About the Program

In 1867, the great abolitionist, speaker, and writer Frederick Douglass presented a lecture entitled “Our Composite Nation.” In it, he addressed the idea that if America is to be great, it must value the diversity of those who built this country. A century later, during the turbulent 1960s, an amazing thing happened. Confronted by shifting tides of patriotism, Civil Rights, a war abroad, and divisive politics at home, America rediscovered its own music, equally a product of that endless diversity and energy Douglass foresaw.

In a program entitled, “What Brings Us Together,” Stephen Wade and Rev. Robert Jones explore the meaning of grassroots music in American life. Understanding that roots music is a modern term that denotes the many voices of folk and their folk-based music, Jones and Wade reveal the first-hand sources and pivotal encounters that have guided them throughout their professional lives.

“What Brings Us Together” is a multi-instrumental presentation that combines the talents of pastor, storyteller, multi-instrumentalist, and former public radio host, Rev. Robert Jones, and nationally acclaimed and award winning writer, historian, musician, and performer Stephen Wade. Jones and Wade have decided to come together to trade songs, styles, and stories. In this performance, the two move across the borrowings and bonds that have long marked Black and white musical experience in America. “What Brings Us Together” is educational, entertaining, and transformative: Two friends working together on stage and separately, evoking the differences and commonalities that Frederick Douglass envisioned for us all.

“In a composite nation like ours, as before the law, there should be no rich, no poor, no high, no low, no white, no black, but common country, common citizenship, equal rights and a common destiny.”—Frederick Douglass