This April, join the Oxford American, Gateway Arch National Park, and Jazz St. Louis for the No Tears Project–St. Louis, a series of free concerts, panel discussions, and educational events to engage the St. Louis community in civil rights education and storytelling.
Held at Gateway Arch National Park April 2 and 26 and Jazz St. Louis on April 28 and 29, the events will feature civil rights heroes and activists such as Little Rock Nine member Elizabeth Eckford and Lynne Jackson, the great-great granddaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott and the president/founder of Dred Scott Heritage Foundation. Beyond the conversations and stories, these free events will include music, poetry, and dance from featured artists such as Jazz St. Louis president and CEO Victor Goines, vocalist Kelley Hurt, dancer Ashley Tate, and renowned composer and former member of St. Louis’ famed Black Artist Group, Oliver Lake. The goal, according to organizers, is to spark new conversations surrounding civil rights and the city’s legacy in the movement.
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“I hope audiences will begin to see our interconnectedness in the grand story of Human Striving,” says Dr. Treasure Shields Redmond, a participating poet, educator, and community arts organizer. “I hope they will begin to question why some stories are told and others are not.”
Deputy superintendent of Gateway Arch National Park Tarona Armstrong believes the preservation of American civil rights sites and stories empowers individuals to have a better understanding of American history. “Knowledge and civic engagement around these stories will spark a sense of preservation for sites and stories that might have seemed insignificant at the time, but are actually the anchor of our community and country,” she says.
The No Tears Project started back in 2016, when the Oxford American commissioned pianist Christopher Parker and Kelley Hurt to compose an hour-long piece in honor of the Little Rock Nine. This composition would become the “No Tears Suite,” commemorating the 60th anniversary of Little Rock Central High School’s desegregation and launching the project into something bigger. The project has since produced multi-day residencies in Little Rock, New Orleans, Tulsa, and Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“We just thought it was gonna be a one time thing and done,” says No Tears project director Ryan Harris. “But as it turned out, some grant funds and some private funds were left over and we said, ‘Well, let’s go to the studio and record this. This needs to be heard.’” From there, No Tears snowballed into a project that has traveled across the country, fostering civil rights conversations through panelists and music.
“Music for music’s sake can be pleasing,” says Parker, who collaborated on the original “No Tears Suite.” “But music related to life goes deeper. In these current times of extremism, divisiveness and discord, civil rights have never been more relevant. Art serves to stimulate the conversation and sometimes even inform it.”
For more information and a full schedule of events, visit oxfordamerican.org/no-tears-project/ntp-st-louis.
