wrote, “I believe in Black literature socially com-
mitted &/or culturally grounded.”
Like his fellow poets AMIRI BARAKA, SONIA SAN-
CHEZ, and Jayne Cortez, Salaam frequently incor-
porates a deep sense of black musicality into his
poetry. He often performs his public readings
accompanied by a group of musicians known as
the “Wordband.” A typical Salaam reading might
include singing, shouts, nonverbal phrasings, and
call and response between the poet and his audi-
ence. In short, he blends several black expressive
forms into his readings.
Salaam has authored numerous books, includ-
ing The Blues Merchant (1969), Hofu Ni Kwenu
(1973), Revolutionary Love (1978), What Is Life?
Reclaiming the Black Blues Self (1994), and A Na-
tion of Poets (1989). He coedited 360 Degrees:
A Revolution of Black Poets (1998) and Fertile
Ground 1996: Memories and Visions (1996). He
has also produced an audio recording, My Story,
My Song (1996).
In recent years, Salaam has applied his artistic
visions and mixed-media understanding of black
expressive culture to new technologies. As a result,
he has directed and produced short films focusing
on poetry and the arts. He has led seminars for stu-
dents and cultural workers on how to utilize video
as another medium to create artistic productions.
His interests in organizing and technology also led
him to found CyberDrum, a listserv of black writ-
ers and cultural workers. As the moderator of the
group, Salaam facilitates the circulation of reports
on cultural events and announcements on pub-
lishing opportunities to the listserv, which totals
more than 1,000 members. Salaam’s tireless efforts
as an organizer, his dynamic artistic productions,
and his focus on issues pertaining to black libera-
tion enable him to create multidimensional and
far-reaching cultural work.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Tombs, Charles P. “Kalamu ya Salaam.” In The Oxford
Companion to African American Literature, edited
by William L. Andrews, Frances Smith Foster,
and Trudier Harris, 640–641. New York: Oxford,
1997.
Ward, Jerry W., Jr. “Kalamu ya Salaam: A Primary
Bibliography (in Progress).” Mississippi Quarterly
51, no. 1 (Winter 1997–1998): 105–148.
Howard Rambsy IISambo and Uncle Tom
Created during the 18th century, primarily by
white writers and dramatists, Sambo and Uncle
Tom were among the stereotypes used to main-
tain the slave economy in the American South. As
stereotypes, they were meant to deride African-
American males.
Sambo, who can be traced back to the late 17th
century, was more than likely an offshoot of the
European medieval jester, who, ironically, was
accorded knowledge and wisdom. In America,
Sambo became the embodiment of follies and
foolishness in the plays and popular literature
in which he appeared. For example, a 1795 play
featured the main character Sambo, a singing and
dancing servant who seeks to be the equal of his
white owner. Freed in the latter half of the play,
Sambo, who is unable to function as an equal, be-
comes a drunk. By the early 19th century, Sambo
characters were represented as either purely
comical buffoons or romanticized noble savages.
Clearly, such undignified individuals were neither
capable nor deserving of freedom. Although the
War of 1812 brought a rejection of European ways
and a call for a distinctly American form of enter-
tainment, Sambo buffoonery crystallized along-
side the more positive images of the emerging
American everyman: the Yankee and “Mose,” the
urban volunteer fireman.
Sambo’s popularity continued with the emer-
gence of delineators and minstrels, white actors
who performed in blackface and exaggerated at-
tire. In 1822 Charles Matthews, an Englishman,
attended a performance of the African Theater
Company, a black theatrical troupe in New York
City, where he studied the scraps and malaprops
of black speech. Matthews also transcribed songs,
speeches, and sermons that he used in his own
minstrel act. By 1827 minstrelsy introduced theSambo and Uncle Tom 445