Black National Anthem?? What in the world...

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by rgcraig

Wow.....I so appreciate your post.

I just don't understand wanting the connection at all.

I'm Heinz 57 white European, but I sure don't want to be called European-American. I'm American and anyone else born and raised here is too!

Glad to hear this post!!!!

The reason why some Americans cling to that connection, particularly, stems from the out right rejection experienced by our forefathers-- or even my father's generation. I have experienced some racism, but my American experience surely pales in comparison to the real life drama my Mom and Dad experienced, growing up in West Virginia and Maryland, respectively.

That being said, I am still very angry for this woman's incredible lack of judgment-- some people don't realize that there are repercussions for their actions, often beyond the scope of their sphere of living.

[Jekyll]

I am disappointed that she chose to represent black women growing up in America by being deceptive and obstinant. She has reduced her demonstration to sensationalism which has done nothing to promote her feelings/cause. What an unintelligent thing to do in this type of venue or event.

[rgcraig]

Originally Posted by Jekyll

I am disappointed that she chose to represent black women growing up in America by being deceptive and obstinant. She has reduced her demonstration to sensationalism which has done nothing to promote her feelings/cause. What an unintelligent thing to do in this type of venue or event.

Exactly! I'm afraid she did more harm for her cause.

[tstew]

I still honestly feel that we may be reading more into the actual intent than there really was. I don't think that it is cut and dried that she was trying to make a radical, pro-Black, anti-American statement. I think she took too much creative license and artistic freedom than is proper, but usually when someone is of the mentality that this will be their definig "Black Power" moment, they will be plenty obstinate and up-front about it after the fact.

[rgcraig]

Originally Posted by tstew

I still honestly feel that we may be reading more into the actual intent than there really was. I don't think that it is cut and dried that she was trying to make a radical, pro-Black, anti-American statement. I think she took too much creative license and artistic freedom than is proper, but usually when someone is of the mentality that this will be their definig "Black Power" moment, they will be plenty obstinate and up-front about it after the fact.

Doesn't negate the fact that she knew what she was doing was wrong because she didn't tell anyone what she was doing (except her husband and music manager).

[tstew]

Originally Posted by rgcraig

Doesn't negate the fact that she knew what she was doing was wrong because she didn't tell anyone what she was doing (except her husband and music manager).

I'm not sure that that is a function of her trying to sneak one by, or just simply not considering that they would want to approve her singing before hand. I'm just saying that in my experience, when you are dealing with one of those really radical people, they would be taking their victory lap now and not apologizing.

[Hoovie]

Sweet Jeremiah! Who would'a thunk it? I started this thread before work this morning and oops! Da tis! 26 pages!

[Jekyll]

Originally Posted by tstew

I'm not sure that that is a function of her trying to sneak one by, or just simply not considering that they would want to approve her singing before hand. I'm just saying that in my experience, when you are dealing with one of those really radical people, they would be taking their victory lap now and not apologizing.

I don't call that an apology...and a day later after refusing to be apologetic.

[rgcraig]

Originally Posted by tstew

I'm not sure that that is a function of her trying to sneak one by, or just simply not considering that they would want to approve her singing before hand. I'm just saying that in my experience, when you are dealing with one of those really radical people, they would be taking their victory lap now and not apologizing.

Perhaps, but I feel she's probably taking her victory lap quietly. They said she apologized like ---- well, if someone was offended I'm sorry they felt that way - lol!

[tstew]

This is what she was quoted as saying afterwards
"What she said was that she was very sorry, that she meant no disrespect, that she was trying to make a creative expression of her love for the country,"

Interestingly enough, I found some things in her bio as well. She may not have been the safest choice in the first place......

But top jazz musicians everywhere know Marie. So do a growing number of fervent jazz listeners. They're knocked out by her voice's suppleness and range, impeccable pitch and all-out way of living every lyric.

They also know about her penchant for risk - for defying authoritarian club owners, for liberating standard tunes from their ancient cocoons, for launching her socially provocative originals, with scant rehearsal, in packed concert halls. They know how she reinvents material from unlikely sources - Bonnie Raitt, Bob Seger, The Beatles.

Closer to home, Denver pianist Jeff Jenkins says: "She has the most complete vision of anyone I've ever worked with. She creates her own universe, and it's never the same twice. She's really into the give-and-take with other musicians, and once you enter that universe, there's complete freedom."

A daring medley

Marie calls herself a "GRITS" ("a Girl Raised in the South") but no one below the Mason-Dixon Line, or anywhere else, knows what to think the first time he hears the most daring medley in her repertoire.

When she first sang it in Mississippi, every jaw in the place dropped. When she called the tune, using its short name, in early rehearsal at the recording studio, drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, who came up with New Orleans-born trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, dropped his sticks and said, "I'm not playing that."

Not playing what?

Marie, who relishes the drama of the unexpected, had thought to pair the traditional white anthem Dixie with the heartbreaking meditation on lynching Strange Fruit. She brought off the collision of opposites as an ironic comment on the way the world still works.

In Mississippi, black and white audience members approached her afterward with tears in their eyes and tragic stories to tell. The same thing happened everywhere else, too. Born in controversy, Dixie/Strange Fruit became the emotional centerpiece of Marie's much- praised CD Vertigo.

Anyone shopping for symbols can find one right there, illustrating the purposes of Marie's unblinking, semiautobiographical work.

"I want to make you laugh and cry," she says. "I want you to squirm uncomfortably in your chair, think of a loved one, get angry, hang your head in shame and raise your hand in protest. . . . I want you to take that leap, make that change, turn that corner."

That's just what she's done herself for the past decade, of course.