By Frank James
African American people are be terrorized by a silent killer. The death that stalks many African Americans is obesity. Obesity leads to a plethora of health problems in all races. In African Americans the list ranges from: high blood pressure to stroke. There is a simple thing that has vanished from African American existence that can help combat obesity. The return of the dance floor in African American places of leisure.
Dance has always been a part of African American culture. African Americans have danced in various forms from ballroom dancing, to twerking, in the USA. The ability by many African Americans to dance can also be a way to combat obesity in the African American community. There is a large amount of African Americans who go to clubs, or taverns, weekly. Many of these night spots have become simple watering holes where someone can drink, eat, then go home. The magic allure of the dance floor is absent in many of these places. This has to change.
African Americans burned calories when dancing was one of the reasons African Americans went out to clubs on the weekend. The dance floor at a “jumping club” would always be packed with African Americans dancing like there was no tomorrow. The expenditure of energy African Americans released during Friday and Saturday night club sessions was a form of exercise. For many African Americans, this was the only form of exercise they partook of. When clubs, bars and taverns eliminated dance floors, they eliminated one valuable form of exercise from the African American community.
Look at the music videos from the 1980’s to the mid 1990’s. You see entertainers either dancing themselves, or with background dancers performing. These background dancers often did more than just “drop it like it’s hot.” Everybody was, “taking it to the bridge,” in the club when MC Hammer came out with Lets Get It Started. Digital Underground had everyone doing the Humpty Dance in clubs. The energy that African Americans released during a night out was a great way to combat obesity. The dance floor has been replaced by booths and chicken wings in 2026.
The move many night spots made in transitioning from having a dance floor to more feeding booths is one that is understandable. The transformation of rap music from upbeat music into a destructive force made such a move necessary. There was “gangsta rap” in the late 1980’s early 90’s. The genre is nothing new. Yet, the music played inside night clubs and cabaret halls during this era, was upbeat dance music commonly called, “booty music.” This was the music that made people rush to the dance floor when a certain song came on. People listened to NWA and the Geto Boys in their cars, or house. When the same person hit the club, it was Two Live Crew, Poison Clan, and other groups that had upbeat tempo and bass in their songs, that was played. This music made people, African Americans, want to get up and dance, not fight. Dancing burns calories. Eating chicken wings at 3am creates calories which leads to obesity.
Obesity is being disguised as attractive and normal in the African American community. Both of the previous concepts are falsehoods that the belief in only benefits people in the medical and mortuary fields. African Americans re-energize your melanin and find someplace to dance on weekends instead of eating a BBQ wing soufflé at 2:30 am. Find a dance floor and get moving. The dance floor can save you African American. Honey lemon wings, fries and chicken tenders at 12 am will keep you popping blood pressure pills.
Frank James IV © 2026
beingfrankwithfrank@gmail.com
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the writer and not of the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper or HT Group, LLC, its staff or management. “Being Frank” is a bi-weekly column exclusive to the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper.
