#Black American English

[luulapants]

Luula! I saw your reblog post about taylor swift and billie eilish and audio processing with white girls singing pop, you know the one I mean? You tagged it with don't make me go sociolinguistics on your ass....

I am asking (out of sheer curiosity and genuine interest) please go sociolinguistic on their asses.

I want the explanation on why I don't understand rap...

Please thank you 🙏

Hey, anon! Honestly, good on you for asking the question.

The short answer on why you don't understand rap is pretty simple: it's because you don't listen to rap.

The long answer starts with this premise: all natively spoken human languages and dialects are created equal.

No language is easier or more difficult for an infant to learn - there may be a more stringent academic standard, but as for the basic language that people speak, any child can learn any human language with equal ease*. No language intrinsically sounds more or less appealing or sophisticated; any such judgment is based on how you were socialized to feel about the people who speak it.

(*the obvious exception to this rule is physical limitations, such as the ability to hear (Deaf children will struggle with vocal languages compared to sign) or a speech impediment (a language without 'th' will be easier for a child with a lisp).)

I don't know what dialect of English you speak, but I'm making a leap to assume it's a white dialect adjacent to Standard American English (SAE). If that's correct, try giving this a listen:

This is much easier for most white people to understand not because MC Lars enunciates better - he's speaking quite quickly - but because he's rapping in a very standardized white American dialect, which is probably familiar to you. Compare to this song by Denzel Curry:

This is slower - fewer words per minute - than the MC Lars song, but I'm guessing it was harder for you to understand, because Denzel Curry speaks Black American English (BAE), a dialect you probably don't understand well.

There's a prominent perception in the US, not said as openly as it once was, that BAE is "broken" English, or English poorly spoken rather than a distinct dialect. I can't tell you how many white people have told me they tried to watch HBO's The Wire but "couldn't understand it" because the characters "don't enunciate." The characters enunciate fine, but they speak a BAE dialect white people are rarely asked to listen to. I'll admit, it took me a little while to get my ear around that particular Baltimore variety, too, but after an episode or two of working at listening, I got the hang of it just fine.

That's sort of the crux of the matter, though: who do we believe is worth our time and effort to learn to listen to?

Most Black folks in the US could understand that MC Lars song, because most Black folks in America are biglossal - they speak both the BAE they grew up with and the SAE they had to learn in school. Black children are put at an enormous disadvantage when they are forced to learn a new dialect on top of their other school work. Non-English speakers get special supplementary classes when they enter school - BAE speakers are made to figure it out on their own. Then, throughout their life, they're expected to "code switch," switch dialects, when they need to be understood by a white person. Society tells them it's essential to put in the effort to learn to understand and speak SAE.

White people are almost never expected to even understand BAE. Most white Americans easily learn how to understand British English, though. Most will feel as though they didn't actually work to learn it, that it came naturally. There is absolutely no practical reason British English should be an easier shift from SAE compared to BAE, except that white British people enjoy a level of privilege that makes the effort of tuning one's ear feel expected.

There's something to be said about the fact that the things many rappers - Black rappers and rappers of other minority backgrounds - are rapping about will not speak to your experience. You may feel like you can't relate to Kendrick Lamar the way you can relate to Chappell Roan, but honestly how many white girls on tumblr are rocking out to "Pink Pony Club" who have NEVER been to the club? And how many more could absolutely relate when Lamar says in "PRIDE.":

Now, in a perfect world, I probably won't be insensitive Cold as December but never remember what winter did I wouldn't blame you for mistakes I made or the bed I laid Seems like I point the finger just to make a point nowadays

And, yes, there are references and turns of phrase that you'll need to go look up. We do that for all sorts of things. Did you read Shakespeare in school? Weren't there footnotes telling you what it meant? Have you ever looked up a list of words that are different in British and American English? Don't you know that Taylor Swift's "All Too Well" is about Jake Gyllenhaal even though he's never mentioned?

I will again refer to Claire Vaye Watkin's On Pandering, in which she observes that people on the periphery - social and racial and gender minorities - learn to appreciate the things that the privileged - straight white cis men - tell them is art. How many great works by rich white men have you stretched yourself to find meaning in, even when they don't really speak to you as a person at all? And why are you not willing to stretch that same way in the direction of the less privileged? Why can spend the time and energy to find universal meaning in the works of Dickens but not in the works of The Notorious B.I.G.?

The fact that you can't understand rap has nothing to do with rap and everything to do with you, your socialization, your values, and the culture you were raised in. You don't understand rap because you haven't learned how to understand rap. You haven't learned how to understand rap because you don't think it's valuable enough to justify the effort. You don't think it's valuable because you don't think Black culture and Black language and Black artists are valuable.

You don't understand rap because you don't listen to rap.

[longliveblackness]

Congo is silently going through a silent genocide. Millions of people are being killed so that the western world can benefit from its natural resources.

More than 60% of the world's cobalt reserves are found in Congo, used in the production of smartphones.

Western countries are providing financial military aid to invade regions filled with reserves and in the process millions are getting killed and millions homeless.

Multinational mining companies are enslaving people especially children to mine.

•••

La República Democrática del Congo vive un genocidio silencioso. Millones de personas están siendo asesinadas para que la parte occidental del mundo pueda beneficiarse de sus recursos naturales.

Más del 60% de las reservas mundiales de cobalto se encuentran en el Congo, y se utiliza en la producción de teléfonos inteligentes.

Los países occidentales están proporcionando asistencia financiera militar para invadir regiones llenas de reservas y en el proceso millones de personas mueren y millones se quedan sin hogar.

Las empresas mineras multinacionales están esclavizando a la gente, especialmente a los niños, para trabajar en las minas.

Street Art and Photo by Artist Eduardo Relero

(https://eduardorelero.com)

[official-linguistics-post]

Black English is being misidentified as Gen Z lingo, speakers say

Samantha Chery, The Philadelphia Tribune, 18 August 2022

As Generation Z influencers and Black entertainers continue to shape the internet landscape, from viral memes to TikTok dances, AAVE has shown up in more online spaces. But some Black AAVE speakers believe that the language has been incorrectly chalked up as new vocabulary started by young people - and they've been calling out non-Black people for glorifying internet stars who butcher the speech and lack understanding of the language's cultural significance.

Read the article here.

[metalheadsagainstfascism]

-fae

[pneumaticshift]

youre robin piece was so so cute. i just wanted to know tho did you use europesn robins for a reason or...??

I genuinely didn't know that America had it's own flavour of robin lol

Here's another Robin with a robin to make up for it...

[city-of-ladies]

"In 1944, with the support of the First Lady, Bethune pushed for the admittance of Black women in the military, through inclusion in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), a branch of the Army created in 1942. Though there was a backlash against having women in uniform from conservative elements in military leadership, tens of thousands of women were trained in a variety of non-combat specialties that were thought appropriate for women at the time: switchboard operation, baking, mechanics, stenography, postal work, and more.

All were critical to the operation of the Army during wartime. Sending and receiving mail, for example, was a lifeline for soldiers, and the only way to stay connected to the friends and families they left behind. In 1945 alone, more than 3.3 billion pieces of mail went through the military postal service. Around 8 million Americans were stationed in Europe that year. The task of organizing and delivering all that mail was daunting, and a shortage of qualified postal workers led to a massive backlog. Army officers reported that the undelivered mail was hurting morale. Something had to be done, and a unique WAC battalion answered the call.

The task of sifting through this growing stack of letters and packages—some of which had been mailed years before—was given to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female battalion to serve overseas during World War II. The 6888th—nicknamed “Six Triple Eight” and led by Major Charity Adams Earley—was originally expected to sort through 7 million pieces of mail and packages in Birmingham, England, over the course of six months. They did the job in three."

[silkieluv]

It actually irks me that some people don't know the real meaning why Nadakhan called Jay 'canary' that one scene.

Like sure it was a pet name or something, but if you just do 1 google search you'll know that one you call someone a canary, you're calling them a snitch/blabber/rat/synonyms. Which fits the context perfectly. Jay goes to tell on Nadakhan to Flintlock so Nadakhan calls Jay a snitch which makes him so uncool (cuz who wants to hang with a snitch ;-;, not this pirate!) so Flintlock disregards Jay quicker than my dog's speed when I open his food box.

It is very silly though that a canary is a type of bird, and Jay is a type of bird. I find it so funny how someone there's a term for everything in every theme you could possibly imagine

So yes, while it's interpreted as a yucky pet/nickname for Jay, it's important to me that you know the actual meaning

[agelessphotography]

Animal Locomotion, Plate 637, Eadweard Muybridge, 1887

[kataracy]

Kataang Week 2024 DAY 1 // Cultural Sharing

“I’m nervous. Am I doing okay?”

“You’re doing amazing Sweetie.”

[forthosebefore]

Are there Black dialects of Spanish?

Some people got a surprising result after taking an MIT dialect quiz. It was meant to guess what U.S. dialect the test taker spoke and the person's native language. As results started coming in, many Spanish speakers saw their English dialect had been marked as “U.S. Black Vernacular/Ebonics”

But what's the connection between speaking Spanish and U.S. Black Vernacular?

In the United States, dialects spoken by African Americans are sometimes referred to as Black English, African American Vernacular English, or even Ebonics. Though the terms have had different levels of popularity, having a specific name at all has given African Americans the ability to reclaim their language practices as a joyous part of their identity. 

But much less common are terms and discussions about Blackness and Black language beyond English. If Black English dialects exist, are there also Black forms of other languages due to colonization? For example, are there Black Spanishes and Black Portugueses, too? Read more here.

Source: Are there Black dialects of Spanish? by Aris M. Clemons

Visit www.attawellsummer.com/forthosebefore to learn more about Black history.

Need a freelance graphic designer or illustrator? Send me an email.

[heycarrots]

FYI…

Toby Stephens is English. He’s not American putting on an accent. He’s not Australian. He’s English. The accent is British and a softened version of his natural accent, which is much more posh.

You’re welcome.

[longliveblackness]

The Black American Heritage Flag was designed in 1967 by Melvin Charles and Gleason T. Jackson.

According to the designers, the blunted sword represents pride, while the gold wreath represents peace, prosperity and everlasting life.

Red is for the blood that has been shed by the community for freedom, justice and human dignity, and black represents the pride in their skin color and the black community.

•••

La bandera de la herencia afroamericana fue diseñada en 1967 por Melvin Charles y Gleason T. Jackson.

Según los diseñadores, la espada desafilada representa el orgullo, mientras que la corona de oro representa la paz, la prosperidad y la vida eterna.

El rojo es por la sangre derramada de la comunidad por la libertad, la justicia y la dignidad humana, y el negro representa el orgullo por el color de su piel y la comunidad negra.

[cobra-creampuff]

about the so and so is a fae thing. First and Foremost yes absolutely it is hugely reductive to that person and their work, and also almost always an erasure of some kind usually racial/ethnic let's be honest.

but it's also highly reductive on the other half too. like. people say this about artists that either have a certain ethereal, choral, or "naturey" sound to them (and/or who are powerful and intimidate them that they feel the need to defang by forcing into a framework that is more familiar and less real). but uhh. "fae" actually isn't an aesthetic. fae aren't a contextless set of fantasy traits that belong to everywhite.

the artist you're talking about is a person who has an identity and a cultural and a personal perspective, as well as histories, influences, intentions, contexts you must acknowledge and at least Try to comprehend in order to respect and authentically appreciate their art. and that's all without even getting into respecting them as an individual human person. who is human. and a person. not a creature, myth, or symbol. who has a place in the material world. where they are from. that they affect and are affected by. because they are a corporeal, mortal human person.

and the thing you're comparing them to. i'm so sorry to break it to you, but it also comes from a culture with traditions and values and history and influences and context. all of which are important due to the fact that it, like, has meaning. and purpose. and precedent. reducing it all down to "heehee nature magic (occasionally with Irish accent) 🥰" is also disrespectful, objectifying, appropriative, commodifying, entitled,

maybe next time just, like. try to remember that actually people and cultural phenomena are complex and specific and not interchangeable toys for you to play make believe with, and then idk use, like, an adjective or something.

[have-you-read-this-short-fiction]

[the-cricket-chirps]

Andy Warhol, Bananas, 1966 (Screenprint)

Patrick Caulfield, Bananas and Leaves, 1977

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Brown Spots (Portrait of Andy Warhol as a Banana), 1984

[c-rowlesdraws]

If you were to look at the languages of Asia and Europe, you would see that many languages' word for tea is something like chai (Mandarin/Korean/Portuguese cha, Persian/Russian/Turkish chay, etc). It is repetitive to say "chai tea", even if chai does refer to a specific kind of tea. There is enough of a consistent difference between French tea and American or British tea to denote when tea is French, but nobody thinks thé tea is a legitimate phrase, and nobody would naturally think to use the phrase. There are people that see the French word thé's immediate linguistic proximity to the English word tea and recognize the redundancy there, but Francophones are also generally believed when they acknowledge a poor use of their language. Just because chai's linguistic proximity to the English word tea is less apparent to those who don't consider the presence of exchange between European and Asian languages doesn't mean chai tea isn't not repetitive and dismissive to Indians criticisms on Americans' use of the word chai

your bio says you’re southeast asian so I’m not going to tell you you can’t be critical of foreigners’ use of a word from your region. But also anything I could say to defend my (really harmless I think??) take on chai as a loan word is overshadowed by the fact that it’s now been two days of people reacting to that post and I’m tired. Many words enter other languages for various reasons and the way that other language folds them into itself is shaped by quirks of grammar, human communication, and that word’s purpose in its new language, not conscious disrespect. All languages have loan words in them that are used in ways that seem “strange” or “wrong” to native speakers of the language that word came from.

But I will say that I do not implicitly respect the French, and also if anyone asked me to make them “French style tea” I’d have no idea what they meant.