Not a Rock and Roll nigger response

Kyla Hullum

Professor Santos

25 February 2016

Not a Rock and Roll nigger response

                I honestly found this reading to be very potent, and daring. I like that Orlandersmith starts off the story how she first got into rock and roll music, and the genre’s she grew up around that were the complete opposite of it. It’s very rare that you see black individuals, especially women who are into rock and roll and punk, so I thought it was fascinating to hear what she saw in the music and how it made her feel.

                One thing that stood out to me was Orlandersmith reaction to Pattie Smith at a music festival when she came onstage and started to repeat the word “Nigger” and the crowd filled with white people started chanting “I’m a nigger, a rock and roll nigger.” The way her and the other two black teens looked at each other and just stood in silence stated how they felt about what she just said, because she used a word to name everyone, a word that has been used to put down blacks. There looks at each other stated enough that what she was saying was messed up and how the crowd just followed along with her as if it was never a racist term. I see why Orlandersmith was debating whether or not to keep supporting her because the word “Nigger” should not be used by any white person to be turned into a positive phrase to represent outsiders.

                I understand why Orlandersmith tried to use the term into something positive because she can relate to being an outcast from white society, just like black people. On the other hand, I don’t think she had a right to use that word at all because it’s been used as the ultimate put down word for blacks, and has a negative vibe to it that you can never turn that word into something confident. I have respect for Pattie Smith for trying to make a change, but using the word “Nigger” was not the proper way to go about it because not everybody is going to easily support her, especially blacks in my opinion.

                Another part that stood out to me was on page 139, when Orlandersmith described the encounter she had with Pattie Smith on the street, and how she confronted her about the song saying, “I like your work…But I have problems with the song rock and roll nigger.” I kind of laughed internally. My reason is because of the way Pattie Smith than told her to have a nice day and walked away but then kept looking back at her as if she made her rethink if it was a good idea to write that song.

                I can also relate to how rock and roll music opened Orlandersmith’s eyes to a scene where she felt like she fit in because that is how I felt when I first listened to Soca music. I grew up around reggae, but didn’t really start listening to Soca until middle school and I feel like that changed my view on music a lot because it gave me energetic sensation in a way and had lots of good vibes. When I listen to Soca music it feels as if it is taking me to another place where I can express myself by dancing to it, just like when Orlandersmith goes to Rock concerts, she feels like it is where she belongs.

                In all, I think it was a really good article because she expressed what it was like growing up as a black rock and roll lover and how her views of it almost changed because of one song that had a racial slur in it.