by Melvin Terry
February marks Black History Month, a tradition that got its start in the Jim Crow era and became official in 1976, with President Ford calling on the public to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history." For our spring concerts, “True Colors,” the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus will be performing “My heart be brave,” an important contribution to music in the Black tradition, composed in 2022 by Marques L.A. Garrett. He’s given us a setting of “Sonnet,” written by James Weldon Johnson in 1893.
A Virginia native, Marquis L.A. Garrett is an Assistant Professor of Music. at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Before earning his PhD in Music Education at Florida State University he was the Director of Choral Activities at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. He holds an MM from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a BA from Hampton University. An active conductor, Dr. Garrett is the artistic director of the Omaha Symphonic Chorus and founding conductor of the Nebraska Festival Singers. This is the first time Oakland GMC has had the opportunity to perform his music.
James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) is a name we remember today for having written the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing” in 1900, which later became known as the Negro National Anthem. The music was written by his younger brother, J. Rosamond Johnson.
In 1897 James Weldon Johnson became the first African American admitted to the Florida Bar Exam since the Reconstruction era ended. Under President Theodore Roosevelt he was appointed U.S. consul in Venezuela and then Nicaragua for most of the period from 1906 to 1913. From 1920 to 1930 he was Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1934, he was the first African American professor to be hired at New York University, and later he was a professor of creative literature and writing at Fisk University a historically black university.
Johnson was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems, novels, and anthologies collecting both poetry and spirituals of Black culture. “Sonnet” is one of Johnson’s earlier poems, published while the poet was in his early twenties and still attending Atlanta University. He died on June 26, 1938, at the age of 67, after a train struck his car in Wiscasset, Maine. His Harlem funeral was attended by over 2,000 mourners.
Sonnet
My heart be brave, and do not falter so,
Nor utter more that deep, despairing wail.
Thy way is very dark and drear I know,
But do not let thy strength and courage fail;
For certain as the raven-winged night
Is followed by the bright and blushing morn,
Thy coming morrow will be clear and bright;
’Tis darkest when the night is furthest worn.
Look up, and out, beyond, surrounding clouds,
And do not in thine own gross darkness grope,
Rise up, and casting off thy hind’ring shrouds,
Cling thou to this, and ever inspiring hope:
Tho’ thick the battle and tho’ fierce the fight,
There is a power making for the right.
James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)
Garrett describes his relationship to the poem: “The first and last lines of the Johnson poem immediately stood out to me. In the midst of discrimination, our heart—the core of our being—must lead us into rightful change. And as we continue doing right, the principles of honesty, love, and justice will give us the power to strive for what is due all of humanity.”
Don’t you love learning the back story of a song? It becomes so much more meaningful for the singers and audience. For our spring concerts, “True Colors,” the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus (OGMC) will be performing many wonderful songs— songs that sing of hope, resiliency, and being enough, when there is so much discrimination and divisiveness in the world. We’ll be joined by New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus.
Black history should not be confined to just one month! Black history is American history. Please click on the links above for a deeper dive into this topic.
Visit the Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco: https://www.moadsf.org
Do a google search for Black History or Black composers. There’s a wealth of information out there.
