“From Swing Low to Strange Fruit” brings African-American musical traditions to Juneteenth
the tenth of June mark the day that Major General Gordon Granger told the slaves in Texas that they were free. Since then, June 19 has been one of the most common dates used to commemorate emancipation, and has been recently made a federal holiday. Pitt joined in the celebration with events such as “From Swing Low to Strange Fruit: The Sounds of Liberation”.
the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion presented “From Swing Low to Strange Fruit” last Friday. He showcased many local artists, including teachers from Pitt, as a way to show the importance of music throughout the African American community as part of a Juneteenth celebration.
James Johnson Jr. and Aaron Johnson, both members of the Jazz Studies department, hosted the event. They presented recordings from various local groups while demonstrating how music was used in slave communities, such as the use of drums as a means of communication.
Paula Davis, Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Sciences, helped organize the event and said recognition of Juneteenth was important due to the double meaning of opportunity.
“It’s important because of what he stands for,” Davis said. “When you think that there were two more years that people were enslaved before they knew they were free and recognized as free. The solemnity of this in addition to the celebration of freedom and emancipation.
The event, which can be viewed on the office website YouTube page, was set up by the Juneteenth planning committee. The office coordinated the committee, with help from the Pitt Library system, Alumni Association, Equipoise, Student Affairs, and the Diversity Health Sciences Office.
Ron Idoko, OEDI’s Diversity and Multicultural Program Manager, said the committee wanted Juneteenth to be an opportunity for a conversation about empowerment.
“We talked about Juneteenth as an opportunity for everyone to actively come together to talk about the liberation,” Idoko said. “How can we continue to keep the promise of equality? How do we continue to keep the promise of freedom and the importance of celebrating it? ”
Featured artists included African percussion group ABAFASI, Some of God’s Children Gospel Choir, The Heritage Gospel Chorale of Pittsburgh, James C. Martin, Nicole Mitchell and Coco Elysses, Sam Nelson and Friends and BrothaMans. Pitt’s professors also performed, including Kathy Humphrey, Senior Vice Chancellor for Engagement, and Dawn Lundy Martin, Director of the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics.
In between each performance, the hosts gave a brief historical anecdote to explain how the performance related to the African American experience, such as how slaves used drums to communicate through the plantations or how R&B music captured the experience. Afro-American.
Some performances, like the ABAFASI sets that opened and closed the events, were recorded live and outdoors, while others were clips of Zoom performances edited together.
Davis helped tap some of the performances and said she appreciated the support of the Pittsburgh community in making it a reality.
“These are all local artists, local artists, who gave of their time, talents and efforts,” said Davis, “and I think that speaks to the relationship the University has with the community. “
Uchenna Mbawuike, a research specialist at the School of Nursing who attended the event, said she liked the way the event combined history and performance.
“They did a really good job of tying the story of Juneteenth together with great musical and artistic performances,” Mbawuike said. “It was engaging without you without it being a live performance.”
Mbawuike said she especially enjoyed seeing younger performers celebrating Juneteenth and having fun singing.
“With the youth performances, there are just all kinds of black kids that you know, mixed and dark skinned, light skinned, just celebrating,” Mbawuike said. “It’s been a tough few years, so just seeing the young people celebrate Juneteenth, and the way they expressed it through their art was truly heartwarming.”
This was Pitt’s second June 15 celebration, and Davis said there are plans to hold another next year.
“I’m sure we’ll do it again next year, whether we’re virtual or face-to-face,” Davis said. “Being in person gives us the opportunity to fellowship together, and that’s a wonderful thing. But being virtual, we had over 300 people today.
Idoko said that bringing history to light with events like this is important because it allows us to grow as a company.
“When we think about some of the challenges we see in society, one thing we shouldn’t shy away from is wanting to understand our story, no matter how difficult it may be,” Idoko said. “Because understanding our history is the foundation for collective growth. “