This blues class is presented with a wonderful film that set against it's historical context showcases Robert Johnson's voice and guitar playing talent as well as the social and political realities that produced it. In the first three decades of the 20th century there was a huge Black migration into the cities of the North and Midwest. Fueled by wartime jobs and the possibility of a better life without overt Jim Crow laws and decent wages, the city of Chicago blossomed with youthful energy and thousands of migrants. As Johnson sang, "Come on, Baby don't you wanna go...?
What does it take to enrage you? That moment when your words fly on pure emotion because enough is enough. Is it a driver that cuts you off at high speed? What about being an eyewitness to blatant racism or on the receiving end of some obvious injustice? I know some people who never express rage. I admire them but know full well I am not capable of such distance from that which would bring about such a strong response. Another senseless shooting and 7 people die at the hands of a mentally ill gun owner. The father of the 20 year old college student lets it fly and somehow millions feel a new sense of relief. He calls the politicians bastards who do nothing, he wears his pain in public. The news media responds but we all know that nothing is going to change. We are the gun country. We are the place where anybody, anytime, can be cut down just for being there when somebody else snaps. Usually the perpetrators are delusional. ...
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