Shebeen

Shebeen in Joe Slovo Park, Cape Town

A shebeen (Irish: síbín) was originally an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages were sold without a licence. The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Scotland, Canada, the United States, England,[1] Zimbabwe, the English-speaking Caribbean,[2] Namibia, and South Africa. In modern South Africa, many "shebeens" are now fully legal.[3][4] The word derives from the Irish síbín, meaning 'illicit whiskey'.[5][6]

South Africa

In South Africa and Zimbabwe, shebeens are most often located in townships as an alternative to pubs and bars, where under apartheid and the Rhodesian era, indigenous Africans were barred from entering pubs or bars reserved for those of European descent.

Originally shebeens were operated illegally by women who were called Shebeen Queens and was itself a revival of the African tradition that assigned the role of alcohol brewing to women.[7] The Shebeen Queens would sell homebrewed and home-distilled alcohol and provided patrons with a place to meet and discuss political and social issues. Often, patrons and owners were arrested by the police, though the shebeens were frequently reopened because of their importance in unifying the community and providing a safe place for discussion.[8] During the apartheid era shebeens became a crucial meeting place for activists, some attracting working class activists and community members, while others attracted lawyers, doctors and musicians.[9]

Shebeens also provided music and dancing, allowing patrons to express themselves culturally, which helped give rise and support the musical genre kwaito.[10] Currently, shebeens are legal in South Africa and have become an integral part of South African urban culture, serving commercial beers as well as umqombothi, a traditional African beer made from maize and sorghum. Shebeens still form an important part of today’s social scene. In contemporary South Africa, they serve a function similar to juke joints for African Americans in the rural south. They represent a sense of community, identity, and belonging.

Today, they appeal to South Africa’s youth, and are mostly owned by men. Shebeens are bouncing back as South Africans try to preserve some of their cultural heritage.[11]

United States

In the United States, the word shebeen saw general use by Irish immigrants who worked in the anthracite patches of Pennsylvania.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "'You speak Asian, get me a curry,' said my sergeant: Tarique Ghaffur reflects on his early years in the police force". Daily Mail (London). 2008-12-13.
  2. ↑ Sansone, Livio. The Making of Suriland, in Caribbean migration to Western Europe and the United States: essays on incorporation, identity, and citizenship, Temple University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-59213-954-5, p177
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ Dictionary.com
  6. ↑ Ó Dónaill, Niall and Pádraig Ua Maoileoin, eds. An Foclóir Beag. An Gúm, 2000. ISBN 978-1-85791-364-4 p368
  7. ↑ Athol Fugard (5 August 1993). The Township Plays: No-Good Friday; Nongogo; The Coat; Sizwe Bansi is Dead; The Island. Oxford University Press. pp. 229–. ISBN 978-0-19-282925-2. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  8. ↑ Stanley-Niaah, Sonjah (2007). Katherine McKittnick and Clyde Woods, ed. "Mapping of Black Atlantic Performance Geographies: From Slave Ship to Ghetto" Black Geographies and the Politics of Place. Cambridge: South End Press.
  9. ↑ Vusi Mona. "Shebeens". Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  10. ↑ Richard Poplak. "Words Are Weapons". CBC News. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  11. ↑ Stanley-Niaah, Sonjah. "Mapping of Black Atlantic Performance Geographies: From Slave Ship to Ghetto." In Black Geographies and the Politics of Place, ed. by Katherine McKittrick and Clyde Woods, 193-217. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2007
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