Highbrow Magazine - civil rights movement https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/civil-rights-movement en Joan Baez: 60 Years of Sound and Still Counting https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24120-joan-baez-years-sound-and-still-counting <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 10/05/2023 - 17:23</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1baez.jpg?itok=yvRdNCOd"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1baez.jpg?itok=yvRdNCOd" width="324" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Joan Baez made a noise—a big one. Still shy of 20, when this legendary folk singer and protest activist adorned the cover of <em>Time</em> magazine, she could hit the purest notes anyone had ever heard or could remember. And we all know early stardom can be the harbinger of a shaky destiny. That veritable candle can burn at both ends, but it will not last the night.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">For Baez, now 82, the good news is that for over 60 years of performing, she outlasted that long night, coming out the other side to see another morning of an extraordinary life. That’s not only good fortune for her, but for Mira Navasky, Karen O’Connor, and Maeve O’Boyle, the directors of <em>I Am a Noise</em>. Through a rich pastiche of the singer’s own confessional narration; archival footage of the last half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century; interlaced with animation of Baez’s own drawings and performance clips—even the hypnotic, somnambulistic voice on tape of her own therapist — their film stands as one of the frankest stories of fame to be seen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">If this up-close and personal account veers dangerously close to a saga of obsessive navel gazing, it is saved by the treasure trove of memorabilia Baez has lent to the proceedings. A very young Joan is seen flirting and pouting her way through the California landscape her Mexican-American father chose to document. Roughhousing with her two sisters, bellowing out early tunes on her guitar, sketching and journal writing with a rare and prescient talent—it’s all here. As a research scientist in physics, the senior Baez exposed his family to parts of the world like Baghdad, where a social consciousness blossomed in the girls at an early age. It was there, according to Joan, before the voice developed.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2baez.jpg" style="height:419px; width:670px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This early raw talent was generously spread among the three sisters. Sister Mimi is seen performing songs with husband Richard Farina. Tragically, the promising future for this duo was cut short by Farina’s early death in a motorcycle accident. One of their more popular songs, “Pack Up Your Sorrows,” was written by the third sister, Pauline.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">When celebrity came -- Baez still kicking her mercurial self out of adolescent angst — it didn’t just knock but blew the door wide open. She confesses that at a certain point, trying to find her young self in this morass of public adulation, she thought herself to be the Virgin Mary reincarnated. Touring with the Farinas; falling into a lesbian relationship then out again; finding a soulmate in the unknown Bob Dylan and encouraging this gargantuan talent until his own fame broke open and he “broke my heart,” the viewer is shuttled into a tailspin of the times.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It was no surprise that an impressionable girl, raised by Quaker parents, became an unremitting activist. She met and married the dashing antiwar protestor David Harris, and for a few years, she sang to her legions while he spoke. “We Shall Overcome” became the mantra for a generation of peaceniks, but for Baez, their marriage couldn’t overcome the fact that he was several years younger, and she was “crazy.” Looking back, Baez makes an astute revelation: “I’m not very great at one relationship, but I’m great at 2,000.”  A son Gabriel was the fruit of this union, and it’s satisfying to see him accompanying her on the road and on her farewell tour as a drummer.  </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3baez.jpg" style="height:474px; width:670px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Her naïve desire to “save the world” was an authentic one, and we glimpse her holding hands with a grinning James Baldwin on one of her many marches, the iconic early ‘60s voice of Martin Luther King playing incessantly in the public’s mind. Getting arrested was just part of the bigger picture to Baez, a little enough price to pay. When the war was over, she continued to embrace such events as the 1986 Amnesty International Conference, President Reagan’s law granting amnesty to nearly 3 million illegal immigrants, yet largely considered unsuccessful because the strict sanctions on employers were stripped out of the bill for passage.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The film begins with a quote from Gabriel Garcia Marquez: “Everyone has three lives: the public, the private, and the secret.” Living in the constant glare of the public, it’s no surprise that the public and the private life for Baez often blended into one. But her secret life was another matter. How long can the psyche go on with the “bone-shattering task of remembering” without seeking help?  And what both Joan and her sister Mimi remembered about their young lives forms a disturbing chapter of abuse in the overall story. There are those who believe that intensive therapy can lead to a false memory syndrome. But according to Baez, if even 20 percent is true, it’s a tragedy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">A film about such a folk legend must include highlights of performances to satisfy the fans, especially those whose own lives have witnessed the messy, yet often glorious days that Baez’s own life reflects. These clips are golden moments, surely, with memorable songs performed by Joan and Mimi; one of Dylan’s hits sung by the pair at the height of their performing together; and on the Farewell Tour, “There But For Fortune” by Phil Ochs, sung by a mature Baez even as she felt the notes were a tad less pure.</span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4baez.jpg" style="height:670px; width:489px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Baez can lay claim to over 30 albums, the first three hitting gold and a sold-out performance at New York City’s Town Hall in 1961 at the age of 20. Through the years, the awards have piled up, most recently a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 and a Kennedy Center Honors Award in 2020.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It is the present Joan Baez that the filmmakers leave us with. Sitting in her Western landscape, the camera pulls out to reveal a setting sun, with the words of the great Robert Frost reverberating: “I have miles to go before I sleep.” If the fates are kind, we hope her journey continues another “Ten Thousand Miles.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Sandra Bertrand is</em> Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief art critic.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Source:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Photo credit for Joan Baez and Bob Dylan image: Rowland Scherman (Public Domain, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joan_Baez_Bob_Dylan.jpg" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Wikipedia.org</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/joan-baez" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Joan Baez</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/folk-singers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">folk singers</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/folk-songs" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">folk songs</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bob-dylan" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Bob Dylan</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music-1960s" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">music of the 1960s</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/60s" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the 60s</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/civil-rights-movement" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">civil rights movement</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/singers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">singers</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/folk-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">folk music</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandra Bertrand</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-videos field-type-video-embed-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <div class="embedded-video"> <div class="player"> <iframe class="" width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dhcV1gEat_c?width%3D640%26amp%3Bheight%3D360%26amp%3Bautoplay%3D0%26amp%3Bvq%3Dlarge%26amp%3Brel%3D0%26amp%3Bcontrols%3D1%26amp%3Bautohide%3D2%26amp%3Bshowinfo%3D1%26amp%3Bmodestbranding%3D0%26amp%3Btheme%3Ddark%26amp%3Biv_load_policy%3D1%26amp%3Bwmode%3Dopaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> </div> </div></div></div> Thu, 05 Oct 2023 21:23:15 +0000 tara 12659 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24120-joan-baez-years-sound-and-still-counting#comments Artist Brian Washington’s Tribute to the Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10420-artist-brian-washington-s-tribute-heroes-civil-rights-movement <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sun, 02/23/2020 - 10:16</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1brianwashington.jpg?itok=ARFJPOhI"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1brianwashington.jpg?itok=ARFJPOhI" width="480" height="391" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>                                                                                                               </p> <p>In recognition of Black History Month and President Gerald R. Ford’s efforts dignifying the contributions of African Americans, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is hosting an exhibit by nationally acclaimed artist Brian Washington, beginning Feb. 20.</p> <p> </p> <p>Washington’s “The Continual Struggle: The American Freedom Movement and the Seeds of Social Change,” is an ongoing body of artwork documenting the Civil Rights Movement and America’s historical struggle against segregation and other forms of race-based injunctions. The 23-piece exhibit vividly recalls a time when people were willing to go into the streets to protest injustice and inequality, according to the artist’s website.</p> <p> </p> <p>“With this exhibit, I hope to elicit the raw emotions from the atrocities African Americans struggled with in years past and bring them to the forefront in today’s cultural lessons,” Washington said. “I want people who see ‘The Cultural Struggle’ to come away with a renewed sense of empathy and humility for those who came before us.”</p> <p> </p> <p>While attending Duke University, Washington, a world-class self-taught artist and award-winning Los Angeles-based attorney, became increasingly aware of the social injustices and inequalities surrounding him. As a way to honor those who fought for freedom and equal rights before him, Washington began a year-long independent study developing his concept for what would become “The Continual Struggle, Edition 1.”</p> <p> </p> <p>In 2003, Washington’s 11-piece first-edition series, formally titled “The Continual Struggle: The Civil Rights Movement – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” was acquired in its entirety by the Smithsonian Institution, and placed in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian-affiliated National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2brianwashington.jpg" style="height:230px; width:602px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Thirteen years later, Washington's second edition of The Continual Struggle, titled "The Continual Struggle: The American Freedom movement and the Seeds of Social Change,” opened at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas.</p> <p> </p> <p>“With President Ford’s notion to expand Black History Week to an entire month-long proclamation, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation is honored to display Brian Washington’s critically-acclaimed masterpiece,” said Elain Didier, director, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and  Museum.</p> <p>While in office in February 1975, President Ford stated, “It is most appropriate that Americans set aside a week to recognize the important contribution made to our nation's life and culture by our black citizens. With the growth of the civil rights movement has come a healthy awareness on the part of all of us of achievements that have too long been obscured and unsung. Emphasis on these achievements in our schools and colleges and in daily community life places in timely perspective the benefits of working together as brothers and sisters regardless of race, religion or national origin for the general well-being of all our society. In this spirit, I urge my fellow citizens to be mindful of the valuable message conveyed to us during the celebration of this week.”</p> <p> </p> <p>The following year in 1976, President Ford proclaimed a tribute to Black History Month in admiration of the impressive contributions by African Americans:</p> <p> </p> <p>“The last quarter-century has finally witnessed significant strides in the full integration of black people into every area of national life. In celebrating Black History Month, we can take satisfaction from this recent progress in the realization of the ideals envisioned by our Founding Fathers. But, even more than this, we can seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em> “The Continual Struggle” will be on display Feb. 20-May 31. In honor of Black History Month, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum will be free to public on Feb. 22-23, and Feb.29-March 1.  </em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3brianwashington.jpg" style="height:467px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4brianwashington.jpg" style="height:444px; width:602px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5brianwashington.jpg" style="height:303px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6brianwashington.jpg" style="height:396px; width:601px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/8brianwashington.jpg" style="height:304px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/brian-washington" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Brian Washington</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/gerald-ford-museum" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">gerald ford museum</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/president-gerald-ford" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">president gerald ford</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/black-history-month" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">black history month</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/civil-rights-movement" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">civil rights movement</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/african-americans" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">African Americans</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/discrimination" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">discrimination</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/segragation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">segragation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/american-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">american artists</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Editors</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Photos courtesy of Brian Washington/the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sun, 23 Feb 2020 15:16:05 +0000 tara 9371 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10420-artist-brian-washington-s-tribute-heroes-civil-rights-movement#comments