Steppin Into Freedom! Back
Jul 16, 2010
By Tracey Bivens (Imasteppa)
The period and time in which slavery affected our mindset in this country seems to be resurfacing in the form of "steppin slavery.” I’m going to draw comparisons to slavery and steppin.
In the 1700’s and 1800’s enslaved people in America desired a taste of freedom once they compared and contrasted freedom to bondage. Today, some beginning and intermediate steppers desire the skill set to dance like heavy hitters. They see heavy hitters as being free from criticism and embraced by the free steppin society. New steppers are pressured to become better for reasons that would involve the approval and respect of others…not for their own enjoyment. In the past, slaves were tortured so much that they plotted ways in which to escape their bondage. Some steppers have been known to plot ways in compromising their values, morals and standards to get the "free gold.” The "free gold” being the naïve beginning female/male students who fall for the sexual okedoke. Or you have the steppin instructors who continue to fill their pockets with the "free gold” from students that they can no longer assist productively. Some slaves thought they were better than other slaves. Some "wanna be promoters” stop at nothing to try and acquire fame by rubbing elbows with very few of the right people but many of the wrong people…i.e. they are the overseers who long to control the slaves but don’t realize they are actually slaves themselves. Some of our fore fathered slaves eventually become free. However, they forgot that they were slaves once before and started treating other slaves like trash. Today, some steppers acquire a high skill set with the dance and stop dancing with their friends to dance with people in a more advanced group. Once slavery ended, some of the newly freed slaves moved far away from the field slaves. Some modern day accomplished steppers choose to separate themselves from the general steppin community because as "masters in the dance” they NEVER want to remember where they came from.
How does a slave become totally free when they still have a slave mind? They can’t. Are there slaves in the steppin community today? Yes. House slaves (insecure steppers) love to cause discourse amongst field slaves (steppers who just want to dance). Slaves who prayed and fought for freedom (pioneers of steppin) had to defend themselves against complacent and scared slaves (SOME new school steppers). Newly freed slaves who simply desired freedom of life and mind (steppers who just want to dance) sought unity amongst like-minded slaves (steppers who just want to dance). But that’s just it, all slaves eventually received freedom because someone had to come up with the idea to allow that freedom. Lincoln was pressured to save the union so he freed the slaves. Pharaoh was pressured by God to free the Hebrew slaves. Hitler was pressured by the world to stop killing Jews and to release them from concentration camps with the threat of war. Pressure is synonymous with revolution.
Once we identify the oppressor in the steppin community we can overthrow this "mental slavery”. The oppressor is and always will be "love of power” and "the inflated ego.” If it takes the boycotting of some contests and parties to make a positive change…would YOU do it? If making a positive change required you to become an Indian and leave the chief position of a steppin organization…would YOU do it? If making a positive change required you to join forces with another instructor to demonstrate unity…would YOU do it? If making a positive change required you to admit YOU were wrong even if you felt you were not…would YOU do it? Revolution requires making a drastic change. The Last Poets said that n------ were scared of revolution. Are steppers scared of a revolution? We’ve removed the slave chains from our hands and feet now let’s remove the slave chains from inside our heads.
