Black Lindy Hop: When the Deferred Dream Get Stolen

I have the unique opportunity to declare my narrative regarding my historical lens of soul music and its connection with liberatory practices within the Civil Rights Era (1948-1978). I was born the year Brown vs. Board of Education when my informative years within the academic realm still required that I maintain the American apartheid. While America considered it’s inherited practices as segregation, it was apartheid. This institutional practice sustained and upheld two separate worlds, one for whites and one for blacks; all others were in-between.

No matter how horrific, terrorizing, psychotic, and terrorizing it was it produced the blues that begat gospel, while both integrated into soul music. I do understand there were multiple musical genres that were created as well, but I want to focus on the blue-to-gospel-to-soul era 1948-1978, era.

1974 Dance Preliminaries Program Book

The freedom that soul music created freedom of thought; from Sam Cooke’s “We’re Having a Party,” to Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.” Not only was I informed by soul music, but I was also given liberties within dance formats that make me smile when I observe some of the current dance groups on YouTube believing that their movements are original.  However, the liberatory movement of dance that evolved during the American apartheid in Harlem in the 1930s and 1940s that begat the Jitterbug, that begat the Lindy Hop, up to the 70s.

The screening of “Black Lindy Hop Matters” took place at the New York Public Library of Performing Arts, November 23, 2019. Attempting to keep the culture of black dance alive, an annual event took place in The Bronx after the closing of the Savoy Ballroom. The Harvest Moon annual event was taped in 1971 at the Bronx Savoy Manner. The three separate silent films featured former Lindy Hop dancers Ralph Hopkins, Darlene Gist, Sugar Sullivan Niles, and Arline Thomas along with other former Lindy Hop dancers. They laughed, recalled and responded to one another as if it were a family reunion. What was appealing was the begat of the Lindy Hop, which was consecrated by soul music which shifted the dance movements into greater locations of expression. Although the film was silent, distinctively they recalled the song and the vibe. Their movements were aggressive and freeing while it was now considered soul dancing.  Some had even gone around the world to share their talents, yet they are not known in popular culture.  And less is known of their contributions to the world of dance.

Ralph Hopkins, International Champion Lindy Hop Dancer and Lindy Hop Clothing Designer

So, what is the correlation between the American apartheid and the Lindy Hop Dancers? The institutionalism of America forced a group of involuntary Americans to live on the perimeter. And in order to survive, they created their own culture of music and dance.

Harlem was no different than the rest of the US, therefore, culturally, these creative and innovative people had portions of their souls stripped away while they fight to keep Lindy Hop true to its art form while having a willingness to share when respected.

Lindy Hop Dancers Reunion, 11/23/2019

Too often we see the global imitation of black culture.  Hopefully, and with love for these art forms, the Black Lindy Hop group have observed how their hard labor of love has been taken with little to no respect. We have the opportunity to change that. You can find “Black Lindy Matters” on facebook as their mission is to reserve the “cultural integrity, recognition and respect for African American people and [our] heritage.”

Black Lindy Hoppers had to identify their racialized location within their own creation in order to sustain themselves and have created and has held on to the legacy of Harlem. Too often from Swing to the Lindy Hop, the originators are not spoken of or considered to be spoken about. Here is a chance to make a change. Want to know more about the original Lindy Hoppers? Contact them at [email protected].

Published greenwilliams.com.wordpress, Dec. 4, 2019