| "C'mon Baby ... let's do the Twist" -- Chubby Checker, 1960 "The Butterfly -- Uh-Oh that's Old! Lemme see that Tootsie Roll!" -- 69 Boyz, 1996 "Chicken Noodle Soup, w/ a Soda on the Side" -- DJ Webstar, ft. Young B, 2006 There's one thing that I swear I'll love until death, if I don't love anything else: my people. Black people, African Americans, Afrikan, Nig-ahhhhhhhhhh --;well, just about whatever we choose to call ourselves at any particular time doesn't matter to me -- because I love being who I am, and the community I'm proud to represent at any and every opportunity. Of all the things I love about being Black, what I most adore is our ability to create and recreate the grandest of art. From the way we wear our hair, to the way we speak, right on down even to the way we interpret the world around us -- we are an artistic, trendsetting, and wildly imaginative people. Of course, anyone who knows the history of African people in this country knows that our creativity has not always been appreciated by mainstream society, to say the least. Parody and ridicule has been a mainstay in the diet of African people in this country, to the point where we've often become masters in creating the dishes sustain our own self-hatred. Not to say that we all struggle with those issues in every area of our lives; however, in being part of this American cultural fabric for most of my life, and haven had the opportunity to see things differently in other parts of the world, I believe I can safely say that there is a major negative influence impressed upon Blackfolk here in these states, that one would have had to have a confidence similar to the strongest of Teflon to emerge from 100% unscathed. In that vein, I argue that most of us, because of the ways we have been trained since birth, have the innate flaw of becoming embarrassed to the point of backlash when we see pieces of ourselves -- regardless of the size of said piece -- exhibited by others in our community, if they're portrayed in ways we aren't 100% comfortable with. Such is how I see the nature of analysis developing about a new dance that has become quite popular among youth in our community. The specific name for it being the "Chicken Noodle Soup" dance, this dance has sparked quite interesting discussion I'd like to expound on here. You might not know what this particular dance is, but please believe that if you were to ask anyone under the age of 18 who's watched BET's 106th & Park in the past two months, they could probably tell you everything you'd ever want to know about it, the people who do it, and how to learn it for yourself. The dance was first introduced to the show through a group of teens out of Harlem, NY, and has since spiraled into a top 10 selection on that show, and a regularly played single on the radio. Words would not possibly give a just description of what this dance looks like, but trust me when I say that it's not the most regular dance you'd be used to seeing at your local family reunion. When you see someone do it, if you're not immediately moved to hysterical laughter at the silliness of it, or its respective theme song (the main lyrics listed above), you might be tempted to be annoyed as well at what you see. If you know better, you might argue that the dance is similar to something you've seen in old black & white films back when we as Blackfolk weren't painted in the most positive of lights. Shufflin- -- a term assigned to behavior deemed to be for the purposes of appeasing White majority despite the reality of personal and/or collective oppression, descriptively noted as "pleasin' the Massa"; can be described of one's style of dress, speech, and other expressive styles, including singing and dancing ... (my definition, developed from observation and conversation with others, only because I couldn't find an official one listed anywhere commonly available) The idea of a minstrel show was originally used as a way to ridicule regular qualities about Blackfolk that were considered subpar or laughable; most of the performers were White when these first shows were produced, but as time went on there were even some Blackfolk who became part of this process, keeping the acts going in the name of expressing art and making a living. Not to knock those predecessors at all; further research on any of those earlier performers would gain you very valuable information about men who were consummate artists in the face of harsh professional environments and minimal access to real opportunities to develop their craft. Shufflin' however, is what this sort of behavior has become to be called -- a label that I've now heard some give those these young people and their Chicken Noodle Soup dance. In lots of conversations I had online and with folk in my community, "Chicken Noodle Soup with a soda on the side" has become the most recent poster child for all the things epitomized in the eyes of white supremacy -- grinning, happy faces, dancing in the face of perceived unintelligence and hopelessness, instead of working to "do something more constructive" like perhaps prepare for a life being a benefit to society, instead of being such an embarrassment ... I believe in shufflin'; I believe it exists, and is in regular operation on media airwaves and in professional arenas all over the world. I also believe however, that shufflin' is only that when it is blatantly made to be so -- ;when it is the contrived ideas of another, developed and packaged for consumption by an oppressed group, and is in turn unequivocally accepted and carried out by the group being imposed upon, in an effort to be acceptable to the original group. When we produce the art though -- when it is a product of our own creation, made under our own terms, without any other objective but to please one's self -- then I believe there's a validity with that that cannot ever be taken away, no matter how much it is unapproved by those observing it from its outside. It cannot possibly be shufflin' and can be no less be discounted for the very reason that I've just stated; it is inherently organic, and made for the specific purposes of appeasing oneself, which in the end should be the ultimate goal of any effort made to do anything in this world. I'm not a Chicken Noodle Soup dance fan -- in no way, shape or form. I've tried it, and I know how to do it ... but I'm not the 13-year-old I used to be, and in my current physical form I can't really do stuff like that without feeling very ill, very quickly. As a product of the Kid N Play, Bell Biv Devoe, and 69 Boyz era, I can't help but relate to their creativity; to be honest, I'm pleased that creative dances like these are being introduced, particularly with the onslaught of movements that required something similar to performing in strip clubs that we've seen in recent years. What I do know for sure (to steal Oprah's line right quick) is that it is definitely not my job to determine what new things may be allowed to enter what is rightfully part of the Black experience, if indeed the offering comes from a member of my own community. As such then, I have chosen to recognize and accept the Chicken Noodle Soup dance as simply the newest link in the everlasting line of organic Black culture. I will not cease to defend it as such, holding it up against all its predecessors to see the total picture of all we are and can become. |
| Random Order/ Tracie Gilbert Chicken Noodle Shufflin' |
 |
 |