Opening Doors Project Concert Explores History and Joy
Written By Ellen Putnam
Left to right: Alastair Moock, Stephanie McKay, and Tyrone Chase
Photo Credit: Raj Das, edphotos.com
On Sunday evening, the Opening Doors Project presented a free concert to a packed audience at the Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The concert featured Opening Doors Project founder and Melrose resident Alastair Moock and local artists Stephanie McKay and Tyrone Chase.
The Opening Doors Project, which was founded by Moock and fellow Melrose resident Stacey Babb, offers a blend of music and conversation in their concerts, as musicians from different backgrounds share their own perspectives on history and racial identity. Opening Doors arose out of a program Moock and longtime friend and collaborator Reggie Harris performed for children, in which the two musicians use music as a way to approach what might otherwise be difficult discussions about race.
Moock, McKay, and Chase played guitar and sang together with an ease and comfort that made the audience feel as though we were listening in on a jam session, the three musicians making music and meaning together organically as we watched.
Sunday’s concert began with a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday,” the release of which was part of what led to MLK Day becoming a national holiday in 1983. But creating a national holiday for Dr. King, Moock reflected, “began the process of sanctifying Dr. King, and removing him from reality - it was a double-edged sword.”
Moock, McKay, and Chase all reflected on the contrast between the sanitized version of Dr. King who is usually celebrated on MLK Day, and the reality of the man himself, who was complex, imperfect, and quite radical.
“Dr. King was the least popular person in the United States by 1968,” Moock noted, pointing out that a survey from that year gave King a 75% unfavorability rating. “People thought he went off the rails, criticizing the Vietnam War and capitalism.”
Photo Credit: Nancy Clover
The concert featured a mix of original songs and mid-century protest songs - “Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'round” and Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee” among them.
Guthrie wrote “Deportee” about a 1948 plane crash near Los Gatos Canyon that killed 28 migrant farm workers who were being deported to Mexico. He was inspired to write the song when he read the New York Times report of the event, in which only the flight crew were named.
“I can’t believe this song was written in 1948,” Moock said, “It could have been written yesterday.”
While the performers drew parallels between the Civil Rights Movement and our current political moment, they also emphasized the importance of finding joy even in challenging times - and the power of music to say what words alone cannot.
“My joy comes from people,” McKay reflected, “I love talking to strangers - listening to their stories on the bus. I try to be kind to my neighbor, to connect authentically, because I believe that small things can reverberate outward.”
Moock, McKay, and Chase ended the concert with questions from audience members, and audience singalongs of “We Shall Overcome” and “This Little Light of Mine.”
Holding hands and singing together, audience and performers alike caught a glimpse of King’s vision of the ‘beloved community’ - something we hope to cherish and nurture in Melrose and beyond.
