Day 6: The Power of the Spoken, Written and Sung Word

Today we traveled to Memphis to STAX Museum of American Soul Music which began in 1957 in a back-street garage and became a multi-million dollar organization.  It traces the roots of spirituals, gospel music and the gospel choir, to blues and soul. “Blues commands the present moment, demanding that you forget the woes of your past and deal with the trials ahead. It demands that you get into this song and this feeling right now and, like gospel, give yourself entirely over to the inspiration”. (STAX exhibit)

The irony of STAX is that prior to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., it was a manifestation of the “dream” of effective integration. Within the 4 walls of STAX color was not an issue for the musicians or administrators, even though it was in the midst of a highly segregated and troubled city.

Music was used to inspire, unify and give purpose to the Freedom Riders and other protesters, whether marching or sitting in jail.  Music was used by a favorite radio DJ, Shelley Stewart, speaking in code on the radio to communicate plans about the march.  The morning of “D-Day” (May 2, 1963) “Shelley the Playboy” announced that he hoped they had their toothbrushes packed and you’re ready, with toothbrushes being code that they might spend the night in jail.

The written and spoken word is powerful.  Here are some quotes that have been meaningful to me from the trip or readings:

“If slavery isn’t wrong, nothing is wrong”.  – Abraham Lincoln

“Slavery is the next thing to hell”. – Harriet Tubman

MLK stated that there were two Americas, one “overflowing with the miracle of prosperity and the honey of opportunity” and the other America “perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”. – MLK

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”- MLK

And finally, a poem on a pillar at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice by Elizabeth Alexander, entitled Invocation is a powerful tribute to those who were horrifically lynched.

Invocation

The wind brings your names.

We will never dissever your names

Nor your shadows beneath each branch and tree.

The truth comes in on the wind, is carried by water.

There is such a thing as the truth.  Tell us

How you got over, Say, Soul look back in wonder.

Your names were never lost,

Each name a holy word.

The rocks cry out –

Call out each name to sanctify this place.

Sounds in human voices, silver or soil,

A moan, a sorrow song,

A keen, a cackle, harmony,

A hymnal, handbook, cart,

A sacred text, a stomp, an exhortation.

Ancestors, you will find us still in cages,

Despised and disciplined.

You will find us still misnamed.

Here you will find us despite.

You will not find us extinct.

You will find us here memoried and storied.

You will find us here mighty.

You will find us here divine.

You will find us where you left us, but not as you left us.

Here you endure and are luminous.

You are not lost to us.

The wind carries sorrows, sighs, and shouts.

The wind brings everything. Nothing is lost. – Elizabeth Alexander

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