On Friday, November 19, 2010, the Howard University community gathered for the 50th annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. It started out as a lovely gathering where friends and colleagues huddled over chicken noodle soup and apple cider in efforts to keep warm in the brisk night air. However, this cozy atmosphere was soon interrupted by a rather disturbing performance by a man named Yohann from France. What is the most upsetting about Yohann’ s presentation is not actually something that he did. It was the way the crowd received the foolishness masqueraded as entertainment with open arms. As students of “ The Mecca” , the phrase we often throw around with haughtiness in our voices, we should know better and have a higher standard. As a student body we tend to be perpetually unsatisfied with our staff and administrators due to the conditions of our alma mater. However, the burden does not lie with them alone. It is OUR duty to sharpen each other and ourselves. We must be keenly aware of the great responsibility that comes attached to the privilege of walking these hallowed grounds. The knowledge we gain in the classrooms is not to be abandoned on our desktops every Friday afternoon and picked up again with a hangover Monday morning. No, the point of this learning experience is that the lessons permeate the students’ everyday lives. This is not what was demonstrated on Friday evening.
The audience was treated to the melodious sounds of Howard’ s own GWN as they began to accumulate and lay down the burdens of another week’ s worth of work. After a brief welcome, our reigning Mr. & Miss Howard University, Jeffrey Pugh and Adrian Pruett led the audience in the singing of “ Lift Every Voice and Sing” . Fists raised in symbolic solidarity supposedly signifying the rallying cry of “ Black Power!” across the audience. Not long after this, Yohann graced the stage. He greeted the crowd with a warm smile and said, “ My name is Yohann…I’ m from F-F-F-France.” It was clear that English was not his first language and was still difficult for him to speak. The hesitance and delay soon faded as he began to sing “ Amazing Grace” . A mellow tenor voice sounding like it belonged to Robin Thicke or Tonex emanated from his mouth. Jaws dropped and faces began to show disbelief across the crowd. It was amazing! How could that voice come from that body? The audience began cheering him on and Yohann reveled in the adulation. Soon he got bold. He began to change keys and add all kinds of vocal manipulations in his song. The cheers got louder. Yohann took it in stride and went further. By the time he was finished, he had led the pseudo-congregation in a chorus of “ When I think about Jesus/ what he’ s done for me/ when I think about Jesus/ how he set me free/ I can dance (6x) all night” . At one point, he had the audience singing along with him.
The idea of so-called blue-eyed soul is not new. Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Average White Band, the Bee Gees, Michael McDonald, and Teena Marie all fit into this category. In recent years, this tradition has been carried on by acts like Joss Stone, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Jon B, Duffy, and Justin Timberlake. What separates these artists from their mainstream counterparts is the clear influence on their vocal presentation by Black culture – notably the Black church. Either directly or indirectly, they draw several elements of their styling from one of the bedrocks of Black society. So it was with Yohann. As he sang, he transitioned from a modest showcasing of his talent to an ostentatious display of his novelty. With each riff and growl it was as if he was saying, “ Look at how Black I can be!” Quiet murmurs transformed into heavy grumbling. Some audience members walked out and others talked amongst themselves in disbelief. Still, it seemed liked the majority of the witnesses enjoyed his performance or, at the very least, were not bothered by it. That is troubling.
Have we forgotten our history?! Perhaps Al Jolson, Amos N’ Andy, and similar
performers are too far removed from this generation. So let us not consider the exploitation
and denigration of Black culture that has taken place in the entertainment industry for the last
hundred years or so. Let us just focus on this one performance as an isolated event. The fact
remains that students hooted and hollered as a European man mimicked and mocked some of
the most sacred features of our heritage. The emphasis of the chorus that begins “ When I think
about Jesus” is not to be placed on the dancing that takes place at the end. That is missing the
point. What the chorus is saying is essentially this: “ a reflection on the wondrous works of the
God I have come to know and love causes such a large outpouring of an external manifestation
of gratitude that I choose not to control it.” For Yohann to diminish its value to little more than a silly gimmick is a slap in the face to our ancestors. What is worse is we encouraged it by our praise, laughter, and/ or our silent observation. Adding insult to injury is the realization that someone must have paid him for his time, as he probably did not come to Howard out of the goodness of his heart. Sadly, the same enthusiasm awarded to Yohann’ s selections was nowhere to be found when Howard’ s own Shacara Rogers displayed advanced vocal ability that easily outranks that which may be heard on the radio. How tragic.
The point of this article is not to bring reproach upon the event organizers or castigate Yohann. Other than this low point, the event was quite nice. The organizers should be proud of themselves for a job well done. Yohann was simply trying to make some money. He seems keenly aware of his standing as a novelty act: the Frenchman who can barely speak English but sings like a Black man from the Bible Belt South. The point of this piece is to raise some awareness. We as scholars and hopefully, activists, must resist the scavenger mentality: we must not accept everything lain at our doorsteps. There must be a point at which we draw the line. We must do better. Our ancestors and children require it.
