New Mexico Black Leadership Council

Tag: UpLift Chronicles

  • One NM Gospel Concert Pays Tribute to Black American Experience

    One NM Gospel Concert Pays Tribute to Black American Experience

    by Kristin Satterlee

    “There is so much feeling and depth, so much that’s connected to gospel songs that goes all the way back to slavery times.”-Aria Gaston.

    When you ask Aria Gaston—a Las Vegas, Nevada-based singer-songwriter, vocal coach, and gospel talent—why gospel music is important to the Black American experience, she wants you to know that “there’s a reason we sing the way we sing” that goes all the way back.

    Gaston points to the spiritual “Wade in the Water”: “That’s way old school, right? Come to find out … Those hymns were their own code.” It was illegal to teach enslaved people to read or write, so these coded songs—also known as map songs or signal songs—were important vehicles to communicate dangerous ideas and instructions. “Wade in the Water” instructed people fleeing slavery that they would need to travel through water to find freedom. Other songs like “Follow the Drinking Gourd” and “Steal Away” had their own meanings and were used regularly on the Underground Railroad. It’s said that “Sweet Chariot,” sung to let slaves know that they would be escaping soon, was Harriet Tubman’s favorite song.

    Gospel still speaks to us today. “Gospel music is full of encouragement for ourselves. I feel like the depth of who we are is knowing in our hearts who God is, and that is why we are able to share such a strong message of hope: to tell people trouble don’t last always, and we are going to keep singing that until we are sweating,” Gaston explains.

    If you’re looking for a chance to sing songs of encouragement and praise until you break out in a sweat, don’t miss the free One NM Gospel Concert on Sunday, April 28 at First Unitarian Church (3701 Carlisle Blvd NE) in Albuquerque. Gaston will be headlining, “creating a worshipful experience where people are changed and don’t leave the same.”

    The One NM Gospel Concert is open to and meant for everyone. While the music may be deeply rooted in the Black American experience, Gaston is confident when she says, “Of course gospel can pull all races together.” She backs the statement up with years of experience singing to and with audiences of all stripes. “Gospel music has soul in it. People talk about how they can feel it. Whites, Blacks, [Hispanics]—it doesn’t matter who they are. When a person gets up there singing a gospel song, you’re gonna see tears running through their eyes.”

    “Definitely, it will bring everybody together,” concludes Gaston. RSVP to attend here. Sign up for the choir here.

    One NM Gospel Concert

    Sunday, April 28, 3:30pm

    First Unitarian Church

    3701 Carlisle Blvd NE

     

  • American Fiction Deep Dive: The Dilemma of Black Creatives and Success 

    American Fiction Deep Dive: The Dilemma of Black Creatives and Success 

    by Shannon Yvonne Moreau

    In the Oscar-nominated film American Fiction—which won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay—a Black author faces a downward career spiral. Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright, nominated for Actor in a Leading Role) has his latest book rejected with a request he write something “more Black.” Meanwhile, fellow author Sintara Golden’s (Issa Rae) book We’s Lives in Da Ghetto is a bestseller and lauded as authentic.

    Frustrated, Monk writes My Pafology, full of Black stereotypes and tropes, in response. He’s sure his critics will see the error of their ways and back off. The opposite happens—an editor loves the book and offers him beaucoup bucks. Monk grapples with what it takes for a Black creative to be successful, and whether that’s synonymous with “selling out.” The movie underscores the fact that, all too often, Black folks gotta do what we gotta do. There’s no shame in that, yet it takes its toll on health and well-being.

    Director Cord Jefferson said that before he’d even heard of Erasure, the Percival Everett novel upon which American Fiction is based, he got a note from an executive about a script he’d written: to make his character “Blacker.” I’m reminded of Gabrielle Union’s cheerleading captain character Isis in Bring It On. The original script contained “Black” language that bore no resemblance to actual Black American slang. “I am not the most Ebonically gifted person, but I recognize a made-up word when I see it,” Union writes in We’re Going to Need More Wine. “I worked hard to make Isis a real character. It is interesting to me that when people reenact my scenes, they turn me back into that caricature the director and I consciously took steps to avoid. They snap their fingers and say, ‘It’s already been broughten.’” That “broughten” line isn’t even in the movie. Clichés often override reality, and it’s exhausting.

    Monk’s lucrative offer for his joke manuscript comes in the middle of a crushing familial health and financial crisis. The situation’s not uncommon and it’s exacerbated for Black Americans by factors such as health disparities and the severing of opportunities to build generational wealth. Monk faces a hard choice: soul integrity or physical care. Is it really “selling out” when it’s about doing what it takes to provide for your family and survive?

    Monk is psychologically and emotionally tormented, which impacts the relationships he needs to thrive as a Black creative. Given the ongoing effects of oppression Blacks have to deal with, it’s especially cruel to add the shame of “selling out” to a plate already spilling over with burdens. We all make tough choices in life, but we can balance them with compassion for ourselves and others. Give a nod: I see you, we’re in this.

    Mental health is critical to thriving. Artistic expression is crucial for an evolving, conscious society. Despite pushback to be mainstream, palatable, respectable, and to “correctly” represent, it’s imperative that Black folks keep writing and telling our stories.

    As Cord Jefferson said, “It’s up to the people who make art, the people who make culture, to remind us that actually we need to mend these issues or else we’re really in a lot of trouble.”

    Mental Health Resources:

    New Mexico Crisis and Access Line

    Better Help

    Talk Space

    The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation

    Psychology Today Therapists in New Mexico Search Page

    Psychology Today Therapists in Albuquerque Search Page

    Writing Groups:

    Land of Enchantment Romance Authors (NM Chapter of Romance Writers of America)

    Southwest Writers

    Women’s Thriller Writers

    Croak and Dagger (NM Chapter of Sisters in Crime)

    New Mexico Chapter of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

    NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month

    New Mexico Women in Film

     

     

     

     

Translate »