Edition No. 23
In this Edition
Arts and Culture
Seven African-American men, each killed by police or by authority figures, are the subject of a powerful choral work by composer Joel Thompson.
Community
This March, listen to another podcast we love, The History Chicks, which provides an in-depth analysis of famous females, both factual and fictional.
Our American Values
As we continue our series on responsible citizenship, we look at The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project for a narrative on history and government.
Seven Last Words of the Unarmed
By Joel Thompson (b.1988)
Performed by the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club
Directed by Dr. Eugene Rogers
Composer Joel Thompson
Michael Brown. Trayvon Martin. Oscar Grant. Eric Garner. Kenneth Chamberlain. Amadou Diallo. John Crawford. These African-American men — each killed by police or by authority figures — are the subject of a powerful multi-movement choral work by Atlanta-based composer Joel Thompson titled Seven Last Words of the Unarmed. The piece was recently premiered by the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club under the direction of Dr. Eugene Rogers, associate director of choirs and professor of conducting at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
The piece is divided into seven distinct movements —
Why do you have your guns out? Kenneth Chamberlain, 66
What are you following me for? Trayvon Martin, 16
Mom, I’m going to college. Amadou Diallo, 23
I don’t have a gun. Stop shooting. Michael Brown, 18
You shot me! You shot me! Oscar Grant, 22
It’s not real. John Crawford, 22
I can’t breathe. Eric Garner, 43
The Inspiration
After being troubled by the onslaught of killings of unarmed black men and finding Shirin Barghi’s #lastwords project, Joel Thompson began his journey in writing his most important composition today, The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed. Using the text structure of the Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ, Joel chose seven last words from Shirin’s artwork that formed the structure of the work.
The Music
The last words and/or correspondences of each victim spoke to Joel deeply, and he chose seven that most easily aligned with the text structure of Hadyn’s work. Each victim’s last words are set in a different musical style and Thompson incorporates the L’homme armé (The armed man) Renaissance french secular tune throughout the composition. Originally scored for male chorus, string quintet and piano, the work has also been scored for full orchestra. For the musically inclined, perusal copies of the score are available online.
The Collaboration
Dr. Eugene Rogers and the Michigan Men’s Glee Club joined forces with Joel Thompson to cultivate, premiere, and record the piece. The work has received critical acclaim and has been the source of much conversation and inspiration since its premiere in 2015. A documentary highlighting the work and the Glee Club’s journey with this powerful piece and Dr. Roger’s arrangement of Glory entitled Love, Life & Loss has been aired on Detroit Public Television, shown at the Michigan Theatre and received five Michigan Emmy Awards including best composition and arrangement and best current/public/community affairs documentary.
Podcasts That We Love:
The History Chicks
As we reach the end of Women’s History Month, we wanted to share with you another podcast we love: The History Chicks. Hosted by Beckett Graham and Susan Vollenweider, this show introduces listeners to female characters in history, both factual and fictional. Every two weeks, Beckett and Susan do a deep dive into the life of their subject—their challenges, failures, and successes (and sometimes even the juicy parts)! No fluff. Just the facts. In addition to the bi-weekly podcasts, the hosts also share their show notes, which provide resources like books, websites, and additional podcasts to learn more about each famous female.
The History Chicks have covered everyone from everywhere. From Abigail Adams and Marie Antoinette to Ella Fitzgerald and Georgia O’Keeffe, no famous female is left behind (there is even an episode on Barbie)! The History Chicks is available wherever you get your podcasts. Check out some of our favorite episodes below. Tap or click here to visit The History Chicks full webpage.
Education for Responsible Citizenship
There is a persuasive body of evidence showing that our nation has long neglected civics and social studies education. Only twenty-two states require that high school students demonstrate a meaningful understanding of our system of government to graduate and annual surveys show an appalling lack of knowledge of even our most fundamental rights on the part of adult Americans. There is also a growing consensus that neglecting social studies and civics education has contributed to our present political dysfunction and, possibly, to events of January 6th. There is much less consensus, however, as to exactly what Americans need to know to become more responsible and effective citizens.
So, for the next few editions, we will use this space within Inspired Thoughts devoted to American Democracy to consider four questions that are at the heart of our work:
How much do Americans really know about our system of government?
Can better civics and social studies education truly remedy America’s political dysfunction?
What needs to be emphasized, or not emphasized, in a renewed focus on civics and social studies?
How can we also reach adults who seemed to have missed, or forgotten, civics class?
What needs to be emphasized, or not emphasized, in a renewed focus on civics and social studies?
On August 18, 2019, The New York Times Magazine published a special edition initiating The 1619 Project. The Times described the project thusly, “The 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative of The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.”
With those few words taken from project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones’s Pulitzer Prize-winning introductory essay, the Times unleashed a controversy that still rages and produced two of the alternative visions of what Americans need to know about their history and government that we will consider in the coming weeks. Click or tap the button below for the original 1619 Project articles.
“Bills in several states would cut funding to schools that teach the 1619 Project. But they mostly aren’t going anywhere ”
The 1619 Project launched into an exceptionally fraught period in American public life. Perhaps not surprisingly, it was praised by those on the left for its clear-eyed look at our nation’s origin story and reviled by those on the right for the same reason. In fact, Republican legislators in five states would, if they had the votes, cut funding to public schools using the 1619 Project curriculum or ban it outright. Some of those efforts are discussed in a recent CNN piece. Click or tap here to view the full article.
The 1619 Project Curriculum
So, just what is in that curriculum based on the 1619 Project? Rather than telling you what we think the 1619 Project curriculum is or does (as too many other publications have done), click or tap the button below to view the actual lesson plans and form your own opinion of them.
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