First up, the great Nelson George will not stop by our show today because we forgot that it's Easter-his interview will be rescheduled. It's not uncommon but sometimes I get caught "sleeping behind the wheel" (figuratively) but thanks to commenters like Sergio Mims, I'm quickly shrugged back to consciousness-hence his email concerning legendary opera singer, Marian Anderson. In some misguided ghetto-centric circles, Biggie Smalls has been referred to as the "first" Obama. I think that disinction should be more aptly connected to Ms. Anderson. Today is the 70th anniversary of Anderson's groundbreaking and critically acclaimed open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before an audience of 70,000 and a radio listenership estimated to be in the millions. Here's more info, courtesy of the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON – Marian Anderson couldn't sing at Constitution Hall or even a local high school because of the color of her skin. So the opera singer performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in April 1939 and sang "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."
Unlike other events then, the 75,000-person crowd that had gathered to hear the African-American woman sing wasn't segregated. Blacks and whites stood together. Senators and Supreme Court justices also came on that Easter Sunday. The event came to symbolize the ideal of America's racial equality.
On Sunday afternoon, 70 years later, there will be another free concert at the Lincoln Memorial, this one designed to commemorate the 1939 landmark event. The Sunday concert will incorporate songs from Anderson's event and remember its significance during America's era of segregation.
A modern African-American opera star, Denyce Graves, will sing classical songs at Anderson's anniversary concert. Chicago Children's Choir, the women's a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock and the U.S. Marine Band are also scheduled to perform.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell will recite excerpts from Lincoln's second inaugural address during the concert. Following the hour-long performance about 200 people will be sworn as U.S. citizens, symbolizing the rights all Americans are guaranteed.
"To me, it's just very dramatic," said Josephine Pesaresi, 75, the daughter of Justice Hugo Black, who attended the 1939 event. "People are younger, they don't realize what huge things have happened and how far we have come. It makes me weep, I'm so happy."
Pesaresi, who will be present at Sunday's concert, says it makes her recall how her father had grown in his racial outlook. Black, once a member of the Ku Klux Klan, later joined a unanimous Supreme Court in outlawing segregation in public schools in 1954 and often voted with the court's liberal wing on civil rights cases.
For the remainder of the marion anderson piece, click on the link below:
Concert to pay tribute to late opera singer
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