Flautist Melissa Jefferson plays slaver James Madison's 200-year-old crystal flute in the Library of Congress.
a few notes: --this is apparently a piece that is very difficult to play --this flute is keyless, which requires the player to use extremely precise finger positioning --Lizzo is wearing two inch acrylic nails
the runs at the end are both stunning and flawless!
Cool. The flute is cool. But I got some more info that I feel is important.
That's James Maddison's flute. James Maddison owned over 100 slaves. Due to debts he had to sell land and slaves over his lifetime. By the time of his death he owned 36 slaves. No slaves were freed during his lifetime or in his will.
The power that this successful Black woman has over his legacy right now.
Not just playing his flute, but shaking her ass while playing his flute.
Oh, the white supremacists are so mad.
You know how often people play instruments that are hundreds of years old? Instruments are made to last hundreds of years. They're preserved through use. First chair violinists in major orchestras often use violins that are centuries old.
My aunt owns and sells instruments both young and old, and it's a huge dishonor to the memory of the creator to demand that the instrument go in a museum never to be used.
-fae
Something really cool about this video is that Lizzo is usually in really extravagant outfits, which is awesome to see! But we as fat people are expected to over-perform gender and be dressed to the nines just to deserve basic respect. If we're seen wearing baggy pants and a simple shirt, we're called slovenly, lazy, ugly. So I love seeing Lizzo being able to wear not just the extravagant outfits but also outfits like this that are a "fuck you" to every fatphobe who thinks fat people must put on a performance to earn basic respect and dignity.
Not only is Lizzo playing James Madison’s crystal flute, she was invited to by Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress and the first actual librarian to have the job since 1974 (she was appointed in 2016). She is also the first woman and the first African American to be the Librarian of Congress.
She invited Lizzo by @ her on Twitter because she saw Lizzo would be in town for her tour. Lizzo spent three hours touring the LoC and looking at historic flutes in the collection.
Carla Hayden was previously the head librarian of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, which is the city library organization for Baltimore. She kept the libraries open during the Freddie Gray riots so people would have a safe place to bring their kids.
She’s a cool lady and I hope more people get interested in the LoC and it’s holdings. They have a lot online and you don’t need to make an account to look.
I blogged the video of Lizzo before (and it's well worth listening to again) but the extra info, especially about Carla Hayden, means it needs to be reblogged again.