Oral history interview with John Blake
Object Details
- General
- Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
- Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
- Interviewer
- Corporan, Héctor, 1945-
- Names
- Howard University
- Third World (Musical group)
- Blake, John
- Grant, Eddy
- Collection Creator
- Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum
- Place
- Trinidad and Tobago
- West Indies
- Africa
- Washington (D.C.)
- United States
- Topic
- Caribbeans
- African Americans
- Radio broadcasters
- Reggae musicians
- Emigration and immigration
- Radio broadcasting
- Radio programs
- Music
- Reggae music
- Calypso (Music)
- Manners and customs
- African diaspora
- Civil rights movements
- Stereotypes (Social psychology)
- Police
- Interviews
- Interviewer
- Corporan, Héctor, 1945-
- Culture
- Trinidadians
- West Indians
- Jamaicans
- See more items in
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records / Series 3: Oral History Interviews
- Sponsor
- Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
- Extent
- 1 Digital file
- 1 Sound cassette
- Date
- circa 1992-1993
- Archival Repository
- Anacostia Community Museum Archives
- Type
- Archival materials
- Digital files
- Sound cassettes
- Citation
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
- Collection Rights
- Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
- Note
- The total playing time of interview recording is approximately 45 minutes.
- Scope and Contents
- John Blake spoke about his migration from Trinidad to the United States, including his first experiences and first impression, and cultural differences, in 1970; living in a group house with his brother in Washington, DC; and Howard University. Blake explained his interest in radio broadcasting; changing careers from quantity surveying / building estimating to broadcasting; the origin, history, and evolution of his radio program, "Caribbean Experience"; the importance of his radio program to the community; and the importance of a network of information for the Caribbean community, which led to Caribbean communities understanding each other better. Blake spoke about teaching radio production; reggae and calypso music; reggae musicians, including Eddy Grant and the musical group, Third World; the relationship between music genres in and across the Caribbean, Africa, and the United States; and why was reggae music embraced by the African American community. He also spoke about the African diaspora; civil rights movement and uprisings in Washington, DC; Black consciousness movement; Operation Caribbean Cruise, a Washington, DC police drug investigation and raid which targeted the Jamaican and Caribbean community; and how Jamaicans and Caribbeans are generalized and stereotyped. John Blake was interviewed by Hector Corporan. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include minimal white noise and static. Interviewee's voice is intelligible.
- Collection Restrictions
- Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
- Record ID
- ebl-1712088000981-1712088003364-1
- Metadata Usage
- CC0