OVERVIEW
The African American Folklorist newspaper is distributed by the Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation. Founded by Lamont Jack Pearley and co-founder Denise Pearley, the newspaper went from idea to reality with a group of great people. Our organization felt the urgency to raise cultural and ethnic awareness of the Black Experience in America. We wrote and printed the first two issues.
We need your help to ensure that the voices representing the many cultures, traditions, and expressions of the people can continue to be heard and shared. Our print newspaper serves readers in America, London, and Canada.
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What is The African American Folklorist?
The African American Folklorist is a quarterly Newspaper that contains articles about traditions, traditional beliefs, the cultural context, geographical locations, music, and vernaculars of African Americans and the role each element plays in the lives of the people past and present. AAF furthers the mission of Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation by publishing articles that discuss the evolution of our traditions, and that present research about blues people. We include interviews with and articles from musicians, historians, ethnographers, Community Scholars, and academics who specialize in and are enthusiastic about the Black Experience in America. AAF includes a variety of perspectives on the black experience and seeks to educate and share perspectives with people of all colors. We also are proud to incorporate youth that show interest in studying, researching, and preserving our heritage. There is an entire section dedicated to them called the "African American Folklorist Kids & Youth Section," which publishes articles and research papers from young people aged 10-17.
What We Need & What You Get
IMPACT
- Currently The African American Folklorist contributing writers and columnists are volunteering their time and content. With your help, we can pay stipends.
- Your donation will allow us to expand our reach within and outside of the United States.
Risks & Challenges
- $10,000 will help us get going, but it won't last forever.
- Our ultimate goal for The African American Folklorist is to develop enough revenue from partnerships with local and national vendors via sponsored advertising, content creation, and monthly publication.
- We need to continue printing our product, attract a bigger following, and develop our reputation. We'll be using this campaign to help potential sponsors and advertisers see why they should be part of The African American Folklorist.
Other Ways You Can Help
If money is tight...
- Reach out to us about being a contributing writer!
- Spread the word by sharing our campaign with people who might be interested in helping us make our goal, or even take it further.
- Subscribe, SHARE, COMMENT!
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Who are the founders?
Lamont Jack Pearley
FOUNDER/PUBLISHER/EDITOR
As an NYC-born descendant of the Great Migration, Lamont's life changed dramatically in the mid-2000s when he returned to Louisiana and Mississippi to bury close relatives. Returning to those regions and their deep associations with Blues history, he felt the urgency to raise cultural and ethnic awareness of African American Traditional Music as it pertains to the Black Experience in America. Over the last 12 years, Lamont's work documenting African American vernacular narratives, music, and cultures resulted in an extensive collection of field interviews with historians, documentarians, blues and folk musicians, and the children of Black music legends. This body of work earned him an induction into the New York Blues Hall of Fame as Great Blues Historian and TV/Radio Producer (2017) and Great Blues Artist (2018).
Denise Pearley
CO-FOUNDER/PROJECT MANAGER
Coming from a background in restaurant management with a degree in Digital Film and Multi-Media and now an entrepreneur, Denise has applied those skills to the production of Jack Dappa Blues Public Media content, as well as a healthy plant-based cooking regimen that heightens the energy necessary for the team to work full-throttle on programming and projects that resonate with the African American Folklorist Newspaper audience.
Contributing Writers
Virginia Jimenez
Virginia is a performing arts educator and writer in NYC. She’s a co-director for Blues Dance New York, where she invests her love of blues music and blues dance in order to share it with others.
Michael Jones
Michael is an author and journalist whose research and writing reclaims the African American Traditions and music popularized in Kentucky and traveled the world.
Nascha A. Joli
Nascha is an African-American author from Harlem in New York City. She has released her debut novel, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.
Doug Curry
“Black & Blues Correspondent” is the host of BLACKS & BLUES since 1982, airing Friday’s 9 pm-midnight EST at www.wrur.org, and Saturday’s 10-11 pm CST at www.wdcb.org.”
Courtland W. Hankins, III
The President of Hip Hop is a music producer, activist, and teacher.
Karleton Thomas
Karleton Thomas is a business professional with extensive experience in retail, eCommerce, apparel manufacturing, and social enterprises. He previously was the chief operating officer at LocalLux, a high-end boutique marketplace, and a sales director for an Alexandria, Va. based tech company.
Chief Elwin Warhorse Gillum
Queen of Tchefuncta Nation and the Chief of the Chahta Tribe. As appointed by the 365 Elders (Blood Members) of the Tribe, she was appointed the Chief of the Tribe in 1998 and took the throne of the Nation in 2009.
Columnists
Corey Harris
Guitarist, Songwriter, Singer, Performer and Revolutionary, Corey Harris is a current Black Traditional Music Practitioner. Corey Harris has earned substantial critical acclaim as one of the few contemporary bluesmen able to channel the raw, direct emotion of acoustic Delta blues without coming off as an authenticity-obsessed historian. He's also a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Virginia, prophet at E.A.B.I.C, and Founder/CEO/Owner at Nattyworks.
Doug Curry
“Black & Blues Correspondent” is the host of BLACKS & BLUES since 1982, airing Friday’s 9 pm-midnight EST at www.wrur.org, and Saturday’s 10-11 pm CST at www.wdcb.org.”
Kids and Youth Section Columnists
Lamont Pearley Jr.
Lamont Pearley Jr. is a 13 years old columnist for the African American Folklorist newspaper kids section. He is a coder and gamer that records and edits his own videos. Lamont enjoys drawing and having fun with his family, all while working to uplift and encourage all those he encounters.
Gideon Wiesen
A native New Yorker from Inwood, 10-year-old Gideon Wiesen loves to use his imagination and needs to listen to music constantly when he works. He's inspired by the graphic novels he reads and loves dogs, especially his pitbull, Sheridan, who proofreads all his work.
Samara Pearley
Samara Pearley is a young columnist for the African American folklorist kids section. She is a student of arts and culture currently learning to play the piano while working with her vocal/acting coach. She writes songs and poems, and love llamas and alpacas. Samara thinks llamas are cute and has two stuffed llamas named q.t. and j.t.! Samara loves singing and acting!
