What musicians taught me about Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream : NPR

Shut your eyes and film America. What do you see? I suppose it relies on who you might be, however once I shut my very own eyes, a really particular picture instantly seems. It is a black and white picture that dates from earlier than my time, however is embedded in my panorama of household historical past and mythology. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seen in profile with a quiet smile on his face, his proper arm raised in direction of the sky and intersecting with the obelisk of the Washington Monument within the background. Behind him, the Nationwide Mall is full of individuals crowded on all sides of the reflecting pool. It is August 28, 1963 — the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom — and King is giving his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Zoom out. What we do not see within the picture is the mayhem that framed that second and the 2 centuries of historical past that made it so vital, however clearly captured on this picture is the hope that’s attainable in America, the urge to return collectively in pursuit of a dream.

Zoom again in. About 250,000 individuals had been on website that day, having traveled hundreds of miles by airplane and practice, by bus and on foot. Amongst them had been civil rights leaders and legends like Rosa Parks, and celebrities from Jackie Robinson to James Baldwin to Paul Newman. And there was music at the march. Marian Anderson, Mahalia Jackson, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Odetta and The Freedom Singers sang spirituals, freedom songs and people anthems, with the group singing alongside. As a musician who cares rather a lot about hope and peace and freedom, I’ve all the time thought how extremely lucky these artists had been, to be a part of such a proud second in our historical past.

However perhaps I used to be trying via rose coloured glasses. The opposite evening I heard an interview with Rita Moreno, who was standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that day, nearly 10 toes from Dr. King. She went to the march as a result of Harry Belafonte had invited her, and it was an unforgettable expertise that modified her life. However, she mentioned, she was terrified to attend. She’d simply received an Academy Award for her position as Anita in West Aspect Story — the primary Latina ever to win an Oscar. Taking part within the march threatened severe skilled implications; she was afraid she’d by no means work once more, that she’d be blacklisted in Hollywood. She was afraid of the bodily violence that so simply might have damaged out that day. However, in her personal phrases: “Sooner or later in life, one has to take accountability … one must be liable for what’s.” She confronted her fears, and confirmed up.

American artists confirmed up via all the difficulty and turmoil of the twentieth century. The good American contralto Marian Anderson gave a historic live performance for an built-in viewers on these Lincoln Memorial steps in 1939, the identical yr Billie Vacation first sang and recorded “Strange Fruit“. Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie confronted Ku Klux Klan attacks at a concert for the Civil Rights Congress in Peekskill N.Y. 10 years later. American musicians from Hazel Scott to Aaron Copland confronted the non-public {and professional} perils of the McCarthy period blacklists. Joan Baez was simply 22 years previous when she led the group in singing “We Shall Overcome” on the March on Washington. It was solely three weeks later when members of the KKK in Birmingham, Ala. bombed the sixteenth Road Baptist Church, killing 4 younger ladies — a horrific act of violence that impressed Nina Simone to jot down her music “Mississippi Goddam.”

Musicians carry out earlier than 25,000 civil rights marchers in Montgomery, Ala. following a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. on March 25, 1965. Performers (from left to proper) embrace Mary Travers, Harry Belafonte, Leon Bibb, Joan Baez and Oscar Model.

Stephen F. Somerstein/Getty Pictures

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Stephen F. Somerstein/Getty Pictures

That is all historical past now, captured in pictures and movie clips and recordings which have acquired the patina of legend. However on the time, there was nothing photogenic about displaying up. It was an act of resistance and braveness that required the going through of actual and current risks. Judy Collins has informed me about menacing encounters on darkish nation roads when she was down in Mississippi registering voters in 1964. I spoke with the pianist and producer Robert Glasper, who mentioned that he heard from Harry Belafonte concerning the threats he confronted in the midst of his personal outstanding activism. You may pay attention for your self to Pete Seeger’s first-hand account of the violence on the Peekskill live performance in 1949.

If Martin Luther King hadn’t been murdered within the prime of his life, he’d be turning 96 years previous at the moment. Think about what that alternate-reality model of America may appear to be. There’s been a lot violence and hate since that hopeful August day in 1963 — so many causes to surrender hope altogether. As a musician contemplating the lengthy arc of historical past, I understand that now it is my flip to indicate up, to be prepared and prepared to pursue the dream that Dr. King fought for, together with so a lot of that era together with my very own mother and father. I do not know precisely what that can imply — perhaps going through my very own fears, perhaps extra. However I do know that it means holding onto what I like about American music, and making good use of its energy to unite us when nothing else appears to.

Tonight some musician associates of mine are coming collectively in New York Metropolis in what we’re calling a “Reflection on America” to honor Dr. King on his birthday by centering hope and love, resistance and persistence. We’ll play and sing previous songs and new ones, remembering the previous and considering the current. MLK cherished music and he believed in its powers. And that day on the Lincoln Memorial steps, music was his metaphor as he spoke of what he pictured for America: “to remodel the jangling discords of our nation into a phenomenal symphony of brotherhood.” I attempt to keep targeted on that stunning imaginative and prescient. As laborious as it might be to see it clearly proper now, I am retaining my eyes large open.