2007 Alan Merriam Prize
presented by the Society for Ethnomusicology
2007
PEN/Beyond Margins Book Award Finalist
Explores
how the traditions of black music are intertwined in the games black
girls grow up with
When
we think of African American popular music, our first thought is
probably not of double-dutch: girls bouncing between two twirling
ropes, keeping time to the tick-tat under their toes. But this book
argues that the games black girls play—handclapping songs, cheers,
and double-dutch jump rope—both reflect and inspire the principles
of black popular musicmaking.
The
Games Black Girls Play illustrates how black musical styles are
incorporated into the earliest games African American girls
learn—how, in effect, these games contain the DNA of black music.
Drawing on interviews, recordings of handclapping games and cheers,
and her own observation and memories of gameplaying, Kyra D. Gaunt
argues that black girls' games are connected to long traditions of
African and African American musicmaking, and that they teach vital
musical and social lessons that are carried into adulthood. In this
celebration of playground poetry and childhood choreography, she
uncovers the surprisingly rich contributions of girls’ play to
black popular culture.