The original violin was modeled after the susa of Africa which was made from a gourd, not the European version of the fiddle.
Last Sunday, I was asked a question by a man who’s been dead for over a century, but it was the most intriguing question I’ve been asked in a long time. I was taken aback by the urgency of the question posed; in light of the recent events throughout the world, I was moved. A man, the first Black man to graduate from Harvard, whom could not have concieved of an Oprah Winfrey or a Barack and Michelle Obama asked a question of which it’s relevance is just finding it’s footing.
“Would America still be America without its Negro peoples?” – W.E.B. DuBois
The answer is of course no. The ideals that America was founded on would never have been realized without our footwork and our passions toward change. Change, it seems, is still our mantra.
Without our musical and spiritual contributions, America would lose it’s swagger and cease to be the artistic and powerful leader she has become.
I have never felt more American than within the last 2 years, and I know that feeling doesn’t just come from the election of our President which I fought so hard for. I hope that everyone who can make it to The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA (yes, the one where Barack gave his infamous speech on race) between now and May 3rd, 2009, come down and experience the America I Am exhibit. Experience a piece of our full and total AMERICAN history.
Someone I know took pix, I will post what I have been sent rite about now… Continue reading ‘Would America Be America?’
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