Freedom Song: Young Voices and the Struggle for Civil Rights
To the people of the civil rights movement both the leaders and those whose names never made it into a single history book To the people who work for justice today persever ing despite defeat and disappointment To the people whose music supports and uplifts us along the way and especially to St Dominic's gospel choir who introduced me to gospel music and convinced me to open my mouth and sing
Acknowledgments irst Iowe a deep debt of gratitude to Geof Stone chair of the board of the Chicago Children's Choir CCC Without his persistence and his pas sion for the CCC and the civil rights movement this book would never have been written Geof s involve ment from the book proposal through the first edit ing stage helped to shape and improve the book Many thanks also to the CCC singers and staff who welcomed my family and me both in Chicago and on the Freedom Tour Your voices appear throughout the book so I will not try to name individuals here except for Davin Peelle the behind the scenes con tact who has been an invaluable liaison and problem solver Thanks also to the CCC alums who shared their stories Mollie Spector Stone associate conductor of the CCC has a unique role in both the choir and this book She is an alum of the choir who returned as a professional musician whose passion for music is matched by her passion for justice Her professional work in South Africa was inspired by her teenage travel there on a CCC concert tour I am deeply grate ful to her for sharing her knowledge of African and South African music Hollis Watkins and Chuck McDew shared gener ously of their time stories and memories I have
known Chuck for years but met Hollis only because of this book They are both true American heroes I wish that every person who reads this book could have the opportunity to meet them to hear them speak and to thank them for the blood sweat and tears they have given to make a better country and a better world for generations to come Thanks also to Jackie Byrd Martin in McComb to Dr Alferdteen Harrison and Angela Stewart at Jack son State University and to Robert Williams David Baker and Joe West in Birmingham for sharing their stories of the past and present Thanks to my publisher and editor Cynthia Sherry of Chicago Review Press who has worked with me to make this book much better than it would have been without her guidance and care Finally thanks to my family Ron Molly and Macy Salzberger for traveling on the Freedom Tour and for putting up with the demands of the book writing process Thanks also to my parents Howard and Mil lie Turck who long ago instilled in me a passion for justice and for the civil rights movement As every author says and knows the contributions of many people went into making this book but any errors that have crept in are entirely my
