Anyone who knows me knows that Zora Neale Hurston is my #1 Muse. Today, we celebrate Hurston for penning the 1934 essay “Characteristics of Negro Expression,” which advances southern African American expression as an undeniable art form.
Born in Notasulga, AL, in 1891, Hurston grew up in Eatonville, Florida, the first African-American-chartered town in the United States, where her father served as the town's first mayor. The city of Eatonville provides the setting in many of Hurston’s works, as she found the relative absence of whites made Eatonville ripe for studying African American culture, which Hurston studied formally as an anthropology student at Columbia University. In her lifetime, Hurston published seven books, her most notable being her fictional Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), her autobiographical Dust Tracks on a Road (1942), and her study of folklore in Mules and Men (1935). These titles have helped to cement Hurston’s name among the greatest artists of the 20th Century, but “Characteristics of Negro Expression” resonates even into the 21st Century, establishing Hurston as quintessential scholar of Southern African American culture.
Although written nearly a century ago, “Characteristics of Negro Expression” outlines eight common features among Southern African American expressive culture that remain as relevant now as then. You can read all of “The Characteristics of Negro Expression” here,” but here are my top 5:
1. The Will to Adorn – Hurston writes, “In this respect, the American Negro has done wonders to the English language. It has often been stated by etymologists that the Negro has introduced no African words to the language. This is true, but it is equally true that he has made over a great part of the tongue to his liking and has his revision accepted by the ruling class” (Hurston). Hurston gives us the example of the “toned down strongly consonated words like “aren’t” to “ain’t,” while contemporary artists like Mary J. Blige give us “hateration,” “holleration,” and “dancery” – all in one sentence: “Don’t need no hateration / holleration / in this dancery!” (Blige). Thanks, Mary!
2. Dancing – Distinguishing between so-called Black dance vs. white dance, Hurston notes, “The difference in the two arts is: the white dancer attempts to express fully; the Negro is restrained, but succeeds in gripping the beholder by forcing him to finish the action the performer suggests. Since no art ever can express all the variations conceivable, the Negro must be considered the greater artist, his dancing is realistic suggestion, and that is about all a great artist can do” (1023). From finger snapping to toe tapping, from head bopping and shoulder bouncing to bumping and, yes, twerking, our Black bodies respond to those ancestral drums; and although we may isolate certain body parts, no one can deny the individual and collective dynamic of African American dance that summons spectators to join in.
3. Culture Heroes – Hurston acknowledges, “John Henry is a culture hero in song, but no more so than Stacker Lee, Smokey Joe or Bad Lazarus. There are many, many Negroes who have never heard of any of the song heroes, but none who do not know John (Jack) and the rabbit” (1024). True! Most our culture heroes have been mythical, and perhaps with good reason; they’re born out of our need to see people who look like we do overcome the barriers we’re often not able to overcome individually. This is why we loooooove and often want to conflate cultural icons - like Oprah, Beyonce, and Jay-Z, with our culture heroes embodied in the form of Barack and Michelle, who literally carried Black culture all the way to the white house. This is also why we grieve when those icons whom we elevate to hero status are under attack, and even more so when they fall from grace. I’m thinking specifically of Bill Cosby, O. J. Simpson, and R. . . . ummmm . . . well, never mind.
4. Absence of the concept of privacy – Hurston reminds us, “It is said that Negroes keep nothing secret, that they have no reserve. This ought not to seem strange when one considers that we are an outdoor people accustomed to communal life. Add this to all-permeating drama and you have the explanation” (1026). Yep! Prior to the COVID 19 pandemic of 2020, we’d pack ourselves into concerts, sporting events, and – yes - barbecues to enjoy our noise: our music, our stories . . . and boy, can we tell them!
5. The Jook – “Jook is the word for a Negro pleasure house,” informs Hurston (1028). She continues, “It may mean a bawdy house. It may mean the house set apart on public works where the men and the women dance, drink, and gamble. Often it is a combination of both” (1028). CHECK! From 50 Cent reminding us we can find him “In Da Club” to Usher wanting to make “Love in This Club,” hip hop music during the first decade of this millennium elevates the jook, the spot, the hole, or the joint to an almost hallowed space.
Today, we celebrate Hurston for reminding the world of the beauty of southern African American expression.
Credits:
Blige, Mary J. “Family Affair.” Amazon Music Unlimited. https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/maryjblige/familyaffair.html. Accessed 18 February, 2022.
Hurston, Zora Neale. “Characteristics of Negro Expression.” The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.