There are many disabled musicians throughout the history of music, but most people do not know about them or their history, according to disabled writer, poet and community activist Leroy Franklin Moore Jr., who presented a music workshop Thursday. Moore’s workshop, “Black Blind Blues to Crip-Hip-Hop,” looked at the music and history of disabled black musicians in blues music and hip-hop. His workshop was part of a two-day visit hosted by the Bias Response Team, Disability Services and the University.
Moore, who lectures frequently on his experience of being black and disabled in the United States, held a dialogue with students Wednesday in the ASUO Multicultural Center and a poetry performance in Gerlinger Lounge Thursday night.
Moore, who has cerebral palsy, said many disabled musicians are involved in the music industry, but besides musicians like Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, Moore said many of them are not well known to the public.
“There is a lot of history there, but it’s not publicized,” he said.
Moore said he was researching blind, black blues musicians such as Blind Lemon Jefferson when he decided to search for musicians with other disabilities. He said he came across the music of many blues musicians such as “Peg Leg Sam” Jackson, Peg Leg Howell and Cripple Clarence Lofton, of whom he had never heard before.
“Blues was really open to a lot of people coming in and expressing their disabilities and troubles,” Moore said. “There’s a whole list of disabled blues artists, and there’s a rich history in them.”
Moore said hip-hop was another genre in which disabled people had an opportunity to participate.
He said he was in New York when hip-hop started, and he saw people in wheelchairs and on crutches participating in the music on the street corners. He said now hip-hop has become more commercialized and it is difficult for disabled performers, including people who are already established, to have their music heard on mainstream media.
Moore, who writes a syndicated column and co-hosts a radio show on KPFA 94.1 in Berkeley, Calif., circulated several of his articles and played radio excerpts of his interviews with disabled hip-hop artists such as Fezo Da MadOne, who has cerebral palsy, and artist and producer MF Grimm, who uses a wheelchair.
“It’s strange how we don’t know about them,” Moore said.
Moore said the hip-hop genre and music industry tend to have negative views of disabled musicians, and cited the Black Eyed Peas song “Let’s Get Retarded” as an example. He said the lyrics of commercial musicians with disabilities, such as the Ying Yang Twins, are watered-down compared to lesser-known disabled musicians.
“Compared to the blues, I haven’t heard any blues song that turns disability into a negative thing,” Moore said.
Moore said the current state of disabled musicians in the music industry is a mixed bag, but he hopes that in the future people with disabilities will have a bigger presence in the music industry and featured more in mainstream music. He said he also hopes their history will be taught to young people.
“I hope to add to the music industry of disabled people and open up the door to the art world and to the music industry,” he said.