Journal Entry

Title

Journal Entry

Description

Black composer Jonathan Bailey Holland composed "Journal Entry" in 2020.

As written about the work by Jannina Norpoth on the Kaufman Music Center's website: "Originally written last year for a Black History Month performance at the Detroit Institute of Arts curated by Grammy-nominated violinist Jannina Norpoth. The concert titled “Transitive Vision,” explored how we envision our past, present, future and ourselves — tying into how we embrace our history, our spirituality and our identity." Commissioned by violinist Jannina Norpoth, the artist wrote in depth about the work in the comments of the video she uploaded to YouTube: "his video is inspired by Jonathan’s piece which he wrote for me to perform shortly before the pandemic began in February 2020. As I recall he wrote it after a personal loss of his own. In the first few months it resonated with me as a introspective meditation for the moment. I created my own “Journal Entry” one weekend in May grieving both the death of a friend and mentor (from COVID), whose funeral was also the same day as the one year anniversary losing of my last surviving grandparent. With that in mind I dedicated the imagery to the love, vision and perseverance of my Grandparents Dr. Alwin Barefield and Bessie “Babs” Barefield (pictured at the end). My Grandmother came to Detroit from rural Mississippi town named after her family and founded by my great-great-great grandparents in 1868 post slavery - her family being one of the only Black families in the state to own a Cotton Gin, the survival of the community when so many others were destroyed by the KKK has great significance. After her funeral my mother and I spent an evening cleaning out my grandparents home - a place where I spent a significant portion of my upbringing and that flooded me with happy and bittersweet memories. My Grandfather in his prime was a well respected Doctor, graduate of Howard Medical School and Army Veteran. He did his medical internship at Sydenham Hospital in Harlem - the first hospital in NYC to integrate patients and doctors. In my Grandfather’s old study I found something that impacted me greatly. Posted on the wall was the original newspaper clipping from 1968, where Olympians #tommiesmith & #johncarlos gave the #blackpowersalute during the US National Anthem. To know that this is something he looked to for daily inspiration is incredibly impactful for me. To reflect on the fact that these athletes were stripped of their medals, robbed of their careers and - what they stood for some 50 years later is infuriatingly exactly the same. I recorded this video in front of a mirror to symbolize my own reflection - of myself, my privilege, my grief, my oppression, my survival and that of those who came before me. My journal entry."
Duration: 5.5 minutes

Creator

Holland, Jonathan Bailey

Source

Jonathan Bailey Holland (personal website), https://www.jonathanbaileyholland.com/about
Jannina Norpoth, "Jannina Norpoth - Jonathan Bailey Holland 'Journal Entry'" (YouTube), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73jgVHx5Z0A

Date

2020

Format

0-10 minutes

Coverage

2000-

Instrumentation

violin / violon

Ensemble Type

solo

Citation

Holland, Jonathan Bailey, “Journal Entry,” Music EnLivened, accessed November 22, 2024, http://omeka.uottawa.ca/music-enlivened/items/show/168.

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