Every Song Has a Story: Black Music’s Impact on America

Can you hear them? Can you hear the notes … the beats … the unique musical rhythms and messages of the African American experience? Linda Gorham, Professional Storyteller, will take you on a musical journey over the past 100 years as she tells the stories behind influential songs by Black artists that shaped American music and American attitudes. Songs include Black & Blue (Louis Armstrong), Lift Every Voice (James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson), My Country Tis of Thee (Marion Anderson), Strange Fruit (Billie Holiday), The Twist (Chubby Checker), Happy Birthday (Stevie Wonder), What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye), Respect (Aretha Franklin), and Say It Loud (James Brown).