www.jimibl.com
It's not really a new perspective, but rather one that has been brushed to the side and marginalized - A BLACK PERSPECTIVE on JIMI HENDRIX. Greetings, my name is Corey Washington. I am an author, educator, and music historian that specializes in researching and analyzing Jimi Hendrix from an AA/Black/POC (Person of Color) view. When I first starting learning about Jimi Hendrix, most of the material was presented from a non-black perspective, with a European slant. I eventually found Curtis Knight, David Henderson, and Greg Tate's books on Jimi, but other than the Ghetto Fighters/Aleems and his father Al and brother Leon Hendrix's book, there wasn't much else written about Jimi from a Black POV.
It is important to get the Black narrative when writing about Jimi because, well, he is a Black person that grew up in the predominately Black Central District of Seattle, WA. I always wondered why the narrative around Hendrix was always: He grew up poor and black, but then he left playing R&B on the Chitlin' Circuit and started playing Rock. He was then rescued by Linda Keith and Chas Chandler, transported to the magical land of Merry Ol' England and transformed into this mythical figure. This has led to some confusion from some Hendrix aficionados about Hendrix's feelings about his own race and culture. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that Hendrix didn't see himself as BLACK!!! The simple truth of the matter is - Jimi Hendrix was a BLACK MAN and never saw himself as anything but, a BLACK MAN. He didn't discriminate and loved people from all races, which is how everyone should be, but he separated himself from many Black people due to his creativity and his instrument of choice, the electric guitar, which was being underutilized in Black Music for most of his adult life. Instead of complaining, Jimi eventually infused his deep Black musical roots into contemporary Rock and changed music as we knew it. With my research, I want to uncover many hidden or obscured truths about the relationship between Jimi and the Black Community. I don't want to give everything away, so I'll wait until my book, Jimi Hendrix - Black Legacy comes out. I look forward to a robust and informative dialog with the Jimi Hendrix community and music community at-large. I'll make a more formal announcement concerning the official release date via a pres release in the Feb-Mar of 2019. Corey A. Washington www.jimibl.com
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