Roots

Roots Torn, Routes Chosen: A Story of Black Migration (2024) is a 30min work for wind ensemble or concert band and griotte, in a genre I coined a narrative symphony (I made the box this time). It’s a story told in five different movements of the different stages of Black migration throughout history. It starts in Pre-Colonial Africa, takes the listener through the Middle Passage and slavery in an enslaved woman’s perspective, goes through Jim Crow and the Great Migration, incorporates Caribbean migration in the mid 20th century, and resolves in modern day resilience and perseverance of Black Americans against all odds. 

Roots was originally premiered in 2024 (it happened…) and re-premiered in February 2026 by the Keene State Concert Band. It is currently available for programming in its wind ensemble and concert band variations. At this time, I am the only griotte licensed to perform the work. Please contact me directly for more information. 

As the generational layer of the tetralogy, Roots examines the deepest rooted (punny) form of generational trauma that has had a collective impact on all of American society. Without understanding our history, it is doomed to repeat. Without seeing what built the current structure of society, we cannot begin to dismantle it.