I’m back!! It’s my spring break and now I have the time to share many good things starting with last night. OMG-Oh, My God-how amazing and beautiful is the Morehouse College Glee Club. I heard them last night, in Philadelphia, at the Bright Hope Baptist Church. My Uncle Sid, a Morehouse College graduate, treated my family to this performance. If you don’t have a father, brother, uncle, male cousin or neighbor who has attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, you are probably familiar with Morehouse College because this is where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received his undergraduate degree. Morehouse is an all-male, mostly African-American college that continues to educate and produce powerful and prepared young men.
Now, I see why my mother insisted that my 10 year old brother attend the concert. Forget the fact that this choir made me cry and gave me goose bumps because of the beauty-that’s the only word I can use-of the voices, especially those tenors and baritones and basses. But equally moving was not just what you heard, but what you saw-almost eighty, talented, elegant, and diligent and accomplished young BLACK men.
Their musical repertoire included Negro Spirituals, traditional hymns, classical pieces, but the song that brought the house down was Betelemu which is a Nigerian song and the Morehouse Glee Club sung it in Yoruba, accompanied by drums. Below is a video of the choir singing this very song. Click on the link, but remember this video doesn’t compare to hearing and seeing them in person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOMPfb4uyX0&feature=related
At the end of the evening, each member of the chorus said his name, his major at Morehouse and his hometown. They were achieving in every area and they were from everywhere. Then, the many alumni of Morehouse, who were in the audience, were called to join the choir and together they sung The Morehouse College Hymn. The image of these handsome, successful Black men working together is an image that needs to be seen more often.
My little brother has always said he wanted to go to Williams College or University of Pennsylvania or Harvard University. After last night’s concert, he said he might go to Morehouse College first. Thank you, again, Uncle Sid.
Now, I see why my mother insisted that my 10 year old brother attend the concert. Forget the fact that this choir made me cry and gave me goose bumps because of the beauty-that’s the only word I can use-of the voices, especially those tenors and baritones and basses. But equally moving was not just what you heard, but what you saw-almost eighty, talented, elegant, and diligent and accomplished young BLACK men.
Their musical repertoire included Negro Spirituals, traditional hymns, classical pieces, but the song that brought the house down was Betelemu which is a Nigerian song and the Morehouse Glee Club sung it in Yoruba, accompanied by drums. Below is a video of the choir singing this very song. Click on the link, but remember this video doesn’t compare to hearing and seeing them in person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOMPfb4uyX0&feature=related
At the end of the evening, each member of the chorus said his name, his major at Morehouse and his hometown. They were achieving in every area and they were from everywhere. Then, the many alumni of Morehouse, who were in the audience, were called to join the choir and together they sung The Morehouse College Hymn. The image of these handsome, successful Black men working together is an image that needs to be seen more often.
My little brother has always said he wanted to go to Williams College or University of Pennsylvania or Harvard University. After last night’s concert, he said he might go to Morehouse College first. Thank you, again, Uncle Sid.
This concert was sponsored by The Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Morehouse College and Bright Hope Baptist Church.
For more information about the Morehouse College Glee Club here is its website:
http://www.mcgclub.com/
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