It was Eldridge Cleaver who was best known for saying “You either have to be part of the solution, or you’re going to be part of the problem”.

Jazz is music born of the African-American experience, and, in order to be part of the solutions, all of us who are involved in this music are ‘duty bound’ to recognize its origins. Jazz also has a long history of fighting oppression and violence against African Americans as well as other minorities, and have been (to quote Randall Cline, artistic director of SF Jazz) “on the front lines of change”.

This week’s program is my attempt to show support for African Americans and others who are fighting oppression.

You’ll hear some amazing music and lyrics by black artists, as well as something by an Aboriginal-Canadian group.

As well, I read out a few of my favourite posts social media that demonstrate that discrimination and violence, some of them posted by people who acknowedge their own ‘privilege’ as they expose systemic oppression. And such acknowledgment is an important first step.

Hopefully this week’s episode will help us all feel more connected. And at the same time, we can enjoy the great music.

You’ll hear selections by The Last Poets, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Eugene McDaniels, Terence Blanchard, A Tribe Called Red, Oscar Peterson, Archie Shepp, Nina Simone, Weather Report, and The Liberation Music Orchestra.

-Larry