I Do Believe
Memorial Day thoughts, Juneteenth music, and the voices we still need to hear
Memorial Day has always meant something personal to me.
My father was in the Navy. He met my mother at a USO dance in New York City during the war years. They fell in love, got married, and eventually made their home in Brooklyn. So this weekend, like many families across America, I pause to remember the soldiers and sailors who stood on the front lines and gave their lives in service to this country.
I’m also old enough to remember the draft during the Vietnam War. My family and I sat around waiting to see if my number would be called. We were on pins and needles. Truth be told, if it had happened, my family was prepared to help me cross the border into Canada.
A lot of young people felt that way during those years. And then there was Muhammad Ali, who courageously refused to fight in a war he could not morally accept. He changed the conversation for so many of us. I understood exactly how he felt.
Now here we are again. Another war. More suffering. More young lives lost. More families grieving. You start to wonder: where is the peace humanity keeps promising itself?
That’s why music and the arts feel more important to me than ever before. Art reminds us of our humanity. Music allows us to grieve, protest, heal, laugh, dance, and connect with one another across every divide imaginable. At its best, it tells the truth.
What troubles me deeply right now is watching attempts to erase or diminish the accomplishments of Black Americans from the American story. Our contributions to music, culture, literature, sports, science, and public life are woven into the fabric of this country. They are not footnotes. They are central chapters.
People celebrate Black athletes on Sunday, imitate Black music on Monday, adopt Black style on Tuesday, but too often resist acknowledging Black wisdom, leadership, struggle, and humanity the rest of the week.
And yet our voices are still here. Strong. Creative. Necessary.
The arts have always been one of the great forces pushing America toward a more honest version of itself. From jazz to gospel, from poetry to theater, from protest songs to the blues, our culture has carried truth through generations.
Yes, we have serious cultural problems in this country. But disenfranchisement, inequality, and division did not appear overnight. These wounds run deep through American history. Pretending otherwise solves nothing.
And speaking of the power of music and memory, I’m honored to be bringing a very special concert to Gettysburg on Juneteenth weekend, June 20.
The program is called 250 Years of Black Music: From Spirituals to Soul, a journey through the sounds that carried us through slavery, Reconstruction, jazz, blues, gospel, civil rights, soul, and beyond. These songs are more than entertainment. They are history lessons, survival codes, prayers, love letters, protest marches, and declarations of humanity
As I prepare this music, I’ve been thinking a lot about the songs that helped shape all of us. The songs that gave us courage. The songs that healed us. The songs that opened our eyes.
I’d love to hear from you.
What song speaks to you in times like these?
What song reminds you of freedom, hope, struggle, resilience, or peace?
What song carries the spirit of America at its best?
I wrote a song called I Do Believe for my musical, Cross That River. I wanted to celebrate the contributions of all Americans at the end of the show. The perspective of patriotism coming from a black man is something I wanted to address. I don’t think white America realizes how much we gave for this country and why we value its freedoms so much. Around this same time I was actively supporting a young congressional candidate in Florida, Patrick Erin Murphy. We used the song throughout his campaign, and what a celebration it was when he won!
We really need honest, compassionate, intelligent young men and women stepping forward into leadership today.
The video below comes from our 2023 five week run at 59E59 Theaters in New York. I especially love hearing four voices come together on this song. It features myself with Taylor Elise Jackson, Brook Sterling, Jeffery Lewis, plus pianist Arcoiris Sandoval, violinist Alan Grubner, bassist Paul Beaudry, and drummer Norman Edwards, Jr.
“The musical Cross That River by Allan Harris is a celebrated theatrical production that highlights the untold history of Black cowboys in the 19th-century American West. It is scheduled to be a major featured production at the International Black Theatre Festival (IBTF) in Winston-Salem, NC July 31 & Aug 1.”
Send me your thoughts and your songs. I may even include some of them in the performance. This Memorial Day weekend, I’m thinking about how desperately we still need compassion, truth, music, and community.
The voices of artists matter now more than ever.
Peace,
Allan
TOUR DATES
June 20 - JUNETEENTH: 250 Years of Black Music, Gettysburg, the Majestic Theatre
June 22 & 23 - Rochester Jazz Festival, NY
June 26-28 - South Jazz Club, Philadelphia
July 3 - 12 - Umbria Jazz Festival, IT
July 17-19 - Birdland Jazz Club, NYC )
July 31 & Aug 1 - Int’l Black Theater Fest., Winston Salem, NC - Cross That River
Sept 5 - Sonoma Jazz Society, CA
Sept 10 - KCSM Radio on Studio 91 - 1:00 PM
Sept 10 - Piedmont Piano, Oakland, CA - 7 PM
Oct 17 - Queens Theater, NY
Dec 12 - Pinecrest Gardens, FL (Nat King Cole XMAS)
Dec 21-27 - Half Note Jazz Club, Athens, Greece, (Nat King Cole XMAS)