Photo: Getty Images
Line dancing has taken the Black community by storm and served as a welcome distraction from times of political and economic uncertainty and despair.
“There is a meme or social media posts going around right now that says something like ‘The country is falling apart and Black folks are minding our business and learning new line dances,” Chimere Love, an Atlanta resident who attended a line dancing class, told CNN. “I think that’s how it is for me right now. I just want something that will help me unload and just have some fun without thinking about the stress of what’s going on in reality.
Plans and policies set by the Trump administration, including dismantling the Department of Education, eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion, and mass cuts to public health funding, have left Black people to find hope and joy within their own community. This joyful response to uncertain times is different than some of the activism seen in the past. It includes crowds of Black people getting together to dance with fans in hands.
“Actually, Black people are out marching. It just looks different,” journalist Charles Blow noted earlier this month.
“Fans have replaced the signs, and joy has replaced the rage,” he continued. “Politics are important and have their place, but Black people at the moment are dwelling in the healing power of community. #LikeItOrNot.”
This movement may serve as a different form of protest, but it’s not new. Black people have historically leaned on each other amid tough times.
“Black culture is a collective culture,” Cultural expert and founder of “The Burton Wire,” Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., told CNN. “Line dancing is cool because it gives us an opportunity to connect with others, to express ourselves with others, and to collaborate on dances. It’s just another way in which we come together and express it visually.”
Burton noted that enslaved people used music and dance as a form of resistance.
“It was a way for them to give instructions when they were trying to do something, whether it was escape or to organize,” she said. “You think about [the dance] the limbo, which is actually a Caribbean form of dance, but that came out of this idea of slave ships, how tight they were and how confined they were."
Videos of Black people line dancing have taken over the internet. 803 Fresh's "Boots on the Ground," Tamia’s “Can’t Get Enough of You,” Cupid’s “Flex”, and more have gone viral and fueled the movement.
“With line dancing, it doesn’t matter what political party you are. It doesn’t matter where you grew up, if you went to private school, public, it doesn’t matter,” Burton said. “You just come together, and you create. You express yourself in a way that is pleasing, that is fun and that gives you a sense of community. We love to come together because there’s so many ways in which people try to tear us apart.”
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.