Michael Abels
John Malveaux of
writes:
January
11,
2018, I attended the 2018 NAACP Entertainment Symposium titled People,
Power
& Progress at Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles as a guest of Long
Beach
branch president Naomi Rainey. NAACP chairman Leon Russell spoke about
the
power of image in media. I reflected on the pervasive absence of image
by classical composers of African descent during the annual NAACP IMAGE
Awards. I suspect
the omission is with or without intent connected to the idea that
“whites are intellectually
superior”. Classical music is called “academic music” and “high art”
associated
with superior societies and achievements of mankind. Awareness of the
rich history
& current achievement by people of African descent in classical
music is so
neglected in home education, educational curriculum, popular media,
awards
shows, and radio programming that even most African Americans do not
have an
expectation of an image in classical music. A significant percentage of
African
Americans, corporate media sponsors, and the NAACP IMAGE Awards are
satisfied
with the more acceptable mass media images of African American
achievements in popular
music (jazz, hip hop, gospel, blues, pop, etc.)
The NAACP IMAGE
Awards does not offer a category to recognize classical music composers.
Children and others are robbed of images that show the full range of their human
potential in media. The history of achievements by people of African descent in
classical music is traceable back to Chevalier de Saint George (1744-1799) to
the current soundtrack composer of the movie GET OUT by classical composer Michael
Abels. Michael Abels is the 2017
MusicUNTOLD Composer of the Year. A special recognition/honoring is scheduled
for 2:00 PM, February 18, 2018 at City of Long Beach Michelle Obama Library.
Long Beach Vice-Mayor Rex Richardson and MusicUNTOLD president John Malveaux
will interview composer Michael Abels. The program will include film clips from
GET OUT and audience Q&A. See
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