photo courtesy: africanpath.com
photo courtesy: africanpath.com

I was doing some research on what Guy Laliberte’s is up to now that he’s out of quarantine after his epic social poetic mission in space for the One Drop Foundation and came across some curious definitions of “one drop” along the way check it out! P.S. I also discovered that Guy’s name is pronounced nothing like the word guy, its sounds more like ‘Ghee’. In case you missed the show (it was 5:30am in Mumbai after all, you can watch it all online here.)

The one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term for a belief among some people in the United States that a person with any trace of African ancestry is black.

One drop rhythm is a drumset playing style of reggae, popularized by Carlton Barrett (long-time drummer of Bob Marley and the Wailers and The Upsetters), in which the backbeat is characterized by the dominant snare drum stroke (usually a click produced by hitting a rimshot) and bass drum both sounding on the third beat of every measure in 4/8 time (counting in 4/4 time, the drummer would leave beats one and three open), while beat one is left empty. Thus, the expected hit on beat one is “dropped,” creating the one-drop effect.

The One Drop Foundation is a non-profit organization created by Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque Du Soleil, to fight poverty worldwide by ensuring that everyone across the planet has access to water, now and in the future.

I like it! History, Music and an essential commodity for life. Now that’s poetic.