Gratien Midonet – Fô Ou Tchimbi – Decision (1989, Martinique)

As randomly chosen by survey[1] on Mastodon, our next spotlight is on number 718 on The List, submitted by myself (buffyleigh).

At the beginning of this project, after we had amassed a few hundred album titles for The List and started to see where there were gaps, a few of us went searching around for gems that we maybe weren’t all that familiar with, but knew had to be included. This was one such artist I stumbled on, our only artist representing the Caribbean island of Martinique (in the French West Indies/Antilles).

I had a hard time deciding which of Midonet’s four albums to include, and still think maybe I should have picked his first, Ven en Lévé (1979). The title track of that one seems to have been an anthem of sorts for Martinique’s independence movement, and was apparently banned from French radio for 2 years. But then the second and third albums – L’Inité (1980) and Bourg La Folie (1984; a soundtrack to a since lost film by Antillean director Benjamin Jules Rosette) – as well as this one are all excellent, all highlight Midonet’s Creole lyricism, and all have their particular charms. And so, I simply went with the one that I thought would perhaps entice people to go back and check out the rest of the discography.

Anyway, if descriptions like “tropical acid folk”, “cosmic reggae jazz”, “transcendental fusion”, and “psychedelic dance” pique your interest, I would suggest you take a listen through them all. A compilation is also available, for a quick survey. Whichever you choose, it’s a good decision.

Happy listening.

• Bandcamp: Gratien Midonet – Fô Ou Tchimbi – Decision
• Discogs: Gratien Midonet – Fô Ou Tchimbi – Decision

1. The survey choices that initially led to this spotlight were “He flows like the big muddy, but that’s okay”, “Pour him over ice cream”, and “for a nice parfait”, following the earlier surveys that had “Well, I don’t want no Abba Zabba”/“Don’t want no Almond Joy”/“There ain’t nothing better”/“Suitable for this boy”, “Well, it’s the only thing that can pick me up”/“Better than a cup of gold”/“See only a chocolate Jesus”/“Can satisfy my soul”, and “When the weather gets rough”/“And it’s whiskey in the shade”/“It’s best to wrap your savior”/“Up in cellophane”. The second option was the winning selection, and the survey result was translated as picking an album in The List that contained a word in the phrase – in this case, “him”, hidden in the word “Tchimbi”. ↩︎

Lakay (2024) [4 min] by Amarise Defranco | #USA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbzJROmevvA

"Professor Jackson's lecture will focus on the descendants of #Portuguese on the East Coast of #SriLanka, called "Portuguese
Burghers" in Sri Lanka, who have lived in mixed communities near forts at Batticaloa and Trincomalee since the early 1600s. We will hear some of his field recordings of performances of #music and folk verse in #creole Portuguese with illustrations of the community."

https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/the-portuguese-lusophone-world-lecture-series-kenneth-david-jackson/

Activists ask for help combatting violence against #Nicaragua’s #Indigenous communities

Maxwell Radwin
29 Jul 2024

"Increasing violence in northern Nicaragua this year has displaced rural families and led to calls for more drastic action from the international community, which activists say hasn’t done enough to hold the #Ortega government accountable for human rights abuses.

"For years, Indigenous communities on Nicaragua’s northern #Caribbean coast have suffered threats, kidnappings, torture and unlawful arrests while defending communal territory from #IllegalSettlements and #mining. This year appears to be as bad as ever, and residents say they are desperate for help.

"'Urgent measures must be taken to protect these communities,' said Gloria Monique de Mees, the OAS rapporteur on the rights of Afro-descendants and against racial discrimination. 'Failure to address the crisis will only embolden the Nicaraguan government to continue its repressive campaign.'

"Much of the violence is concentrated within the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (#RACCN), a jurisdiction communally governed and titled by Indigenous communities since the late 1980s. It’s home to #Miskitus, #Mayangnas, #Ulwa, #Ramas, #Creole and #Garífunas peoples, and contains mountain, #rainforest and coastal #ecosystems.

"The area has attracted non-Indigenous Nicaraguans, known locally as #colonos, looking to set up #farms, #logging operations and artisanal #mines. Massive #gold and #copper deposits have also created opportunities for multinational mining #corporations, with backing from the government.

"Indigenous communities say they’re worried about losing #AncestralLand as well as traditional farming, hunting and fishing practices as the forest is cleared and mines #pollute local streams and rivers."

Read more:
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/activists-ask-for-help-combatting-violence-against-nicaraguas-indigenous-communities/

Charlene “Charlie" J. Sato was a committed wobbly and social activist.
A professor of #Pidgin and #Creole language studies at University of #hawaii Charlie was promoting the rights of Aboriginal peoples to use their language in educational and public settings
After her untimely death in 1996, the IWW established the Sato Fund to aid IWW members who are women, genderqueer or trans to cover travel costs to meetings. #Solidarty
#CharlieSato #IWW #Union #Wobbly #SatoFund

Www.iww.org

Highly highly recommend the documentary “Roots of Fire” if you are at all interested in Louisiana/Cajun/Creole music, history, language, etc.

It is fascinating. Yes, I’m biased because it’s me! But it’s so well done.

#louisiana #cajun #creole #documentary #rootsoffire #music #french

https://www.rootsoffire.com

Free People of Color Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana

In 1810, free people of color made up nearly 29% of New Orleans's population—more than any other Southern city.#creole #government #law #blackhistory #civilrights #civilwar #cities #section-Atlas
Free People of Color Museum

Hey, if anyone here is familiar with #Creole from personal experience- how similar are its sounds to Academie French or Quebecois? I ask because I had a taxi ride yesterday and the driver had to take a phone call, and he asked the person on the other end if they spoke Creole- but the rest of the time he was talking with them, I was hearing words that sounded way more familiar in terms of phoneme than they should've.

Les R de la dame sont si doux

https://youtu.be/cjM6SUmmbbQ

#Français et #créole #louisianais
#Louisiane