1sotrue said:

MickyDolenz said:

Many Dominicans are black. More Africans during the slave trade were taken to South America, Hispaniola, Cuba, and parts of Mexico than were taken to the United Staes.

Sadly Micki many Dominicans are colorstruck they don't see themselves being black first despite their ancestry. Im from NY where we have a large Dominican community so they view black as negative to them the motherland is Spain not Africa. I know I'm generalizing.

In Brazil, there's dozens of categories for black people based on their shade.

MickyDolenz said:

1sotrue said:

MickyDolenz said:

Many Dominicans are black. More Africans during the slave trade were taken to South America, Hispaniola, Cuba, and parts of Mexico than were taken to the United Staes.

Sadly Micki many Dominicans are colorstruck they don't see themselves being black first despite their ancestry. Im from NY where we have a large Dominican community so they view black as negative to them the motherland is Spain not Africa. I know I'm generalizing.

This reminds me of the "I'm Dominican" song from Scrubs

scriptgirl said:

Thank goodness I'm not the only one, lol!

From what I understand, Irene Cara is Puerto Rican and Cuban and African American. Even without the African American ancestry, I can tell you that having been to the Dominican Republic (where as a black American used to being in "the minority", I was shocked to find an entire nation of people who look like me), and living here in Europe amongst (alomost soley) black Cubans....um, Miss Thing is black. It's not something that is openly exposed in the US (in the Miami Cuban community, no one is black- yet many claim "Afro-Cuban" influence when it come to their cultural heritage, and when I was growing up, nearly all my latina girlfriends had one black parent or another hitting the roof when they wanted to date "black American boys", go figure ). I've pretty much summed it up as another version of "House vs. Field" plantation mentality a la Alex Haley's "Queen". It's kind of sad actually how much we have in common with black latinos in that regard as descendants from the African slave trade...

That being said, you can get a break down of some of the history here from Dr. Henry Louis Gates, the Chair of African American Studies at Harvard University. In this PBS series, he essentially goes on to find out what happened to our African cousins who were on the other slave boats to Latin American countries. The number of African slaves exported to countries like Mexico, Peru, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba far outnumbered the rest of us that ended up Stateside. These two episodes cover the Dominican Republic & Cuba:

1sotrue said:

MickyDolenz said:

In Brazil, there's dozens of categories for black people based on their shade.

At least they embrace their African ancestry I believe they have the largest black population in Latin America.

One of my closest girlfriends here in Europe is a black woman from Brasil...and everything out of her mouth is about her life as black woman .

Interestingly enough here in Europe I am discovering a movement where people are identifying more as black than African. African heritage is acknowledged clearly, but living with amongst Africans, there definitely is a kind of "nationality" chasm (with cultural and societal traditions & beliefs being so dissimilar) where many Africans looks at blacks from The Americas like, "you're black, but you're no African", and blacks from the Americas feeling more comfortable with that idea. The general consensus is like, okay, we're all black, and we're basically cousins. But there are aspects of N. & S.American culture where they're like and black American folks are cool with that. It becomes a issue of nationality really. And don't get me started on continental African culture and how different they are from each other from country to country. African culture is strongly divided by tribal culture and it gets so complicated trying to keep track. Each country has it's own history and cultural flavor and languages and they keep it that way. They self-identify by country (as in they prefer not to referred to as African), and it can get really confusing, and the number of languages they speak from nation to nation---forget about it

Since I've been in Europe I've pretty much dropped "African American" and refer to myself as black American. It's clear to anyone who looks at me that I'm of African American decent. But I'm very proud of and secure in the heritage built from scratch by my slave ancestors in the US as it is reflected in our language dialects, our music, our foods, literature, strides in human rights, inventions and technology etc. At the same time I also enjoy watching my African friends squabble over which nation I would likely be from, too. Not all African Americans came soley from Ghana or Nigeria, so they can argue about it for hours. This one picking on your nose saying you're Ghanaian, that one pointing to your cheeks and saying you are a lost child from the East (likely Kenya), the next one looking at your sandaled foot and swearing up and down you are Senegalese from the shape of your toe. Man, nationality is everything in Africa .

SoulAlive said:

SoulAlive said:

Vocally,she always sounded very similiar to Donna Summer.She even used Donna's producer (Giorgio Moroder) on her 1983 What A Feeling album.

I thought I was the only one that thought that. When I heard "Out Here On My Own", it reminded me of side 3 of the "Bad Girls" album.

leecappella said:

SoulAlive said:

Vocally,she always sounded very similiar to Donna Summer.She even used Donna's producer (Giorgio Moroder) on her 1983 What A Feeling album.

Yes, she and Giorgio worked together, but, personally, I don't think her voice and Donna's voice were similar. Donna's voice was way stronger and more versatile. Irene's voice was good (not into it now), but her range seemed very limited. I would even say that she sang songs that could have been given to Donna to sing. The result would have been different, but they both could sing them. I loved "Out Here On My Own" when I was growing up. Still do. "Flashdance (What A Feeling!)" was another good one too. I have about five others in my library that I like too. I might have said in the past that I could hear Donna singing this Irene song, but I don't think I've ever said she sounds like Donna vocally on any of her songs. Just my personal ear perception, of course. We all hear things differently sometimes. However, if I should change my mind one day after listening to an Irene Cara track, I will let you know. If this thread is still around, that is:)

[Edited 6/30/12 23:35pm]

[Edited 7/2/12 15:37pm]

I agree her voice wasn't as strong as Donna's but it sounded to me like they were trying to pattern her after and make her the next Donna Summer after disco's "death". A slightly similar voice, just not as strong, the combining of rock with the type of R&B after disco's "death" which sounded similar to disco, for example, the sound of the song "Fame", etc. With disco's backlash and Donna being the Queen of the genre, I just got the feeling that she was being made to take her place by the same producer and record label as Donna but just didn't make it as big.

scriptgirl said:

She needs an Unsung.

So was she only blackballed because of dating the same guy Geffen was?

She did an interview a few years back, I can't remember where I read it, but she was very bitter.

I noticed that too about her dating the same GUY that he was. Never cross a queen because they will do you in.

check out her pilot to a 1981 TV series for NBA, Irene. Look at all the fresh faces at the time.

MickyDolenz said:

Did she borrow Michael Jackson's wardrobe? I swear that looks like the same shirt he wore singing "I Want You Back" from the Ed Sullivan show. lol

fuck her singing, she could play piano and write a song too! It's a shame that she got jerked around, i saw an interview where she seemed very bitter at how she was blacklisted.

I LOVE her voice and I think she's great with slow or fast songs. She could sing, dance, act and she was pretty....it's so annoying she didn't have a huge career.

.

vainandy said:

SoulAlive said:

Vocally,she always sounded very similiar to Donna Summer.She even used Donna's producer (Giorgio Moroder) on her 1983 What A Feeling album.

I thought I was the only one that thought that. When I heard "Out Here On My Own", it reminded me of side 3 of the "Bad Girls" album.