kangyimusic

The conception of this piece coincided with the 50th anniversary of the signing of the
Civil Rights Act in 1964. While I was writing this work, the news media was dominated
by nation-wide protests inspired by racial injustice involving Trayvon Martin, Michael
Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and others. In late Dec 2015, “Black Lives Matter”
protestors made the news after several incidents with the police at airports and
highways. The struggle for racial equality is ongoing and an ever-pertinent issue.
In my home country Singapore, Racial Harmony Day is celebrated annually to remind
Singaporeans about the race riots in 1964. Racial equality continues to be an important
issue for discussion after decades of progress.

Familiar themes form the bedrock of this work, ‘We Shall Overcome’, ‘We Shall Not Be
Moved’, ‘Oh Freedom!’, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’, and ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’.
Throughout the work, the trombonist takes on multiple roles: a narrator, Rosa Parks, an
eyewitness, a protestor and Martin Luther King.