By Regennia N. Williams, PhD

Abdullah Ibrahim, South African Jazz Pianist and Composer, 2019 NEA Jazz Master (Michael Hoefner, Photographer, http://www.zwo5.de / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

When I announced that the theme for the 2019-2020 issue of the Journal of Traditions & Beliefs  would be “Jazz, Jobs, and Justice,” I could not have imagined that jazz artists throughout the global community, like individuals involved in so many other endeavors, would have their lives turned upside down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

By the middle of March, the postponement of the New Orleans Jazzfest in the United States and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival in South Africa, as well as numerous event cancellations in other parts the world, provided evidence of the gravity of the COVID-19 situation, as government officials and healthcare workers alike struggled to stop the spread of the disease.

In the wake of the widespread closing of schools, colleges, universities, libraries, museums, and other venues where ideas about the place of the arts and humanities in our rapidly changing world would normally be shared, discussed, and debated, people are going increasingly to the Internet in search of reliable information.  I decided, therefore, to extend the deadline for submitting materials for possible publication in the next issue of our online journal, as part of our ongoing effort to document and disseminate information related to African and African American history and culture–even in the time of a global pandemic.

Please review the revised “Call for Submissions” below, and consider sharing your work with our global reading audience.  All submissions will be peer-reviewed, and authors will receive written notification of the editor’s final decision.  Authors will retain the rights to any materials that are published in this journal.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Revised March 21, 2020

*Deadline extended due to the coronavirus pandemic

Jazz, Jobs, and Justice:

From the American South to South Africa and Beyond,

1960 – to the Present

for


 The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs | 2019-2020 Issue

Regennia N. Williams, PhD, Editor-in-Chief

*Letters to the Editor, Lesson Plans, Poetry, and Abstracts for Scholarly Essays and Articles Due by May 31, 2020; Invited Manuscripts Due by August 31, 2020.

             In the 20^th century, the late Grover Sales defined jazz as “America’s classical music.” Sales also understood, however, that the composers, performers, and consumers of this American-born music could be found throughout the global community, including the American South and post-apartheid South Africa. The list of artists with ties to the American South, for example, includes Milt Hinton, Hank Jones, and Lester Young. Among the South African jazz artists who gained a worldwide following are Abdullah Ibrahim, Miriam Makeba, and Hugh Masekela. Evidence from 20^th-century cultural history suggests that in the hands of many of the aforementioned musicians and their contemporaries, art became a powerful tool to both challenge injustice and transform existing social orders.

            In recognition of the international influences of jazz and in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the August 1619 arrival of the first Africans in the English colonies–and the impact of COVID-19 on the creative economy in 2019-2020, the RASHAD Center, Inc. will publish a special issue of The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs (JTB) titled Jazz, Jobs, and Justice: From the American South to South Africa and Beyond, c. 1960-Present. JTB welcomes publishable manuscripts that reflect the diverse viewpoints of scholars, artists, and activists on the evolving role of jazz in world culture. This publication will be in direct keeping with the spirit of the “400 Years of African American History Act,” which promoted “programs and activities throughout the United States that recognize[d] and highlight[ed] the resilience and cultural contributions of Africans and African Americans.”

            JTB is a peer-reviewed open access journal. We publish scholarly articles, essays, creative writing, book reviews, and K-12 curriculum materials. Manuscripts for articles and essays should be typewritten, single-spaced, approximately 5,000 words in length (including Turabian-style footnotes and bibliography), and prepared using A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (University of Chicago Press, 8th Edition). Poems, book reviews, and lesson plans should not exceed 750 words.

For consideration, please submit the 250-word abstract for your proposed submission by May 31, 2020 via the journal’s official website, http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/jtb/ or by email to regennia@gmail.com. The creation of a password-protected account is required for website submissions. Authors will be notified of the decision regarding their abstract by June 30, 2020, and the deadline for submitting invited manuscripts is August 31, 2020.

If you are interested in writing a book review or have other questions or concerns, please see the “Policies” section of the JTB website, and contact Dr. Regennia N. Williams at regennia@gmail.com.