His Soul Goes Marching On?

Posted on November 8, 2024 by Lucia Iurino

In January I applied only slightly more than a whim for a CURI proect researching John Brown. I did not know who he was at all before reading the description, apparently he was a militant abolitionist who perhaps most notably tried to incite a slave revolt in Harper’s Ferry Virginia in 1859. Previously, he had been involved in Bleeding Kansas, leading the Pottawatomie Massacre. He was disastrously unsuccessful at Harper’s Ferry, but became a martyr for the abolitionist cause, and many scholars argue that Brown’s actions and subsequent execution sparked the Civil War.

When I told people my summer plans, most of them either asked me “who is that?” or, they started singing “John Brown’s Body,” at me.

The song, which later became the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” when Julia Ward Howe used the melody to set a text that tied the Union’s fight in the Civil War to God’s Judgment. The song retains the martial themes of the original marching song, but also, I think, retains the image of John Brown, especially in the lines “as he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.” It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who most explicitly made the comparison between Brown and Christ, saying in a speech on November 8th that Brown’s execution would “make the gallows as glorious as the cross.” (“Emerson on Courage” The Liberator. November 18th, 1859).

John Brown’s Body, or the Battle Hymn is a catchy piece, (and often people sing verses from both together). It has been the accompaniment for many of my walks around campus since starting my research this summer. I often sing it without really thinking about its edgier theological (at least for our time) and political content. The melody is invigorating, an ascending line, an answering descending line, an ascending line, and a shorter fourth line that brings each statement to a certain conclusion. There are also some lines that are extremely satisfying to sing. “He has loosed the fateful lighting of his terrible swift sword,” is my particular favorite. The refrain of “Glory, Glory Hallelujah” demands to be sung with gusto, and perhaps with righteous anger.

But Lucia, why are you invoking John Brown now, and why with a martial hymn about the wrath of God?

This is a fair question. John Brown is remembered with discomfort. He sought justice with violence. Whether people blanche because of the the violence itself, its extra-judicial nature, or it’s relationship to Brown’s deep Calvinism, the reactions to Brown tell us about our current intuitions about the question “when, and how is violence justified?” The John Brown wrote on a note before his execution saying that he was “quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land; will never be purged away but with Blood,”

Last note written by John Brown before his hanging; Charlestown (Charleston), Virginia; December 2, 1859. Chicago Historical Museum, digital collection.

However, my research this summer took me beyond these questions, and beyond the apocalyptic vision I have presented so far in Brown’s last note, and the Battle Hymn of the Republic. I feel that there is another song, and another and another apocalyptic vision, which I feel is more representative of the totality of Brown’s life. Brown’s favorite hymn was “Blow ye the trumpet blow.” The text references Leviticus 25, which describes a Jubilee year in which debts would be forgiven, Israelite slaves at least, would be released, among other things. This ritual of atonement is tied in with Christ’s atonement– the real year of Jubilee is Christ’s return for Judgement. But the focus of the hymn is not on God’s wrath, but on the promise of forgiveness and grace.

If we remember John Brown at all, I think most forget this John Brown. His prevailing vision of divine justice was atonement, and redemption. Brown lived the whole of his life according to this hope. The things that aren’t as often discussed with Brown are how in every one of the many places he lived, he was a pillar of the community. He taught Sunday school, as well as just regular school out of his home for his and his neighbors’ children. He made sure his workers could eat and took care of their families. When the Fugitive Slave Law was passed in, he organized and armed a black self defense league, The League of Gileadites. He was active in the underground railroad. These are only a few of his actions. Brown lived out continual atonement and compassion through his whole life. Unlike almost all other white abolitionists it seems he saw black people not as worthy of pity and in need of his righteous intervention, but instead as his companions and compatriots in battle. He better than anyone “remembered those in bonds as bound with them.” (citation) It seems like Brown could see a more just world super-imposed on the unjust one of his times. And this kind of clear-eyed hope unflinching obligation to the just and right whenever it is possible I think is the demand of our times as well.

Brown was, of course, a man with many failings both personal and political (and gramatical, his semicolon usage is truly mystifying). He had a very difficult life. Our society has changed in huge and important ways since his death, but justice still eludes us. Still, spending so much time with John Brown over the past few months has instilled in me an active commitment to hope for atonement and redemption. In a letter he wrote from prison to his family, Brown wrote:

P. S. I cannot remember a night so dark as to have hindered the coming day: nor a storm so furious or dreadful as to prevent the return of warm sunshine and a cloudless sky.

The Monument Of The Unelected

Posted on November 6, 2024 by Gabriel Katzenmeier

Friday November 1st 2024 we went to the Flaten art museum at St. Olaf College. They are having an exhibit which is named Practicing Democracy. Inside there were many images of students and groups at St. Olaf protested troubling times and examples of the joining together to make a point. This was all very interesting to me and they also had a mock voting room. This election is a unique time. Since it is probably the biggest election in our lives and many. They had a mock election room with voting boxes. All of this brings me to the exhibit that stood out to me the most. The Monument Of The Unelected by Nina Katchadourian. This exhibit was outside in an area that many could see and ponder. It shows all the major party candidates that ran for the president and lost. This includes ones that may not have had or did not actually have a yard sign for their campaign. The thing that stuck out to me was that I knew a few but not many I know or I did not remember. We all as a class looked at this visiting exhibit and we talked about it. How we each felt after seeing it and what we found fascinating about it. What was interesting to me is this next part. A first time voter will place the loser of the Presidential election for this cycle. A result that will surely be on everyone’s minds and affect many in the days after. This Monument Of The Elected shows us how before this cycle there has always been a loser. Oftentimes we do not remember the loser of this cycle and even sometimes forget the winner. This cycle may change that and we must keep hope no matter what the outcome.

Photo by Enrico Tamayo, by courtesy of artist, Catharine Clark Gallery, and Pace Gallery(2024)

Museum, F. A. (2024). Nina Katchadourian: Monument to the unelected. Nina Katchadourian: Monument to the Unelected – Flaten Art Museum. https://wp.stolaf.edu/flaten/monument-to-the-unelected/

Birmingham Sunday

Posted on November 4, 2024 by Abby Carter

September 15, 1963. It’s a lovely Sunday morning in Birmingham, Alabama, when an explosion states the streets right outside of the predominantly African American 16th Street Baptist Church. Twenty two parishioners were injured, and four little girls were killed. It was later revealed that the bomb was deliberately placed by local members of the Klu Klux Klan, who were not persecuted until years later in the early 2000’s for their actions.² This event, known as the 16th Street Church Bombing, is a famous event within the Civil Rights movement. It was a turning point for the Civil Rights movement, with many white citizens being outraged at the innocent people who were killed and harmed. The deaths were followed two months later by the assassination of President JF Kennedy, which caused an outpouring of national grief and ensured the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.³

The event of the 16th Street Church Bombing inspired many people towards the Civil Rights Movement, including the folk singer and songwriter, Richard Fariña, who wrote the song “Birmingham Sunday” about the event.¹ Using haunting lyrics that included the full names of each girl who was killed, set to a traditional Scottish ballad, he was able to create a protest ballad that inspired mourners and justice.² Fariña uses lyrics such as “cowardly” to describe the attackers, symbolizing and targeting the moral failings alongside the racist act.² He also structures the song to reach both black and white audiences, using themes of mourning and giving humanity to each of the girls killed to persuade the audience that this was a tragedy of lives cut short. At the same time, he uses words such as “freedom” and language to symbolize the black church to draw in an audience of black people and Civil Rights activists.²

The song was popularized by Fariña’s sister in law and contemporary, Joan Beaz. Both artists were heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement, with Baez personally marching hand-in-hand with Martin Luther King Jr. and Bob Dylan singing “We Shall Overcome.”² Baez added complexity to the song Fariña wrote, with her haunting soprano vocals and popularizing it as the quiet protest song it grew to be.² Baez’s popularization of the song inspired the persecution of one of the bombers in 1977, even though his fellow Klan members were not persecuted until the early 2000’s.²

The song “Birmingham Sunday” still holds a legacy today. Rhiannon Giddens, a famous bluegrass singer who thrives in reclaiming and exploring historical African American songs, recorded a cover of the song in 2017. She covered and revised the song on her album, Freedom Highway, an album inspired by the decades of protest music and social justice movements.² Giddens’s recording of the album served a purpose in terms of protest music as well, bringing the events of the song into the public consciousness during the #SayHerName era of protest and black politics. In this more modern interpretation of it, the song serves to draw attention to how black women have often been omitted from narratives of racial narratives, and should have their names memorialized like the girls in this song, who went on to shape something they didn’t even know they did. We are unaware of the names of the girls – Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, and Carol Robertson – even though they shaped the way to the Civil Rights Act posthumously.

These three versions of the same song show how protest song can be widespread and adapted to different causes, and how different artists can interpret it in ways that make sense to their audiences and causes.

1 – https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Crecorded_cd%7C73912

2- https://www.jstor.org/stable/26510207?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents

3 – https://www.nps.gov/articles/16thstreetbaptist.htm

Breaking the (Political) Ice with Comedy

Posted on November 4, 2024 by Hnukusha Vue

Likely created by a student artist in partnership with the Pause Kitchen at St. Olaf College in 2008, two posters advertise different pizza toppings representing the candidates of the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama and John McCain. By incorporating the candidates in the advertisement in a silly manner, the posters aim to use comedy to lighten the political atmosphere of the time. What can this example of comedic relief tell us about the use of comedy in other forms of art, such as in the history of Black performance in America, and Black-face minstrelsy, and how comedy affects engagement in difficult conversations?

In the Flaten Art Museum’s (FAM) Fall 2024 exhibit, “Practicing Democracy,” there were many artifacts related to the civic engagement of Oles at St. Olaf throughout its 150 years as an institution. Displaying colored and black and white photos, videos, buttons, and descriptions of live and recorded performances at sports events, this exhibit covers a breadth of examples of civic engagement from former students. One display especially caught my eye – two posters hanging side by side with bright, bold colors and fonts, featuring giant, blown up faces of each candidate the faces of the 2008 presidential election, Obama and McCain, in the upper left hand corner of the poster. Whether or not the posters helped in boosting the sale of “The Barack” or “The Maverick”, the pizza orders the posters advertised, these posters most definitely caught the attention of students walking by the Pause Kitchen, not only because of the colors and funky font, but due to the sheer size of each poster, both posters likely being the size of a concert poster (about 24 by 36 inches). As one of my classmates stated while our American Music class took a tour around the FAM, the use of comedy likely helped to ease political tension “over a slice of pizza”, opening up discussion around the former presidential candidates and their policies of the time. Additionally, by including pineapple on “The Barack”, the posters also open up discussion on a widely controversial pizza topping. With a little silliness, the unknown artist of the posters probably hoped that students would be more open to approaching political conversations, paralleling political conversation to pizza topping preferences.

And what of comedy used and referenced in our class readings and listenings? There have been many times in which comedy or mockery has been featured in the music we have studied. Blackface minstrelsy is an example we studied, being a problematic art form that utilized mockery and stereotypical comedy to paint Black individuals and communities as an inferior race and group of people. Additionally, because theater performance was often limited to White male performers and actors, minstrelsy explored gender and sexuality, teetering between socially accepted and unaccepted ideas of gender, gender performance, and sexuality. By leveraging comedy and comedic relief, these forms of performance encouraged and perpetuated harmful ideologies of Black people, positing White audiences to rationalize the feeling of superiority.

The performance of minstrelsy was not solely limited to White male performers throughout it’s history — Black performers used blackface minstrelsy as an angle to perform in theater in front of White audiences. As Sullivan states in his article, “‘Shuffle Along’ and the Lost History of Black Performance in America,” “by mocking themselves, their own race, they were giving it up.” Because White audiences were uncomfortable with Black people showing up as they were on stage, and, in a sense, “claiming power” over White audience members, minstrelsy was a way for Black performers to ease their presence into theater.

In these instances, comedy isn’t used to break down walls to difficult conversation like in FAM’s display of “The Barack” and “The Maverick”, but is instead used to build a disconnect between White audiences and Black people. The comedy of minstrelsy made White audiences’ prejudiced perceptions of Black people more digestible, and later, caused White audiences’ perception of Black performers to be less threatening.

The Utility of Commercial Art: The Story of the Chicano Cultural Sculptor

Posted on November 4, 2024 by Christine Whear

Rubén “Funkahuatl” Guevara took on many personas as he developed his musical career, which reflects the many different ideas about Chicano identity that circulated throughout pop culture during the 60s and 70s, as well as the transformation of Chicano representation in music with the beginning of the Chicano Movement. Rubén in particular brings up an interesting conversation about commercialism, and how in his case used it to spread an image of Chicano presence in American music beginning with “doo-wop”, a variation of blues and rock and roll, especially as he began performing on television shows. Shindig! was a variety show that aired from 1964 to 1966, in which he performed with artists such as Bo Diddley, Tina Turner, and other African American blues artists. In order to be on the show, Rubén had to incorporate a stage name, Jay P. Mobey, which you can see in the video below:

The changing of his name from Rubén Guevara to Jay P. Mobey suppressed his identity as an Mexican-American on the stage, and when the show ended in 1966 he sought to re-invent himself as Chicano, and began singing with Frank Zappa in Ruben and the Jets. With this group as well, he blended with the sounds of the time, now immersing himself in the R&B and rock of the 70s. In 1974, Ruben and the Jets released an album called “Con Safos.” Con Safos means “with safety,” and was a tag that was written on the graffiti throughout Los Angeles to indicate to others not to cover their work. This album cover positions Guevara in the center of the picture, with depictions of artists outside of a liquor store in L.A. “Viva la Raza” is written on the wall, a phrase used during the Chicano movement to signify their reclamation of Chicano heritage, culture, language and race. Guevara’s music once again blends with similar sounds of the period, this time rock and roll, but uses his avenue as a popular artist to promote Chicano presence in the music scene.

Finally, it is interesting to see such a radical change in sound and image as he went through his life and musical career. After Ruben and the Jets dispersed, Rubén recorded a song called “C/S” with a group called Con Safos, which explicitly discusses the Vietman War, and prejudice against Chicanos and their reclamation of their heritage. This song was published in 1983 in an LP called “The Eastside Renaissance.”

I encourage you to listen to all three of these stages of Ruben’s career and journey with his Chicano identity. Rubén’s adaptability to popular genre could be perceived as un-original or commercial, but I think it ultimately represents the journey that many Mexican-Americans experienced throughout the Chicano movement in terms of establishing and celebrating their identity and culture in the United States.

It is important to note that it wasn’t until the beginning of the Chicano movement that “chicano” was an appropriate word to describe Americans of Mexican descent. Chicano comes from the Nahuatl word xicano, which represents the reclamation of indigenous heritage of the Mexica peoples, who lived in the southwest region of present day United States.

Our Place in History: Lifting as we Climb, Forward into the Light

Posted on November 4, 2024 by Claire Hughes

Last week in the Flaten Art Museum, I was somewhat surprised to see an exhibit on the concert Lifting as we Climb, Forward into the Light that happened last spring with the Manitou Singers and Dr. Hibbard along with many local Soprano/Alto choirs. The wall features one of the pins that was worn by each performer, and on a flat surface the program is displayed. On the front of the program was recognition that the Høyde Quartet (in which I am the second violinist) had been accompaniment for part of the performance.

Seeing this made me reflect a bit on what it means to be a part of something like it. We got to work with the Manitou singers on Andrea Ramsey’s Suffrage Cantata, however it was only a part of the whole concert. As a whole, it was a huge undertaking by everyone involved and I had not realized that until the day of the performance. Seeing all of these choirs get together to deliver so much music was very moving, and it was great to see so much community being formed as a result.

It’s not until you see the aftereffects of something that you realize the significance of it. When we first started working on the Suffrage Cantata with Manitou, it definitely felt like just another gig. Seeing everyone who showed up to perform or watch made me realize how important these things are to people. I find this to be especially poignant with all of the elections happening right now. It’s so important to look into the past history of elections and voting and think about how it has influenced the present, especially since voting is such an important part of our society.

We Insist!

Posted on November 4, 2024 by Ella Yarris

Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite, “We Insist!,” is a great example of a protest album. Max Roach was a jazz percussionist and composer. He wrote “We Insist!” as a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, but it was in fact performed for the first time on January 16, 1961, two years earlier than originally planned because of the urgency of sit-ins in the South. This album highlights ongoing racism and injustice towards Black Americans (and South Africans, as referenced in the 5th song of the album), and the fact that despite the Emancipation Proclamation being ratified so long ago, the struggle for Black liberation was no where near over.

I would highly recommend listening to this whole album. It tells a story of the horror of slavery (“Driva’man”), the signing of the Emacipation Proclamation on “Freedom Day”, and the continued struggle for justice into the Civil Rights Movement in the US, as well as around the world. but one piece that I found particularly impactful was “Triptych: Prayer/ Protest/ Peace.” The second movement especially caught me off guard, which I suppose is probably the point and symbolically represents the goal of protest, which is to interrupt the status quo. This movement especially serves as a reminder to those of us whose Civil Rights Movement education has largely romanticized the nature of peaceful protests, especially surrounding the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In truth, even peaceful protests were met with brutal violence, and the struggle was anything but passive and easy.

The cover of “We Insist,” showing three Black men sitting at a counter, being served by a white man, in direct response to student sit-ins, and a visualization of the goal of the artists.

One question that we touched on in class is the efficacy of protest albums. Roach’s goal with this album was to reach a wide audience and spread the message of racial equality. He allowed fundraising organizations to use this album for free to raise money for Civil Rights organizations. However, the album did receive critiques for being too “bitter” for “most tastes.” The tension between commerciality (or maybe universality?) and value as an instrument for social change is certainly in play, but the Freedom Now Suite was lauded for its influence, and was performed at the 1961 NAACP conference and the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965. Christa Gammage writes:

Jazz embodied the message of the Civil Rights movement and its emphasis on individual expression that serves a group beyond oneself. In order to produce a functional musical piece, each musician must work with one another and listen to the ideas of others. This same expression of democracy is what African-Americans were fighting for in their everyday lives.

Biobliography

African American Registry. “Max Roach, Drummer, and Composer Born.” Accessed November 4, 2024. https://aaregistry.org/story/drummer-max-roach-broke-new-ground-in-jazz/.

Gammage, Christa. “‘We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite’—Max Roach (1960).” Library of Congress, 2022. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/We-Insist-Max-Roachs-Freedom-Now-Suite_Gammage.pdf.

Music in Response and Remembrance

Posted on November 3, 2024 by Maria Panora

The exhibition piece, Prayer for Peace, describes Kurt Westerberg’s ‘72 De Profundis, and the images reflect a powerful response from St. Olaf students to the tragic events at Kent State and Jackson State Universities in 1970. De Profundis, which translates to “out of the depths,” was composed by Westerberg as a sophomore in the wake of these violent events, where students lost their lives amidst the turmoil of Vietnam War protests¹.

St. Olaf students at Capital Hill in Washington D.C., 1972

The images above capture the performance of De Profundis on Capitol Hill in May 1972. This twenty-minute, three-movement composition combines vocals, instrumentals, and dance to express grief, reflection, and a longing for peace. In the program introduction, Westerberg wrote, “De Profundis is not meant to be entertaining listening nor is it a ‘hip’ version of a Biblical Psalm².” This is important to note, given the importance of the piece’s expression.

Image of Dell Grant ‘73 – St. Olaf’s First African American art major, who choreographed the sequence and performed alongside 18 others at the Capital Hill performance in 1972

Westerberg based the piece on Psalm 130, a text he encountered during a memorial service honoring the victims of the protests. The Psalm’s lines,

“If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you³.”

form an emotional heart of De Profundis. By setting these words to music, it seems Westerberg aimed to transform sorrow and lament into a communal prayer for reconciliation, contrasting the bitterness of violence with a desire for forgiveness and healing.

While looking more into De Profundis, I came across a transcript of an interview with Westerberg in 2013. In response to his recalling of the Washington D.C. experience, he reflected on the growth of the piece and its communal contribution, stating the following:

“It was a very humbling experience to have my sophomoric work used to express a significant desire for peace and reconciliation. It was really not just my work anymore – I knew that it had grown beyond my creative input, and had impact because of the result of so many other efforts, including the [singers], musicians, and dancers⁴.”

As I reflect on this composition and the images, I am reminded of Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddam, written in response to the bombing that killed four Black girls in Birmingham⁵. While both Westerberg and Simone address violence, their approaches differ. Simone confronts institutional racism with urgency, her music demanding justice. In contrast, Westerberg seeks solace, inviting spiritual introspection as a response to tragedy.

De Profundis, therefore, stands as a testament to music’s power to respond to violence in varied ways, whether by seeking peace, demanding change, or gathering a community in shared reflection.

1 Sauve, Jeff. “A Musical Prayer for Peace.” St. Olaf Magazine no. Winter, 2013.

2 Sauve, Jeff. “A Musical Prayer for Peace.” St. Olaf Magazine no. Winter, 2013.

3 New International Version, 2011. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20130&version=NIV.

4 Sauve, Jeff. “A Musical Prayer for Peace.” St. Olaf Magazine no. Winter, 2013.

5 Fields, Liz. “The Story behind Nina Simone’s Protest Song, ‘Mississippi Goddam.’” PBS, June 30, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/the-story-behind-nina-simones-protest-song-mississippi-goddam/16651/.

“Strange Fruit”

Posted on November 3, 2024 by Maria West

The song “Strange Fruit” was first written and performed in 1930. It was most famously sung by jazz singer Billie Holiday, but was written by Jewish American Abel Meeropol(under pseudonym Lewis Allan).

“Strange Fruit” Lyrics:

Verse 1: Southern trees bear a strange fruit

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root

Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

V2: Pastoral scene of the gallant south

The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth

Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh

Then the sudden smell of burning flesh

V3: Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck

For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck

For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop

Here is a strange and bitter crop

Recording of Billie Holiday Singing “Strange Fruit”: https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Crecorded_cd%7C679895 ¹

“Strange Fruit” is well known because of its accurately grotesque description of the aftermath of a lynching. Meeropol’s particular comparison to fruit is engaging because fruit usually symbolizes new life, but here he uses it to describe death. The “blood at the root” feeds the tree in the same way that hate feeds a horrifying American tradition. The next two verses become a more literal description compared to the metaphor of the first verse. The song puts even more emphasis on the lyrics by consisting of just voice with a soft piano accompaniment. Many of Holiday’s other songs include saxophones, brass, piano, and sometimes a rhythm section, making the instrumentation of “Strange Fruit” stand out. The instrumentation as well as Holiday’s musical decisions to get louder and more forceful as the song goes on displays a raw emotion to drive home the jarring message. The swing feel creates a lack of specific down beat. This makes the rhythm more conversational as though she is recounting a personal experience making the story all the more horrendous and inhuman.

Columbia Records and radio stations did not want to promote or play “Strange Fruit” because of its controversy and dark theme. The song was especially controversial because it was released at the same time as the Anti-Lynching movement that called for making lynching a federal offence. The members of the movement sent the lyrics of “Strange Fruit” to every congress member at the time and “Strange Fruit” became the unofficial song of the movement. Even Holiday was reluctant to perform it in fear of backlash and maintaining her career. The song was first performed by Holiday at “Cafe Society” which was one of the first integrated clubs in New York City. The club was also known for combining European cabaret traditions and Afro-American jazz clubs.

https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Crecorded_cd%7C679895

In 1940(ten years after the song’s release) Mooropol was questioned by the New York States “Rapp-Coudert Committee” who were investigating communism in schools. In 1943, Mooropol wrote “House I Live In” which served as a patriotic song discussing racial harmony although this may not have been Mooropol’s intention. “House I Live In” was in a short film starring Frank Sinatra and the producers took out a line that said: “the house I live in, my neighbors white and black”. Mooropol was furious. In both songs by Able Mooropol, the media filtered what they deemed successful and what they thought a majority white audience would want to hear. Another example of this would be in 1950 when Josh White was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee for his recording of “Strange Fruit” where he read the lyrics of the song as a part of his testimony. Unlike Holiday’s, White’s career never recovered. ²

Billie Holiday and “Strange Fruit” became so influential that Hulu produced a film called “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” in 2021. The movie describes Holiday’s life and career as well as the FBI’s involvement in Holiday performing “Strange Fruit”. It also implies that the FBI had influence on the overdose that led to Billie Holiday’s death. Despite Holiday’s, Meeropol’s, White’s and the Anti-lynching movement’s efforts, there still hasn’t been any law passed to outlaw lynching as a hate crime.

1Strange Fruit. Directed by Joel Katz. California Newsreel, 2002. https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/strange-fruit.

2Ultimate Billie Holiday1997.Verve Records. https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity|recorded_cd|679895.

St Olaf Choir Tour: Still Singing After All These Years

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Quin Johnson

When I was considering St Olaf for school, my father, a proud Concordia Grad, was overjoyed to tell me all about St Olaf’s choral history. Naturally, as a proud choral and history nerd, I was eager to listen.

In 1920, F. Melius Christiansen and the St Olaf Choir set off on tour. This was not the very first tour they had been on, as they’d toured in Norway in 1913. However, it was their first domestic tour across the United States. This tour would set a choral precedent for something that would echo through history all the way to today, when the St Olaf Choir still tours, sometimes multiple times per year, frequently filling the house full of people eager to hear the St Olaf Choir sing. The program of the original 1920 tour lays out a much more sacred quest than selling tickets, however.

The Cover of the St Olaf Lutheran Choir 1920 Eastern United States Tour

When reading through the program of the original 1920 St Olaf Lutheran Choir Tour, it immediately differs from the common program notes that are found in Choral concert programs today. Nowadays, when opening your average program, one will find a brief description of the conductor and maybe some notes about the students, but that is often all. However, in this program, it goes into great detail about the purpose of the choir, which is, to quote the program, to “have a far-reaching effect upon the services of the Lutheran churches of America, proving a powerful factor for unity in the services of these churches.” Farther down, after the introduction, there lie several letters, one from the President of the College, another from the President of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, another from the President of the United Lutheran Church of America, and a final letter from the President of the Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio. The Norwegian Lutheran Church of America and the United Lutheran Church of America synods would eventually be merged into what is now known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, which is the synod that St Olaf College is affiliated with. Upon looking at the actual pieces programmed, it makes sense, as most of the compositions listed are by Lutheran composers, promoting Lutheran ideals. Oh, and don’t worry, Beautiful Savior is still there.

This tour is a direct contrast from another tour I analyzed, which was the Fisk Jubilee Singers Tour, almost 50 years earlier. While their tour came out of necessity, to raise money for their program, the St Olaf Lutheran Choir Tour was for a missionary-like purpose. Both are excellent examples of successful and impactful Choir Tours, especially as the St Olaf Choir program continues to sell out concerts, including their annual ChristmasFest, and the Jubilee Singers having won a Grammy in 2021 for Best Roots Gospel Album.

The Original Fisk University Jubilee Singers Program

Staff. “College Archives.” Stolaf.edu, 2024, digital.stolaf.edu/archives/asset/viewAsset/5f90972829b2667625499ea1. Accessed 3 Nov. 2024.

Beyoncé, “Freedom”, and the Pursuit of Kamala Harris

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Emily Hagel

Kamala Harris and Beyoncé Knowles Carter sharing an embrace ahead of the ‘Harris for Reproductive Rights’ rally in Houston Texas (10/25/24)

If you have any interest in keeping up with the news once the leaves start changing colors, the chances are high of running into political advertisements, reports, and overall name-calling and bashing across the aisle. This is at least true of this year’s race to the presidential office, featuring special guests Kamala Harris/Tim Walz, and Donald Trump/JD Vance. Those who identify as “Generation Z” (ie people between the ages of 12-27), likely encounter political propaganda through unconventional platforms, such as social media, specifically TikTok and Instagram. While scrolling through TikTok, I frequently come across political videos paired with music, drawing attention to the role of sound in political messaging (example here). In light of our discussions on protest music and social change, one song has entered the public consciousness as an “unspoken anthem” for the Harris/Walz campaign: “Freedom” by Beyoncé Knowles Carter.

In a CBS news article posted in late October, Beyoncé was reported to have endorsed (declaring one’s public approval of) Harris for President of the United States of America at a Harris rally for reproductive rights in Houston, Texas this October, giving Harris a warm welcome to her [Beyoncé’s] home-town crowd:

Beyoncé speaking at Harris Reproductive Rally, October 2024

“It’s time for America to sing a new song. Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity. Are y’all ready to add your voice to the new American song?” she said. “Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big, loud, Texas welcome to the next president of the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris” (CBS).

This profound musically-themed statement speaks to the tradition of protest songs within politics, which have historically served as powerful anthems for social change and collective resilience.

Campaign songs are used when candidates wish to constitute their identity in sound, “to sonically construct themselves in a way that appeals to the public as well as offers insight into their character and their beliefs” (Morrison). In Harris’ current campaign, she includes various black artists – Aretha Franklin, Megan Thee Stallion, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, and more to cultivate a rich soundtrack for her presidential narrative.

“Lemonade”, recorded in 2016 by Beyoncé, features artists Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, and more.

One standout track is Beyoncé’s “Freedom”, recorded on her 2016 album Lemonade (Spotify). The song “samples two John and Alan Lomax field recordings, which document Jim Crow-era folk spirituals of Southern Black churches and the work songs of Black prisoners from 1959 and 1948, respectively” (Morrison). Compared to her previous campaign song, Mary J. Blige’s “Work That,” “Freedom” adopts a more urgent tone, enhanced by gospel signifiers and its textual reference to the African American spiritual “Wade in the Water” (Burleigh).

Harris/Walz campaign propaganda poster with the words, “FREEDOM”

By choosing “Freedom,” Harris aligns her campaign message with the empowering narrative embodied in Beyoncé’s music, which symbolizes feminine vitality and perseverance. As we await the election results, it’s important to consider the underlying messages these songs convey and their impact on our collective consciousness.

WORKS CITED

Beyoncé, featuring Kendrick Lamar. “Freedom.” Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/track/7aBxcRw77817BrkdPChAGY?si=80661cef05c54052.

Burleigh, Harry T. “Wade in de Water.” Digital Library, York University, https://digital.library.yorku.ca/node/1099291.

CBS News. “Beyoncé, Willie Nelson Join Houston Rally with Kamala Harris to Support Reproductive Rights.” CBS News, 26 Oct. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/news/beyonce-willie-nelson-houston-rally-kamala-harris-reproductive-rights/.

Morrison, Lila. “Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’ Is the Perfect Campaign Song for Kamala Harris.” Vox, 19 Aug. 2020, www.vox.com/culture/367709/beyonce-freedom-kamala-harris-campaign-songs.

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