Music And Cultural Arts Heritage And Preservation Matter

#Knowledge-Is-Power! Most of our American musical heritage is as original and creative as the original ideas and premise our founding fathers had for building a country for the people and by the people. Just like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution these documents provide a look back on where we came from and are a road map for our future. American music and cultural arts paint a vivid picture of where we started and how far we have progressed. Beginning with the spirituals which became recognized as an American National Treasure in 2007, the slaves created an original rhythm and sound that later created the new genres of Blues, Jazz, Gospel and Rhythm and Blues which are staples in American music history.

A world without art, music or cultural diversity wouldn’t be very interesting. It is the arts that help us see ourselves in the context of history and portray our humanity generationally. Today in America there are only a handful of us who continue to sing the spirituals and share the history within them, and that I believe is because so little is known about the slave culture in America. In our hopes to move past America’s original sin we have chosen to forget where we came from, rather than learn from our mistakes, and take the time to heal the wound so that we can move forward from a healed place with new creative ideas for a bright future for generations to come. In our hastiness to move forward we are losing out on a dynamic culture of artists whose names we will never know and whose stories tell us who we are. Building on our musical heritage in America it is important to remember where it all began and just how wonderfully diverse it has become. #Knowledge-Is-Power. Peace and Love y’all.