tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747521146795539225.post5188212846710237357..comments2023-10-21T01:35:11.474-07:00Comments on THE CULTURAL WORKER by John Pietaro: OBITUARY: Bess Lomax Hawes (2009)JOHN PIETAROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17379247464220805781noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747521146795539225.post-71368386166123841192010-12-19T22:36:41.390-08:002010-12-19T22:36:41.390-08:00Wow---thank you so much for that info on Bessie Jo...Wow---thank you so much for that info on Bessie Jones. Sounds like another woman to make note of. I will be sure to include her in future writings, only wish I was aware of her contribution before. Hey Azizi, if you have any other bits of wisdom like that, please let me know----my big project is a book entitled THE CULTURAL WORKERS: RADICAL ARTS AND REVOLUTIONARY ARTISTS IN THE USA, 1900-TODAY, and as you can imagine I want to be as inclusive as possible. Its a huge topic, ranging from folksingers to orchestral and theatre artists to punk rockers, reggae and hip hop artists, but also to authors, painters, dancers, performance artists and more. I love getting tid-bits of info like this. Priceless stuff.<br />peace,<br />johnJOHN PIETAROhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17379247464220805781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747521146795539225.post-66232922515249098512010-12-19T05:46:32.211-08:002010-12-19T05:46:32.211-08:00What isn’t mentioned in that review or in Bess Lom...What isn’t mentioned in that review or in Bess Lomax Hawes’ Wikipedia page * is her collaboration with another great woman who shared her first name Bessie Jones (1902 - 1984). To quote from Bessie Jones’ Wikipedia page **, “She was a founding member of the Georgia Sea Island Singers. Alan Lomax first encountered Bessie Jones on a southern trip in 1959. Jones made her way up to New York City two years later and asked Lomax to record both her music and biography.”<br /><br />-snip-<br /><br />In 1979 Bess Lomax Hawes collaborated with Bessie Jones on the Cd <i>Step It Down</i> (Rounder). Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes also co-authored the book <i>Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs, and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage</i> (University of Georgia Press, 1987) Here’s an excerpt from an Atlanta History review of that book which is found with other reviews at http://www.amazon.com/Step-Down-Stories-Afro-American-Heritage/dp/0820309605<br /><br />“Growing up in the rural South, Bessie Jones sang her way through long hours of field work and child tending, entertaining her young companions with chants and riddles or joining them for a rousing evening of ring dances and singing plays. These songs and games, recorded in Step It Down by folklorist Bess Lomax Hawes, capture the shape and color of the crowded, impoverished, life-demanding, and life-loving days of the black family of sixty years ago, revealing the strength and vitality of African and slave traditions in black American life.”<br /><br />-snip-<br /><br />Even before Bess Hawes Lomax collaborated with Bessie Jones on that now classic collection of African American children's playground songs, she joined with Bob Eberein to produce a 1967 film “Pizza Pizza DaddyO” that looks at continuity and change in African American girls' playground games at a Los Angeles school. A video clip of that film is found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2YodFqZ7nQ<br /><br />These are just three examples of how Bess Lomax Hawes honored folk traditions. It is fitting that we honor her (and also Bess Jones). May they both rest in peace.<br /><br />* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bess_Lomax_Hawes<br />** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_JonesAzizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.com