Three prominent African American musicians from the Bloomington-Normal area spoke Saturday at a panel at the McLean County Museum of History.
As part of Black History Month, “A Historical Account of African American Musicians and Safe Spaces in Bloomington” marked a celebration of local African American talents, an acknowledgement of the discrimination they faced and face, and a look to how diverse voices can achieve greater support in the future.
First of the panels speakers was Jack Waddell, a Bloomington native and Illinois Wesleyan alum whose career includes acting and opera singing in the U.S. and Europe. After leading the near-capacity room of attendees in an opening song, Waddell took a moment to praise New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose fraud case against Donald Trump recently handed down a defeat for the former president.
Waddell shared stories of difficulties he faced in the course of developing as a performer, from deciding to pursue singing and football simultaneously in high school, to working odd jobs in return for voice lessons, to a harrowing gunpoint threat from a state trooper while doing laundry with his choirmates. He placed emphasis on the importance of telling the hard truths of history.
“We can begin with telling American history the way it occurred,” Waddell said when asked how schools can help support African American students. “Now the horrific effort that’s being made to disenfranchise people, the right to vote, the banning of books, it’s unthinkable, the direction that certain factions are endeavoring to take us.”
Also on the panel was James Gaston, proprietor of the music venue Jazz UpFront in downtown Bloomington. Gaston told the story of his father’s barbershop, which began with a refusal of an owner to sell the building, worked around by having a white friend lease the building and then sold him the lease for a dollar. After many years as a musician Gaston opened his first club, After Ours, at 612 N. Main St. in Bloomington.
The panel’s final member, Carolyn Ware, played as a pianist for local churches and taught piano in the community for over 50 years, including to her cousin Delmar Brown, himself a prominent part of Bloomington-Normal’s musical history. Ware said she began teaching music at 9 or 10 years old.
The panel was a portrait of three musicians who attained success both in their craft and in enriching the community around them. All three panelists had encouraging words for young African American musicians, holding themselves as living proof that someone from Bloomington can “become somebody." During public questions, Gaston urged the idea of more events like the panel to discuss and remember history.
“I think people talk at people but they don’t talk to people, and we need to listen more … let’s start the dialogue. This is a good start, we could have something like this once a month, or once every two weeks," he said.
Andrew Thomas, chair of the Bloomington-Normal Black History Project, moderated the panel. At the close of the event, he was awarded a $500 Oscar Waddell fellowship award for his work in history, including making the panel possible.
WGLT broadcast a half-hour excerpt of the panel discussion on Sound Ideas on Feb. 21. Listen below:
