Pero ayer, la gente de The Official Woody Shaw Website, hizo algo maravilloso, un newsletter para decir al mundo no sólo algo sobre la conmemoración, también sobre algunos hermosos pensamientos sobre el jazz, del Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Quiero compartir esas palabras con todos ustedes.
Yesterday was an special day in the United States, a commemoration day in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s honor. Even when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a great human being, this kind of commemoration is just for a day, and the rest of the year few people think about him.
But yesterday, the people from The Official Woody Shaw Website, made a wonderful thing, a newsletter to tell the world not only something about the commemoration, also about some beautiful thoughts about jazz, from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I want to share those words with all of you.
LONG LIVE THE KING! (¡LARGA VIDA AL REY!)
January 15, 1929 - March 28, 1968
January 15, 1929 - March 28, 1968
Sobre la Importancia del Jazz - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Disertación de Apertura del Festival de Jazz de Berlín de 1964
"Dios ha moldeado muchas cosas surgidas de la opresión. El ha dotado a sus criaturas con la capacidad de crear, y de esta capacidad han fluido las dulces canciones de pena y alegría que han permitido al hombre enfrentar a su entorno en muy diversas situaciones.
El Jazz habla por la vida. El Blues cuenta la historia de las dificultades de la vida, y si lo piensan por un momento, se darán cuenta que toman las más duras realidades de la vida y las colocan en la música, sólo para resurgir con alguna nueva esperanza o sensación de triunfo.
Esta es música triunfante.
El Jazz moderno ha continuado en esta tradición, cantando las canciones de una más complicada existencia urbana. Cuando la vida misma no ofrece orden y sentido, el músico crea un orden y un sentido de los sonidos de la tierra que flotan a través de su instrumento.
No es ninguna sorpresa que tanto de la búsqueda de la identidad entre los Negros Americanos fuera defendido por músicos de Jazz. Mucho tiempo antes que los modernos ensayistas y escolares escribieran sobre la identidad racial como un problema para el mundo multirracial, los músicos estaban regresando a sus raíces para afirmar lo que estaba revolviéndose dentro de sus almas.
Gran parte del poder de nuestro Movimiento por la Libertad en los Estados Unidos ha venido de esta música.
Nos ha fortalecido con sus dulces ritmos cuando el coraje comenzaba a fallar. Nos ha calmado con sus ricas armonías cuando los espíritus estaban decaídos.
Y ahora, el Jazz es exportado al mundo. Para la particular lucha del Negro en América hay algo similar a la lucha universal del hombre moderno. Todos tienen Tristezas ("the Blues"). Todos desean encontrar un sentido. Todos necesitan amar y ser amados. Todos necesitan y ser felices. Todos desean tener fe.
En música, especialmente esta amplia categoría llamada Jazz, es una piedra en la que apoyarnos para dirigirnos hacia todo esto.
On the Importance of Jazz - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Opening Address to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival
"God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create, and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations.
Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life's difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.
This is triumphant music.
Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.
It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls.
Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.
And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith.
In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these.
