World famous musician honored by community concert
JACKSON, Tenn.– A world-renowned musician was celebrated in Jackson this weekend.
Friday morning, Gil Scott-Heron was celebrated with a mural reveal and then with a special concert event on Saturday evening in Jackson.
James E. Cherry, President of the Griot Collective of West TN, shares the importance of having the community concert. “It’s a community concert because Gil Scott-Heron was raised here. His formative years were spent here, and this is a way to celebrate all of his contributions, such as his poetry, his music, his activism. It’s also a excellent way to bring the community together.”
Wendy Trice-Martin president of African American Cultural Awareness, also known as SAACA, shares her passion with the celebrations.
“The music of Gil Scott-Heron is the music for everyone, you know, and he started his activism here and it ends with the music, with the activism, and the entertainment.”
Mehr Mansuri, the Artistic Director of The Children’s Theater Company tells the hope of having the kids in the concert. “This is really about the kids seeing that they can make themselves the voice of positive change. That they can be the agents of change. That they feel empowered, in their own community and therefore in the world that they live in.”
One of the performers with The Children’s Theater Company, Jadin Springfield shares a spoken word. “If you desire with all your heart, friendship, with every race on earth your thought, both spiritual and positive will spread. It will become the desire of others growing stronger and stronger, until it reaches the minds of all men. Baha Writers. ”
Gil Scott Heron’s son, Rumal Rackley, expresses his joy with the celebrations. “I was happy to see how the mural turned out, and just the celebration that Wendy, and James, and Jackson in general has turned out. So we were just happy to be apart of it. ”
The Gil Scott-Heron Day is expected to be an annual celebration.
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