MORVEN — Every year on the third Monday of January, the nation pauses to remember a man who envisioned everything America could and should be, his name forever synonymous with the rights he struggled for — Martin Luther King Jr.
This year to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Holla Community Center decked out in glitz and glamour on Friday January 12, was the home of the soulful sounds of The Stanley Baird Group wafting from the building. An extensive, delicious, and highly praised buffet, a product of the partnership of Alex Gaddy and local culinary artist, Valencia Garmon, beckoned guests throughout the event. The duo is the driving force behind local business, Culinary Creations. Sylvia Jeter provided further temptation with the exquisite array of desserts she graciously made special for the event.
Lots of local guests of notoriety were present, such as Sam Cole and his wife Ashley, Board Member Winnie Bennett, representatives from Atrium Healthcare and native siren Brenlee the Model. Holla founder Leon Gatewood, led the way on speeches in between music performances, keeping attendees amused and entertained. Many guests spoke on Martin Luther King’s legacy of fostering unity over discord and his belief that music could bridge gaps made by cultural differences.
The Anson County MLK Jazzy Night Gala, which is an annually held event, honors the revered civil rights leader ever year in a way MLK himself would have enjoyed, through food, music, and unity. In the fight for civil rights, King believed that music, specifically the soft melodious notes of jazz, could bridge the racial divide.
Board member Winnie Bennett recalled, “[MLK] was a very talented singer and piano player… it seems natural to combine his love of music with an event to celebrate his life and impact.”
King saw African-American musicians selling out shows, commanding audiences with the freedom their performances that lit a fire in youth across the country.
Jazz artists like Nat King Cole were attacked on stage when they performed, with few African-Americans coming to his aid. Many saw Cole’s performances for segregated crowds as encouraging racial bigotry. Taking place on April 10, 1956 in Birmingham, Alabama, the attack on Cole by all white men laid bare the racial landscape of the country. Amsterdam News reported that Cole, “agreed to humiliate himself and his race and sell his talents under Jim Crow conditions.”
As that insidious brutality which marked the racial divide in the country and similar incidents continued, it became obvious to all, black and white; Americans could no longer afford to stand on the political sidelines. No longer could jazz artists perform for all-white fans without drawing the ire of their racial community, fast finding themselves forced to choose a side in the cultural struggle erupting across the country.
Cole countered his critics by telling reporters, “I can’t come in here on a one-night stand and overpower the law… but I can help to ease the tension by gaining respect of both races all over the country.”
The nation’s leaders wished to capitalize on the global fascination with the smoky, bluesy music of jazz, a predominantly African-American sound, to export a new image of America to the world. Established in 1956, the Jazz Ambassadors program named Cheraw native Dizzy Gillespie as its first ambassador. Before starting the tour of Middle Eastern and Eastern European countries, Gillespie’s presence was requested at the White House. Officials hoped to instruct the star on how to answer questions from the global media regarding racism in the United States. Unwilling to cloak racism under the mantle of national pride, Gillespie is reported to have answered, “I’ve got three hundred years of briefing. If they ask me any questions, I’m going to answer them as honestly as I can.”
Gillespie knew change could not come from being swept underneath the proverbial rug. Summing up the movement in one simple, eloquent response, Gillespie proved through jazz, the fight for African-American equality had spilled into a global struggle to be seen, heard, respected, and accepted for whom the artists were, not judged by how they looked.
Jazz was quickly becoming a casualty of the war, with King saying, “Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail.”
Speaking on the life of [MLK], Holla founder Leon Gatewood said, “”It takes a lot of sacrifice to bring change.”
The Civil Rights movement in America cannot be marginalized into one person, one speech, or one event. From the murder of innocent young Emmett Till and his open-casket that displayed to the world the grotesque hatred potentially lurking in the human heart, to bombings, cross burnings, segregated restrooms and eateries, the specter of racism looms too large to be regulated to a snapshot in time.
Through the freedom and equality of artistic expression, Jazz began transcending the racism, discrimination, injustice, and murder of the time to start unifying the masses. The legacy of both Jazz music and Martin Luther King Jr., is the reminder to America that the real American dream is equality for all.
Asked to open the three day music event held in Germany, the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival, King was unable to attend instead opting to write a speech recorded and played for attendees. The crowd heard King’s authoritative voice declare, “God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create- and from this capacity has flowed sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations. Jazz speaks for life. The blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment you will realize that they (jazz artists) take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.”
Reinforcing the idea that jazz could aid unity, King added, “For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith. In music, especially this broad category of Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these.”
Summing it up best, Brenlee the Model shared, ” Leon has this event annually for Martin Luther King Day and this year we wanted to jazz it up a little bit. Because that really was his [MLK] goal, to bring everyone together, celebrate, and have a good time.”