It’s been a long and busy two weeks which explains my lack of a response to one of the major events of our time. The racial aspect of the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America has been rehashed countless times by the media to the extent that it’s almost gone a little stale, though nonetheless important and a defining moment in history.

But wait, before you dismiss this blog post as yet another rambling opinion from the blogosphere, please, stop and read. You probably won’t regret the 15 minutes or so that you’ll spend on this post.

Here’s a short excerpt from the transcript of the victory speech at Grant Park.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

… …

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

This led me to recall a piece of music that would be a fitting tribute to that which Ann Nixon Cooper might have seen during the 106 years of her life  – A Movement for Rosa

In a clear manisfestation of his belief that composers and musicians should be politically aware and involved, Camphouse pays tribute to Rosa Parks in this ‘movement’, a quasi-tone poem, containing three contrasting sections. Section I evokes Rosa’s early years, from her birth February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama, through her marriage in 1932 to Raymond Parks in Pine Level, Alabama. Section II portrays years of racial strife in Montgomery and the quest for social equality. The third section is one of quiet strength and serenity. This piece is held together with the hymn, “We Shall Overcome”. Foreshadowed in sections I & II by motivic fragmentation as this 3 part ‘musical biography’ progresses, this theme is heard in its entirety near the end, on the solo horn. The work’s final measures, with its deliberate lack of resolution, serves fittingly as an ominous reminder of racism’s lingering presence in modern American society, that the battle for racial equality continues to this day.

- Philharmonic Winds ( philharmonicwinds.org )

Apart from being one of the first pieces of band music I ever heard, it’s probably also the most memorable because of the story that it tells.

The story of Rosa Parks [1] is that of an African-American woman who dared to stand up (or rather, sit down) for her rights, who dared to defy the order of the day, who dared to believe in an America where all men and women would be equal, who dared to believe that who you can be is not determined by the color of your skin.

Such a belief may be difficult to understand today when we have seen consecutive African-Americans take on the role of Secretary of State, and on the 4th of November, the Presidency itself.

But remember, it wasn’t so long ago when a man could be lynched in the Jim Crow South for no apparent reason, or perhaps just because he was black.

The story of Rosa Parks and that of the Civil Rights Movement [2] epitomizes the struggle of a people, oppressed for years and subjected to racial discrimination and injustice. Quoting the philosopher Saint Augustine, an unjust law is no law at all. For decades, the African-American people suffered at the hands of a majority who decided that the rule of law did not apply to people of a color different from theirs.

As for “A Movement for Rosa”, written in 1992, the ending of the piece was clouded in a shroud of uncertainty and gloom. After all, that was the very year of the Rodney King Riots [3] which probably left a reminder that the racial chasm in America was still as wide as ever.

With the election of an African-American to the highest office in the land, I wonder how the ending of A Movement for Rosa might sound if it was re-written today.

Rosa Parks passed away in October 2005 at a ripe old age of 92, but without a doubt, she’d have been proud to see that night at Grant Park on the 4th of November 2008.

[1] Rosa Parks – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks
[2] Civil Rights Movement – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movement
[3] Rodney King Riots – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots

Related posts:

1. Meet the Press
2. 2008 Human Rights Report: Singapore

1. jh Says:
   December 9th, 2008 at 3:02 am

   thought it’s abit late, a movement for rosa is probably the most moving piece i’ve heard. touches me deep down in the heart.

   make me miss sec 1 days as well. haha.

2. bangky Says:
   December 9th, 2008 at 7:47 am

   heh those days of long ago…
   we never really did get to play it during our time did we?

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