Sua lohi loa ka hiki ʻana mai o nā hōʻike: kahi leka wikiwiki ma ka Pūnaewele, kahi hoʻolaha ma kahi blog mele mele, akā ʻaʻohe kikoʻī, ʻaʻohe manaʻo o ke ola ikaika a me ka hoʻoilina i waiho ʻia. ʻO ka lole kaiapuni a Matt Jones i kōkua ai e hoʻohou hou, ʻaʻole i pilikia i ka nānā ʻana i kona hala ʻana.
Ua aʻo mua ʻia ʻo Jones i ka mea hoʻokani pila i ka wā i komo ai ʻo ia i ka hakakā no nā pono kīwila ma ke komo ʻana i ka Nashville Student Movement i ka makahiki 1960. 1963. Ma hope koke iho, neʻe akula ʻo Jones i Atlanta, Georgia me kona kaikaina ʻo Marshall a ua hui pū lāua ʻelua me ka Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) a me kā lāua hui mele, ka Freedom Singers. Ua hoʻokumu ʻia kēia hui kaʻao i nā hālāwai ma waena o Cordell Reagon, SNCC Executive Secretary Jim Foreman, a me Pete Seeger. I ka makahiki 1964, lilo ʻo Jones, he kākau ʻōlelo kahua SNCC, i alakaʻi no ka hui.
I kēlā makahiki, ua mākaʻikaʻi ʻo Freedom Singers i ka ʻāina ma ke ʻano o ka hoʻonohonoho hoʻonohonoho e kūkulu i nā Hoa o SNCC. No ka Freedom Singers, ua ʻōlelo ʻo Jones, "ʻO mākou ka mea hoʻonohonoho mua, ʻo ka poʻe mele ʻelua." I loko o ia mau manawa haunaele, hiki i ka hakakā ʻana no ke kaulike ma Jim Crow South ke weliweli pinepine. Ua kū ʻo Jones i ka Klan i nā manawa he nui a ua hoʻomanawanui ʻo 29 i ka hopu ʻia. ʻO kāna mau ʻike i hoʻomohala iā ia i "mea mele kūʻokoʻa" ma ke ʻano visceral.
"ʻAʻole wau i manaʻo iaʻu iho he kanaka hana moʻomeheu," wahi a Jones. “He mele kuokoa au; he paio kuokoa. Ua lilo au i mea kaua kuokoa; E iho paha au ma ia ala. He ʻokoʻa nā mele kūʻokoʻa ma mua o nā mele kūʻē ʻē aʻe no ka mea he mantra maoli lākou. ʻO ka hoʻohana ʻana i ka hana hou ʻana e hiki ke hoʻomaopopo ʻia ka memo. Inā mākou e hīmeni i kahi ʻōlelo ikaika i nā manawa, e like me 'ʻO kēia kukui liʻiliʻi oʻu, e hoʻomālamalama wau,' a laila hiki iā mākou ke hoʻokomo i loko.
Ua mālama ʻo Jones i kāna hana ma ke ʻano he mea hana kiʻi kiʻi ma hope o ka haʻihaʻi ʻana o SNCC. Ua hana ʻo ia ma ka honua holoʻokoʻa, me ka ʻaoʻao o ka poʻe hakakā kūʻokoʻa ma Northern Ireland. I ka wā o ka hakakā ʻana me ke Kaua Vietnam, ua hoʻopaʻa ʻo ia i kahi mele i lilo i kaʻao, "Hell No, We Ain't Gonna Go," i hui pū me ka mea mele ʻo Elaine Laron.
Loaʻa nā ʻike o Jones i nā hana me nā kukui e like me Seeger a me ka Reverend FD Kirkpatrick. Ua hana pū ʻo ia me Barbara Dane, i hoʻokani ʻia ma ka ʻaha mele kaulana ʻo Vietnam Songbook, hīmeni ma ke kula ʻo Highlander Folk School, a lilo ʻo ia i mea hāʻawi pinepine iā Broadside i ka wā pōkole o kēlā makasina, e hana pū ana me kāna mea hoʻokumu, ka mea mele kūʻē ʻo Sis Cunningham. Ua komo ʻo ia i ka Phil Ochs Song Nights makahiki mai ka hoʻomaka ʻana a ua lohe ʻia kāna mele ma nā kiʻiʻoniʻoni e like me The Ghosts of Mississippi. Ma Harlem, ua hoʻonohonoho ʻo ia i ka hoʻohanohano makahiki iā Dr. King.
I loko o nā makahiki he mau makahiki, ua hoʻomau ʻo ia i ka hana no nā hui lehulehu ma New York a ma waho aʻe, e komo pū ana me nā ʻaha mele ʻo Mei Day, ka 1998 Hanns Eisler Centenary Festival, a me kahi hoʻohanohano iā Woody Guthrie. E hoʻomaka ana ma 1986, alakaʻi ʻo Jones i kahi pōʻai mele i kēlā me kēia pule ma ka Advent Lutheran Church ma 93rd Street a me Broadway. ʻO kēia moʻolelo, i kapa ʻia ʻo Open House Coffee House, he wahi e paipai ai i nā mele me ka ʻōlelo ikaika.
ʻO ko Jones mahalo i nā mele hou o ka hakakā ʻana i hoʻohālikelike ʻia e kona pono e mālama i nā ʻano kahiko, me ka ʻuhane a me ka ballads. I nā makahiki i hala aku nei, ua hoʻi hou ʻo ia i kāna kīkā acoustic makamae, me he mea lā ʻaʻole ʻo ia e nali i ka hapa nui o ka manawa, ʻo ia hoʻi ka leo ʻoluʻolu o kona leo mānoanoa.
ʻAʻole i hoʻopau ʻo Jones i kahi gig me ka ʻole o "The Freedom Chant," he ʻōlelo i hoʻoikaika ʻia e kahi ʻōlelo kaulana a Fannie Lou Hamer a me kāna mau makahiki ponoʻī o ka hana pololei. He nui ka olelo e pili ana i keia mea hookani pila a ka lehulehu. Ua maʻi a luhi wau i ka maʻi a me ka luhi.
ʻAʻole au e ʻae i kekahi i kēlā me kēia manawa
E hōʻeha i koʻu manaʻo a i koʻu kino
I kekahi ʻano, ʻano a i ʻole ke ʻano.
Inā hana lākou e hana koke lākou me ME
Kuokoa! Kuokoa! Kuokoa!
ʻOiaʻiʻo, "ua iho" ʻo Matt Jones ma ke ʻano he hakakā kūʻokoʻa. ʻIke wau makemake ʻo ia e hoʻomanaʻo ʻia e like me ia. Mai poina kākou.
Z
He mea hoʻokani pila ʻo John Pietaro, mea kākau, a hoʻonohonoho hana mai New York City. Ua ʻike mua ʻia kēia ʻāpana ma theculturalworker.blogspot.com.