Songs, Games and Plays of Bessie Jones-Black Lives Matter at School Week

During Black Lives Matter at School Week, students learned about the rich tradition of African-American songs, games and plays found in the book "Step it Down" by Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes (1972).

Bessie Jones (1902-1984) was a member of the Georgia Sea Island Singers as well as a culture bearer and preserver of African-American songs, games, plays and more for children which she learned from her own grandparents who were enslaved and also lived to see their freedom. . When Bessie Jones learned these treasures from her grandparents who had learned them from their ancestors, they were already over 100 years old. In fact, her grandparents lived to be 100 and 105! Bessie Jones spent many years teaching these songs, gmaes and plays to children around the country, also appearing on Pete Seeger's "Ranbow Quest" where she demonstrated her teachings with the children of the Downtown Community School in New Yaork (1965). Now we get to inehrit these incredible treasures that are not only part of the American musical tradition, but American music edcuation traditions as well. These are two videos of the "play" "Thread Needle". The difference between a play and a game is that plays talk about and dramatize the stories of everyday life. They were often used to tell the sotries of how Black people were treated becuase it was not safe for Black folks to speak freely about their mistreatment. But these plays also talked about simple every day events and communal living. This particular play talkes about sewing and the communual act of borrowing something from your neighbor without having to "pay it back". Where Ms. Jones grew up, it was common to have quiting bees, and perform other types of work and chores in community. Out of these experiences came the stories for their plays. Games, on the other hand, usually have a comptetitive element to them and there is a winner and a loser.

In this play, we see students "threading" in and out of the circle. Then, they "wind up this bumkum" which is winding the thread around the bobbin, signifying the "end of the borrowing" from ones neighbor. Finally, they unwind the bumkum, signaling the end of the play.


These students did a fabulous job learning this fun and challenging play in one class period!

Enjoy!

"Nana, Thread Needle" Part 1

"Nana, Thread Needle" Part 2