Save Maxwell St. - Caleb Dube, Northwestern University From Caleb Dube, Ph.D. student, Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL Born in Zimbabwe and a Zulu folklorist, he is now studying how Chicago blues musicians make a living from musical work. People usually identify themselves through place, in particular where they were born or where they spent their childhood years. Music plays an important part in this identification process because it helps to bring back memory and emotional attachment to a place or event.
Music is therefore an important cultural product for constructing historical memory.
As a historical musical landmark Maxwell Street is significant in the lives of the people who participated in and created its culture and history. The umbilical cord has a significant symbolic meaning in Zulu society. It represents a person's identity and history. In order to connect me to my ancestors the remains of my umbilical cord were placed in my mother's kitchen. If I had been born in Iceland and raised in that country for six months or one year, my mother would have preserved the remains of my umbilical until she returned to Africa where should would dispose of it accordingly.