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Griot (gree'ot), n. A storyteller; among the peoples of West Africa, the singer-poet who recounts tales of heroes, recites the genealogies of the great, and preserves and disseminates the precious traditions of a given society; the griot's main function is to keep an oral history of the tribe or village. A class of professional musician-entertainers among the Wolof society of Senegal and Gambia . The griot in Senegal is a troubadour who recites poems, or tells of courageous deeds, drawing upon his own sources of inspiration, which, combined with rhythm, produces an intense effect upon the entire community.
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About the Author Hamiltion currently lives and works in Humboldt County, California. He continues to perform with the Watts Prophets and travels with them around the country to conduct residency programs for teens at art centers and schools. Their programs foster self-expression through the spoken word and culminate in performances where rapping, singing, dancing, scatting, and drumming are some of the ways young people make their voices heard. Links to articles about Amde Hamilton and the Watts Prophets http://www.bradyart.com/story_meToday.html http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/434 http://www.bradyart.com/story_combinations2.html http://eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2006-01-18/music/close2thaedge.html http://www.kcet.org/lifeandtimes/archives/200508/20050811.php http://www.citypaper.net/earshot/earshot.0497/zoom.wattsprophets.shtml http://www.forests.com/caaghist.html http://musiccenter.org/educators/newsletter07-2003.html http://telepoetics.dyndns.org/rp/ http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040501/news_2m1hiphop.html http://www.mp3.com/artists/173375/summary.html http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1999/Dec-24-Fri-1999/news/12616568.html
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