Crossing Over
In this setting I have taken the traditional spiritual 'Deep River' and woven it intothe well-known hymn 'Amazing Grace'. The story of the text of 'Amazing Grace',written by John Newton (1725-1807), a former slave ship operator turned anti-slavery advocate, is well known. Given that the exact details of his life story arecomplicated and complex, my goal was not to use this to suggest, in some trite way,that 'Amazing Grace' stands as an antidote to the obvious challenges faced in today'sworld where race and racism are concerned. However, it is fascinating to me thatover time the text and hymn tune (New Britain) for 'Amazing Grace' have become sodeeply embedded in American culture over time that it can now be heard sung withequal passion and conviction by Americans from multiple ethnic backgrounds.
By placing these two songs next to each other I wish to raise important questions. Iwant us to ask if 'grace' is indeed enough where racial issues are concerned. I alsohope to encourage us to consider deeply what that grace should look like when wediscuss racism, and to ask to what extent that grace needs to be shown in equalmeasure on all sides of the debate in order for progress to be made? These aredifficult and uncomfortable questions. If music can be a vehicle through whichdiscussion and dialogue might begin, then perhaps there is something to be said forusing it to that end and purpose.
Ian David Coleman
October, 2016
