Award winning Illinois folksinger Chris Valillo will perform Songs of the Civil Rights Movement on Wednesday, April 16th at 6:30 p.m. at the Moline Public Library (3210 - 41st Street). This program is free and does not require registration.
This concert is presented as part of the six-week series Created Equal and Changing America, which explores our nation's civil rights history through film, exhibition, and presentations. More information about the series can be found at molinelibrary.com/createdequal or by contacting the Moline Public Library at 309-524-2470.
From "We Shall Overcome" to "Blowin in the Wind", music played a vital role in the civil rights movement both as an inspirational rallying point for the Freedom Riders and as a way to spread the message of equality and justice. Mr. Valillo will perform pivotal songs from the music that inspired and sustained this landmark movement and discusses the impact of music to this most important social cause.
Chris Valillo is a nationally acclaimed singer/songwriter and folk musician who makes the people and places of "unmetropolitan" America come to life in song. Performing on six-string and bottleneck slide guitars and harmonica, Valillo weaves original, contemporary, and traditional songs and narratives into a compelling and entertaining portrait of the history and lifestyles of the Midwest.
Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle is made possible through a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
Changing America is presented by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of American History in collaboration with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. The traveling exhibition is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.
Local support for Created Equal and Changing America has been provided by Friends of the Moline Public Library, WQPT, and The Moline Dispatch/Rock Island Argus/QCOnline.
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