Before the opening and at the end of intermission of every performance at American Shakespeare Center, actors turn musicians to serenade the audience. Usually a rousing, fun time, at the start of Othello, the mood shifts when Brandon Carter and Topher Embrey step forward to lead the ensemble in “Glory” by John Legend and Common. […]
Video: NY Philharmonic plays 13-year old Jordan Millar’s arrangement of We Shall Overcome. Heart-searing
This is THE anthem of THE American civil rights movement that many other movements for civil rights around the world have adopted. You will have heard it sung in documentaries and the news coverage of protests from the 1960s. Listen to this version. It’s heart-searing. It soars. The arrangement written by this young lady (a […]
Music for the Movement: I’ll Rise Up by Andra Day
My name is Pamela Jafari. I am a Washingtonian senior who is Black, lesbian, a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother. I have a 26 y/o grandson, and 3 y/o great-grandson, who I am always concerned about their welfare of these Black young people in America. I am a playwright and a member of […]
Music for the movement: Skin on the Drum, Michael Franti & Spearhead
Recommended by Anastasia Wilson, DC actor now based in Atlanta. “And as the pepper gas clears And police and protestors go home Just as the morning dew are tear drops of the night My emotions are always there for you And will never leave you dry.”
Music for the movement: Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come
“It’s been a long, long time coming But I know that change is gonna come” – Sam Cooke, 1964 Recommended by Pamela Jafari. “I am a Washingtonian senior who is Black, lesbian, a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother. I have a 26 y/o grandson, and 3 y/o great-grandson, who I am always concerned about […]
The Lord Is My Shepherd: the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice
We ask: what art by artists of color sustains or inspires you? From Gregory J. Ford comes this answer. As a little Black boy being “raised” in the Church of God in Christ, the 23rd Psalm was required memorization. The ancient Hebrew scripture that Black folks were permitted access to accurately described the contours of […]
Music for the Movement: Stereotypes by Black Violin
Kev Marcus and Wil B, musicians from Florida, are Black Violin. Stereotypes run deep in our psyches. From who we represent that we are to each other, to what we wear, to our age, even to the stereotype of a musical instrument, such as the violin.