All posts tagged as: impose magazine
JewFro: On African Americans and American Jews
Always a place for fairly insightful cultural criticism, Impose Mag has a short piece today entitled “A Continued Hebrew Infatuation With African Music” that cites The Sway Machinery as one contemporary Jewish band that draws heavily from African musical tradition. The piece uses the term “JewFro” to describe bands like Sway and newcomers Fool’s Gold.
Of course, Impose is hardly the first to explore the strong connections between Jewish and African culture. Looking for more? Feminist scholar Rebecca Walker wrote the book Black White and Jewish on her experience as growing up as all 3, while Eric L. Goldstein’s The Price of Whiteness delves into the complicated relationship between racial and ethnic identity using American Jewry as the prime subject. If you’re looking for something lighter, JDub friend Adam Mansbach’s novel The End of the Jews details the shared history of American Jews and Blacks using music and culture as the main vehicles for analysis. This is not to mention the veritable libraries of other books, articles and anthropological journals focused on this very subject.
Need more proof? 2 words: Obama/Emanuel.
The Stories We Tell
This week’s blog actually comes from Aaron Hartman of Girls in Trouble, not Alicia. So, without further ado:
“I’ve been writing the stories that I usually tell people when I first realize we’re becoming friends. You know – those big, important youthful awakening episodes that pit you against the world. We all have them. I just figured it would be more convenient to write them all down. I grew up in San Diego in the 1980s and very early 1990s. It was an amazing place to be and a better place to leave. On August 5th, I’ll be reading an excerpt from the book I’m working on. The story I’ll be reading involves myself and my best friend finding something inappropriate on the beach.”
News n’ Such
- TOMORROW in NYC The Sway Machinery will be playing live at Hudson Square Music & Wine Festival. It’s FREE! 5-7 PM on Spring St. between Varick & Hudson.
- Wednesday (7/8) Alicia Jo Rabins of Girls in Trouble will be telling some wild stories at IMPOSE Mag’s Friends With Benefits at Bruar Falls in Brooklyn. She’ll be joined by comedian Dave Hill, musicians Jeffrey Lewis and Pepi Ginsburg and some other all-around coolsters.
- Friday night The Wailing Wall will be playing with electro-folks Castanets at Cake Shop in NYC. Show starts at 8PM!
- JDub favorite Hesta Prynn (formerly of Northern State) just did a G-DCast. Check it out HERE.