A Juneteenth Message

Emily Schneider — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 14:45:57 +0000

A Juneteenth Message Emily Schneider Thu, 06/17/2021 - 10:45

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This weekend we celebrate Juneteenth, commemorating June 19^th, 1865, when word of Emancipation finally reached the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, marking a symbolic end to slavery in the United States. The Commonwealth of Virginia established Juneteenth as a state holiday last year, and the Senate (unanimously) and House (overwhelmingly) just voted to make it a national holiday going forward. President Biden is expected to sign it soon.

In the spirit of celebration and contemplation, I want to share a piece of good radio that I recently heard on NPR’s Morning Edition.

This is part of the “Rising Sun Music Project” series with pianist Lara Downes, on the contributions of Black musicians in the classical music space. This 5 minute piece features two treatments of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (1905) by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson. “Lift Every Voice,” known as the Black National Anthem, is often heard at Juneteenth celebrations across the country as well as in church and other settings. The NPR piece also looks at (and listens to) two versions of Sam Cooke’s great Civil Rights song “A Change is Gonna Come” (1964).

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/16/1007047511/rising-sun-music-project-reveals-the-legacy-of-americas-black-concert-music

I am very glad that this important day in American history is finally getting broader, and more official, recognition. Freedom, equally available to all, is indeed something to celebrate – and to keep working toward. Let’s take time to both celebrate and contemplate this moment and this work on the occasion of Juneteenth.

Rick Davis
Dean, CVPA

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College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Juneteenth

Message for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Stacey Schwartz — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 16:57:39 +0000

Message for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Stacey Schwartz Fri, 01/15/2021 - 11:57

On January 16, 2023, we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a national holiday. Some will dedicate this day to service, others to reflection and remembrance.

Our country is experiencing divisions today that clearly tell us that Dr. King’s work remains unfinished. However you choose to mark this occasion in honor of a great American, let it be a foundation for building a more perfect union – one that recognizes the humanity in all of us; one that seeks justice and pursues equality by peaceful means; one that allows each of us to live without fear, without prejudice, free to become all that we can be without the visible and invisible barriers of racism, poverty, intolerance, and ignorance.

Dr. King dreamt of such a union, and accomplished so much in his tragically shortened lifetime toward making that dream a reality. As artists, teachers, and students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, let us take a moment – many moments – on this day to remember and reflect, and then lift our artistic voices in service of Dr. King’s dream, even though at times the task seems daunting.

Let us remember the words of the great American writer Toni Morrison, who in 2015 issued this inspiring call to action:

"This is the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal."

"I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge—even wisdom. Like art."

One way to think about art is that, across all of our forms and disciplines, and across time and space, art distills meaning from chaos. If we’re open to Morrison’s instruction here, we can find new (and vital) meaning and purpose for our work in this moment. We often say that the arts create community; on this day, let us take a good look at whatever communities we are part of, and think about how our art might begin to re-create them in honor of the life we celebrate today.

-- Rick Davis, Dean

(Editors note: This piece was originally published on January 18, 2021. The post has been updated to reflect a new year.)

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_{Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington.}

_{Photo credit: National Park Service}

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Rick Davis

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Martin Luther King

Jr.

Civil Rights

Center for Culture Equity and Empowerment

College of Visual and Performing Arts