A First Of Its Kind In Nashville?

In our last posting, we talked about the significant role college students in Nashville played in the national civil rights movement of the early 1960s, especially the integration of lunch counters and other public facilities through non-violent sit-ins and other demonstrations.

Sing-Out South came along a few years later (beginning in January, 1966) and while what we did was nothing nearly so historic or broad-reaching, I do believe the cast made something of a contribution in this area.

From what I know of Nashville history, Sing-Out South was one of the first, if not the first, citywide youth organization that was open to both whites and blacks. Remember most schools (except for the Catholic parochial schools) were still strictly segregated. In fact, the first basketball game between a black (Pearl) and a white (Father Ryan) team had just been played the winter before (1965) and Ryan had the first black player in local Nashville Interscholastic League (N.I.L.) a few years before that.

The number of minorities participating in Sing-Out South was never large. Reviewing the cast roster printed in THE NASHVILLE BANNER, on March 26, 1966 (during our premiere performances at Hillsboro High School) it appears (from what school they were listed as attending) that 13 of the 184 cast members were black. TSU had 6 students in the cast, Cameron High School 5, Pearl High School and the old Haynes High School each also had a student who was a part of SOS.

And several of these cast members played prominent roles in the show.

Everytime Melvin Turner, a graduate student at Tennessee A&I (now Tennessee State University), took the stage as a part of our "Best of the South" segment, he literally stopped the show, receiving a standing ovation.

While in retrospect, a black man tap dancing on stage might seem somewhat racially stereotypical, Melvin Turner's talent was recognized by the officials of Sing-Out '66, and he was the first of many dozens SOS cast members to be offered the opportunity to travel with the national cast, going with the original Up With People cast on a tour of West Germany later in the spring of 1966.

Another minority student who played a major role in the original Sing-Out South cast was TSU graduate student, Harbin Williams, who read the dramatic "A Soldier's Letter" before our show's final song "Which Way, America?" Williams also delivered a "Speak Out" during our WSM-TV (Channel 4) "A Living Declaration" July 4th Television special.

Sing-Out South was even invited to perform on the TSU campus with a special show held in "Kean's Little Garden" on May 21, 1966.

Throughout the history of Sing-Out South there were minority cast members who played major roles, such as the late Alfred Saffell, Margaret Stokes, Dennis Cohen, Butch Hardy and, of course, Hazel Robinson, who became the lead female soloist for SOS performing such songs as "Keep Young At Heart" and "Which Way, America?".

But perhaps as much as anything else, the Sing-Out South cast made its greatest statement for racial equality, with a song that struck me deeply from the first time I heard it when Sing-Out '66 performed it here in Nashville in January,1966, and which from a quick check of the show programs I have, was performed by SOS in every show we did from 1966 to 1971. It was "What Color Is God's Skin?" Here it is courtesy of You Tube. Over 40 years later, the power of its lyrics are still profound...