Odetta!: Visionary! In! Residence!

By Karen Parkman | Monday, June 2, 2003

Several years ago, students volunteers at the Center for Women and Gender, tired of simply blathering, decided to be proactive. They initiated the 'Visionary in Residence' program, tailored towards 'crafting a vision for positive change.' Such luminaries as Winona La Duke and Urvashi Vaid have previously been designated Visionaries.

This year, the Visionary in Residence was 'Odetta!,' nee Odetta Gordon[!], a 'legendary' folk singer. Following in the footsteps of Oprah! and Madonna!, Odetta! eventually dropped her last name and added the exclamation point. The change was meant to signify her transformation from a socially-conscious caterpillar to a socially-conscious butterfly without a last name.

Headlining Odetta!'s residence, the Tucker Foundation sponsored a community concert event entitled 'Where Do We Stand Now?'The program was designed to showcase Odetta!'s commitment to 'reaching across boundaries' and 'promoting diversity.'

Before Odetta! was wheeled out onto the stage, Dartmouth students and faculty members delivered dramatic monologues; the topic was 'Where Do I Stand Now?' The first student was terrified of this 'time of global crisis' but found comfort in the fact 'that Odetta[!] is here to inspire us.' Another student, an African-American female, described herself as 'loitering barefoot on the cornerstone of innocence and consequence.' She admitted that sometimes she feels that it is unjust that she has 'inherited the struggle' simply because she is a person of color.

Dean of the Tucker Foundation Stuart Lord, apparently unable to modulate the volume of his voice, spoke next. With Odetta! on board, he 'will no longer allow my fears to guide my actions.'He went on to affirm that he stands for unconditional love, respect, intelligence, creativity, and passion. He was followed by a female student who stood for peace 'even in the absence of war.' She spoke of her desire 'to fly for peace,' and did not want to be tainted by the blood of young men.

A final orator stood for 'observation, contradictions, and self-reflective exclamation.' She proclaimed, 'I stand for the community that hurts, not the kind that feels good.'

Finally, Odetta! lumbered out onto center stage, noticeably out of breath from the grueling trek. While she mopped the sweat off her brow, the audience leapt to their feet and burst into frenzied applause. Odetta! was clad in a flowing dashiki and was similar in appearance to a high-end beanbag chair.

Before she began to sing, Odetta! was somehow able to hug most of the introductory performers, though two of them almost collapsed under her considerable girth. After composing herself, Odetta! began to sing. Though it sounded—and looked—as though she had just swallowed a big-screen television, her booming voice filled the auditorium with beautiful singing.

After only a few minutes onstage, it was obvious that Odetta! was not only a visionary in residence, but also a folk music legend. The program promised that she would 'caress her audience with a message of hope, love, and social change,' and the show met expectations. There was just so much caressing going on, and the audience was captivated. Odetta! maintained an easy rapport with the crowd and encouraged everyone to sing along, performing old favorites like 'This Little Light of Mine' and 'I'm a Little Teapot.' According to the Center for Women and Gender, the mythic Harry Belafonte considers Odetta! his premier musical influence, and it was easy to see why.

Between sets, Odetta! regaled the audience with cute political natterings. She snappily instructed the crowd: 'Whenever you go out, don't forget your condoms!' before launching into a few new lixx. One song described a slore who 'gets knocked up' and is later dumped by her boyfriend. The dump was as memorable as it was devastating, inspiring Odetta! to immortalize it in song. She also mentioned that our school systems have become 'the biggest drug pushers in the world,' and are slipping students pills in order to control them.

Another jingle, 'You Don't Know My Mind,' described a woman who works all summer, yet only has enough money left over to buy a pair of coveralls. The moral of the song was not to let anyone tell you how to live your life, because 'people can do anything if you show them how.' Odetta! reminded the audience of the difficulties faced by the coveralls industry as 'industry is downsizing in order to compete with other nations that pay workers twenty dollars per week and don't let women go to school.'

The songs continued. 'Bourgeoisie Town' addressed the problem of a black couple looking for lodging in Washington, D.C.The couple was unable to find a room, due to the color of their skin. Another song focused on the Tuberculosis epidemic of the 1920s and 1930s, in which many people lost their homes—not to mention their lives.

When Odetta! crooned, her voice—like piping hot broth—soothed the soul, and stilled the emotional storm that raged within me. Her voice was genuinely enjoyable to listen to, particularly if you had a storm in need of stilling. Many of her songs addressed the real everyday issues facing blacks before desegregation became a reality or before the bottom dropped out of the coveralls industry. Instead of simply letting Odetta! perform, though, the planners found it necessary to create a politically charged concert—politics and music: what a novel idea! Audience members—like me, for instance—hoping to hear soulful tunes were forced to endure the usual bleeding-heart rigamarole about social justice, drug pushers, and the coveralls industry.

The next day, Odetta held 'salon hours!' at the Cutter-Shabazz House, the African-American affinity residence. Undergraduates were invited to chat with Odetta!, as well as her handlers from the Afro-American Society, the Women of Color Collective, and the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, a traditionally black organization. Later, the Center for Women and Gender threw a dessert reception for the folksy troubadour. It is rumored that all, especially Odetta!, enjoyed the dessert cart.

Odetta!: Visionary! In! Residence!

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