From the articles I linked to last week, one of the artists listed as having Native American roots was Jimi Hendrix:
https://coloradosound.org/5-musicians-indigenous-roots-national-native-american-heritage-month/
While many of the other things I have read have led me to be skeptical of part-Cherokee grandmothers, I have also read multiple rock bios where artists perceived as Black also list Native American ancestors.
It got me thinking about how messy defining race can get. Now, there's a certain logic to that, given that race is artificially constructed anyway, but since it has real effects we still need to deal with it; maybe we can work our way to a healthy deconstruction.
Until we can get there, I figured I could have a month of seasonal songs pulling only from the four categories I use that have heritage months.
Now, that gets tricky. Looking at Hispanic Heritage, searching on those songs I got a few results from Spain. That would not count. Many of them could also count as Indigenous (though not to Jacqueline Keeler). Also, Mexican singer Yuri is pretty light-skinned and blonde, but then so is Leona Lewis, British singer with a father of Afro-Guyanese descent. (And she is not always blonde, but in the video for the song I used, she is.)
I should point out that mentioning race like that feels gross. Ironically, it goes along with not wanting to be racist, but avoiding any mention of race makes it easier for those who fully embrace racism to have their way.
While racism is real and structural, one way I will counteract it is taking time to focus on those disadvantaged by it. I accept that I am not likely to do it perfectly.
For the songs, most of the songs by Black artists are ones I have used before, because they are favorites and I would hate to leave them out. That includes two by Stevie Wonder, and I found I have this little quartet of essential songs, representing different aspects of Christmas to me, and possibly only to me.
"This Christmas" by Donny Hathway represents getting together with friends and family, "What Christmas Means To Me" by Stevie Wonder is the fun and excitement of the holidays, whereas his "Someday At Christmas" is more the wishing for peace and goodwill. Finally, "Christmas Is The Time" by Low Rawls is more for the religious faith aspect.
Is there overlap? Sure. Could you reasonably propose different songs? Absolutely. That's just how it felt for me.
The other thing is that I was reviewing Native American artists for November right before, so there were songs that I thought might make more sense for December as I was listening in November. That includes Mildred Bailey's "I've Got My Love To Keep My Warm", but also of course it made sense to use R. Carlos Nakai's "Solstice Prayer" on the Winter Solstice, right?
Then I remembered that the Wounded Knee Massacre happened shortly after Christmas, something I cannot forget because of the image of the injured being taken to a church still decorated for Christmas. There is a "Wounded Knee" song. Then I saw something about the Dakota 38, and their execution happened on December 26th. So, there were songs for them.
(Though "Wounded Knee" went up a day late because I got confused on what day I was on, and that is embarrassing.)
Then I remembered Pearl Harbor, so it was appropriate to give that day to a Hawai'ian, though it is a Christmas song.
We pray and wish for peace and goodwill because we do not have it yet.
Also, that all gave me an idea for February, so there's that to look forward to.
12/1 “I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” by Mildred Bailey
12/2 “Reindeer Herding Song” by Pamyua
12/3 “Pesces En El Rio” by Gaby Moreno
12/4 “Sagebrush Snow Winds” by Robert Mirabal
12/5 “Winter Wonderland” by Beabadoobee
12/6 “Joy To The World” by Yo-Yo Ma
12/7 “Betelehema Iki e (O Little Town of Bethlehem)” by Amy Hänaiali'i
12/8 “Native Drummer Boy” by Robert “Tree” Cody and Ruben Romero
12/9 “Ven A Mi Casa Esta Navidad” by Mijares
12/10 “This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway
12/11 “O Holy Night (Navajo)” by Jana Mashonee
12/12 “Double Saxophone Christmas Medley” by Grace Kelly
12/13 “Christmas Is The Time” by Lou Rawls
12/14 “Rodolfo El Reno” by Los Tigres Del Norte
12/15 “Campana Sobre Campana” by Yuri
12/16 “She'll Be My Everything For Christmas” by Los Lonely Boys
12/17 “Caroling, Caroling (Christmas Bells Are Ringing)” by Nat King Cole
12/18 “Who Would Imagine A King” by Whitney Houston
12/19 “Feliz Navidad” by Jose Feliciano
12/20 “Groovy Xmas” by The Linda Lindas
12/21 “Solstice Prayer” by R. Carlos Nakai
12/22 “What Christmas Means To Me” by Stevie Wonder
12/23 “All Alone On Christmas” by Darlene Love
12/24 “One More Sleep” by Leona Lewis
12/25 “Christmas Must Be Tonight” by Robbie Robertson
12/26 “Dakota Hymn” by SATB Choir
12/27 “Campanas De Navidad” by Celia Cruz
12/28 “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” by Tina Guo
12/29 “Someday At Christmas” by Stevie Wonder
12/30 “Wounded Knee” by Walela
12/31 “Around The Fire” by Jennifer Chung
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