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Grio100 Wynton Marsalis – jazz legend plays on

By Talia Whyte

Everyone knows that Wynton Marsalis lives and breathes by his trumpet. This is a man who has accomplished a lot with his instument and love of music. His name usually appears next to other jazz greats like Thelonius Monk, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Dizzy. Of course, Marsalis grew up around the greats, like the famed bandleader Al Hirt, who gave him his first trumpet when he was a child.

Growing up in New Orleans not only gave the young Marsalis a chance to fine-tune his trumpeting skills, but to also see music as activism in action.

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Grio100 Malcolm Gladwell – author and pop-sociologist

By Talia Whyte

Malcolm Gladwell has made a career for himself – as well as a lot of money – thinking aloud of the untold back-stories to many political and cultural institutions. For example, this curious journalist recently examined Atticus Finch, the white lawyer played by Gregory Peck in the 1962 film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. While most film historians consider Finch to be one of the greatest on-screen heroes, Gladwell argued that the character was an example of “the limits of Southern liberalism” during the story’s time period, and that Finch was not the racial justice activist as he’s been seen historically.

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Grio100 Bill T. Jones, activism through movement

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By Talia Whyte

Recently, he choreographed two new productions that are being performed simultaneously. They showcase the lives of two historical figures through dance interpretation – President Abraham Lincoln and Nigerian Afrobeat hero Fela Anikulapo Kuti. While the subjects are from different time periods, races and continents, Jones saw something about both figures who left behind legacies that inform society today.

Jones is a truth-seeker through motion, and he will inspire future generations to see the revolution through his steps.

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