There is work yet to be done.

My friends, we are not there yet. We are not done…

I’ve never been to New Orleans, the Crescent City, the birthplace of jazz. I’ve never been to New Orleans, but I’ll be there in four weeks to perform a piece dedicated to those who marched, prayed, sat-in, and stood up to injustice, who willingly put their bodies on the line, on the bridges, on the streets, in the churches, in the face of violence and brutality, so that I and my descendants could rise.

We are not there yet, we are not done…

I’m going to New Orleans to revisit a painful history and to celebrate the heroes who lived it. I’m going to pay homage to the courage of a six-year-old girl who had the nerve to pray for those who hated her – who proudly walked past a screaming mob into her moment in history and did so with a grace that serves as an example to us all. I’m humbled by the opportunity to follow in her footsteps -- to lift my voice for justice, and to stand for beloved community.

I have always aspired to make art that reminds us of what we are capable of. Art that shines a light on what is best inside each of us, girds us for the struggle, and inspires in us the heroic gesture – like the ones that defied guns, police dogs, firebombs, firehoses, nightsticks, intimidation, and defeated Jim Crow. I want to support those who proclaim the power of We and acknowledge our desire to connect – across the color bars of black or white, or red or blue. I believe this connection is the fire that can fuel our resistance to the fear, the hateful rhetoric, and the pervasive illusion that our differences are greater than our commonalities. 

I’m going to New Orleans to stand up for hope. And I’m doing it alongside some amazing musicians, some I know well, and others I have not yet met. Thank you Jason Shelton, Marilyn T. Keller, Brian Blade, Clark Sommers, Rahsaan Barber, Jen Hayman, Cremaine Booker, and Davy Mooney for your generous talents and your willingness to join in artistic fellowship. Thanks to the choirs of First UU of Nashville and All Souls of Washington DC. Together we rise.

We are not there yet. We are not done…

"We appeal to the young men and women of this nation, Stand up for the right, prove yourselves worthy of your heritage…Courage, brothers! The battle for humanity is not lost or losing. All across the skies sit signs of promise! The morning breaks over blood-stained hills. We must not falter, we may not shrink. Above are the everlasting stars." -W.E.B. Dubois