The Black Legacy Project Is Using The Power Of Music To Build Solidarity
Talk. Create. Perform.
That, in a nutshell, is what Music In Common (MIC) has always done. Its Executive Director, Todd Mack, started the nonprofit organization in 2005 as a tribute to his friend and bandmate, the journalist Daniel Pearl. Since then, MIC, based in Sheffield, Massachusetts, has facilitated hundreds of programs for thousands of young people in more than 250 communities across the United States, Middle East and Far East. The programs use songwriting and performing to fight hate, bringing together those of different faiths, backgrounds and nationalities (including immigrants, refugees and American-born citizens) to create music while building tolerance.
But, like most nonprofits in the past year and a half, programming was either to change or die. Mack chose the latter, and worked with MIC’s senior fellows and project directors to develop The Black Legacy Project, an innovative musical collaboration that celebrates Black history and builds solidarity to advance racial justice, equity, and equality.
That’s a mouthful, so put more simply, the Black Legacy Project will take iconic songs associated with the Black experience and gather local community members together to discuss and analyze the lyrics. Local artists will reimagine present-day interpretations of the songs as well as compose originals. They’ll make a recording and perform the new tunes at a concert on Nov. 21 (place to be determined). Then, the project will move on to communities in Atlanta, Los Angeles and perhaps others to repeat the process.
“The pandemic really did a number on Music in Common, because historically we’d done everything in person,” Mack said. “We had to figure out how to reinvent ourselves.”
At the same time, he said, he was ready to hand over a lot of MIC’s programming to the younger people, many of whom had participated in the MIC Youth Leadership program, which provides hands-on training for a cohort of interns (ages 14-21) and fellows (ages 21-25) from around the country.
It was also at this period that Mack found himself obsessing on a set of Bob Dylan songs addressing racial injustice and inequality back in the 60s and 70s. Here was a white guy from Minnesota writing these powerful songs, he thought. But for who? And how did they get embedded into the Civil Rights movement? Which in turn led to an idea: What if we took songs and had Black artists cover them, and make them their own?
“I pitched the idea to Trey Carlisle, Missy Williams and Mia Shepherd, who became the project’s co-directors,” Mack said. Intrigued, they added components of their own.
“Olivia and I were grieving at that time,” said Carlisle. “There were the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor murders. Chadwick Boseman passed away around then. He was someone who used his craft to fight for racial inequality in his role in Black Panther. We were thinking about the notion of healing, and the need for white and Black folks to come together. The project’s mission became using this platform as musicians.”
Their goal: to create modern-day interpretations of selected songs and compose original songs about the changes so many of us want to see.
Black Legacy Project Berkshires musical co-directors Gina Coleman and Diego Mongue work out their interpretation of "Lift Every Voice and Sing"
The BLP launched this week with two roundtable community discussions (via Zoom). On Monday, participants analyzed and discussed the song “Strange Fruit,” famously recorded by Billie Holiday; and the W.E.B. Du Bois poem, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” to explore the history of lynching in the U.S. On Tuesday, they did the same with freedom songs “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and ‘We Shall Overcome,” discussing the theme of hope. (All four songs, it turns out, have a direct connection to the Berkshires.)
Although the roundtables have already taken place, there are multiple ways locals can get involved in the BLP. There is the community ambassador network, headed by local co-directors Nia Shepherd and Crissy Williams, who would welcome help with planning and organizing to keep the project alive after the recording is done. Musicians and singers are invited to audition to participate in the recording of the new songs. Co-directors will put together a roster of musicians for the session, slated for November at the new state-of-the-art recording studio at Berkshire Community College, a project sponsor. And speaking of sponsorships, the BLP is asking for financial support in each of the communities where the Black LP is produced.
Mack and his team expect to land in Atlanta in January to repeat the process, followed by a move to Los Angeles, and perhaps other cities on their wish list.
“We chose these three communities because they’re active hubs for Music in Common already,” Mack said. “All three are significant in terms of Black history, and Black and white solidarity.”
“Past. Present. Forward.” Is BLP’s tagline. It’s an ambitious project, as are all of Music in Common’s ventures, which have sought to repair the fractures dividing communities worldwide. Like them, the Black Legacy Project is starting here, in the Berkshires, before heading off to the wider world. It’s a format that has proven successful.
“One community at a time,” said Mack.
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