Freedom Class Homework

6/27 Top of the Park prep

Class is in session. It’s a good time to look back so we know how to move forward.

This Saturday’s My Brightest Diamond show in Ann Arbor, Michigan at Top of the Park 7pm (free show!) is going to be a freedom review and I want you to be prepared for the pop quiz. There will be dancing, clapping on 2 & 4, shouts and singing required of the students. Dr. Nova shall be present with teaching aids and masters in music: Marion Hayden (bass), Tariq Gardner (drums) and Michael Malis (keys).

To prepare for our concert, you may watch or read Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia deliver his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on October 4, 1963. It was this speech which Bob Marley quoted for his song “War” and it is this song, which Sinéad O’Connor famously sang on SNL to call out sexual violence against children, which was rampant in the Catholic Church. And it was this act, of tearing the Pope’s photo that is referenced in my song “Fight the Real Terror.”

History lesson: know the lineage of ideas.

Listen to Black Sabbath to practice your headbanging and bring your round glasses.

Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, leader of Sweet Honey and the Rock, walked side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and trained folks through her music to unite and strengthen them in the fight for freedom. Ella’s Song that chorus is us!

Watch this interview or read the transcript below where Dr. Reagon talks about learning how to fight:

With the Civil Rights Movement issues, I didn’t know how to fight. All my life I had to teach myself. The biggest thing I had to overcome was this voice inside that said, “If you do this, you’ll kill yourself. You’ll get killed.” It was just so loud, and stepping across that inner voice was really traumatic for me.

I discovered if you don’t cross that line, you never meet yourself. You never become who you can be unless you can get past your socialization — where that older generation has told you what they have learned about survival. You actually have to break ranks with it, or you will never meet yourself. And it’s like stepping outside of a safety zone. It is very hard to do, but if you ever do it, you always know how to risk your life.

In our culture, anything you do disappears the minute you stop doing it. And freedom is like that. People think you are born into freedom. The only freedom you have is the freedom you’re exercising — and sitting down thinking it is going to be there when you need it is going to give you a big surprise.

We sing a rousing rendition of our beloved Patti Smith “People Have The Power” followed by our final lesson - we shall collectively perform the great composition of one of the most under appreciated peace activist and artist of the 20th century: Yoko Ono. We shall scream against the wind, scream against the wall, scream against the sky for 10 seconds: Voice Piece for Soprano.

No musical training required. No wrong notes. Just your voice loud.