15572. Presidential Address: After the Revolution: Folklore, History, and the Future of Our Discipline (45:37)

Date:
2015-10-17
Main contributors:
Williams, Michael Ann, Turner, Kay
Summary:
More than four decades have passed since the advent of the new folkloristics. Assessments of this revolution tend to narrowly focus on performance theory and not on whether the broader promises of this era have been realized, especially in areas of cross-disciplinary research. This address will look specifically at how attitudes toward historical scholarship have changed within the discipline of folklore and how we have constructed our own disciplinary histories during this postrevolutionary phase. Finally, the address will look to the future and whether we are reconstructing our past in our current graduate training in the discipline.

15574. Vernon A. Williams, BA’73 (03:25)

Date:
2022
Main contributors:
Williams, Vernon A.
Summary:
From the beginning, Vernon A. Williams, BA’73, wanted to be a writer. Growing up in Gary, Indiana, he wrote his first play in the fourth grade, which was performed in class. In middle school, he started a weekly hand-printed newsletter on notebook paper. He pitched an unsolicited radio program as a high school freshman to a local station that put him on the air. Two years later, he wrote and hosted the first student broadcast over the school corporation radio station. As a junior, he started a teen news column for Gary Info Newspaper – where his biggest “scoop” was being first to report the Jackson Five signing with Motown Records. Those youthful experiences inspired a career in broadcast and print media, as well as education, that spanned more than 55 years. Williams started at The (Gary) Post-Tribune as a reporter, columnist and editorial board member. He was morning drive personality for “The Breakfast Club” and hosted the call-in program “Sound Off” on WLTH, and was station manager for WGVE. Among his most notable career interviews were Lena Horne, Dick Gregory, Colin Powell, Jesse Jackson and Phylicia Rashad. In 2001, Williams moved to Indianapolis to become marketing supervisor for Indianapolis Public Schools Career-Technical Education. After IPS, he became vice president, communications, for Indiana Black Expo, where he developed marketing and communication strategies, prepared high-impact communication material, wrote speeches, developed leadership presentations and organized press conferences. Williams left Expo to become assistant to the chancellor for communication at IUPUI before taking his current position as communication and community engagement strategist for the premier urban research campus. He is a leader of IUPUI’s Africana Repertory Theatre and executive director of OnyxFest — the first and only annual Indiana theater festival featuring works of Black playwrights. Williams is a news analyst and commentator for the Chicago/Gary Crusader Newspaper. He is president of the Indianapolis Association of Black Journalists and is on the Board of Directors for Heartland Films. He is a former president of IU’s Neal-Marshall Alumni Club. He has written four books, the latest being, “God Said Tell You.” He has written and produced 11 plays — the most recent, “A Noise in the Attic,” will premiere in November. Williams earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from IU and a master’s in communication from Purdue University. His myriad honors include the IU Alumni Association President’s Award, IU Groups Program Covered Bridge Award, Center for Leadership Development Community Leaders Award, 100 Black Men of Indianapolis Silver Anniversary Service Award, The National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa – Beta Mu Chapter Community Service Award, Hoosier State Press Association First Place in Newswriting and the Indianapolis Recorder Champions of Diversity Award.

15575. Hot Buttered Soul: The Role of Foodways and Music-making in Building and Sustaining African Ameri... (1:30:23)

Date:
2014-11-10
Main contributors:
Williams-Forson, Psyche A., Cooper, Tyron, Jones, Alisha Lola, Burnim, Mellonee V. (Mellonee Victoria), 1950-
Summary:
A lecture and panel discussion exploring the intersections between sacred and secular African American music genres (funk, soul and gospel, in particular) and the ritual preparation and sharing of foods in promoting and sustaining African American communities, organized as part of Indiana University's Themester 2014 "Eat, Drink, Think: Food from Art to Science." After an introduction by Dr. Mellonee Burnim (Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology), featured guest speaker, Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson (Department of American Studies, University of Maryland College Park) provides a general introduction to the significance of food traditions as a signifier of African American life and culture (approximately 30 minutes). Following are shorter presentations by Dr. Alisha Lola Jones (Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology) and Dr. Tyron Cooper (Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies), who explore unifying linkages between sacred and secular music and traditional African American foodways, signifying the complementary roles these cultural practices play in demarcating various aspects of African American identity. At the conclusion is a brief question and answer session. The panel was held on October 27, 2014, from 4:30-6:00 p.m., in the Grand Hall, Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, at Indiana University, Bloomington. Presented by the Archives of African American Music and Culture; sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences—Themester; Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies; Department of Anthropology; Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology; Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center; Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs; and the Asian American Studies Program.

15576. Interview with Willie Wells, West Columbia, South Carolina (06:16)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
Willie Wells
Summary:
Willie Wells (West Columbia, South Carolina) Willie Wells, the son of the late Bill Wells, has always been on the music scene. Since the early ‘70s, Willie has played drums and sung lead and harmony vocals. Willie and another musician friend organized a country music group called CHOYCE that ran for more than twenty years. With early country music and bluegrass influences from his father, Willie continued to develop and expand his musical direction toward recording studio production. In the past ten to twelve years, Willie has shifted more toward continuing the bluegrass legacy of his father. Being inspired by his father to play guitar and to be at the helm of the “Blue Ridge Mtn. Grass” band (BRMG) that his father started some forty years ago, Willie is keeping his father’s wishes to preserve bluegrass music in South Carolina. Today, the band is a mix of traditional and contemporary bluegrass with some new arrangements of old songs as well as a mix of original songs. Willie Wells & The Blue Ridge Mtn. Grass first album title, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, continues to promote bluegrass music throughout the area. Willie is also the owner of Bill’s Music Shop & Picking’ Parlor in West Columbia, South Carolina. Interviewed by Holly Hobbs, 10/14/2020.

15579. Interview with Ike Willis (36:24)

Date:
2009-11-12
Main contributors:
Willis, Ike, Hollinden, Andy
Summary:
Andy Hollinden interviews Ike Willis during the AAAMC conference, "Reclaiming the Right to Rock: Black Experiences in Rock Music."