The epic folktale/fable Shine graphically illustrates the belief of us African- American people in our own survivability, even under seemingly the most impossible of circumstances. Many of us received our first exposure to this rhythmic folktale/fable around the beginning of our pubescent years, when we began venturing out on our own experiencing the various rhythmic vibrations of our respective communities.

There is no definitive version. In the book Get Your Ass The Water And Swim Like Me by Bruce Jackson, which is a principle reference for this work, there are ten different versions. The tellers of this tale, and others like them (The Signifying Monkey and Stagger Lee are, like Shine, among the most famous), “perform” them in the tradition of the African Griot, and never do so the same way twice. Relying solely on memory, they fashion the fable in such a manner as to evoke responses from their audiences. These responses from the audience are an integral part of the performance. They provide the fuel for the performer’s fire. The more involved and responsive the audience becomes, the more animated the performer gets. This interplay oftentimes intensifies, depending on the skill of the performer, to the point where some of the audience may be laughing so uncontrollably hard that their stomachs sometimes ache. They often beg the performer to stop so that they can collect themselves. But of course that only “eggs” him on.