Call and Response

Nationality: African-American
Age: 51
Occupation: Diversity Consultant
Residence: Cleveland, OH
Performance Date: March 16, 2008
Primary Language: English

Call and Response Cheer

It takes a rockin’ chair to rock (one person yells)

Yeah Man! (everyone)

It takes a rubber ball to roll (one person)

Yeah Man! (everyone)

It takes a team like (fill in the blank with a name) (one person)

To satisfy my lovin’ soul (one person)

Yeah Man! (everyone)

Tell me how do you feel team? (one person) Satisfied! (everyone) Repeated 3x

Oh Satisfied Oh Satisfied! (everyone)

** Note: () indicate who is saying the stanza of the cheer. For example (One person) means that a designated person would say that line and that same one person would say the other lines that are marked (One person).

Val Robinson, my mother, learned this cheer when she was a little girl from her mother. She would use this cheer as a tool of inspiration and motivation. Val said, “My mom used to say it to us to make us laugh. For example, when I was having a bad day at school she would cheer me up by saying. It takes a rockin’ chair to rock. Yeah man! It takes a rubber ball to roll! Yeah Man! It takes a person like Val. Yeah Man! To satisfy my lovin’ soul. Tell me how do you feel Val? Satisfied! Tell me How do you feel Val? Satisfied! Tell me how do you feel Val? Satisfied. Oh Satisfied! Oh Satisfied!”

I have personally become fond of this cheer because this cheer was passed down to my brother and I. Val, my mother, would often use this cheer in the same context with us: as a mode of motivation and inspiration. I can remember my Mom shouting this cheer at my high school volleyball games when my team was losing. She would yell it from the bleachers in the parents section of the gym cheering my teammates and myself on. This cheer therefore, spread to the members of my volleyball team. The context of which it is performed allows for a large group cooperation and involvement. Hence, the process of diffusion amongst different groups has a great potential of rapidly spreading. Because there is no limit to the number of people who can chant this cheer, a person or group of people can learn and pass it on to large groups at one given time.