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>> Dr. Mildred Pearson: "There once was a man
who danced in the streets.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
He brought pleasure and joy to the people he'd greet.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
He didn't just dance, he made art with his feet.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
He danced past doors--some were open, some were closed.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
He danced past folks in fancy clothes.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
He danced through a place people called the skids.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
He danced through crowds of laughing kids.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
His feet flared and flew as he tipped his hat.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
He briefly paused to pet an old cat.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
He danced, rain or shine, in all kinds of weather.
People listened each day for his toe-tapping clatter.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
He danced many rhythms that were seldom the same.
Rap a tap tap, think of that.
Dance was his passion and brought him fame.
Bojangles, Bojangles, that was his name.
Rap a tap tap, think of that."
[audience applause]
Give her a hand!
Now I'm going to have a biographical sketch
by Ms. Judy Barford on Ella Fitzgerald.
>> Mrs. Judy Barford: It seems like Ella is really
with us tonight with all good song and [unclear dialogue].
Ella would be right at home.
Another wonderful, award-winning children's book from last year
called "Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa".
I'm just going to share about four pages with you
from this wonderful book.
The first is the beginning.
"Harlem became Ella's stomping ground.
On the night of November 21, 1934, Ella entered the
talent contest at the Apollo Theatre.
She was 17 and was scrubbed clean down to her
[unclear dialogue], but as soon as Ella saw the footlights,
her feet failed her.
She stood front and center, [unclear dialogue].
But Ella had knees knocking, teeth clatter.
A wannabe with a stomach full of butterflies
and the girl was hardly dressed to impress.
She wore [unclear dialogue] and hand-me-downs.
Luckily, Ella was thinking on her toes.
She refused to be booed back to Yonkers, so she started to sing.
At first her voice came quiet as a whisper,
measly little hiss soft as a cricket.
But when the band joined in, Ella rolled out a tune
[unclear dialogue].
She won the contest straight up, kicked her dance dreams
to the curb and pinned down all her hopes on being a singer.
Now, Chick Web was born with a beat in his bones.
He was a master drummer, a musician with a fix on jazz.
Ella made it her business to learn all she could from Chick.
She had talent, he had know-how.
Chick showed Ella the right way to deliver a song, he taught her
to shade the high notes and the lows, to grab hold of a tune".
And we've had some wonderful examples of that tonight.
"To wrap her voice around each melody.
When the sun set on Harlem and the cats and kitties came out
to play, it was Ella and Chick they were coming to see.
When Chick and Ella performed together, they were
grits with gravy--they brought out the best in each other.
People call it chemistry, I call it musical magic.
The Savoy was on the stepping stone.
Thanks to nightly radio broadcasts from the club,
Ella was the name sitting pretty on everybody's list.
Ella took the Chick Webb Orchestra to new heights.
She was the orchestra's star attraction.
Night club owners had to wait in line to book the band.
Some of them had never heard a black singer
perform at their clubs.
Ella's popularity showed them that a true star has no color,
it just shines.
Ella could even put stardust [unclear dialogue].
In 1938, she and Al Feldman, a member of Chick's band,
wrote and recorded "A-Tisket A-Tasket".
'Man when you're an alley cat like me, you hear all kinds of
hop-skotch, chatter and jumprope jive.
'A-Tisket A-Tasket wasn't nothing more than a
nursery rhyme chanted a million times a day by kids who
[unclear dialogue].'
But to hear Ella sing that "brown and yellow basket"
was a whole 'nother thing.
"A-Tisket A-Tasket was a smash hit.
In time, folks came to call the song a jitterbug spiritual."
Skipping now to the biographical information
from the later life of Ella Fitzgerald.
"During her lifetime her genius was rewarded with
13 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award
and countless other musical citations.
In 1979, Ella Fitzgerald was honored at Washington, D.C.'s
Kennedy Center by President Jimmy Carter,
who named Ella one of the most talented American performers
who has ever lived.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan presented Ella with
the National Medal of Arts to recognize her
life's achievements.
Ella Fitzgerald has been referred to as the
undying flame who lights our national musical heritage
even after her death on June 15, 1996.
Her brilliance continues to shine--Ella Fitzgerald.
[audience applause]
>> Dr. Norman Greer: Ella Fitzgerald,
the queen of Scat.
Now we're going to have a musical selection.
[unclear dialogue] to inspire those who were enslaved prior to
[unclear dialogue].
[audience applause]
>> Ms. Renee Poston: Hello everybody.
I'm going to do a selection called "The Safest Place."
♪ "The safest place in the whole wide world ♪
♪ is in the will of God. ♪
♪ Though trials be brave and the wait seems hard ♪
♪ it's in the will of God. ♪
♪ It may be in the back, front or middle, middle, middle ♪
♪ or in the prison walls. ♪
♪ But wherever, wherever, wherever it may be, ♪
♪ if God says go, go, go. ♪
♪ The devil's loose, in all the world there's danger ♪
♪ [unclear dialogue]. ♪
♪ The safest place in the whole wide world ♪
♪ is in the master's hands. ♪
♪ It may be on the back, front, or middle, middle, middle ♪
♪ or in the prison walls. ♪
♪ But wherever, whereever, wherever it may be, ♪
♪ if God says go, go, go, go. ♪
>> Dr. Norman Greer: Now we're going to have
a biographical sketch of Madame C.J. Walker
by [unclear dialogue].
It's going to be followed by a biographical sketch of
Rosa Parks by Ms. Felicia Magee.
[audience applause]