University of Chicago Program Brings Mavis Staples To Campus

Singer Mavis Staples in conversation with Greg Kot as part of the University of Chicago Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, JASON SMITH.
Singer Mavis Staples in conversation with Greg Kot as part of the University of Chicago Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, JASON SMITH.

University of Chicago Program Brings Mavis Staples To Campus

By Tia Carol Jones

Musical legend Mavis Staples recently performed at the Reva and David Logan Center on the campus of the University of Chicago as part of the University’s Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse.

The Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse was launched to put the Chicago principles into practice, which include free expression and free inquiry. The program promotes deliberation and dialogue across differences in the service of an open and equitable society. Also, as part of the program was a discussion with two Israeli-Palestinian Peace Activists. In that conversation the two activists talked about their work.

According to Christopher Wild, Peter B. Ritzma Professor in the Department of Germanic Studies and Faculty Director of the Parrhesia Program, the name comes from Ancient Athens which gave every Athenian the right to speak before the assembly. He added the term also became synonymous with fearless, frank speech and telling truth to power.

Wild said there was an opportunity to bring Staples to the University and they wanted to make it happen because they felt it was so important to bring her in and because she will celebrate her 85th birthday this year. The last time Staples made an appearance at the University of Chicago was in 1962.

“We felt it was really important to bring her to a younger generation. The concert was for college and South Side students only because they really need to be reminded of that era and the enormous achievement that she was part of,” Wild said.

Wild said he hoped the students took away the courage and vigilance Staples and those in her generation had when it came to civil rights and to create a just Democratic society. He added that civil rights is an ongoing struggle, with ongoing work, and something that can never be let up on. He also wants the students to see they can also have that kind of courage.

Biographer and Music Critic Greg Kot engaged Staples in a conversation during the event. Kot wrote a book about her in 2014. He has known Staples and her family for about 30 years and has seen her perform for even longer. He was well aware of Staples and her family’s importance to Chicago music and music, culture and history as a whole.

“They were one of the key soundtracks of the civil rights movement. Music and the civil rights movement, you couldn’t separate the two. They were essential to each other,” Kot said.

Kot added from a social, political and musical perspective the Staples family’s story is  a rich story to tell. He couldn’t believe there hadn’t been a book written about Staples and her family already. She trusted him with her story and he was able to tell the story right. He is very proud of that.

Wild said he was pleased Staples was able to come to the University. She was also given the Jesse L. Rosenberger Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Creative and Performing Arts, which he said was long overdue. The award recognizes exceptional accomplishments in the arts.

For more information about the Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse, visit https://college.uchicago.edu/parrhesia-program-public-discourse. For more information about Mavis Staples, visit mavisstaples.com.

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