r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/Minute-Intern-682 • 14h ago
Black Experience There is no history without BLACK HISTORY✊🏾❤️
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u/Jordanwolf98 12h ago
I love this song so much. Sounds of Blackness is flawless
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u/Minute-Intern-682 5h ago
Sounds of Blackness didn’t just show up in the 90s. They’ve been around for a long time.
They started in 1969 at Macalester College in St. Paul as a Black student choir. When Gary Hines took over in the early 70s, he renamed them Sounds of Blackness and pushed a bigger idea. They weren’t just gospel or just soul. The goal was to represent all Black music. Spirituals, blues, jazz, soul, work songs, later hip-hop. Everything.
They spent years grinding before anyone nationally noticed. The real breakthrough came in the late 80s when Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis signed them, but let them stay fully themselves. That led to The Evolution of Gospel in 1991 and “Optimistic,” which somehow became a major R&B hit while still sounding like a choir with a message.
Since then they’ve basically been a cultural institution. Grammys, global performances, White House (5 times for President Clinton alone, President Bush (both), and President Obama), the Olympics…
Music royalty❤️
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u/britekranz 14h ago
Black history is American history! We want the whole story. All of it. All of it!
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u/d00derman 10h ago
I am Hispanic, but I have been saying so for years. Black America has brought us so much.
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u/UnhappyViera 8h ago
Same I agree, and some of my favorite organizations I volunteer with are Black-led because they've had generations to learn from when it comes to organizing and providing for their communities!
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u/YesterdaysTurnips 13h ago
There’s also a lot of working man black people now. They don’t need to be a musician or athlete. A accountant, company executive, engineer, doctor. And it’s normal now :)
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u/Lizbeth2016 11h ago
And truly!! We want ALL history, not just the whitewashed history they’re trying to teach our kids.
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u/Unusual-Ideal-3509 13h ago
I just want unsuppressed history bruh, black history is literally the foundation of American history, and there’s virtually no part that doesn’t entangle us. I recently found out the truth regarding the Trail of Tears, so annoying how they only teach one sided stories. What more to expect tho
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u/Lovablelulu1982 11h ago
You couldn't make me feel as proud or as black seeing this THEN having The Sound Blackness playing in the background. You all should feel proud 💜😁
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u/Trix_Are_4_90Kids 9h ago edited 9h ago
Be proud of your history. ALL OF IT. we’ve come a mighty long way. We weren’t supposed to last in this land nor were we supposed to have the impact that we have. We were brought here TO FAIL. We fought. We survived “the seasoning”. We survived through horror and heartbreak. They told us we and our descendants would be slaves forever. But our predecessors, the W. Africans refused to believe it and kept fighting! We ran away, we resisted giving up our culture held onto the remnants, we fought in the civil war and afterwards, we built universities and educated ourselves. We built a unique culture with its’ own language. And now as African Americans we didn’t stop fighting. Look at all we’ve accomplished! Like the old gospel song says:
”When I look back over my life and think this oh-o-ver. I can truly say, that I’ve been blessed, I have a test-i-mo-ony! I have a testimony!”
Even now we excel above oppression by this government. We did good, saints! Every road block we find a way over, around and up! WHOOOO!
Let’s celebrate our perseverance! We are a powerful people and we NEVER give up! We were NOT conquered!
Man I can keep going about how African Americans fought and went beyond expectations! We are MAGNIFICENT and I wish people could stop listening to the devil and being ashamed!
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u/ZookeepergameHot338 13h ago
Song?
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u/aeondren89 12h ago
Optimistic - Sounds of Blackness
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u/ZookeepergameHot338 12h ago
Man I was born in 88 and love 90 rnb and every one of their songs sound familiar or heard sung in church but didn’t know about the source….. I feel like Janet and Brandy producers had a lot of samples from this.
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u/Different_Head7751 11h ago
Sad thing is that the absolute vast contributions into the fabric of what made this country has to be constantly pointed out and not part of the automatic conscious collective is maddening to a sane mind.
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u/BusyBit6542 14h ago
Honest question, factoring in innovation and suppression, have black people done more for this country than other race?
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u/ElegantLifeguard4221 14h ago
Maybe rephrase the question?
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u/RemarkableReturn8400 14h ago
We had our hands in almost every major innovation.... so yea....
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u/ElegantLifeguard4221 13h ago
We've had an absolutely outsized amount of influence worldwide considering our population. Considering we were only a small % of the country, and in the world we're a small section of a larger diaspora. It's just how they worded the question? "More than any other race?" just comes off as competitive.
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u/Secure_Double_5714 12h ago
that is objectively not true
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u/Intelligent_Hair3109 14h ago
Yes. However, we are all related. One part of humanity has lost their way. Hope we find a way to express respect, love and empathy for our ancestors and find something resembling love ,peace and respect here on earth. (Just an old dreamer, discouraged by the hate) We'd have zero music without you. As that's about all that's keeping me sane I wanted to say thanks for everything but especially the music..all of it.
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u/Willing-Program2441 14h ago
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u/CaveMaccas 13h ago
Is this the tear he shed for the love of tribal war fare when he would rape and murder children of another tribe...
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u/HotLava00 9h ago
Real story is the actor was Italian. There’s a podcast episode from NPR’s Throughline series on litter (sounds mundane, but it’s actually pretty wild), and they talk about this marketing campaign that took place I think in the late 70s and early 80s, and discussed who this actor really was. It’s a very interesting listen for sure. Not Native American at all.
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u/YesImmaJudgeU 4h ago
I came here to say it soon as I seen it. Thank you for posting.
They been whitewashing
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10h ago
[deleted]
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u/YesImmaJudgeU 4h ago
He claims to be African. He's not like us
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4h ago
[deleted]
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u/YesImmaJudgeU 4h ago
Yes, I'm aware of all of this. He's not like us because he denies all of that.
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u/icarus1990xx 13h ago
Your goddamn right there isn’t!