Singing

I sang as a kid. After 25 years of study I still do. I loved to sing and the peace it brought me. I’d often sing for no reason at all. Other times I sang with songs on the radio and TV. There were even a few times when singing would get me into trouble. Music is very powerful. During U.S. slavery the enslaved people sang to endure their lives. Without music the Civil Rights Movement would not have been as successful. Marchers sang before, during and after marches. This gave them strength to face hostile police and crowds. Singing gave them strength to face fire hoses and vicious attack dogs. Singing gave them strength as they were loaded into paddy wagons to be thrown into jail. One afternoon police entered the black section of a movie theater (the balcony) to harass the people sitting there. The people started to sing We Shall Overcome, softly at first then louder until the song filled the theater. A police officer said to them, “If you must sing must you sing so loudly.” The officers left. The music was too powerful. So how would singing get me into trouble? When Mom disciplined me I would softly sing. Mom would say, “Don’t sing while I’m talking to you.” I didn’t even know I was. I did know that while I was singing the sting of being corrected didn’t exist. I don’t know if I even heard what she was saying. Singing gets me through happy times, sad times and rough times. I love the power of music. I love to sing.