Let's Talk about Lindy Hop and Blackness - Part 3 - Our culture is white? Is it not just “normal”?

In this interview with Grey Armstrong, we will get into Part 3 of his blog series on iLindy.com - https://ilindy.com/blog/lets-talk-about-lindy-hop-and-blackness-part-3/ - Let's dig in on how Lindy Hop turned into a community where Black dancers and Black culture aren't welcome. It's important to understand this history to build a more inclusive and respectful community moving forward.

"The only way these issues can go unseen is to not see them from our perspective. You can not divorce these dances and this music from their culture without destroying them, or distorting them until they are no longer recognizable nor functioning the same. Blackness matters and no amount of colorblind treatment will change that. If there is to be a real conversation around race in Lindy Hop, there also must be one around who really owns this dance and who is a guest participating in it. And by that, I mean whose values will shape the dance and those who do it, moving forward.

Everyone is welcome to participate, but that doesn’t change the fact that Black people own the dance, and the values that went into its formation can not be tossed aside. They are an intrinsic part of the dance and its music, not an optional addition. If that statement makes you uncomfortable, I think it’s important to reflect on why not being able to own a thing is so hard. If it’s because one Black person said it’s ok, I’d also look at why you feel they speak for all of us and can give away our heritage. "

00:00 - General Introduction
01:48 - Get to know Grey Armstrong
03:08 - The series “Lindy Hop and Blackness”
05:41 - Why is Lindy Hop becoming a white dance a problem?
15:30 - The richness you are missing out on
19:45 - Black values in dancing the current Lindy Hop community missing out on
28:10 - Lindy Hop is political
39:03 - The White experience of Lynching
44:20 - “Black culture is not a degenerate form of white culture”
50:40 - Feeling the music: How to bridge the gap between Black and White culture
1:03:00 - White bias in Lindy Hop competitions
1:05:50 - If you notice a problem in the scene, question where it comes from
Grey Armstrong is a blues dancer, writer, and instructor of Black culture, history, and dance. His work focuses on unpacking unconscious bias, and cross-cultural communication, in addition to culture formation. He also travels the world teaching African American vernacular dances and giving lectures on Black history and culture. He is the founder of the popular blog and website Obsidian Tea, which explores themes of the Black experience and culture, Anti-racism Praxis, developing cultural competency, and the evolving relationship between Black and white Americans in the United States from the trans-Atlantic slave trade onwards.

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