Sundown Towns Story

Sundown Towns

You are listening to Sundown Towns

The Story Behind The Song from the album-Sundown Towns

THE ALBUM: I was almost finished with all the songs for my Burning Of Tulsa album when I came across the story of Sundown Towns. I first thought it could make a nice song for the Tulsa album, but quickly realized it needed a project all of its own. I laid out all the subjects I wanted to cover in the album in early 2022, which kept changing with the more I read. I owe a deep gratitude to the late James Loewen for his book Sundown Towns, for the centerpiece of it all.

1. SUNDOWN TOWN (Sep 2022) I tried to capture this huge subject into a 4 minute song, hitting all the high points of the Sundown Towns image. 25 miles away from my childhood home is the factory town of Fieldale where my father and most of my family worked. It is listed as a Sundown Town.

2. American Dream (Oct 22) I got to experience the American Dream at the age of 22. Bought a house on the GI Bill. But reading a book about how the powerful National Board of Realtors were in their proud discrimination, proved everything the radical blacks were saying in the 60’s….The white man is focused on keep the black man down. And in many ways still, that rings true.

3. Booker (Apr 22). I was watching on video about Redling when Cory Booker gave is account the account of his fathers process of buying a home. I knew immediately I had a song coming out of that account. I wrote it that night.

4. Color Of Money (Oct 22) This comes from the book Color Of Money-Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran. I also watched several interviews on the subject. Just another way of keeping the African-American community from become successful.

5. Redlining (Oct 22) This was all tied together with restricting the ability of the African-American community to getting out of the ghettos and starting to build wealth. But this fits right into the puzzle.

6. Greenbook (Sep 22) Saw the movie! .once I started on the album that was 2^nd song on the list to write. Mr. Green was a true American hero and deserved to be remembered.

7. LT Robinson (Oct 22) His story appeared one day on Facebook, so I researched it and found the story in his own words. The military didn’t desegregate until 1949. I can’t imagine the level of racism that existed during WW2 that Jackie Robinson was exposed to. To court martial a military officer is a really BIG deal. But over some 3^rd party complain on a bus…NOT Murder or Rape…..Well LT Robinson showed them…Bravo Jackie. That should have been part of the movie “42”!

8. James (Sep 22) This song is totally true. I was back in my hometown in the summer of 2022, the 50^th anniversary of our graduation, the Reunion was not until the late fall. I decided to get together with some school mates. James lives near Charlotte NC and another classmate, Vickie, lived in Winston Salem, so we decided to meet there. First time seeing Vickie since graduation and first time seeing James since our 10^th reunion. James liked the song!!

9. Emmitt, Issac and the Martinsville Seven (Nov 22) I don’t remember when I first heard of Issac Woodard, but that story really bothered me. A recently Honorably Discharged Soldier on his way home. He ran across the worse of the worse in the south. The news of the pardons of the Martinsville Seven got my attention as Martinsville is 25 miles from my childhood home. I’m having to re-think if I’m proud to call myself a Virginia.

10. Innocent Man (May 2021) The only song not written for the album. While writing the story of falsely imprisoned African-Americans, I realized the song fit the subject.

11. Gerrymandering And The Black Vote (Nov 22) The first time I heard of Gerrymandering, my first thought was “not in America”…..boy, I was wrong. When one party could win by a huge margin in the popular vote, but when broken down by Congressional Districts, lose the individual races in not a democracy. As it says, Gerrymandering is the Politicians picking the votes rather than voters picking the politicians. Whatever it will take to dilute the African-American vote.

12. Survival (Nov 22) This was written to close out the album. All said, through slavery, sharecropping, the Red Summer, the civil rights era, the African American community has survived.

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