Blog Question Number 2

The "Crossroads" is a powerful concept in Voodoun culture and religion. In part it symbolizes the uncomfortable point in life when one must make a choice or select a path. The choice or path you select may be determined by your values, needs or wants. In the Record Men, Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul at the "Crossroads" for fame and fortune. Do you recognize any "crossroads" that confront various individuals in the book? As you answer that question, consider any "crossroads" you may have faced in your own life. Did you make your decision based on lust, love, money , etc.?

The "Crossroads" in the Mississippi Delta

This is the location where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the Devil and became the greatest Delta blues player that ever lived

RACC 2010 Book Review Contest

The RACC 2010 Book Review Contest Guidelines:
1. Prize - $150.00
2. 3 to 5 page typed review; must be turned in by April 9, 2010 to the Department of Behavioral Sciences.
3. Contestants must also participate in RACC 2010 blog; at a minimum you must answer/respond to posted blog questions.

Muddy Water's Home in Mississippi

Muddy Water's Home in Chicago

First Blog Questions

1. What does Cohen mean when he says the"kikes and niggers" at Chess Records were "rejects from proper society who found each other on a trip through a dark room?"

2. How was the Chess family's migration to Chicago either similar to or different from the migration of Blacks from the rural South (especially Mississippi) to Chicago?

If you scroll down you can see two paintings (Monet and Magritte) in the Art Institute of Chicago mentioned by the author referencing the role and impact of the train to the Blues idiom and migration to the North.

Remember you have to scroll down to see earlier postings.

Surrealist Magritte painting at Art Institute, p. 39 in book

Monet Painting at Art Institute, p. 39 in book