Summary: The personal and professional lives of musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane can’t be divorced from the struggle for racial equality. Music scholar Antonio Garcia (Virginia Commonwealth University) says they all contributed in significant ways to interracial understanding and social progress. Also featured: The composers of the Civil Rights anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” also created musical theater at the turn of the century, transforming the public image of African American characters and performers. Paula Marie Seniors (Virginia Tech) looks at the lives of the composers Bob Cole, J. Rosamond Johnson, and James Weldon Johnson, whose work helped break down stereotypical portrayals of black Americans. Also: The skilled oratory of civil rights leader James Farmer was shaped in part as a member of the legendary 1935 all African American debate team portrayed in the film, The Great Debaters. Timothy O’Donnell (University of Mary Washington) is leading an effort to help historically black colleges and universities field high-quality debate teams on crucial public policy issues. And: During segregation, African American funeral directors were historically among the few black individuals who were economically independent. In her book, To Serve the Living, Suzanne Smith (George Mason University) shows how their financial freedom gave them the ability to support the struggle for civil rights as well as bury the dead.
