Jessica Williams,
Color Brave Circle 5
My late father would sit in silence for an hour, completely engrossed in a record. He taught me to listen for the bass in jazz, along with the names and music of the greats. He would reminisce about being front row to hear live performances by Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole; Sarah Vaughan brought him to tears. He also shared a painful story with me that as a young boy his father told him he could no longer be friends with his African American neighbor, Nadine as it was “inappropriate” as they approached their teenage years. So how was it, that when I wanted him to meet my first boyfriend in New York, an African American model, and actor, he told me not to come home with him? This is a clear example to me of how trauma and ignorance gets passed down through generations and how it’s up to each of us to do the work to stop perpetuating it.
