♪ We shall overcome ♪
- I love the end of the concert.
We all come together and we sing "We shall overcome."
I think a lot about Dr. Martin Luther King and
like how he sang that song, and
it kind of shows me like just the monumental change
that we've been able to make since that time.
♪ We shall overcome someday ♪
(gentle music)
My father, the late Reverend Christopher Moore,
arrived in Hyde park, and at the time,
the neighborhood was very, very intentionally segregated.
He was quickly convinced both by the congregation
and his personal social justice mission to
try to create an environment,
a program that would help to bring people
of differing ethnic and religious backgrounds
into Hide park.
♪ Ooo ♪
- I was introduced to the Chicago Children's choir
in August of '98.
I remember going into a school at 71st
and honoring and seeing the most beautiful children.
And we connected through song.
And from that day on, I made it my mission to bring access
to as many children as possible.
- I joined Chicago Children's choir
because I was searching for a safe place.
I'm black. I have same-sex parents, and
it was just one of the first places that accepted me
and allowed me to be who I want to be and
learn as much as I can.
- This choir has really opened up my eyes
to a lot of the community in Chicago
that I wouldn't otherwise interact with.
My grade school and my communities
were all predominantly white.
I knew like almost no black kids before I was in choir.
Now I have, you know, really close friends from all
over the city, from all sorts of different backgrounds.
- Music has this power to bridge divide to break
down barriers. It's this universal language.
♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh. ♪
- It was a powerful moment just to be able to
process the trauma, and for our CCC kids to know
that they have a space where they can go
and unload their deepest fear and anger,
and to be able to channel that energy
through to our Juneteenth concert,
I think was a very important moment for this organization.
- The biggest thing that I gained from my time
in the choir is just how powerful music is and
how it can be used as a vehicle for
social change and connection.
- Chicago has had a history of being segregated.
I think having a program like this, where people
from different areas come together and just sing,
talk about how you're feeling.
It really changes how you think about the world.
It makes you say, man, maybe there is some good out there.
- The Chicago Children's choir has been celebrating
black history month for over 30 years.
It's an annual tradition.
Every year we conclude our black history month concert
with "We Shall Overcome," a civil rights song
for over 50 years, heard around the world.
♪ We shall overcome ♪
The late John Lewis even said that this tune
carried him through the years of struggle.
- And the struggle continues
♪ We shall overcome ♪
- What I would want the audience to get from
our performance is just to understand the meaning
for actually hosting these concerts.
(upbeat music)
- A lot of these kids are coming from
these neighborhoods where they see the stuff
that the people went through in the past every single day.
So it was very important to just make sure we
can build that connection and keep that history going
because history is knowledge.
♪ We shall overcome ♪
- You know, one of my singers said it best-
"Ms. Lee, why is it that we always learn
black history month is about slavery.
We were Kings and Queens before we were slaves."
That comment stuck with me.
We celebrate black history every month.
And we want to change the way
people perceive this celebration.
♪ We shall overcome someday ♪
(cheering)