Monday, August 28, 2017

Sixty-two Years Ago Today

On August 28, 1955, Emmett Till was murdered in a horrific racist crime that reverberated throughout the world.
In April of this year, Jazz Night in America recorded Wadada Leo Smith performing a portion of his original composition "Emmett Till: Defiant, Fearless" while canoeing down the Little Tallahatchie River in Glendora, Miss.

Here is the 360˚ VR video of that composition:

4 comments:

  1. "The only art form that has come out of the U.S. is from black culture, blues and jazz" Eric Burden

    White America can't afford to be aware of the magnitude of that statement!

    In present day police shoot and kill blacks without cause, simply because their black. It's as if they have replaced lynching blacks with shooting them.

    The hate and the rage shown in the violence in murdering Emmett Till is emotionally what drives most white racists.

    If we can understand, why the hate and why the rage, then maybe we can understand why the racism.

    Thx. for posting. Using jazz to pay tribute to Emmett Till was beautiful.

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    1. I thought the musical elegy was quite moving, Pamela. It is a shame that some people cannot appreciate the tremendous contribution made to American culture by Black people. Without them, we would be all the poorer.

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  2. .. quite phenomenal .. ! Thank you ! And unique !

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    1. It is yet another powerful way to keep the memory of Emmett Till and all that he represents alive, Salamander.

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