The Banjo brought back home. African easily adapts to playing the modern Banjo.

Hamitic Origins of the Banjo.

Esa Jarju is an African Ekonting player (one of the ancestors of the Banjo). In this video the American Banjo is taken back to its home in West Africa and, amazingly, Esa Jarju has no problem at all playing it right away, even though it's his first time.

The Banjo and it's style of playing has come to be a part of Country music/Bluegrass of he United States. This style of music that most have labeled as White Music under the impression of it being of Southern white origins, is actually derived from the Senegambia region of west Africa, carried over to the U.S. by Senegambian slaves.

This is just one example of how African Americans managed to carry over their culture from Africa and influence the culture of the U.S and the world—despite slavery.

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[MSfeller]

@Deadjoe669 Actually, the plastic head gives it a brighter and therefore more "living" sound, while the calf skin you mentioned, gives the banjo the opposite effect, a more mellow, deeper and graver tone. That's why clawhammer players prefer the calf skin, because the sound of the banjo on clawhammer cannot be too bright or loud. The banjo in this video is heavily out of tune, hence why it sounds "yucky" as you described. Nevertheless, the man played well for not being an actual banjo player.

[Deadjoe669]

That plastic head sounds so yucky. Would have liked to to hear him play with a calf skin set up for a more living sound.

[wayfaringstoner]

man i love the banjo

[54markl]

Beautiful playing of the American ekonting!

[thotsins]

@massacuruman1

This is a good subject though. Yea, you are right, this is something we'd have to discuss in inbox mails. LOL!

[thotsins]

So you can see how propaganda has affected the mentality of both sides.

Then, even white people who believe and tell us these things, believe what they believe cuz that is what media and conventional education dictates. So everyone is just being duped. You wind up having to wonder why rulers in charge of our educational systems and media outlets deliberately portray and teach everyone distorted info about the other to get everyone believing false things about each other. LOL!

[thotsins]

However, in my experience, most Africans view A. Americans—and black people all over the world—as immediate brothers. But you do have some Africans who have succumbed to being influenced into believing the propaganda society imposes, unfortunately, that "A. Americans are white and different" from us, just as you have A. Americans who succumb to the, again, foreign propoganda of believing they are different from Africans cuz of negative/false info they are fed about us.

[thotsins]

... Now, on the flip side, when I got older, didn't speak with an accent anymore, and to onlookers appeared to be a typical "black american,"—when other Africans came around, the same westerners told me Africans were uncultured people that never had any civilization or never made any contributions to society, and that A. Americans were different because they practiced more european culture now, and were done a favor by being brought to america to come under european influence.

[thotsins]

@massacuruman1

For instance, when my family immigrated to the states, many westerners (mainly white) were telling us A. americans were ghetto, unproductive, uneducated people who were trouble makers and mostly in prison and on welfare because they couldn't take care of themselves. And that we were different from them in culture, and if we wanted to be successful, to be careful around them, because we were nicer people then them since we had culture.

[thotsins]

@massacuruman1

It's unfortunate that there sometimes is a breach between Africans and A. Americans, but I've learned that on both sides, western media and their propaganda is responsible for deliberately teaching both sides negative false ideas about the other that spawn that breach.