Frankie Manning

[oyceter]

Frankie Manning died today, at 94. He was one of the original Lindy hoppers in Harlem, and he was a major figure in its revival in the 1980s.

Racialicious has a post on Frankie Manning, Lindy hop, and cultural appropriation that I found interesting and on the mark, and I very much wish the Lindy communities I've been in were more aware of these issues, even as they preserve the dance. More than that, I wish the wider world were more aware of Lindy's origins in Black culture and music, since most of the images of Lindy these days are of middle-class white kids in the 1940s (Swing Kids, the Gap ads, etc.), not the Black dancers in the 1930s.

Still, I'm glad I got the chance to see Frankie a few months back, and I'm very glad to hear the big bash planned for his 95th birthday will continue.

Comments

Race and class issues in the lindy community

[(Anonymous)]

We actually do think about these issues a lot actually in the lindy community. You can see on our discussion boards at http://yehoodi.com that we often talk about issues of race and class in our scene.

And have done various things to address them, from connecting with African-american cultural institutions, to organizing free lindy hop programs in African american neighborhoods, to celebrating the lives of prominent african-americans like Frankie Manning, Norma Miller and Dawn Hampton who helped create this dance.

Thanks for raising the concern though, which we all share.

Best,

Rik Panganiban
administrator, http://yehoodi.com

Re: Race and class issues in the lindy community

[oyceter]

Oh, yay, that's good to hear! I haven't been in the online community very much, and just from dancing locally and being on a few lists or so, I haven't seen much activity in the area I'm in (Bay Area, CA). Hopefully it is just because I am missing things, and not because they are not there.