Those Among Us 
An Interview, by Vicki Ingle

Living in the western suburbs, hanging out with folkies, you just never know who you might be sitting next to at an event or who you might be sharing the “green room” with before a performance.  At least a dozen times in the past several years, I was pleasantly surprised at the company surrounding me.  Last November, Rich and I happened to sit next to accomplished acoustic musicians Pete Norman and his band-mate DK Kolars at a house concert featuring Michael Smith, and we had a delightful conversation.

Before that, Rich and I were on the WDCB festival grounds for a September “sampler” of singer-songwriters, created and hosted by creative radio DJ, Lilli Kuzma.  While all of us waited in the lounge area for our turn to go on the air, we struck up a conversation with “Amy” - a pleasant, friendly woman whose face I didn’t know and whose name I didn’t recognize, I’m sorry to admit.  Little did I know…

Amy Dixon-Kolar is one of the great female singer-songwriters among us.  Amy performs mostly acoustic folk music – original, traditional, contemporary and Celtic.  With a father who was an amateur jazz drummer and a mother who introduced the family to all types of musical genres, from classical to world music, opera to folk, Amy came to a love of music naturally. She has traveled the country, playing coffeehouses, clubs, schools, college campuses, festivals and house concerts. 

She recently finished a successful tour of the northeast and was chosen to appear in the juried showcase for the Folk Alliance Region Midwest gathering.  Amy's first CD, "Now It's Time", was released in 2008 and is a celebration of finding one's voice, of coming back to what gives the soul joy and purpose.
Amy’s song, "Rosa Sat," (not yet released on CD) was first runner-up in the 2010 Music2Life: Songs for Social Change contest.  Music2Life is sponsored by the Public Domain Foundation, established by Noel Paul Stookey to work with musicians and non-for-profit organizations.  Nine judges (including a number of Amy’s life-long musical heroes) whittled down three-hundred and forty songs to ten.  The competition is stiff for this contest - first runner- up is an incredible accomplishment!  Congratulations, Amy! 

If you haven’t heard Amy’s songs, I encourage you to look her up – you’ll be glad you did.  Go to the Plank Road website and click on “Favorites” for the words to “Rosa Sat” and some background information about the song.  And, to hear more about Amy and her music, visit http://amydixonkolar.com .

I wrote this song right after the election of Barack Obama.  I had been reading this quote numerous places and knew it had to be a song. 

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk.
Martin walked so Barack could run.
Barack ran, that our children could fly"

ROSA SAT – A Song for Barack Obama
– Amy Dixon-Kolar ©2008
Asharta Music/ASCAP  
All Rights Reserved

Chorus:   
Rosa sat so Martin could walk
Martin walked so Barack could run
Barack ran, he ran and he won
So that all our children could fly

Thousands of people that November night
All of us here who have fought the long fight
Knowing as one we’re creating a new nation
Join together in celebration

Chorus

Mother and daughter listenin’ to the news
Momma breaks down cryin’, little girl is confused
Honey we worked so hard to get to this place
Daughter puts a loving hand on momma’s face

Chorus

Mr. Obama all eyes turn to you
Share with the country what you’re gonna do
Wars and foreclosures surround us this year
But Yes We Can rise above our fears

Sourcing the quote: "Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so we can all fly."
By David Hershkovits  (see below)

Widely attributed to Jay-Z, this quote is becoming epic. And rightly so. It resonates with everyone who hears it. Over at quoteland there's a forum devoted to tracking down the source of this quote, which has made its way to the front page on Newsday when commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as well as on to t-shirts, street art, rugs and into Jay's version of "My President is Black."

While it didn't originate from Jay, he did tweak it into a more manageable and rap-able sound bite. "He heard it somewhere... But can't remember the name," Jay's office reports. French philosopher Bernard-Henry Levy quoted it on Charlie Rose, but it didn't originate with him either. After looking around, I can say with some certainty that the now celebrated words were uttered by Cleo Fields, former Congressman and State Senator from Louisiana, while speaking in February last year. The original version goes like this:"W.E.B. Dubois taught so that Rosa Parks could take a seat. Rosa took a seat so we all could take a stand. We all took a stand so that Martin Luther King Jr. could march. Martin marched so Jesse Jackson could run. Jesse ran so Obama could WIN."
Dubois and Jesse Jackson are erased from the popular version, but at least now we know they were included in the original and who originally said them.