This diary is about a project in the City of Erie conceived and run by a friend of mine, Kelly Armor. Kelly is an accomplished musician who is passionate that people make and enjoy their own music rather than simply consume the music made by “experts.” Before going further, I’ll let Kelly tell her own story. This is the TEDx talk she gave last year:
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For those who either can’t view youtubes or don’t have the time, Kelly describes how, as a frustrated music student at Yale, she decided to study African music by going to live in Africa for two years. She lived in an environment where music was made by everyone all the time. There were songs for all occasions and for all purposes: work songs to be sung while performing particular tasks, and a full “pharmacopeia” of lullabies to sing babies to sleep under a variety of different conditions. Everyone made music, and children organically learned from their elders the music of their culture.
Contrast this with music in the US. Music teachers tell some of their students that they can’t sing, and the students believe them and sometimes never sing again, thinking that the sound they make must be awful to listen to. Myself, I consider this tragic. Nobody should be excluded from the joy of participatory music-making. It cuts people off from one of the most fundamental elements of human culture. But let me stop editorializing and get back to the project.
So, many years later, Kelly is back living in her home town of Erie and working for the Erie Art Museum. All through the nineties and the first decade of the new century, foreign refugees have been placed in the City of Erie. These are people who have survived war, forced displacement and genocide. Because the cost of living is quite low, this is not a bad place for them to settle—it’s possible for a wage-earner to support his or her family using the salary from a relatively low-skill, low-wage job, the type of job a refuge whose English is not so good is likely to get. Since the 1990s, Erie has become the home of significant numbers of Bosnians, Sudanese, Rwandans, Iraqis, Afghans, Burmese and Bhutanese. And of course they bring their culture with them.
Kelly became involved with the growing refugee community in Erie, and learned their music. She realized that there was a way to help these immigrants preserve and propagate their own culture while making the women of their communities employable. The idea was to train the women to work in childcare, while adapting their songs for use with English-speaking children and coworkers. So the project Old Songs New Opportunities came about. While many of these women are mothers, and so have plenty of childcare experience of their own, they have to learn to conform to the regulations of licensed childcare facilities in the US. But they also contribute their songs—adapted to be sung in English—in games and other group activities with the children. So the children become immersed in an environment where they can learn to sing songs—the native songs of people from Africa, Bhutan, or Iraq—an experience that they might not be getting at home.
This project gives the musical culture of these refugees a chance at a second life. In a generation or two, the refugee families will likely become Americanized, with later generations possibly rejecting their native cultures. If these refugees can seed their music in the mainstream culture of the US, those songs may survive by other means.
So now comes the “ask.” Kelly wants to make a CD of this music, and in order to properly compensate the creators of this music from the outset, she needs money. She has a fundraising page at indiegogo. If you think this is a worthwhile project, please drop a few dollars in her direction, and maybe buy the CD once it’s produced. There are 17 days left in the campaign. Thanks.
And now, on to the comments!
Top Comments (April 28, 2016):
From Wee Mama:
A useful reflection by GrouchySquirrel for Bernie supporters who want to persuade Hillary supporters. From AnisShivani’s post on “Hillarybots.”
From your humble diarist:
This comment by Kati L correctly groups Dennis Hastert’s Republican apologists with those in the Catholic Church who would defend the child molesters in the priesthood. From Walter Einenkel’s recommended post Tom Delay and 40 others write letter to court saying Hastert gets ‘integrity and values’ from God.
Top Mojo (April 27, 2016):
Top Mojo is courtesy of mik! Click here for more on how Top Mojo works.
Top Pictures (April 27, 2016):
Tonight’s picture quilt is courtesy of jotter!