If you want to reach people, sing to them, and make them sing. Experience tells us that singing changes people's relationships to reality, maybe even getting them ready to experience pain in a protest march.
Here's a term that was new to me anyway: "Collective Effervescence". It was coined by the sociologist Emile Durkheim to describe a lot of things, including the state we might achieve if we all got together and sang a song about our political aims. You see this in times of protest, from the streets of Ferguson to the streets around Tahrir Square. When people sing, or hear someone else sing, it activates them.
Earlier this month at Watkinson School in Hartford, I asked a folk singer, a rapper, and a composer to talk about the role that political thought plays in their music. You're going to hear that conversation today, but not just conversation - it wouldn't make any sense just to talk about music - they played, they sang, they rapped, we sang with them. Feel free to join in from your car or kitchen.
Here is the entire show, with a link to the abridged for-air version at the bottom of this page:
GUESTS:
- Neely Bruceis a Professor of Music and American Studies at Wesleyan University, a composer, conductor, pianist, and scholar of American music
- Lara Herscovich is a singer and songwriter, past Connecticut State Troubadour, and policy social worker. Her latest album is called "Four Wise Monkeys"
- Khaiim the RapOet, AKA Self Suffice is a hip-hop artist, teacher, and host of the Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival
Chion Wolf, Betsy Kaplan, Sally Kaplan, and Catie Talarski helped produce this show. Special thanks to Event Resources for technical production!
