Black is the color of my lover's ...

A Nina Simone reference if you will. This post will be exploring goth elements in African American culture, and basically.....it's a primer because a lot is in the statement I've just said.

People think of Black culture, in restrictive notions: i.e, we're all gang members, into hip hop exclusively, we don't do "white" things. And this is a bunch of horse shit.

For example, it's perfectly normal for someone to say "Oh, I'm really interested in Japanese culture,"and it's a valid statement, however if you say "I'm really interested in Black culture," well what do you mean exactly? Does one mean hip hop? Rap? Jazz? Blues? What is it?

Well, cultures are made up of a lot of things. And Black culture is no different. All people from any one group are not identical, they are not monoliths who think the same. Do all goths act the same? For bat's sake, they do not. And if you make this assumption many goths will roll their eyes at you with a dismissive glance, so why is it safe to assume that all Black people (or any ethnic minority group for that matter) should behave in a similar fashion? Doing so, discounts the individual stories, not to mention the richness that makes up a group of people. If you study Japanese culture, you are quick to learn that Japanese culture is not a synonym or interchangeable term for just Ukiyo paintings, Enka music and what have you. That would be really silly. You study different segments of a culture, just like American culture has it's subcultures. But Black culture, or Latino culture, or Asian culture are not the same as American culture. These groups are not subcultures.

Bringing me to what is begrudgingly called "Urban" culture. "Urban" culture is a codeword that marketing dummies use to signify that something is geared towards Black. Now, despite the fact that a lot of Blacks live in Urban areas still does not quantify nor justify the usage of the term Urban, for Blacks live in the suburbs too.

Urban culture has become basically a catch-all for anything that is Black.

If you're a Black punk rock musician, it does not matter that none of your music is hip-hop, it will be relegated to the R&B section at a record store, I promise.

Similarly, Urban literature, is grouped together at bookstores, basically all genres of books written by Black authors get lumped together. Black = Urban, to these folks and boy are they wrong.

But...thats another post, for this post, we're finally going to skim the surface of mainstream Black artists (some not so mainstream) that have gothic elements but yet are not attributed as having any, for what reasons,hmmm let's think about that shall we?

The first example we should really pay attention to is the Blues. Oh my god, it's a genre of music that basically says in its description this is morose, sad music. Also, The Blues was called "The Devil's Music."

Does it really get any hardcore than that?

[African] American Gothic? part 1

One of the main reasons I started this blog, was the sheer lack of visibility of black people within the goth subculture. I'm very sure there are some, and have seen some from time to time at a show or in a magazine, or even on blogs, but even then we are (with other ethnic minorities) still very lacking in visibility. It's just plain difficult to find a black goth, and why is that?

Well, people associate goth sometimes as being exclusive to pale, white,skinny people. Such ideas are rigid in scope and truth be told, there is a variety of goths. So if there is a variety of goths, like perky goths, ether goths, metal goths, glam goth, baby goth, goth lollis, why does it surprise people to find black goths? And what's with the inane questions "Well what type of music does a Black Goth listen to?" "What is the aesthetic of a Black Goth?"

The same thing as a Goth.

Granted, there are not many Goth bands featuring African Americans, Abney Park comes to mind, and some post-punk bands do have African American members, but no band with someone at the forefront comes to mind. In fact, the black goth in the media is rendered practically invisible.

The Black Experience, which when you look at the words on paper---does sound goth---and there's a joke circulating "I'm so goth I was born black," but politically and socially "The" Black Experience is in regards to the experience of those born darker under the sun.

For years, and much to this day, minorities have to define themselves in alignment with how the majority group wishes to define them. Me being goth is rebellion. And do I label myself a goth? Perhaps. I have gothic tendencies, and I like music that can be described as "goth-y"...but on the same token, I like hip hop and I like rap. And liking both those genres of music does not exclude me from the goth card,because guess what? there are gothic elements in rap and hip hop (a post on that later).

And because I'm not a pompous ass all the time, a brief look at the word Gothic (excluding the historical context of those words---we know Germanic tribes, architecture, yadda, yadda)

Gothic (adjective)
: of or relating to a style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate or remote settings and macabre, mysterious, or violent incidents

and...from our 'trusty' friends over at Urban Dictionary, "Goth"
1) a person who likes to dress and act differently to the other people in society, normally in black but some like much brighter colours. They tend to be thinkers and more often than not quite creative. They have a satyrical sense of humour, and are able to laugh at both themselves and other people. This type of goth originated in the late 80's with the "death" of punk; goths back then liked the style and the "protection" it offered and so emulated it in their own style. They listen to and appreciate all sorts of good music. They can be gay/depressed/weird/mentally disturbed, but more often than not they are just normal people.
(now this definition is loosely problematic)

and lastly, for the sake of this post "Black Goth"
Automatically does not meet the criteria for being a goth, as goths have had no real problems. Gothics must be rich and white. And have no friends outside their group. Goth basics.

WOW---the ignorance in this definition, so largely people have NO idea.
I wanted to include this example because it illustrates two problems in the goth community regarding African American and Ethnic groups in general (and no, the groups are not interchangeable).
1. Authenticity - As if by sheer virtue of your skin color it negates an aesthetic choice. There seems to be this underlying racist belief (yes it is racist you can't argue otherwise) that Black Goths are not real goths, that they are indeed posing, that they can not carry the style the same way. That the bottom line is: these brown skinned goths (in comparison to alabaster goths) are less.
2. Rarity- this is a bigger problem. The rarity of Black Goths leads some to believe that since they are rare--they do not exist. This rarity also proposes "Exoticization," and a slew of identity issues (which I will get into later).

The point of this blog is to in an intellectual way open up the discourse on the other shades of "The Black Experience," I will be using examples of pop culture, and whatever I can find to present a full presentation of just one facet of a goth lifestyle for someone of color.

And hopefully it's going to be fun. If not, eh well.