Seven Last Words of the Unarmed
Program Notes from Composer Joel Thompson
Dear Listener,
In November of 2014, a Staten Island grand jury chose not to indict the
officer who murdered Eric Garner. To me, the message was clear: if I
were to be killed in some interaction with authority figures, my loved ones
should not expect justice. There could be a video recording of my futile attempts
to describe my distress – “I can’t breathe” – with the arm of the law around my
neck and the life fading from my eyes, and still, my death wouldn’t matter.
My death wouldn’t matter enough to warrant a formal charge of even manslaughter
or negligent homicide. This was not an isolated incident – this was a trend. The
color of my skin is a capital offense. Seven Last Words of the Unarmed wasn’t
written to be heard. It was essentially a sonic diary entry expressing my fear,
anger, and grief in the wake of this tragedy. I was serving as a choral conductor
at a small college in south Georgia, but I occasionally composed pieces and hid
them away. Finishing this work in early January 2015 was a much-needed catharsis;
I felt exorcised of the emotions that had drained my spirit. However,
Freddie Gray’s death the following April impelled me to try to bring
Seven Last Words of the Unarmed to life. A Facebook post asking musician friends
to sightread the work, a phone call by a friend to Dr. Eugene Rogers of the
University of Michigan, a commission from Andre Dowell to fully orchestrate the
work for the 20th anniversary of the Sphinx Organization, and the piece is alive
several years later and I am very grateful.
Liturgical settings of the Seven Last Words of Christ are not trying to demonize the Roman soldiers that orchestrated the crucifixion, but they are designed to stir within the listener an empathy towards the suffering of Jesus. Inspired by that template, this piece is a meditation on the lives of seven black men and an effort to focus on their humanity, which is often eradicated in the media in an attempt to justify their deaths.
Listening to Seven Last Words of the Unarmed can be uncomfortable. As you listen, I ask that you try to remain open. It can be easy to let a spirit of defensiveness pollute the experience of the piece. I ask that you revisit the last moments of these men with fresh hearts:
- Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr.: the retired Marine who accidentally pressed his Life Alert necklace which recorded the police calling him a n***er before he was killed. (“Officer, why do you have your guns out?”)
- Trayvon Martin: the teenage boy with his bag of Skittles being chased in his own neighborhood. (“What are you following me for?”)
- Amadou Diallo: the young immigrant who called his mother in Guinea after he had saved up enough money to pursue a degree in computer science. (“Mom, I’m going to college.”)
- Michael Brown: the recent high school graduate and amateur musician whose body lay baking in the street for four hours before being taken to the coroner. (“I don’t have a gun. Stop shooting!”)
- Oscar Grant III: the young father (of a 4-year-old girl) who was shot in the back while handcuffed in a prone position at Fruitvale Station. (“You shot me! You shot me.”)
- John Crawford III: another young father who was purchasing a BB gun in a Wal-Mart in the open carry state of Ohio. (“It’s not real.”)
- Eric Garner: the 43-year-old grandfather who was choked to death on camera on the streets of New York City. (“I can’t breathe.”)
When the music is over, let us continue to listen. Let us listen to each other with love and
hope for a more just future. Thank you.
With love,
Joel Thompson