Prison and bondage have been effectively woven into Black acoustic consciousness.

A Brief History of the Policing of Black Music | Literary Hub

I’ve loved jazz more deeply than any other music for most of my lifetime. Jazz is about honoring ancestors, finding your own voice, envisioning the possibilities beyond reality’s seeming limitations, and calling others to share what you see. This piece captures why jazz — and its younger relative, hip-hop — are brilliant artistic responses to 400 years of oppression & violence against Black bodies, Black souls, Black communities, & Black futures.

If I want to continue to listen to jazz faithfully, I cannot shut my ears, my eyes, or my mind to its core message. I cannot forget the responsibility I have to remember the past, and to support better worlds still waiting to be born.