Ella's Song - Sweet Honey in the Rock (Voices Lesbian A Cappella For Justice virtual choir cover)

Описание: The words in this song are from the speeches of Ella Baker, whose work against exploitation, racism, and injustice stretched over fifty years. The first verse is from a statement she made following the murder of three Civil Rights Movement workers.

According to the songwriter, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon of the legendary group Sweet Honey in the Rock:

“It was 1964 and James Chaney, Andrew Schwerner, and Michael Goodman, all Civil Rights Movement organizers, had been killed while driving along a lonely highway in Mississippi. We all believed it was the presence of Michael and Andrew, who were White and Jewish, along with Chaney that forced the search that finally turned up their broken bodies.This suspicion was brought home when, as they dragged the rivers of Mississippi, they began to turn up the bones of Black men killed that no one had ever looked for.

Miss Baker’s remarks were angry. She was angry about the killing of young men and about the racism. When the Goodman and Schwerner families tried to have their sons buried with Chaney, they were blocked, because it was against the law in Mississippi for Blacks and Whites to be buried together. Miss Baker made it clear that there would be no rest for those of us who made freedom our cause: ‘Until the killing of Black men, Black mothers’ sons, is as important as the killing of white men, white mothers’ sons, we who believe in freedom cannot rest.’”

We in Voices Lesbian A Cappella For Justice heed Ella Baker’s call to stand up against the devastating legacy and continuing injustice of anti-Black racism, and to stand behind the leadership of Black folks while doing so.

Please donate to support the Movement for Black Lives:
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(Note: we recorded this in June and July 2020, during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order, in our separate homes around the Bay Area. )

== LINKS ==

ELLA BAKER
https://ellabakercenter.org/about/who...
https://ellabakercenter.org/blog/2013...
This information comes from the ELLA BAKER CENTER, an Oakland-based nonprofit organizing with Black, Brown, and low-income people to shift resources away from prisons and punishment, and towards opportunities that make our communities safe, healthy, and strong.

BERNICE JOHNSON REAGON
https://www.bernicejohnsonreagon.com/

SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK
https://sweethoneyintherock.org/
   • Sweet honey in the rock - Ella's Song  

VOICES LESBIAN A CAPPELLA FOR JUSTICE:
  / voiceslafj  

(in order of appearance)
Adrian Applin
Courtney Thompson
Mandy Hu (arranger and producer)
Jamie McGrath
Orchid Pusey (director)
Edie Irons
Prajna Choudhury
Reba Murphy

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