Their Eyes Were Watching God

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God Notes on Folklore

2. “Where I’m From” by Digable Planets Weekend "Dig Plans" got T's where I'm fromWhere I'm from, it's Collins 13 where I'm fromWhere I'm from, brothers took the beat and got fly(Why?) That's most asked by 85, where I'm fromFakin the funk you get didProjects, tenements, pyramidsWhere I'm from, we're livin off the boom boom crack It's that hip hop rockers jazz when I maxPeace be the greeting of the insect tribePestilent forces can't catch the vibeWe live to love and we love to rock micsWe speak in ghetto tongue cause ghetto's the lifeFood for thought so get a buffet plateThe lyrics are so fat you might gain weightSo just watch me step alone, into the sunsetLeft foot right foot 1-2 mic checkBrewin funk inside my soul kitchen So pull up a chair here's a bit have a listenof hardhead intervene, damn I know you're fluentYeah, cause Doodle ain't havin it and Butterfly knew itWhere you from?Venus acts a fool at the square right? (Yeah)Doctors engineer in apparel right? (Yeah)Hip-Hop made a point last year right? (Yeah)But Planets is the joint this year right? (Yeah)Planets got the dubs and live to grass-hopDuck out from the fuzz, that sweat the hip-hopRisin like we foam, get it from the domeI'm from where the fat beats stretch for mad blocksWe can get a kit, without, no threadFeelin funky beats go straight, to the headFall into a club, dig on what we loveIt be past six, before we reach bedButter freaks on relics we say, those are fatDoodle makin silk, LaQuan, where it's at?We need to stack a sack, for rap to take us dapSo we treat our clips, just like, bustin capsRip it til dawn, kick it til dawnHip-Hop is the fix, or else, we be gonePeople thought they canned it, rap is not by banditsDigable Planets got it, goin on Peace.. peace.. peace y'all!(Strange!) Real strange.. real strange..(An overdose..) A.. nickel bag of funk(WE GOT BEAT!!)Now move on.. move on.. yeah..("Hey man are you ready to go?") Yeah..Boogie jive and rap is life where I'm fromWhere I'm from, I might play with Izzy where I'm fromWhere I'm from, it be like, "run your coat black"Jupiter, keeps her fat beats by the packWhere I'm from, nappy hair is lifeWe be reading Marx where I'm fromThe kids be rockin Clarks where I'm fromYou turn around your cap, you talk over a beatand dig some sounds boomin out a jeep Where I'm from, cocoons hide the youth, swoon units 100 proofYou want some beef, they will cut you someWhere I'm form, the beats is infinite where I'm fromVoodoo, ashubani, gangsta lean where I'm fromI'm interplanetary, my insect movements varyIt's kinky if it's hair, G, where I'm fromThe firehoses blow, it's purple wind and snowI do a hit and go, SPLITIt's hip, what's hip? When hip is just the normCause Planets pledge allegiance to the funk in all it's forms The kinks, the dance, the prints in all the shirtsMy grandmother told my mother it's Africa at workOn vibes, we freak, them universal beats You find it at the spot you hit at ends of every weekWe twist, exist, to spin the maddest hitsUp here funk is our neighbor so we paid her a visitThe lip we sip can't house the nine zipsFor rock we can't do nothin, for this we come equippedOff disc, off tape, rap blastin til from 8The really truly fat the fly on the flipCocoa gotta know, how Planets, gotta rollSpeak the mega cool, get funky as a goalIt's calm, relax, we're only some new jacksthat acts from the funk but don't play the roleWhere you from?....

3. Where are you from? Zora Neale Hurston sets her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida. The novel is a coming of age story about a female protagonist named Janie. In the novel, Hurston uses her knowledge of African American folklore to create a narrative that is rich in symbolism and mythological history. As we read the novel, we will continue to study our own history and how that history affects our identity.

4. I Am From by Djamila Moore I am from Moore and Cackley From sardines and haupia. From Mirana’s lip Djavan split, to the shrunken belly my grandmother could not cure. Seven diaries stashed among Anne of Green Gables. Dream of promises ending in tears. Solidifying to salted pages. I am from those moments of magic when life remains a fairy tale. I am from sweaty pink tights encrusted in rosin bobby pins Winnie-the-Pooh And crystals. I am from awapuhi ginger sweet fields of sugar cane green bananas. I am from warm rain cascading over taro leaf umbrellas. Crouching beneath the shield of kalo. I am from poke, brie cheese, mango, and raspberries, from Marguritte and Aunty Nani. I am from speak your mind it’s o.k. to cry and would you like it if someone did that to you? I am from swimming with the full moon, Saturday at the laundromat, and Easter crepes.

5. Where I’m From Poem Now create your own “Where I’m From” Poem. Below is an outline to help you develop your stanzas (groups of lines forming a division of a poem). • Stanza 1: Places • Stanza 2: Food • Stanza 3: Things • Stanza 4: Sayings • Stanza 5: Anything you would like to add

6. An example…. I Am From Poem I am from a different rental house Every year among the same rolling hills Descending from a picturesque mountain In a structured world which asks, “And where are you living now?” I am from Swedish meatballs and lingonberries That smell like Christmas. Sushi and noodles, Tamales and refried beans And spoiled with fresh fruit that defies seasonality. I am from pointe shoes and discipline Classical music and leg warmers. Literature and trips to the library Where the smell of paper and pencils Makes me feel comfy and safe. I am from “people in glass houses, Should not throw stones” and “To thine own self be true” and “Be not simply good, Be good for something” and perhaps, someone. I am from a wealth of love And best intentions which taste Bitter when swallowed with the Hard truth that life does not always Work out the way one had imagined.

7. “History…is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within, are unconsciously controlled by it in many way, and history is literally present in all that we do.” – James Baldwin

8. Zora Neale Hurston "I have the nerve to walk my own way, however hard, in my search for reality, rather than climb upon the rattling wagon of wishful illusions.“ - Letter from Zora Neale Hurston to Countee Cullen • Born January 7, 1891 in Eatonville, Florida • Studied anthropology at Barnard where she won a scholarship • She is part of the cohort of writers, thinkers and artists during the Harlem Renaissance • Worked as an ethnographer • Ethnography is a branch of anthropology that deals with the scientific description of individual societies and the study and systematic recording of human cultures • Collected and documented folklore and folk music • Studied black communities in Georgia, Florida, Honduras, Jamaica and Haiti

9. Use your prior knowledge to define the following terms:

10. Folklore Folklore: Folklore is the traditional art, literature, knowledge, and practice that is disseminated largely through oral communication and behavioral example. Every group with a sense of its own identity shares, as a central part of that identity, folk traditions–the things that people traditionally believe (planting practices, family traditions, and other elements of worldview), do (dance, make music, sew clothing), know (how to build an irrigation dam, how to nurse an ailment, how to prepare barbecue), make (architecture, art, craft), and say (personal experience stories, riddles, song lyrics). As these examples indicate, in most instances there is no hard-and-fast separation of these categories, whether in everyday life or in folklorists’ work. The word "folklore” names an enormous and deeply significant dimension of culture. Considering how large and complex this subject is, it is no wonder that folklorists define and describe folklore in so many different ways. Try asking dance historians for a definition of "dance,” for instance, or anthropologists for a definition of "culture.” No one definition will suffice–nor should it. In part, this is also because particular folklorists emphasize particular parts or characteristics of the world of folklore as a result of their own work, their own interests, or the particular audience they’re trying to reach. And for folklorists, as for the members of any group who share a strong interest, disagreeing with one another is part of the work–and the enjoyment–of the field, and is one of the best ways to learn.

11. Some examples from Hurston…

12. What groups of folk do you belong to? Think in terms of class, education, ethnicity, national identity, family, tradition, literature, art, knowledge, etc.

13. Spring Break Assignment: Becoming an Ethnographer Over spring break, interview one person from a group of folk with whom you identify about a tradition, family legend, common practice or joke. Write a transcript of the conversation.Record the conversation as it is told. Take careful notes and do not correct grammar. You may even decide to record it in an audio file and then write a transcript. Your goal is to think about and look at your personal history with a sense curiosity and an inquisitive mind. After you have interviewed the person, develop two follow-up questions and research those questions online.

14. Possible Ideas… • Food? Why do we always eat greens and black eyed peas on New Year’s day? Why do we always eat meatballs at Christmas? Why do we always have Sunday dinner together? • Sayings? Where did you learn “I am a Swedish girl”? Why do you say, “Ok, I’m gonna get that goat” whenever I’m in trouble? • Religion and faith? What are the meanings and history of the symbols in our home? What is the religious history of our family? • Games? Why do we play hearts? Why do we play pictionary? • Places? How did we end up in this area? What is the history of how our family moved to the bay area? • Other ideas? • __________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________

15. Why do we tell stories? _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

16. Harlem Renaissance • The Great Migration • After the Civil War, blacks migrated in the thousands • In search of work • More freedom and less racism • Between 1900 and 1920 the number of blacks in the neighborhood of Harlem doubled • Harlem became known as “the Black Mecca” and the “capital of black America