The Dozens

[Delano]

The Dozens. A Black game of supposedly friendly rivalry and name calling ; in reality, a crucial exercise in learning how to absorb verbal abuse without faltering
Audre Lorde .

[Chevdove]

6 hours ago, Delano said:

The Dozens. A Black game of supposedly friendly rivalry and name calling ; in reality, a crucial exercise in learning how to absorb verbal abuse without faltering
Audre Lorde .

 

Really? How sad. 

 

I remember years ago seeing on the internet a competition between Black women and the host was a Black man who stood in the middle to start it and the two women had to take turns, slapping each other as hard as they could until the buzzer. I couldn't believe it. They could really get dangerously hurt doing that. 

 

And then, I watched a film documentary too, of Alaskan peoples where it was a common contest in which two men would take turns and punch each other in the head repeatedly and the one who was knocked out lost the competition!

 

So, that 'verbal abuse' game reminds me too of these competitions, but also, I think the verbal abuse game of Black people may stem from slavery times. I remember a comedian, maybe Bernie Mack [the late] said that the word 'MF', you know 'Motha F*ker' stems from that type of verbal abuse from the slave yard where young slave men would rape each others mother. 

 

Why can't people just have friendly competitions like this one:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Delano]

In the animal kingdom games are how animals learn to deal with the environment.

 

 

[Cynique]

11 hours ago, Chevdove said:

Why can't people just have friendly competitions...

Because some people can dish it out but can't take it and it escalates from there.

[Troy]

We used to call this activity “snappin” and i agree with @Chevdove it is sad.

 

Audre Lord’s idea that this is a crucial exercise to learn how to take verbal abuse tells me she never participated in this activity on a regular basis.
 

All it was, was us kids verbally abusing each other. there were no lessons no instructions it was just juvenile and stupid. 
 

Our time could have been put too much more constructive use.

 

 

[Pioneer1]

Yeah, when I was a kid we called it CAPPIN'

If we went hard on somebody and just wouldn't let off them, it was called ROASTIN'....lol.

The older generation before us called it the "dozens" and in some cases they use to stand in line and square off with eachother.
We just sat around in circles doing it.

It was done almost exclusively by boys.  I didn't see a lot of girls participating in it either with eachother or with boys.

It all had a purpose, although most of us didn't know what that purpose was at the time.
It was designed to test you emotionally to see how much abuse you could take as well as how QUICK WITTED you were.

Many boys who were good at the dozens/snappin'/cappin' went on to be Rappers and MC's or comedians.


"Nigga yo mama is so Black...she rubbed some grease on her legs and it looked like she
had on leather pants!"

[ProfD]

Where I grew up we called it jonin'. We mostly laughed at the insults but sometimes it would lead to arguments and fights. Nobody got killed though.

 

The mama jokes defnitely descended from the dozens. To this day the easiest way to offend most AfroAmericans is to talk about their mother.

 

"Your momma hair so short she has to roll it up with rice."

 

"Your momma so ugly she look like your great-grandaddy."

 

It was juvenile and insensitive but some of it was funny as h8ll and we'd be in tears laughing back in those days. 

[Chevdove]

14 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Many boys who were good at the dozens/snappin'/cappin' went on to be Rappers and MC's or comedians.

 

Dozens, snappin, cappin, roastin, and joinin... WOW! 

LOL!

 

Yes, in Virginia, I heard it as 'joinin'.

 

I think it is very distructive though, and again, I think it stems from chattel slavery times.

 

I wish I could remember the book I read, the author was raised in Virginia and he said that this type of 'Joinin' led to gain activity in which they raped women.

 

23 hours ago, Delano said:

In the animal kingdom games are how animals learn to deal with the environment.

 

Exactly! Again, that book that I read pretty much is saying the same thing! 

I don't understand the transition from 'joinin' to gang raping, but well, the jokes about 'Yo Momma' kind of fits the pattern here.

 

[Pioneer1]

"Yo mama so old she got yogurt 
in her titties instead of milk.  Go on
somewhere and sit down."
 

[Delano]

On 8/13/2022 at 8:46 PM, Chevdove said:

Why can't people just have friendly competitions like this one:

Some people are antagonistic and can't openly compete.