The Oxford American, Memphis Public Libraries, and the National Park Service are excited to announce No Tears Project Memphis, a series of civil rights and arts education residency events. Held at select Memphis Public Library locations in Memphis, June 10-14, 2023, the events are an expansion of the No Tears Project programs that Oxford American has produced since 2017, in partnership with pianist/composer Christopher Parker and vocalist Kelley Hurt, a native Memphian.
Originally inspired by a musical composition written by Parker and Hurt to honor the Little Rock Nine, the No Tears Project has evolved into a touring outreach program that utilizes conversation and concerts to engage communities in learning about civil rights.
Brian Chilson
Kelley Hurt
“It’s an honor to do this work with these people and organizations in Memphis in the footsteps of so many giants of the Civil Rights Movement,” said Ryan Harris, director of No Tears Project, and consultant to Oxford American. “We sincerely hope that the dialogue created through this music and these conversations can play a small role in forging a deeper understanding of each other with the goal of creating a better future.”
The No Tears Project events are free and open to the public, and will include a panel discussion, community concerts, and youth education programs that address Memphis’ past and present in the broader American civil rights story, and in relation to the experiences of people living in Jackson, Mississippi, and Little Rock, Arkansas. As a program created jointly between Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, and the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, the Memphis programs will explore in particular the integration of public spaces, including the experiences of the Memphis 13, and the student protestors from LeMoyne and Owen Junior College that led sit-ins at Cossitt and Peabody Libraries in 1960.
It's no surprise that the Evers household was constantly filled with music: from Miss Myrlie teaching piano lessons to neighborhood children, to Medgar joyfully dancing to the Twist with the kids,” said Keena Nichelle Graham, superintendent of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument. “Now, music from the No Tears Project will heal those hearts that were broken by the deaths of great leaders such as Medgar Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and by the deaths of unknown or little known, but no less loved warriors of justice."
Richard Grzelka
St. Louis Concert
During the residency, several free community concerts will be held at Memphis Public Library locations including the Cossitt Library and the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. "We are so excited to have the No Tears Project come to Memphis," said Memphis Public Libraries Director Keenon McCloy. "Given our city's history in the Civil Rights Movement and the Cossitt Library's place in history when it comes to the desegregation of public libraries, it is fitting that it will be the location for this event."
Featuring a seven-piece band led by Parker and Hurt, the No Tears Project ensemble will perform pieces from the group’s existing civil rights-inspired repertoire, as well as the world premiere of new work by Memphis-native jazz saxophonist Robert “Bobby LaVell” Garner, and a new arrangement of Memphis pianist Donald Brown’s song “Poem for Martin,” written by Marc Franklin.
Ensemble members for these special concerts include multiple Grammy-winning drummer Brian Blade, in addition to Memphis natives and long-time residents, including Rodney Jordan (bass), Robert “Bobby LaVell” Garner (tenor saxophonist and son of Beale Street Walk of Fame musician Robert “Honeymoon” Garner), Marc Franklin (trumpet), and Chad Fowler (alto saxophone). Also joining the ensemble is author and poet Treasure Shields Redmond, and dancer Ashley Tate.
For more details and a full list of events, visit oxfordamerican.org/no-tears-project/no-tears-project-memphis.