Andy Razaf: A man we Malagasy should be proud of
Some of my compatriots just read that title and/or looked at the picture above and went “Iza izany Andy Razaf izany ?”
Andy Razaf, born Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo in 1895 in Washington D.C., was a poet. I haven’t found any information about whether or not he spoke Malagasy. I do not think he ever went to Madagasikara.
Though, his story begins before his birth on the Red Island of Africa. During the second French Invasion of Madagasikara that took place in 1894–1895, his father, Henri Razafinkarefo, the nephew of Queen Ranavalona III, was killed. His mother fled to the United States where he was born.
Raised in Harlem, his family valued poetry and music and that made write his first verses at the age of ten. At the age of sixteen he drops out of school to get a job to help his family. At the age of seventeen, working as an elevator operator in a Tin Pan Alley building, he sells his first text, “Baltimo”.
It is no secret that America doesn’t have a pretty past regarding racism. Andy Razaf did participate in protests in his own way. With the help of music composer Fats Waller and songwriter Harry Brooks, he wrote what is considered as one of the first song of racial prosted titled “Black and Blue”.
I’m hurt inside, but that don’t help my case
Cause I can’t hide what is on my face
How will it end? Ain’t got a friend
My only sin is in my skin
What did I do to be so black and blue?
Tell me, what did I do?
Andy Razaf is best known to be the songwriter of songs like “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Ain’t Misbehavin” but he has a tremendous number of songs in his repertoire that were later performed by many American artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and many more.
Why does he matter to us Malagasy? Well, if you are a part of the diaspora of Madagasikara living in North America and you have children, their situation is not really different from Andy’s as they are members of the diaspora born overseas. Andy never went to his homeland but he was proud of his heritage and we, as Malagasy, should be proud of him for the impact on America’s pop culture he had.
