Saturday, February 27, 2010
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.?
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I feel as though we go through "crossroads" everyday. The small decisions we make on a day-to-day basis will eventually determine our overall out-come in life.
ReplyDeletei feel like we go through a lot of crossroads in our everyday lives and the decisions we make will have to determine our lives in the future. Norisha Bell
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both, we come to a crossroads in our lives often. Only we can make the decisions thats right for us. It's up to us to choose the right path to follow, because if we choose the wrong path, it could cost alot of hardships.
ReplyDeleteI feel that everyone has come across a crossroad in some point in their life. It's not put in your life for you to give up on. It's put there for you to get through it to make your stronger. I was told once before "What Don't Kill You makes You Stronger."
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Blacks migrating out of the South during the early years of the Great Migration was the "Crossroads" in their lives. They knew the life that was there for them in the South and could only imagine the new world up North. A deal with the Devil? As we know, conditions were not wonderful for everyone in the North.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chips..I beleive that in particular with the Muddy Waters made a decision at the crossroads seeing no hope of improvement on the plantation had to make a decision to go north in hope for a better life. Of course he as Chip said could only imagine what life would be like in the north however what did he have to loose!He couldn't even get a raise to 25 cents an hour.
ReplyDeleteEvery day, hour, and second, we are faced with challenges and choices, that could effect the way we live our lives. And there could be different things that could lead us to make the right or wrong decision, but I think that it depends on self reliance of what you believe and been taught.
ReplyDeleteI feel Willie Dixon is a great example of a “man at the crossroads” here is a man who is pretty much the creative back bone of Chess Records. He knows the ill practices of Leonard, yet he still continues to work for him, and when he leaves the “Plantation” to work for another Record Company he returns to Chess because Leonard may be a bad Master, but he aint as bad as those Masters at the other companies. Willie even buys the old condemned recording building and turns it into a museum and decorates it with Leonard. I’m not likening Willie to a slave, but Malcolm X’s quote of house Negro and field Negro came to mind. When Mastah house is on fire-the house Negro says, Boss our house is on fire. But the Field Negro would add fuel to the flame.
ReplyDeleteI think there many "crossroads" moments for various individuals in the book. And although I not overly sympathtic to Leonard Chess, I do think it was a difficult decision to sell the business, something he invested his time, energy and money.
ReplyDeleteI feel that everyone faces the crossroads in their life.I feel like there is the option to take the short cut and be rewarded now and suffer later or just take the longer route and enjoy the long term rewards. An example could be a person without a job. Either that person could go out and sell drugs and make fast illegal money or that person could get a more legal maybe 9 to 5 job.Options like this people are faced with everyday, you just have to be yor own person and really see what will work out for you. I would say one of the crossroads I came to was to either stay at home after high school and depend on my mother or either go on to college and inhance my knowledge so one day I could take care of myself and help my mother out. I took the higher rode. I knew that college wouldn't be easy and that I would have to work hard but I just instilled in myself that I wanted better, I wanted to do better, so I came off to school. In the book it did say or many believed that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in order to get fame, but did he really. This was a man that couldnt play at all but later went down to the crossroads and came back with talent.I would kind of agree with these people that said he sold his soul.
ReplyDeleteFor many artists the crossroads comes when they have to decide if they are seeking commercial acceptance or are they making art for the sake of making art. those seeking commercial acceptance then have to decide how far are they going to go. What will they sacrifice?
ReplyDeleteI truly agree with B.Allen when he say we are faced with challenges and choices, but I think that it depends on what values we were taught and how we individually identify and cope with obstacles that are placed in front of us.
ReplyDeleteThe Crossroads has been faced by many individuals throughout history. As for in the book, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for talent. Maybe he felt he did all he could to reach this new level in talent. I believe it was a move out of desperation. He felt his back was against the wall with no options.
ReplyDeleteBut assumed desperation is what makes and breaks a person. He chose the easy route. But others chose to continue training to develop their crafts.
In this example, no one can really judge what kind of man Mr. Johnson was for making this deal. A person doesn't know what to do when he or she is hungry, unless they've starved before.
The Crossroads I've faced in my life was a little different. Mine, just like Tamisha's was whether to or not to go to college. I could have stayed home and hang sit around with my friends. But I made the decision to go to college. I knew there was something better out there in the world just waiting for me.
Christopher, Good choice on your crossroads decision; I think you make a good point as to why and for what reasons people make difficult choices(like Robert Johnson); it is hard for us to judge when we have not walked in their shoes.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've met anyone in life that has not come across a crossroad. It's all about the decisions you make in life because no matter wat you do, even if it doesn't effect you, it effects somone. When Robert Johnson went to the crossroads, he may not have known what the total outcome would be, but he was focused and sure of what he wanted to do. I believe that Leonard Chess also faced a few crossroads in the book. So it's all about what you say and the decisions you mamke.
ReplyDeleteCrossroads are a part of life. The big difference with "voodoo" idea of "the crossroad" is that the voodoo seems to say that there is only one crossroad in which a person comes to which will decide the rest of there life as in Robert Johnson's case. I believe a crossroad can be better understood as a detour that one takes/tries at that particular moment in life. The "non-voodoo" culture, if you will, would say that life generally provides opportunities for persons to return to the beaten path or at least change directions.
ReplyDeleteAll of choose at one point in our live to be good or evil, educated or uneducated, etc., which would be an example of the many crossroads that we come to in life. The decisions we make at those turning points are often based on the circumstances at the time if not a core set of values that are not strayed away from often.
Many of us faced a crossroad when we graduated from high school. The crossroad there was college or the real world? Some will face another when graduating from college. Many artist in the book seem to face some type of crossroad, but none was as clear as Robert Johnson's. He sold his soul for talent. Just as a young man said," maybe he was just at the end of the road for trying to reach the top of fame".
ReplyDeleteWhen Leonard was young he came to a crossroad and he had to make the decision to take his brace of or leave it on. When he took it off, it was like he was a new person that's when he even got his new American name. I've had many crossroads in my life. I think the biggest one was where i was going to go to college. All of my dad's family lives in Alabama(including my dad) and i didn't know them that well since I was raised with my mom. So I decided to come here to get to know them instead of going to the college I wanted to. So I guess my decision was made out of love and curiosity.
ReplyDeletei believe part of life is to go through crossroads and hardships or what have you,without these crossroads and obstacles life wouldnt be worth going through point a day to day basis,without struggle there will be no success,in my life i have been through many crossroads and at the end of the day the decision i make to get through is in my hands,in love i can say i have been in a predicament and hit a crossroad ive had to make some hard decisions when dealing with love. Another crossroad when dealing with money i can say my family and i have hit that point on a nail many times but we've came out on top aswell. Courtney Roberts
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