Over the past several weeks, we have observed how Lisa
Tucker has barely survived being booted from the show. The 16 year old can
definitely blow, but after watching her awkwardly groove to music, and
listening to her sub-par Stevie Wonder rendition, it is apparent that she is
in need of a large helping of soul food. Excuse our use of ebonics, but uh,
ole’ girl ain’t got no soul.
Though not her fault, Lisa’s soullessness is inexcusable.
Many of you upwardly bound people jetted out of the Hood and left behind
traditions that made us who we are today. Mama and daddy Tucker should have at
least made sure that Lisa visited her cousins in the Hood. She would have then
been exposed to some of the soul developing games that little girls play. Thus,
this week we are recognizing the Hood Game double-dutch. If Lisa would have grew
up playing double-dutch, her performances would be more soulful.
Double-dutch is a skillful jump rope game played in every
urban-American community. True to the soul of the city, girls would freak the
game out by adding a little style. Even entering the ropes required that
rhythmic back and forth rocking motion. We’re not quite sure whether the goal of
double-dutch was to see who could jump the longest, fastest, or perform the best
freestyle tricks, but girls would normally incorporate all of the above into
their routines.
Back in the day, the girls would rock those flat, white shoes
or jellybean shoes with the socks folded over, and have a head full of beads or
berets. They would start off jumping real fast, do the jump on one leg thing,
and bust a few spin moves; all while singing the jump rope songs (Bear with us.
We are trying to explain this from a male perspective).
Today, you rarely see a group of girls playing double- dutch
in the slew of cookie-cut subdivisions that are popping up daily. What’s up with
that ladies? Everything in the Hood wasn’t all bad. So put down that glass of
wine, take off your Manolo's, put your hair in a ponytail, and teach our little
privileged sistas in your gated community how to jump double-dutch and play
pity-pat. Keep our traditions alive so that the next Lisa on American Idol
doesn't look so out of place.