South African Choral Music (Amakwaya): Song, Contest and the ...

4.1 The Mrican Yearly Register: A Directory ofBlack Middle Class Identity 105
of colonial society, preserving that which was redeemable in the African past while inculcating the
values and styles of the modern world".54
When Skota warned that " ...the moment the race as a whole discards its culture, it at once
breaks its backbone and may be crippled for all time",55 he was inspired to some extent by the pioneering
ideas of black American thought. A central figure in promoting black American ideas was
James E. Kwegyir Aggrey, a West African by birth, who spent more than twenty years studying and
teaching in America. He toured South Africa early in 1921 and was enthusiastically received by
whites and blacks alike. 56 The monthly newsletter of Adams College, Iso Lomuzi, contains a number
of articles dealing with aspects of black American thought. Samuel Mubika, for instance, submitted
an article entitled "Some 'Aggreyisms"'. He wrote:
At this time of my country's life I am anxious that Africa should be civilised, not westernised, and that
the civilisation should be Christian. We want a Christian civilisation and then thus together with the best
in our own culture we may make a definite contribution to twentieth century civilisation... Dr. Aggrey
stood for co-operation of White and Black. To be Aggreys of tomorro"l, we should co-operate... overcoming
barbarism, heathenism, tribalism, nationalism and other obstacles against the African Progress.57
The black middle class had gained first-hand experience of European and American culture by
the end of the nineteenth century. As we have seen in Chapter 1.1 (page 5), musical renditions by
travelling minstrel groups left lasting impressions on their African audiences; even more important,
was the news of black educational achievements in the United States. The concerts of groups like
McAdoo's American Jubilee Singers inspired their African counterparts to use performances as a
means through which they could declare their own 'progressive' identity. The recognition of the
crucial role of performance led to the English tour of the African Native Choir in 1891. Thus this
tour can be regarded as an early attempt to promote the new 'progressive' identity of the black elite.
This could be taken as intimating an embryonic notion of an African national culture.
During her trip to America, Charlotte Manye, as a member of the African Native Choir, established
important links between the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E. Church) and the
South African Ethiopian Church. This would have far-reaching effects in the development of independent
churches in South Africa. In letters written to friends and relations back home, she men­
tions the wonderful progress that was being made by black Americans, particularly in education and
church related work. Another traveller was John L. Dube, who attended Oberlin College in the
U.S.A, where he came under the influence of Booker T. Washington, and on his return to South
Africa, in 1901 established the Ohlange Institute.
Those who went to England and America perceived themselves as cultural and intellectual mediators
between two worlds. It is important to note that many of those mentioned in Skota's Register
held the positions of interpreters, clerks, teachers, ministers and journalists, which equipped them
to mediate between the dominant white culture and subordinate indigenous culture.58
54]. T. Campbell, 1987: 7.
55 T. D. M. Skota, quoted in]. T. Campbell, 1987: 5.
56 T. Couzens, 1985: 83.
57 H. S. Mubika, "Some 'Aggreyisms'" (Iso Lomuzi November 1943, Vol. 12, No.2): 14-5.
58 See]. T. Campbell, 1987: 10.