the alley Newspaper | News & Views of Phillips Since 1976

September 2011 Daves”' Dumpster

Written by editor on 13 September 2011

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Doo Wop And Cannon Falls

Written by editor on 13 September 2011

by Peter Molenaar

The luckier members of my generation were again able to watch public television”'s annual review of the Doo Wop Pop Rock music emergence (late ”˜50s””early ”˜60s). As always, it was an awesome emotional head swoon. Moreover, let us self-reflect, the splendid performances of so many popular Black artists served to educate and humanize millions of white Americans

Note: I was born August 26, 1950”¦

How is it that these tunes are lodged in my brain and subject to recall? Probably it is owing to the daily school bus rides into the town of Cannon Falls. The good bus driver had the radio on all those years.

Yet the town remained white, with just a touch of Dakota blood mixed in. Any outside person of color was sure to incite such internal red flags as: Get a grip, be nice but do not touch. It was from elsewhere, moved by the music, that some white folks went South to confront the terror regime there. The news trickled in. We learned that some were killed.

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The Alley”'s Roving Reporter at the August 13 Bridging Event: “What is something about this event that you will take home with you?”

Written by editor on 13 September 2011

: Brittany Freeman and Sharon Beckford (Above) [Friends who live on opposite sides of the bridge.] “It was our first time on that bridge! Our wish is that the murals don”'t wear out in the winter! It was amazing to hear from the person who in 1973 tried to start an event about this bridge. It just shows that sometimes it takes a little while to get something started but once it starts”¦!”

: Sandy Spieler “I loved the process of walking across the neighborhood and stopping at key spots and finding out more about a part of the community or a building from the people who were there. I was in a couple of places I had yet to step inside of and talked with people that I had not met before. I enjoyed hearing from Muriel Simmons and her beautiful idea for the community.”

: Lee Cunningham “I really enjoyed the Sub-Saharan music. The audience engagement piece about soil that occurred near the bridge was very inspiring.