Böcker av David Cason

Agroundbreaking Black artist and his career in the Jim Crow South This book is the first biographyof Graham Jackson (1903‒1983), a virtuosic musician whose life story displays the complexities of being aBlack professional in the segregated South. David Cason discusses how Jacksonnavigated a web of racial and social negotiations throughout his long career andhighlights his little-known role in events of the twentieth century. Widely known for an iconic photo taken of him playing the accordionin tears at Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral, which became a Lifemagazine cover, Jackson is revealed here to have a much deeper story. He was aperformer, composer, and high school music director known for his skills on thepiano and organ. Jackson was among the first Black men to enlist in the Navy duringWorld War II, helping recruit many other volunteers and raising over $2 millionfor the war effort. After the war he became a fixture at Atlanta music venuesand in 1971, Governor Jimmy Carter proclaimed Jackson the State Musician ofGeorgia. Cason examines Jackson's groundbreaking roles with a critical eye, taking into account how Jackson drew on his connections with white elitesincluding Roosevelt, Coca-Cola magnate Robert Woodruff, and golfer Bobby Jones, and was censured by Black Power figures for playing songs associated withConfederate memory. Based on archival, newspaper, and interview materials, TheLife and Music of Graham Jackson brings into view the previously unknownstory of an ambitious and talented artist and his controversial approach to thepolitics and culture of his day. Publication of this work made possible by aSustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from theNational Endowment for the Humanities.

The single quality that sets the English apart from their European cousins is that they are an island people. Their closest neighbours are the fish in the sea. This unusual relationship brings out unexpected behaviour and highlights their eccentricity: they drive on the opposite side of the road to the rest of the world; like their beer warm rather than cold; prefer roundabouts to traffic lights; pretend that foreign languages don't exist; sprinkle vinegar over their chips and for centuries used a peculiar measurement system with strange units of feet, stones and hands. The English are indeed an enigmatic folk, normal on the surface, but stranger with every layer revealed: encyclopaedias could be written about their quirky habits. This slim volume attempts no more than to scratch the surface of a big subject.