to tie Gele (Paper-like material used in West Africa and other parts of Africa as a head wrap, Headtie or stole/shawl)
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How to Tie a Wrapper, Lapa, Iro, Wrap Skirt
Uploaded by DupsiesAfricanAttire on Jan 19, 2010
How to tie a wrapper, Lapa, Iro (Worn in Africa. Usually worn with a matching top. Can also be worn with other tops). Can also be worn around the neck...
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Here is a video of a traditional Yoruba (Nigerian) wedding that showcases traditional Nigerian female & male fashions:
[This video was added on October 8, 2016 to replace the former video which is no longer available.
Folayemi and Olusanmi -- A Traditional Union
KauriFilms's channel, Uploaded on Sep 10, 2011
Music:
"I Love U" by P-Square
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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
