October 31, 2024 • 22 mins
Today's special guest is composer, musicologist, and producer Nolan E. Williams Jr,. He joins Hosts Ramses Ja and Q Ward to discuss his latest project "Rise Up And Fight".
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
As the election draws closer, more and more creatives are
using their platforms to encourage voters to make their voices heard.
On November fifth, Newark's Productions has engaged celebrities to help
them get the word out. Newark's Productions has just released
a series of non partisan media assets, creatively created in
order to encourage more people to get out and rock
(00:20):
the polls. The assets include the multi award winning music
video Rise Up and Fight. It commemorates the sixtieth anniversary
of Freedom Summer and was written, composed, and directed by
Newark's Productions founder Nolan Williams Junior. And he is our
guest today. This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast,
(00:41):
and I am your host, Rams's.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Job and I am q Ward.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
All right, so mister Nolan Williams Junior, welcome to the show.
How you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'm terrific, Thanks so much for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Guys, fantastic. So, before we get started, we like to
start our stories at the beginning. I know we kind
of rolled us into this conversation, but just so that
our listeners get more of an idea of who we're
talking to today, tell us a little bit about your background,
about you know, maybe where you grew up and the
path that you took to end up really at today's conversation,
(01:15):
So just you know, whatever you feel is important for
our listeners to become more familiar with you.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Sure, I'm a product of Washington, d C. I was
born in LA but I grew up in DC and
I was one of those kids running around performing all
the time, just always interested in music and the arts.
That led me to Oberlin undergrad and I got my
music degree from there, and that has just kind of
(01:43):
catapulted me into this journey of pursuing the arts and
at some point really becoming fixated on how the arts
can be used to convene inconvenient conversations, to build community,
and especially as a force for good. And twenty one
(02:04):
years ago I formed my company, New Works Productions, and
we have been on this journey of leveraging the power
of music and the arts for social good and really
addressing matters of social justice and culture and finding ways
to reach people and to tell stories, often untold stories
(02:26):
of our history, and to bring people together around issues
that we think are important.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
What is it that led you to take your creative mind,
especially your love for music and your passion for creating
art and use those gifts and use those talents to inform,
educate and motivate.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
People, especially with Newark's productions. Yeah, that's a great question.
You know, I started down a path right of working
in many fields of music, from working with orchestras and
working with major artists, and you know, I certainly saw
a lot of my friends go down the popular paths
(03:13):
of you know, really becoming popular and going after the money,
if you will. But for me, I've just always been
led by a different set of convictions. And at one
point I remember even feeling that kind of like the
(03:38):
kind of thing that you feel when your heart is
leading you in a certain way, and you know, like, look,
even though everyone is going down that path, that doesn't
mean that that path is for you. And I've always
been intrigued by the power of music to really do
what words cannot alone, or the power of art to
(04:00):
do what conversation alone cannot do. Like music and the
arts have this intrinsic power. They are universal languages that
have a way of bringing people together, bridging chasms across cultures.
They have a way of convening I said it before
inconvenient conversations, right, like sometimes where when it's hard to
(04:24):
get people on opposite sides to come together and talk
or to think through something. You know, art has the
ability to bring people to the table and to provoke
thought and to raise consciousness. And that's the piece that
has just really compelled me to really pursue art, not
(04:48):
for just entertainment's sake, but for community uplifts sake. And
you know, I see myself as a community artist, as
a citizen artists, and I'm always interested in doing that
kind of work.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Now, we mentioned that the music video that was sent
over to me, which I love by the way, Rise
Up and Fight.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Of course, that commemorates the sixtieth anniversary of Freedom Summer.
So for folks that don't know, talk to us a
little bit about Freedom Summer and kind of why it
was important to do this effort to commemorate Freedom Summer.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, let me just say first of all that in
twenty twenty four, we have to be convening conversations about history,
that is, you know, untold histories, histories that are being
(05:47):
well I'm trying to use. We have to convene conversations
about untold histories about histories that are being denied, and
you know, we cannot forget that. In the nineteen sixties,
there was there was this movement in our nation to
(06:10):
ensure that all people, particularly people of colored black people,
have the rights that are guaranteed by our constitution. And
that civil rights movement was a multi layered movement. It
(06:32):
especially had its roots in the South. There are so
many persons who literally fought and died in order to
ensure that certain conversations were being had, that the cause
(06:52):
of freedom was being advanced. And in Mississippi in nineteen
sixty four, seven hundred plus volunteers came together. These were
diverse people. Some of them were from Mississippi, many of
them were from other parts of the nation. But they
(07:12):
thought it was important in that day and era to
go to Mississippi and to provide a level of access,
a level of advancement that black people in that state
were being denied. And so they went there on the
mission to go into rural counties and to register black
(07:35):
voters who were disenfranchised from the voting enterprise. And they
also established freedom schools, and they were seeking to counter
what was being done by the educational school system in Mississippi,
you know, and provide more learning opportunities for black students.
(08:00):
And the work they did was heroic. It was heroic work,
and they did that in the face of a lot
of opposition. They did that at the risk of their
own lives. And in fact, three of those workers, three
young men James Cheney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner in their
young twenties, they were there, they were doing that work.
(08:23):
They raised the ire of the ku Klux Klan, who
thought that these people should not be in our state
doing this work, and they were abducted and killed by
the KKK trying to make an example of them. And
sixty years later, this song Rise Up and Fight commemorates
(08:48):
not only Freedom Summer, but the heroism of those three
young men who were martyrs for the cause of freedom.
And we imagine in the song them coming back to
Mississippi sixty years later after their untimely deaths expecting that listen,
six decades later, certainly they've gotten this, they figured this out,
(09:12):
They've gotten this right. They come back sixty years later
only to discover while you all are still wrestling with
the same issues of human rights and civil rights and
they issue this call to action. Listen, Today's the day.
Now is the time to rise and fight for what
is right.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Now, Nolan talk to us about the Freedom Advances Campaign,
the celebrities that were involved in, how all that came together.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
We have a history as a company of engaging in
civic projects because we believe that citizens should be engaged
in our democracy. And so this goes back many years.
We had a project four years ago called I Have
a Right to Vote that was a star studed video
(10:04):
that reached over two million persons and won many awards.
We did a project a few years ago called the
America Song Project where we were advocating for peaceful transition
of power. And this year, the Freedom Advances Campaign is
multi fasted. It really is purposed to inspire people to vote.
(10:28):
Here's the thing that we don't often talk about. In
twenty twenty during the national election, eighty one million Americans
did not participate in that election. Eighty one million Americans
did not vote. Wow, that's one third of our population.
And so we believe not advocating for either party or candidate.
(10:53):
We believe the way a democracy works is that you
encourage everyone to vote. You you don't put obstacles in
the path of voting, but you try to make voting
as accessible as possible. You advocate for whatever your position
is on whatever party you know, or the side of
(11:16):
the aisle that you represent. You count the votes and
you live with the results. That's how democracy works, right,
And so our goal here is Freedom Advances. When we
all rise up and vote, our goal is to get
all American citizens voting. Again, not telling you who to
vote for, but you need to show up at the
(11:38):
ballot box. That's how we ensure that we all have
a voice and a hand in the direction that our
country is going. And we're really excited that this campaign
is using media assets, which is a powerful medium for
telling stories, you know, through music, through video, and we
(11:59):
have celebrity like Debbie Allen and Carla Hall and Andre
Deshields and Norm Lewis and Regina Bell like these celebrities
have all leaned in and lent their talent and their
time and their energy to this project. And then the
many ways in which the Freedom Advances campaign has manifested,
(12:21):
you know, in terms of the Rise Up and Fight
music video, we've done a re release of that I
have a Right to Vote video, which is a radio cut.
We've put together a range of thirty and sixty second PSAs,
and then we launched a nationwide Rise Up Song Challenge
where we encouraged young creators across the nation to take
(12:46):
the media assets that we've put out, particularly the two
anthems I have a right to vote and rise up
and fight and remix them, sample them, use them in
whatever way that you can or that you're inspired in
order to create pro voting messaging that will reach your
peer groups. And we're super excited that, you know, the
(13:08):
the young creatives who have leaned into that project have
a combined reach of over five million on social media,
and being able to give them a voice and a
platform has been a central part of what we've been
doing with this campaign. So we're excited for folks who
want to know more, they can go to new Works
(13:29):
dot us that's New Works with One w anyw rks
dot us, learn more about what we've been doing and
help us to spread the messaging, particularly as we are
a few days away from, you know, from the national election.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
If my voice didn't matter, people wouldn't be trying so
hard to silence me, and if my vote didn't matter,
they wouldn't work so hard to take it away. So
you know why I'm voting this November because I know
they don't want me to.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
Your voice is powerful, your voice matters. Don't let your
voice be silent. To register, confirm your voting status, or
get information about voting in your area, visit vote dot gov.
That's vote dot g ov. A message from the Perception
Institute and the Black Information Network.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
We are here today with Newark's Productions founder Nolan Williams Junior.
All Right, you mentioned the Rise Up and Fight video.
This is something that we've talked about a couple of
times so far. When I watched it, it was sort of
(14:35):
like a almost like a Schoolhouse Rock, but better in
every possible way. For folks that have not seen it,
describe the video and kind of how it came together,
because I know that you were heavily involved in putting
it together, so that you know people will be incentivized
(14:55):
to check it out. I think it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Listen. You likening that to who House Rock is probably
one of the highest compliments that can be paid. Because
I am at the fear of dating myself. I am
a child who grew up on Schoolhouse Rock, and so
I understand the power that the arts can have in
teaching core principles of democracy. You know, I'm just a bill.
(15:23):
I'm only a bill. I'm sitting here on Capitol, you know,
I mean, I mean I learned so much through Schoolhouse Rocks,
as so many young people did. And so that is
the spirit with which we approached this, this this video,
for this anthem that I compose. The idea is, you know,
how do we reach people of all ages in a
(15:45):
way that gets them inspired about voting without it feeling
like you're saying to vote, eat your vegetables right. It's
like telling the kid each your Brussels sprouts, right, you know.
So the powerful thing is, you know, We've been able
to connect with Willie Cordy Junior, who's an amazing illustrator
(16:07):
and art director out of Atlanta, and then Gabriel Genesis
who's an amazing animator and motion graphics director out of
New York, and we put our resources together, put our
talents together to create this piece, and so many other
(16:28):
people have contributed. My guy Warren Jones, who was my
co music producer on this, Phil Lasseter, who did the horns.
It really is a collaborative project that follows that storyboard
of the three guys Cheney, Goodman and Schwerner coming back
(16:50):
to Mississippi expecting a world of change and discovering all
of these issues, and then moving around the country, starting
in Mississippi, but then their message resonating around the country.
Rise up, Rise up, ris up, and fight for what's right.
And we're super excited that the project has not only
(17:11):
been well received, not only are we, you know, tapping
on hundreds of thousands of views now, but we have
now won eleven international film prizes, gained entry into six
other film festivals, and won four other film honors and
six Devy Awards. It's just been amazing the reception and
(17:34):
the way which people are responding.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah, so I feel like there were some outcomes that
you guys hoped would come as a result of these
projects that you've been working on. And I won't say
the aftermath because we are very much in the moment still,
but are you are you feeling those returns? Are you
seeing those results?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
You know, what does that feel like?
Speaker 3 (17:57):
In what was the in when you hoped, as you
created this further to be an outcome on the other
side of it. What did that look like and what
does it feel like?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Now, Yeah, it's a great question. You know. We hope
that the video would be well received and it is.
We hope that people would spread it and they have.
We hope that the Rise of Song Challenge would provide
a meaningful platform for young creators across the country. It has.
We hope that they would leverage their platforms to get
(18:29):
other people from their peer groups kind of leaning in,
and that we were seeing that. We hope that the
celebrities that we've engaged would have impact in terms of
us getting eyeballs on our media pieces and getting folk,
you know, interested in participating in the election. And we've
seen that result as well. But I'll tell you, all
(18:52):
of those eyeballs, all of the awards, all of that
will not mean as much if after November fifth, the
story is told that eighty one million people still did
not vote, like ultimately, you know, for me, the hope
(19:14):
is that come November tenth, when the tally is kind
of recorded and reported that more than two thirds of
the country participated in this election, regardless of the results,
the hope is that what we've been able to do
has contributed or will have contributed to more people being
(19:38):
activated to make their voices heard at the ballot box.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Sure, so, because you are a man on a mission,
it's important for us to make sure that folks know
how to, you know, tap in with you on your journey.
So do us a favor, leave some some website information,
some social media information, something like that so that people
(20:05):
can support what it is you're doing now and what
you plan on doing in the future as well.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Sure, I certainly will do that, And I want to
thank you guys for providing this platform. You know, the
work that you do, the platform that you provide for
folks like me is so valuable and the information that
you provide for our community is just in tremendous. Our
company website again is new Works dot us. That's New
(20:34):
Worked with one W N E W O r k
S dot us. If you're interested in my personal website,
that's Noanwilliams Junior dot com and L. A. N. Williams Jr.
Dot com. You can go to either website and there's
lots of information about the work that we've done, about
(20:54):
my personal commitment to this kind of work, and then
about the projects that are coming down on the path,
and so we're always looking to have connect and engage
with us in meaningful ways.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Well, I think what you're doing is just fantastic. I
appreciate your commitment to making sure that people are informed
and people are engaged. Obviously that's something that we try
to do around here as well. So we are aligned
in our missions and so it's our pleasure to lend
(21:29):
some support to you in this way. So thank you
for your time and obviously the work that you're doing.
Once again, today's guest is Newark's Productions founder Nolan Williams Junior.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Thanks again, guys.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
you'd like to share, use the red microphone talkback feature
on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to
hit subscribe and download all of our episodes. I'm your
host Ramsey's Jaw on all social media.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
And I am q Ward on all socials as well.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
And join us tomorrow as we share our news with
our voice from our perspective right here on the Black
Information Network Daily Podcast.
As the election draws closer, more and more creatives are
using their platforms to encourage voters to make their voices heard.
On November fifth, Newark's Productions has engaged celebrities to help
them get the word out. Newark's Productions has just released
a series of non partisan media assets, creatively created in
order to encourage more people to get out and rock
(00:20):
the polls. The assets include the multi award winning music
video Rise Up and Fight. It commemorates the sixtieth anniversary
of Freedom Summer and was written, composed, and directed by
Newark's Productions founder Nolan Williams Junior. And he is our
guest today. This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast,
(00:41):
and I am your host, Rams's.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Job and I am q Ward.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
All right, so mister Nolan Williams Junior, welcome to the show.
How you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'm terrific, Thanks so much for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Guys, fantastic. So, before we get started, we like to
start our stories at the beginning. I know we kind
of rolled us into this conversation, but just so that
our listeners get more of an idea of who we're
talking to today, tell us a little bit about your background,
about you know, maybe where you grew up and the
path that you took to end up really at today's conversation,
(01:15):
So just you know, whatever you feel is important for
our listeners to become more familiar with you.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Sure, I'm a product of Washington, d C. I was
born in LA but I grew up in DC and
I was one of those kids running around performing all
the time, just always interested in music and the arts.
That led me to Oberlin undergrad and I got my
music degree from there, and that has just kind of
(01:43):
catapulted me into this journey of pursuing the arts and
at some point really becoming fixated on how the arts
can be used to convene inconvenient conversations, to build community,
and especially as a force for good. And twenty one
(02:04):
years ago I formed my company, New Works Productions, and
we have been on this journey of leveraging the power
of music and the arts for social good and really
addressing matters of social justice and culture and finding ways
to reach people and to tell stories, often untold stories
(02:26):
of our history, and to bring people together around issues
that we think are important.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
What is it that led you to take your creative mind,
especially your love for music and your passion for creating
art and use those gifts and use those talents to inform,
educate and motivate.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
People, especially with Newark's productions. Yeah, that's a great question.
You know, I started down a path right of working
in many fields of music, from working with orchestras and
working with major artists, and you know, I certainly saw
a lot of my friends go down the popular paths
(03:13):
of you know, really becoming popular and going after the money,
if you will. But for me, I've just always been
led by a different set of convictions. And at one
point I remember even feeling that kind of like the
(03:38):
kind of thing that you feel when your heart is
leading you in a certain way, and you know, like, look,
even though everyone is going down that path, that doesn't
mean that that path is for you. And I've always
been intrigued by the power of music to really do
what words cannot alone, or the power of art to
(04:00):
do what conversation alone cannot do. Like music and the
arts have this intrinsic power. They are universal languages that
have a way of bringing people together, bridging chasms across cultures.
They have a way of convening I said it before
inconvenient conversations, right, like sometimes where when it's hard to
(04:24):
get people on opposite sides to come together and talk
or to think through something. You know, art has the
ability to bring people to the table and to provoke
thought and to raise consciousness. And that's the piece that
has just really compelled me to really pursue art, not
(04:48):
for just entertainment's sake, but for community uplifts sake. And
you know, I see myself as a community artist, as
a citizen artists, and I'm always interested in doing that
kind of work.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Now, we mentioned that the music video that was sent
over to me, which I love by the way, Rise
Up and Fight.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Of course, that commemorates the sixtieth anniversary of Freedom Summer.
So for folks that don't know, talk to us a
little bit about Freedom Summer and kind of why it
was important to do this effort to commemorate Freedom Summer.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, let me just say first of all that in
twenty twenty four, we have to be convening conversations about history,
that is, you know, untold histories, histories that are being
(05:47):
well I'm trying to use. We have to convene conversations
about untold histories about histories that are being denied, and
you know, we cannot forget that. In the nineteen sixties,
there was there was this movement in our nation to
(06:10):
ensure that all people, particularly people of colored black people,
have the rights that are guaranteed by our constitution. And
that civil rights movement was a multi layered movement. It
(06:32):
especially had its roots in the South. There are so
many persons who literally fought and died in order to
ensure that certain conversations were being had, that the cause
(06:52):
of freedom was being advanced. And in Mississippi in nineteen
sixty four, seven hundred plus volunteers came together. These were
diverse people. Some of them were from Mississippi, many of
them were from other parts of the nation. But they
(07:12):
thought it was important in that day and era to
go to Mississippi and to provide a level of access,
a level of advancement that black people in that state
were being denied. And so they went there on the
mission to go into rural counties and to register black
(07:35):
voters who were disenfranchised from the voting enterprise. And they
also established freedom schools, and they were seeking to counter
what was being done by the educational school system in Mississippi,
you know, and provide more learning opportunities for black students.
(08:00):
And the work they did was heroic. It was heroic work,
and they did that in the face of a lot
of opposition. They did that at the risk of their
own lives. And in fact, three of those workers, three
young men James Cheney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner in their
young twenties, they were there, they were doing that work.
(08:23):
They raised the ire of the ku Klux Klan, who
thought that these people should not be in our state
doing this work, and they were abducted and killed by
the KKK trying to make an example of them. And
sixty years later, this song Rise Up and Fight commemorates
(08:48):
not only Freedom Summer, but the heroism of those three
young men who were martyrs for the cause of freedom.
And we imagine in the song them coming back to
Mississippi sixty years later after their untimely deaths expecting that listen,
six decades later, certainly they've gotten this, they figured this out,
(09:12):
They've gotten this right. They come back sixty years later
only to discover while you all are still wrestling with
the same issues of human rights and civil rights and
they issue this call to action. Listen, Today's the day.
Now is the time to rise and fight for what
is right.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Now, Nolan talk to us about the Freedom Advances Campaign,
the celebrities that were involved in, how all that came together.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
We have a history as a company of engaging in
civic projects because we believe that citizens should be engaged
in our democracy. And so this goes back many years.
We had a project four years ago called I Have
a Right to Vote that was a star studed video
(10:04):
that reached over two million persons and won many awards.
We did a project a few years ago called the
America Song Project where we were advocating for peaceful transition
of power. And this year, the Freedom Advances Campaign is
multi fasted. It really is purposed to inspire people to vote.
(10:28):
Here's the thing that we don't often talk about. In
twenty twenty during the national election, eighty one million Americans
did not participate in that election. Eighty one million Americans
did not vote. Wow, that's one third of our population.
And so we believe not advocating for either party or candidate.
(10:53):
We believe the way a democracy works is that you
encourage everyone to vote. You you don't put obstacles in
the path of voting, but you try to make voting
as accessible as possible. You advocate for whatever your position
is on whatever party you know, or the side of
(11:16):
the aisle that you represent. You count the votes and
you live with the results. That's how democracy works, right,
And so our goal here is Freedom Advances. When we
all rise up and vote, our goal is to get
all American citizens voting. Again, not telling you who to
vote for, but you need to show up at the
(11:38):
ballot box. That's how we ensure that we all have
a voice and a hand in the direction that our
country is going. And we're really excited that this campaign
is using media assets, which is a powerful medium for
telling stories, you know, through music, through video, and we
(11:59):
have celebrity like Debbie Allen and Carla Hall and Andre
Deshields and Norm Lewis and Regina Bell like these celebrities
have all leaned in and lent their talent and their
time and their energy to this project. And then the
many ways in which the Freedom Advances campaign has manifested,
(12:21):
you know, in terms of the Rise Up and Fight
music video, we've done a re release of that I
have a Right to Vote video, which is a radio cut.
We've put together a range of thirty and sixty second PSAs,
and then we launched a nationwide Rise Up Song Challenge
where we encouraged young creators across the nation to take
(12:46):
the media assets that we've put out, particularly the two
anthems I have a right to vote and rise up
and fight and remix them, sample them, use them in
whatever way that you can or that you're inspired in
order to create pro voting messaging that will reach your
peer groups. And we're super excited that, you know, the
(13:08):
the young creatives who have leaned into that project have
a combined reach of over five million on social media,
and being able to give them a voice and a
platform has been a central part of what we've been
doing with this campaign. So we're excited for folks who
want to know more, they can go to new Works
(13:29):
dot us that's New Works with One w anyw rks
dot us, learn more about what we've been doing and
help us to spread the messaging, particularly as we are
a few days away from, you know, from the national election.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
If my voice didn't matter, people wouldn't be trying so
hard to silence me, and if my vote didn't matter,
they wouldn't work so hard to take it away. So
you know why I'm voting this November because I know
they don't want me to.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
Your voice is powerful, your voice matters. Don't let your
voice be silent. To register, confirm your voting status, or
get information about voting in your area, visit vote dot gov.
That's vote dot g ov. A message from the Perception
Institute and the Black Information Network.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
We are here today with Newark's Productions founder Nolan Williams Junior.
All Right, you mentioned the Rise Up and Fight video.
This is something that we've talked about a couple of
times so far. When I watched it, it was sort of
(14:35):
like a almost like a Schoolhouse Rock, but better in
every possible way. For folks that have not seen it,
describe the video and kind of how it came together,
because I know that you were heavily involved in putting
it together, so that you know people will be incentivized
(14:55):
to check it out. I think it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Listen. You likening that to who House Rock is probably
one of the highest compliments that can be paid. Because
I am at the fear of dating myself. I am
a child who grew up on Schoolhouse Rock, and so
I understand the power that the arts can have in
teaching core principles of democracy. You know, I'm just a bill.
(15:23):
I'm only a bill. I'm sitting here on Capitol, you know,
I mean, I mean I learned so much through Schoolhouse Rocks,
as so many young people did. And so that is
the spirit with which we approached this, this this video,
for this anthem that I compose. The idea is, you know,
how do we reach people of all ages in a
(15:45):
way that gets them inspired about voting without it feeling
like you're saying to vote, eat your vegetables right. It's
like telling the kid each your Brussels sprouts, right, you know.
So the powerful thing is, you know, We've been able
to connect with Willie Cordy Junior, who's an amazing illustrator
(16:07):
and art director out of Atlanta, and then Gabriel Genesis
who's an amazing animator and motion graphics director out of
New York, and we put our resources together, put our
talents together to create this piece, and so many other
(16:28):
people have contributed. My guy Warren Jones, who was my
co music producer on this, Phil Lasseter, who did the horns.
It really is a collaborative project that follows that storyboard
of the three guys Cheney, Goodman and Schwerner coming back
(16:50):
to Mississippi expecting a world of change and discovering all
of these issues, and then moving around the country, starting
in Mississippi, but then their message resonating around the country.
Rise up, Rise up, ris up, and fight for what's right.
And we're super excited that the project has not only
(17:11):
been well received, not only are we, you know, tapping
on hundreds of thousands of views now, but we have
now won eleven international film prizes, gained entry into six
other film festivals, and won four other film honors and
six Devy Awards. It's just been amazing the reception and
(17:34):
the way which people are responding.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah, so I feel like there were some outcomes that
you guys hoped would come as a result of these
projects that you've been working on. And I won't say
the aftermath because we are very much in the moment still,
but are you are you feeling those returns? Are you
seeing those results?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
You know, what does that feel like?
Speaker 3 (17:57):
In what was the in when you hoped, as you
created this further to be an outcome on the other
side of it. What did that look like and what
does it feel like?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Now, Yeah, it's a great question. You know. We hope
that the video would be well received and it is.
We hope that people would spread it and they have.
We hope that the Rise of Song Challenge would provide
a meaningful platform for young creators across the country. It has.
We hope that they would leverage their platforms to get
(18:29):
other people from their peer groups kind of leaning in,
and that we were seeing that. We hope that the
celebrities that we've engaged would have impact in terms of
us getting eyeballs on our media pieces and getting folk,
you know, interested in participating in the election. And we've
seen that result as well. But I'll tell you, all
(18:52):
of those eyeballs, all of the awards, all of that
will not mean as much if after November fifth, the
story is told that eighty one million people still did
not vote, like ultimately, you know, for me, the hope
(19:14):
is that come November tenth, when the tally is kind
of recorded and reported that more than two thirds of
the country participated in this election, regardless of the results,
the hope is that what we've been able to do
has contributed or will have contributed to more people being
(19:38):
activated to make their voices heard at the ballot box.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Sure, so, because you are a man on a mission,
it's important for us to make sure that folks know
how to, you know, tap in with you on your journey.
So do us a favor, leave some some website information,
some social media information, something like that so that people
(20:05):
can support what it is you're doing now and what
you plan on doing in the future as well.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Sure, I certainly will do that, And I want to
thank you guys for providing this platform. You know, the
work that you do, the platform that you provide for
folks like me is so valuable and the information that
you provide for our community is just in tremendous. Our
company website again is new Works dot us. That's New
(20:34):
Worked with one W N E W O r k
S dot us. If you're interested in my personal website,
that's Noanwilliams Junior dot com and L. A. N. Williams Jr.
Dot com. You can go to either website and there's
lots of information about the work that we've done, about
(20:54):
my personal commitment to this kind of work, and then
about the projects that are coming down on the path,
and so we're always looking to have connect and engage
with us in meaningful ways.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Well, I think what you're doing is just fantastic. I
appreciate your commitment to making sure that people are informed
and people are engaged. Obviously that's something that we try
to do around here as well. So we are aligned
in our missions and so it's our pleasure to lend
(21:29):
some support to you in this way. So thank you
for your time and obviously the work that you're doing.
Once again, today's guest is Newark's Productions founder Nolan Williams Junior.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Thanks again, guys.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
you'd like to share, use the red microphone talkback feature
on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to
hit subscribe and download all of our episodes. I'm your
host Ramsey's Jaw on all social media.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
And I am q Ward on all socials as well.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
And join us tomorrow as we share our news with
our voice from our perspective right here on the Black
Information Network Daily Podcast.
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