“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was a manifestation of hope that humanity might one day get out of its own way by finding the courage to realize that love and nonviolence are not indicators of weakness but gifts of significant strength.” -- MLK poster art with quote by Aberjhani courtesy of Bright Skylark Literary Productions . Different roads provide diverse routes to freedom. For many, the path is an interior one. It first requires an individual to the clear from the landscape of inner being those areas overgrown with woody thickets of doubt and trauma or buried beneath swamplands of self-imposed limitations. There are others––like the Americans who struggled for civil rights in the 1960s, and citizens of the Middle East and various African countries currently battling for basic human rights–– who take a more public journey to freedom. Their sense and experience of liberty is defined by interaction with the external dictates of history, evolving cultural persuasion...

“He captured the spotlight of history precisely at the right time, and responded with a blueprint for what America could become if it trusted its democratic legacy… He was murdered. But his dream still excites our social and political imaginations. It beckons us to work, to realize the dream that America can indeed be a truly pluralistic society and that planet Earth can be a place in the universe where peace, justice, and freedom are the dominant ethos.” ––James M. Washington, Introduction to A Testament of Hope , The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr . August 28, 2013, will mark the 50th anniversary of the great 1963 March on Washington D.C. for Civil Rights and for Martin Luther King Jr.’s delivery of his now iconic “I Have a Dream” speech before a national audience.  Plans had long been underway to commemorate the event on Saturday, August 24, with a symbolic reenactment of the original march. Recent events, however, such as George Zimmerman’s ...

                       The late jazz bassist Ben Tucker. ( photo courtesy of MySpace music artist page ) It is always difficult to make peace with the death of someone who gives as much to a city as preeminent jazz-man Ben Tucker gave through his musical genius, philanthropy, and love to Savannah, Georgia. It is even harder when that death occurs violently and makes one feel like it should have never happened in the first place. Nevertheless, that so many are now taking time to remember and honor him is truly inspiring. It was never my privilege to know Tucker as well as many others in Savannah’s jazz and cultural arts community did but it was my good fortune to benefit from his expansive creative endeavors. The 2009 article A Son of Savannah Celebrated  was one small attempt to pay tribute to the man while still in his jazz swinging prime 2009: The City of Savannah Celebrates a Favorite Son - National African-...

Crowd celebrating life of Michael Jackson after his death during Black Music Month 2009.  (Getty image) The basic idea underlying the concept of Pan Africanism is that of cultural awareness and connection leading to mutually beneficial cooperation between people of African descent throughout the Global Village . It is a concept which those who are possibly more politically, philosophically, and economically motivated have promoted at least since the year 1900. One of the ways this powerful theory has met with notable success in practice has been in the area of music. To help ensure the viability of African-American music in particular, famed music producer Kenny Gamble and broadcast executive Ed Wright in 1979 persuaded then President Jimmy Carter to declare June as Black Music Month. The crowning event that year was a celebration concert held on June 7 at the White House. Featured on that occasion were representatives of the broader spectrum of black music, from the rock...