1925, and Louis Armstrong hits the music scene with a splash. With trumpet in hand and a wonderfully unique voice, he took on popular songs and stretched the boundaries of their rhythms and melodies so profoundly that American music hasn’t been the same since.
Indeed, Louis Armstrong was America’s first “pop star,” whose appeal ignored the demographics of race in America.
Armstrong’s presence greatly impacted the African-American community. As Charles Black, a lawyer who participated in the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education case and who grew up in racist, anti-black Texas in the 1930’s, notes: “He (Louis Armstrong) was the first genius I had ever seen. It is impossible to overstate the significance of a sixteen-year-old southern boy seeing genius, for the first time, in a black. We literally never saw a black then in anything but a servant’s capacity.”
For many years, however, “the Father of Jazz” kept silent on race issues. He never marched or made appearances with civil rights leaders. When criticized for not taking any public stand, Armstrong would simply reply, “I don’t get involved in politics. I just blow my horn.” To many whites, Armstrong, with his trademark handkerchief, big smile, and down-home demeanor, represented something less threatening to the status quo. Sadly, this perception turned many black Americans against him. Criticized by activists and black musicians for playing into an “Uncle Tom” stereotype, Louis Armstrong, however, had his own subtle way of addressing racial issues. In 1929, he recorded Fats Waller’s “(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue?” – a song from the musical Hot Chocolates. The powerful lyrics include the phrase:
My only sin
Is in my skin
What did I do
To be so black and blue?
Out of the context of the show and sung by a black performer in that period, these words were a risky and weighty commentary. Armstrong carefully placed its performance at the end of his concerts for best effect.
It was September 1957 when Armstrong did speak publicly about race relations in America. The country’s attention was on Little Rock, Arkansas, where Governor Orval Faubus and local segregationists defied a Supreme Court ruling desegregating the city’s Central High School. In an interview, Louis said, “It’s getting almost so bad a colored man hasn’t got any country.” President Dwight Eisenhower, he charged, was “two faced,” and had “no guts.” As for Faubus, Armstrong called him an “uneducated plow boy.”
“Soundtrack to the Struggle” is written and hosted by Hollis Monroe. Produced by Ron Adkins. Executive Producer is Dennis Green.
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September 1944, and saxophone legend Lester Young arrives at Fort McClellan, Alabama, for basic training. Young is a jazz star, and he expects to be placed in a military band, like white musicians Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw. Instead, he’s assigned to a combat unit. Here marks the beginning of the end for the “President of Jazz.”
Lena Horne left school at 16 to help support her family. She became a dancer at Harlem’s Cotton Club was soon a sought-after performer – a role she would maintain throughout her life. A long run at the Savoy-Plaza boosted Horne’s career even further. She was featured in Life magazine, and listed as the highest-paid Black entertainer of the day.
It’s 1967, and singer and actress Nichelle Nichols attends a fund-raiser for the NAACP. A man approaches and says, “Ms. Nichols, I’m your greatest fan.” That fan was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During their chat, Nichols confides her plans to leave her current TV gig for a career on Broadway. King was mortified. “You can’t leave Star Trek,” he said. “You’re a part of history. You aren’t cast as a servant. You play a Black woman in authority. You’re a role model for women and Negroes everywhere.” Nichols took Dr. King’s words to heart, and stayed with the show. She made TV history again when, as part of an episode, she took part in television’s first interracial kiss.
It’s Prohibition-era Harlem, and Gladys Bentley is at the piano at Harry Hansberry’s Clam House, one of the biggest gay speakeasies in New York. Dressed in her signature tuxedo and top hat, she sings bawdy lyrics to popular songs. Her voice is deep and growling, and she flirts with the women in the audience.
Eartha Kitt was never afraid to use her distinctive voice. Born on a South Carolina cotton plantation, Eartha Mae Keith grew to record the standards, “Let’s Do It,” and “C’est Si Bon.” She was fluent in French, spoke four other languages, and sang in 11. She recorded, sang in nightclubs, and appeared in films, television, and Broadway.