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Hint
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Answer
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Zora Neal Hurston spent time in the low country interviewing and filming kids on corners and folk at work,
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Zora Neal Hurston spent time in the low country interviewing and filming kids on corners and folk at work,
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but she actually took the stage when she went to church.
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but she actually took the stage when she went to church.
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Around town she heard of ancestors who escaped into the swamps
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Around town she heard of ancestors who escaped into the swamps
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living for decades on raccoon, snakeroot and turtle soup, all of which Zora recorded,
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living for decades on raccoon, snakeroot and turtle soup, all of which Zora recorded,
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but in church she sang a song about a mule on a mountain, pausing from time to time to pass along tales and details about other diasporic Black folk she encountered in her travels.
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but in church she sang a song about a mule on a mountain, pausing from time to time to pass along tales and details about other diasporic Black folk she encountered in her travels.
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From the start the minds of the listeners wandered over her church bird attire of snow white feather dress and delicate eggshell-shaped bonnet atop a nest of afro plaits popping like knuckles—
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From the start the minds of the listeners wandered over her church bird attire of snow white feather dress and delicate eggshell-shaped bonnet atop a nest of afro plaits popping like knuckles—
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the hair plopped like knotty bowls of black cotton around the bulbous trembling egg-like hat
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the hair plopped like knotty bowls of black cotton around the bulbous trembling egg-like hat
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as she sang what sounded like a fully made-up song acapella because the organist was unsure where to touch the keys and petals between her notes and tales.
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as she sang what sounded like a fully made-up song acapella because the organist was unsure where to touch the keys and petals between her notes and tales.
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“You can start with any verse and give it any name,” Zora told the church as the preacher perspired.
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“You can start with any verse and give it any name,” Zora told the church as the preacher perspired.
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Hint
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Answer
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The mule’s name was Derrick. Zora rode him down to town where she met a Mary whose hips were so broad Huh!—
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The mule’s name was Derrick. Zora rode him down to town where she met a Mary whose hips were so broad Huh!—
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“She had a baby blacker than black with sky blue eyes. Mary told her Mamma it must have been the devil.
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“She had a baby blacker than black with sky blue eyes. Mary told her Mamma it must have been the devil.
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She told her daddy it must have been the Lord in disguise. Lord, Lord he had blue eyes, Huh!—
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She told her daddy it must have been the Lord in disguise. Lord, Lord he had blue eyes, Huh!—
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When they bulldoze the graveyards in these parts, they’ll find the hair of the dead turned to cotton,” Zora said momentarily sounding like a Sunday school teacher before resuming her anthropological story-song testimony,
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When they bulldoze the graveyards in these parts, they’ll find the hair of the dead turned to cotton,” Zora said momentarily sounding like a Sunday school teacher before resuming her anthropological story-song testimony,
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“The birds will still be hollering at the sky. Lord, Lord the crows will cry. You may go but this song will bring you back. You like my peaches, but you don’t like me. Don’t you shake my tree,”
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“The birds will still be hollering at the sky. Lord, Lord the crows will cry. You may go but this song will bring you back. You like my peaches, but you don’t like me. Don’t you shake my tree,”
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Zora sang suddenly fluttering to a new song or speaking directly to God,
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Zora sang suddenly fluttering to a new song or speaking directly to God,
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"You may go but this song will bring you back.”
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"You may go but this song will bring you back.”
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From start to finish, we were dumbstruck by her outfit of snow-white feathers and that damn eggshell hat.
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From start to finish, we were dumbstruck by her outfit of snow-white feathers and that damn eggshell hat.
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