Sparky and Rhonda Rucker at Govans Music Mondays

Abstract

America, you in danger, girl. So goes the meme spoofing Whoopi Goldberg's Oscar-winning performance as Oda Mae Brown in the 1990 film Ghost (Zucker 1990). While the origin of the illustrative gag that replaces the name “Molly” with “America” is unclear, the rhetoric has rung true for many a concerned citizen, particularly since The View tweeted the meme from its official Twitter account (@theview) during election season in 2016. That happened to be the same day as the eleventh Republican presidential debate on March 3, between then-candidate Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio, and Governor John Kasich (Goldmacher 2016). Retweeted on the night of the election following Hillary's concession speech (Cole 2016), the comical phrase speaks to the anything-but-funny social political ills of the “Divided States of America.” Like chronic conditions untreated in the body or cancer of vital organs, our country continues to experience generational trauma. This distress is exacerbated by deep-seated wounds stemming back to the founding of the country and continuing through the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the present. This has produced a relentless state of civic turmoil that we have endured for over two centuries. Yet, despite this harrowing truth, especially as it pertains to Black, Indigenous, and other citizens of color, the Tennessee-based music duo and historians Sparky and Rhonda Rucker are true light-bearers. Ardent hopemongers, ambassadors of Appalachian folklore, these musical medics have dedicated their lives to the artful triage and treatment of America's heart and soul during the fight for democracy and rights guaranteed by the Constitution.“I firmly believe that if you want to get something changed, you've got to get out there and make it happen,” James “Sparky” Rucker mused during a Zoom performance with Rhonda Rucker for “Music Mondays,” a program of Govans Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 25, 2022. “I try to combine my activism with my art because to me this world is worth saving.” The Ruckers are well-read and highly decorated scholars and “edutainers.” They are also social activists of the mountain population and musical griots who are dedicated to preserving the oral heritage of the Appalachian region, which includes thirteen states spanning from southern New York to northern Mississippi (ARC 2022). One need not be native Appalachian to fully appreciate the Ruckers’ embodiment of the righteous folkloric tradition; however, the improvisational nature of their work draws diverse audiences into their realm, with candor and humor mixed in with political discourse of the day. The interracial couple has been speaking truth to power through storytelling and song for over forty years, standing firm on the truth that agitation through activism is the hallmark that galvanizes the change and healing we so desperately need in the land. As live performers as well as recording artists, Sparky and Rhonda have an expressive versatility that combines their soulful voices, creative ingenuity, and skilled instrumentation with original renditions of America's traditional folk songs. They incorporate instruments of the Appalachian region like blues guitar, banjo, piano, harmonica, rhythmic bones, and spoons with their delightful vocal harmonies.During the Zoom concert, similar to the live shows that the Ruckers performed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, each tells solo stories that highlight key moments and various capacities of the ongoing struggle for justice in America. Social justice. Economic justice. Environmental justice. Restorative justice. If there's justice to be championed, the Ruckers will sing about it. But they also tell personal stories together in tandem with quick-witted banter, adding a welcomed lightheartedness to otherwise heavy topics. They weave historical narratives into verses of songs like “We Shall Not Be Moved,” “Wade in the Water,” and “Swing Low, Sweet Harriet” (commonly known as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”), detailing Harriet Tubman as a spy for the Union Army, and her part in the Combahee River Raid during the Civil War. Other selections challenge both singer and listener with calls-to-action or by questioning their moral conscience, like “I'll Be Riding Right There” and “Which Side Are You On?,” a 1930s labor movement song that proved just as relevant during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. Rhonda reminds us that those who were opposed to the labor movement knew above anything to “beware the movement that sings.”Then there is Sparky's sharp admonishment for “all the Ku Klux Christians out there who don't seem to understand the way they're supposed to behave: If you claim something, dadgummit, you got to do it.” That message came tacked to the end of the song “Like a Tramp on the Street,” which he says came to prominence during the Depression era of the 1930s. “A president can't solve everything because they need a legislature to work with them. We're a three-tiered government, and that legislature ain't working too good right now.” He adds with a sparkle in his eye and a fire in his belly: “I think it's time to throw the bums out, myself; that's just my opinion. And help ’em on the way out with a little bit of shoe leather!”Sparky and Rhonda Rucker are deeply committed to the American tenet that all of God's children are created equal, a principle that we continue to fight for today in every facet of our democratic society. They end the show with songs that illustrate the hope that comes from a higher spiritual power. “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize,” “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel,” and “Meet You on That Other Shore” stand on the principles of faithfulness, perseverance, and the courage to keep advancing in the struggle toward freedom, knowing that God will not forsake those who are up for the task. Whether singing these powerful lyrics on a picket line, at a civil disobedience rally, during an elementary school assembly, on stage at the Kennedy Center, or confined to the small grid box of Zoom, the Ruckers convey an authenticity of Affrilachian (Ray 2007) spirit, tenacity, and resilience. While America might be in danger, as Oda Mae Brown put it, and in need of healing, Sparky and Rhonda continue to be the balm that is needed for our country's recovery.