TBGB Pick of the Week: April 10, 2006

“If My People”
Donny Jones
From the album The Reaction
Damazing Works 2006
www.myspace.com/damazingworks

From the Forties to the Seventies, gospel music had a more powerful social conscience and sense of history than it does today.

Quartets in particular sang about the derring-do of African-American heroes such as Mary McLeod Bethune and Dory Miller, and decried in direct language the devastating impact of war, poverty, violence, and political and racial prejudice on society. Most of these issues are still with us, yet it is difficult to find any artists – gospel or otherwise – who are willing to take a stand, sing courageously about what’s on their mind, and demonstrate that music still has the power to make change.

Then there’s Donny Jones. He just released The Reaction, a self-produced project on which he wrote and arranged every song. One song in particular caught my attention: “If My People.” Its blunt lyrics – highlighted by a chilling rap contributed by Isreal (not Houghton) – focus squarely on the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. “I knew there was another side to the story than the government’s side,” Jones told TBGB. “Once we put the song together, I knew people would appreciate it. It tells the truth about what happened in New Orleans.”

Isreal’s rap chronicles, among other things, the now-disclosed fact that FEMA was aware of Hurricane Katrina weeks ahead of the storm but was nevertheless slow to react.

“When wealthy places like Miami were hit by a hurricane, FEMA was there before the hurricane got there,” Jones said. “But for poor people in New Orleans who could hardly afford cars to go to the store, the government wasn’t interested. Chicago churches got to the scene before FEMA. We spend money to fight a war that is not on our own land, while people in our country were left to die because of a natural disaster.

“The song is about the hierarchy of wealth in this country. If you don’t have money, you’re forgotten.”

“If My People” has received airplay locally on a number of Chicago gospel stations. Let’s hope that other stations pick up on the important and relevant message this as-yet unsigned artist has the courage to articulate.