Roots of Joy

Pertaining to the theme of “returning to the roots” of civil rights, from day to day we examine the real foundations that America was built on. The mass importation of slaves begun the plantations that fed the white population, and, even after being freed, the justice system was built with its walls isolating the colored from white in any way possible. Visiting the Stax Records Museum yesterday and the National Museum for African American Music, we learn how intertwined the music and movements were. In the oppressed African American culture, music manifested in communication and sermons.

You can’t have a movement without music. It simply would not survive. (Paraphrased)

There is so much life in these areas. And the life tells the city’s story. Memphis, in its glaze from the setting sun, is teeming with life and diversity. On the other hand, Nashville, predominantly white, was one of the first southern cities to publicly desegregate, but it still did not allow colored musicians to play.

All in all, we need a way to express ourselves, the change we need, and the world we want to see one day.

Faith without works is dead. A movement without music is dead.

Jon Sison

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