The first time was for Africa (USA for Africa) and Michael Jackson was part of the vision. This time we have a vision of Michael Jackson included in the final master of what has become a who’s who classic. Bravo Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones! Just when you thought these things were just an 80s thing. A good thing never goes out of style or ceases to inspire.
Proceeds from the download for “We Are the World 25 for Haiti” will go towards earthquake recovery efforts in Haiti. The fundraising effort is part of the We Are the World Foundation.
Those of us who are holed up indoors from the great blizzard of 2010 have been amusing ourselves on-line, sharing grocery store inventory, cravings, menus, DVD recommendations, weather updates, power outages, federal closings, and of course snow removal adventures. Call it “snocial media.” Jackie sent the ladies this picture of her son Randy’s snow man, and some little extras he added from his computer. Tee hee!
This music special was recorded last night (24 hours before the original date – Feb. 10 and the DC blizzard). “In Performance at the White House” will broadcast tomorrow (Thursday) February 11 on PBS stations (check local listings). It is heartening to see Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, a member of the original Freedom Singers and founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock share the bill. Rutha Harris and Charles Neblett – also members of the Freedom Singers. And Joan Baez and Bob Dylan sharing the stage again. A community organizer would really dig this concert. A full list of concert performers (Jennifer Hudson, Morgan Freeman, Yolanda Adams, Smokey Robinson etc.) is available here. We sang their songs in school as part of our music education. E-Bert sent me some quotes from Paul Gilroy that he posted this morning:
One of the reasons that we engage these forms of art is because they educate us. And I don’t want to be too conservative about this, but listening to bad music makes you stupid.
What does music teach us today?
President’s Remarks THE PRESIDENT: Welcome to the White House, everybody. And thank you for braving the storm. I am thrilled to see all of you here today — friends, guests, members of my Cabinet, members of Congress, our Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden, and everyone watching at home — for the fifth in a series of evenings celebrating the music that tells the story of America.
Tonight, we celebrate the music of a movement.
To help us do that, Michelle and I are thrilled to welcome a tremendous group of artists who influenced that music, and artists who were influenced by it:
Yolanda Adams; Joan Baez; Natalie Cole; Morgan Freeman; Jennifer Hudson; John Mellencamp; Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon; Smokey Robinson; the Blind Boys of Alabama; the Howard University Choir; and a man who was good enough to take a night off from his Never Ending Tour — Mr. Bob Dylan.
I want to thank some of them for spending some time earlier here today, leading a workshop of high school students — perhaps even inspiring the next generation of civil rights leaders.
Let me also just acknowledge a good friend to us all, Dr. Joseph Lowery, who was here — who couldn’t be here with us today, but he is recuperating after an illness and we want to keep him in our thoughts and prayers tonight.
Now, the civil rights movement was a movement sustained by music. It was lifted by spirituals inspired by the Bible. It was sharpened by protest songs about wrongs that needed righting. It was broadened by folk artists like a New York-born daughter of immigrants, and a young storyteller from Minnesota, who captured the hardships and hopes of people who were worlds different from them, in ways that only song can do.
It was a movement with a soundtrack — diverse strains of music that coalesced when the moment was right. But that soundtrack wasn’t just inspired by the movement; it gave strength in return — a fact not lost on the movement’s leaders.
It’s been said that when Dr. King and his associates were looking for communities to organize and mobilize, they’d know which were disciplined enough and serious enough when they saw folks singing freedom songs. Dr. King himself once acknowledged that he didn’t see “the real meaning of the movement” until he saw young people singing in the face of hostility.
You see, it’s easy to sing when you’re happy. It’s easy to sing when you’re among friends. It’s easy to sing when times are good. But it is hard to sing when times are rough. It’s hard to sing in the face of taunts, and fear, and the constant threat of violence. It’s hard to sing when folks are being beaten, when leaders are being jailed, when churches are being bombed.
It’s hard to sing in times like that. But times like that are precisely when the power of song is most potent. Above the din of hatred; amidst the deafening silence of inaction; the hymns of the civil rights movement helped carry the cause of a people and advance the ideals of a nation.
Bernice Johnson Reagon knew this. One day when she was young, she was sitting in church when a local sheriff and his deputies showed up to intimidate the congregation. “They stood at the door,” Bernice wrote, “making sure everyone knew they were there. Then,” she said; “a song began. And the song made sure that the sheriff and his deputies knew that we were there.”
Joan Baez and Bob Dylan knew this. One day in 1963, they joined hundreds of thousands on the National Mall and sang of a day when the time would come; when the winds would stop; when a ship would come in. They sang of a day when a righteous journey would reach its destination.
And Congressman John Lewis — a man of that Moses Generation; a man who couldn’t be here tonight, but whose sacrifices helped make it possible for me to be here tonight — he knew this too. For in the darkest hour, he said, “the songs fed our spirits and gave us hope.”
So to everyone here, or watching at home, let us enjoy the music we hear tonight. Let the music feed our spirits; give us hope; and carry us forward — as one people, and as one nation. Enjoy. (Applause.)
This weekend’s $100K speech at the Tea Party Convention was just one of many Sarah moments of the week topped off by the disclosure of her manual “palm pilot” to remember 3 key conservative issues of her fan base: Energy, Tax Budget Cut, Lift American Spirits.
Will someday in time people re-enact the 2008-2009 Palin speeches and debates as they do for Lincoln or MLK, Jr. birthday celebrations? Oops. Sorry Tina [Fey]. I almost forgot.
I’ll be perfectly frank. I don’t know why the media chases after Sarah Palin or even raises the idea of her being a serious option to lead a nation EVER. Sure, she’s just another brand of identity politics, but most important Sarah sells. My sister reminded me, she meets the 5 requirements for a news story in a market driven culture:
1. Contradiction
2. Conflict
3. Controversy
4. Characters
5. Colorful Language
These are the 5 Cs on the media consultant’s Power Point doc for getting your message, or any message out to the general public. Remember them people. I’m sure Ms. Palin’s handlers may have it “ritten” on the inside of her arm.
New Orleans Saints 31; Indianapolis Colts 17. Super Bowl XLIV (2010)
Amid all the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras madness, there seems to be one story that didn’t get as much attention outside New Orleans: The Mayoral election on Saturday. Yes, Nagin is out (term over) and Mitch Landrieu is in receiving over 60% of the vote. More attention has been paid to the shift in hue of the mayor than the shift in direction of the electorate, i.e. just saying “chocolate city” isn’t cutting it with NOLA’s African American voters – at least the ones who stayed. Take a cue from the Janet Jackson hit – “What have you done for me lately?” So “Who dat” Mitch Landrieu? Undercoverblackman has a hat tip. He’s the son of New Orleans last white mayor (since 1978), Moon Landrieu who integrated city hall. Mitch Landrieu will be sworn in May 6. People forget, New Orleans politics is just as fascinating as its party culture.
Here’s Michel Martin’s report on today’s “Tell Me More.”