Africa’s Great Migration is the planet’s largest land animal movement, where over a million wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles continuously circle the Serengeti (Tanzania) and Maasai Mara (Kenya) ecosystems, following rains for fresh grazing, culminating in dramatic river crossings and intense predator-prey action, best seen from June to November. This awe-inspiring cycle of survival involves massive herds moving in a clockwise pattern, driven by instinct and weather, creating an unparalleled wildlife spectacle of life and death.
Factors: Climate change (drier conditions, shifting vegetation) and following game animals drove these movements, according to Natural History Museum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGNn9vOz-Vo&t=11
This video explains the migration’s timing and the animals’ journey:
Animals still migrate in this pattern within Africa, and human beings migrated from Africa.
The world was settled by humans (Homo sapiens) who originated in Africa and migrated out in waves, first spreading across Asia (60,000-80,000 years ago) via coastal routes, reaching Australia by 45,000 years ago, and then moving into Europe around 40,000 years ago, following food sources and adapting to climate changes, eventually populating the entire Old World before moving to the Americas via Asia.
https://youtu.be/N06zDiiB1zw
Mic Crenshaw, cultural activist | Oregon Art Beat
This “Out of Africa” theory is supported by genetic evidence showing the most diversity in African populations.
https://youtu.be/og0q5FnVHyI?list=RDog0q5FnVHyI
Goin Back Home
Early dispersals (Homo erectus)
https://youtu.be/5UBUpdpQHfM
With Migration Blues Eric Bibb draws a parallel between the former African American sharecroppers leaving segregation and misery of the South for industrial cities of the North and the current migratory movement to Europe of the refugees from the Middle East. This album features a trio comprised of Eric and two stellar guests: JJ Milteau (harmonica) and Michael Jerome Browne (guitar, fiddle, banjo…) and, occasionally, a few more performers.
https://youtu.be/3uzZCDT8GZs
THE GREAT MIGRATION IN JAZZ, a free virtual presentation. The Great Migration, sometimes known as the Great Northward Migration or the Black Migration, was the movement of six million African Americans out of the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest and West that occurred between 1916 and 1970. Along with them, these African Americans brought their traditions, their music and their dance.
306 Workshop: A collective made up of artists, musicians, and writers who rented studio space at 306 West 141st Street in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance.
Harlem Renaissance: The largest concentration of African Americans who migrated during the Great Migration moved to Harlem. From the 1910s to mid-1930s, the neighborhood of Harlem in New York City became a hub of African American culture, an explosion of literature, music, theater, and the arts.
Famous artists of the Harlem Renaissance included: sociologist and historian W.E.B. Du Bois, writers Claude McKay, Langton Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston, musician Duke Ellington, and entertainer Josephine Baker.These artists strived to express their racial identity and pride.
Jacob Lawrence, an artist of the Harlem Renaissance, believed his paintings were “a portrait of myself, a portrait of my community.” The community he grew up around included artist and mentor Charles Alston and leading philosopher Alain LeRoy Locke.
https://youtu.be/gPDcqJDqx8A
“It Happened in Harlem”: Jazz From the Dawn of the Harlem Renaissance (1920-1922) Feat. Johnny Dunn, James P. Johnson, Coleman Hawkins, W. C. Handy, Ford Dabney, Sam Wooding, etc. 1. Doo Dah Blues – Ford Dabney’s Syncopated Orchestra (Paramount, 1922) [0:00] 2. Love Will Find a Way (Intro: Gypsy Blues) – Leroy Smith’s Dance Orchestra (Vocalion, 1921) [2:57] 3. Bandana Days (Intro: Love Will Find a Way) – James P. Johnson’s Harmony Eight (Okeh, 1921) [6:07] 4. Stuttering – Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds (Okeh, 1922) [8:57] 5. Yellow Dog Blues (Intro: Hesitating Blues and Beale Street Blues) – Handy’s Memphis Blues Band (Paramount, 1922) [12:05] 6. Campmeeting Blues – Tim Brymn and His Black Devil Orchestra (Okeh, 1921) [15:20] 7. Put and Take – Sam Wooding’s Orchestra (Columbia, 1922) [18:06] 8. Birmingham Blues – Johnny Dunn’s Original Jazz Hounds (Columbia, 1921) [21:08] 9. Sweet Man O’ Mine – Ford Dabney’s Syncopated Orchestra (Paramount, 1922) [24:18] 10. Saturday – Leroy Smith’s Orchestra (Vocalion, 1921) [27:28] 11. Think of Me Little Daddy (Intro: I’m Going Back to My Used to Be) – Wilbur Sweatman’s Original Jazz Band (Columbia, 1920) [30:08] 12. Carolina Blues – Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds (Okeh, 1921) [33:01] 13. Love Will Find a Way (Intro: In Honeysuckle Time) – The Seven Black Dots (Pathe, 1921) [36:05] 14. Dear Old Southland – James P. Johnson’s Harmony Eight (Okeh, 1921) [39:16] 15. But (Intro: Tiddle-Dee-Winks) – Wilbur Sweatman’s Original Jazz Band [42:27] 16. Muscle Shoals Blues – Handy’s Memphis Blues Band (Paramount, 1922) [45:20] 17. He’s My Man (You’d Better Leave Him Alone) – Tim Brymn and His Black Devil Orchestra (Okeh, 1921) [48:33] 18. Bugle Blues – Johnny Dunn’s Original Jazz Hounds (Columbia, 1921) [51:26] 19. Strut Your Material (Fox Trot Blues) – Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds (Okeh, 1922) [54:19] 20. Bandana Days (Intro: I’m Just Wild About Harry) – Eubie Blake’s Shuffle Along Orchestra (Victor, 1921) [57:19]
By the early 1920s, Harlem was blossoming as one of the centers of Black American culture, and especially Black American music. Yet strangely, little has been written of the musical developments which occurred in the period between the death of James Reese Europe in 1919 and the maturing of Fletcher Henderson’s pre-Armstrong band in 1923 (aided in part by the arrival of A. J. Piron’s band from New Orleans.) This set of 20 recordings looks at some of the most important and innovative bands and musicians of this era, and demonstrates the vibrant syncopated style coming out of Black New York at that time. Of major importance is the impact Sissle and Blake’s “Shuffle Along” had on the scene. In addition to helping spread the music of Black New York to a wider audience, it also gave Black orchestras a chance to play sweeter styles of music both in performances and on records. Indeed, dozens of recordings of the show’s hit tunes were made, many of which are featured here in varying styles and tempos. Other highlights include the hot and complex orchestrations of Ford Dadney’s dance band, the magical sounds of the early Leroy Smith orchestra, the earliest recordings of Sam Wooding’s stellar combo, the hot struts of Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds (sans Mamie), Johnny Dunn’s first Columbia sides, Wilbur Sweatman’s last, and many more.
https://youtu.be/Crq0BRbOx8I
The Harlem Renaissance
First Out of Africa: The earliest human ancestor to leave Africa was Homo erectus, around 1.8 million years ago, spreading through the Middle East and across Asia.
https://youtu.be/2nEDLwSfvI4?list=RD2nEDLwSfvI4
DUKE ELLINGTON Immigration Blues
Modern human (Homo sapiens) migration
Origin in Africa: Modern humans evolved in Africa over 300,000 years ago.
https://youtu.be/WtrV50AQvYw?list=RDWtrV50AQvYw
Chris Rea – Immigration Blues
Major Wave (Southern Route): The most significant dispersal occurred 60,000-80,000 years ago, following coastlines through the Arabian Peninsula into Asia, reaching Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia by 45,000 years ago.
https://youtu.be/UHycvbyl7qI
Blues Journey: Got Them Blues – A History
Entry into Europe: A separate wave entered Europe around 40,000 years ago, likely via Turkey (Danube corridor) and the Mediterranean coast, notes Smithsonian Magazine.
https://youtu.be/dVDSijx0xuI
Origins of the Blues: Music of Mali and the Blues
Routes: Key routes out of Africa included the Levantine corridor (Middle East) and the Bab-el-Mandeb straits (Horn of Africa to Arabia) during drier periods, says Wikipedia.
https://youtu.be/hVJmG4SQuW0
The musical traditions of the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the industrialized cities of the Northeast, Midwest, and West during the early 20th century up to the 1970s are featured. Nicholas Payton traces the path of African rhythms from the Caribbean to New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago, and New York, while Deva Mahal puts her modern edge on soul music. https://www.carnegiehall.org/migrations
There’s also a program, curated by Jason Moran and Alicia Hall Moran, that explores a continuum of music that changed the sound of America forever.
Map of Railroad Routes Followed by Black Migrants
African-American migrants to the North chose their destinations primarily based on their state of origin: those from Georgia and the Carolinas headed to cities along the eastern seaboard like New York and Philadelphia; migrants from Alabama and Mississippi headed for the Midwestern cities like Chicago; and those from Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee often headed west to California.
https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1594
https://youtu.be/uESWy9xz8B0
During the 1920s, The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual, social, and artistic explosion centered around the Harlem neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. As many African American migrated North, It create cultural centers of black excellence. The Harlem Renaissance was at the center of that movement.
Key takeaway
https://youtu.be/CUsFrGL3CO8
The Blues Narrative – Part Two: Migration, Memory, and the Modern Blues
Modern humans are all descendants of these African origins, with genetic evidence showing that the greatest diversity of humans still resides in Africa, consistent with this single-origin theory.
https://youtu.be/qIxBR_-7nFc
Harlem Renaissance: A Cultural Awakening That Shaped African American History
https://historicblackwallstreet.com/harlem-renaissance-and-economic-empowerment-more-than-just-arts/
https://youtu.be/5pZM9Ngx0aE
Against the Odds: The Artists of the Harlem Renaissance
https://youtu.be/SznK0eEUDcw
The Harlem Renaissance Underworld: The Criminal Empire Behind Jazz, Nightclubs, and Politics
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