Leontyne Price: ‘I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free’ But what they brought with them - their dreams, their courage, their faith in a brighter tomorrow - transformed American life and culture in every possible way. They left behind everything and everyone they knew, taking only what they could carry. It was a defining American journey, the migration of more than six million Black Americans, following a ray of light called hope out of the rural South to the cities of the North, Midwest and West. The freedom to reimagine your reality, to dream a new life, inspires this first movement of Carlos' string quartet Warmth from Other Suns, a musical portrait of the Great Migration. Overall, I hope the song reflects this beautiful quote by the abolitionist Mariame Kaba: 'Hope is a discipline.' " The second half represents our fight against all odds. Samora puts it this way: "The first half represents the spirit of uprising and revolt, which requires imagining, courage, strength, organizing, scaffolding and fire. What grabs me is its juxtaposition of hot fire and cool resolve - the steady, persistent pulse interrupted by moments of percussive explosion. Inspired by the wave of protests against police violence in 2020, this song echoes the protest music of the 1960s in intention and intensity. Listen to their words - confident and deep in conviction - and maybe you, too, will rest easier tonight, knowing that tomorrow is in their hands. I've put out a call to young people across the United States, asking them to share what they believe in, to create a "Credo" for our present, a design for our future. Du Bois' "Credo." The feel of these notes under my fingers reminds me to reflect on the struggles and triumphs that came before us and also urges me to look ahead at the brightness of what can come next. In 1964, Margaret Bonds wrote this intimate yet infinitely powerful piece of music, inspired by the words of W.E.B. Teen mothers on their way to a conference on teen pregnancy.Įli Reed / © Eli Reed/Magnum Photos Lara Downes: ‘I Believe’ Music that brings us hope and faith and even joy, urging us to stand and fight another day, reminding us that what we are celebrating on this holiday is our freedom to believe, even in the hardest of times. Songs that ground us with the steadiness of their rhythms and embrace us in the lines of their melodies. Music that counters the shrieking dissonance of conflict with the radiant warmth of its harmonies, that offers us comfort in our sorrow and sustenance in our struggle. I offer you a collection of music that insists on the promise of freedom, however long in coming. This Juneteenth, I turn to Du Bois' words and Bonds' music - to all the lessons of our history. In his poem "Credo," he states his belief that all people deserve "the space to stretch their arms and their souls the right to breathe and the right to vote, the freedom to choose their friends, enjoy the sunshine and ride on the railroads, uncursed by color thinking, dreaming, working as they will." Sixty years later, the composer Margaret Bonds took inspiration from his words to write a piece of music full of pure passion and soaring beauty, even as violence raged and fires burned across America, as the civil rights movement fought on for the promise of those same freedoms, still unattained. Du Bois imagined a world that defied the realities of Jim Crow America. Jesse Jackson on the campaign trail.Īt the turn of the 20th century, the sociologist, historian and civil rights activist W.E.B. All we can ever do is believe in tomorrow and work to make it better, despite all evidence and against all odds. It's hard, in such darkness, to believe in the dawn of a better day.īut as we observe this holiday, I have to remember that freedom has always been hard fought and hard won. It's hard to stand upright in this storm of unending violence, to find footing on ground riven by such deep and jagged divisions. It's hard to reflect on freedom in this deafening swell of discord, this crescendo of threats to our most basic human and civil rights. This Juneteenth, I’m finding it hard to celebrate.
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