The Language You Cry In

Spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles, this program recounts the remarkable saga of how a nursery rhyme sung by the Gullah people of present-day Georgia was confirmed to be of African origin. When 18th-century slavers sent human cargo from Sierra Leone to America's coastal South, th...

Full description

Other Authors: Films for the Humanities & Sciences (Firm), Infobase.
Format: Video
Language: English
Multiple
Published: New York, N.Y. : Infobase, [2012], c1998.
Physical Description: 1 streaming video file (52 min.) : sd., col., digital file.
Subjects:
Summary: Spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles, this program recounts the remarkable saga of how a nursery rhyme sung by the Gullah people of present-day Georgia was confirmed to be of African origin. When 18th-century slavers sent human cargo from Sierra Leone to America's coastal South, they also sent a trove of cultural information that had been passed from Mende mothers to their daughters for generations-including a particular song that had been carefully preserved because it was used in funeral rites. With the help of anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, linguists, and the singers themselves, the "nonsense lyrics" of the song found in Georgia were identified as those of the Mende dirge.
Item Description: Encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on September 03, 2012.
Films on Demand is distributed by Infobase for Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Cambridge Educational, Meridian Education, and Shopware.
A Story of Memory (2:32) -- Music in Harris Neck, 1931 (2:53) -- The Gullah Connection (3:12) -- Welcome Home Gullahs (2:52) -- Origin's of Amelia's Song (2:47) -- A Song of Ancestry, Senehun Ngola, 1989 (3:42) -- Completing the Puzzle of Amelia Dawley's Song (4:56) -- End of the Tenjami Ceremony (1:57) -- Mende Song in America (2:07) -- Tracing Silent History (2:25) -- Price of War in Africa (2:32) -- Beyond the Pain (3:04) -- Getting to Know Sierra Leon (2:22) -- Walls of Pain and Sorrow in Africa (4:17) -- United by an Ancient African Song (5:19) -- Memory is Power (3:27) -- Credits: The Language You Cry In (0:58)
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Spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles, this program recounts the remarkable saga of how a nursery rhyme sung by the Gullah people of present-day Georgia was confirmed to be of African origin. When 18th-century slavers sent human cargo from Sierra Leone to America's coastal South, they also sent a trove of cultural information that had been passed from Mende mothers to their daughters for generations-including a particular song that had been carefully preserved because it was used in funeral rites. With the help of anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, linguists, and the singers themselves, the "nonsense lyrics" of the song found in Georgia were identified as those of the Mende dirge.
9 & up.
Mode of access: Internet.
System requirements: FOD playback platform.
Closed-captioned.
Portions in other languages with English subtitles.
Physical Description: 1 streaming video file (52 min.) : sd., col., digital file.
Format: Mode of access: Internet.
System requirements: FOD playback platform.
Audience: 9 & up.
Access: Access requires authentication through Films on Demand.