{"id":89,"date":"2020-02-05T04:27:27","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T10:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=89"},"modified":"2020-02-20T17:33:32","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T23:33:32","slug":"ben-williams-i-am-a-man-album-reviewed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/ben-williams-i-am-a-man-album-reviewed\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Ben Williams\u2019 \u2018I AM A MAN\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On February 1, 1968, a malfunctioning garbage truck fatally crushed two black Memphis sanitation workers \u2013 Echol Cole and Robert Walker. Their passing was in many ways directly the fault of Henry Loeb, the city\u2019s white supremacist mayor. Loeb previously served as the Memphis\u2019 Public Works Commissioner, a role in which he undertook several steps to impose unduly harsh conditions on the Department\u2019s primarily black staff. This ranged from refusing to retire inadequate and unsafe equipment, vehicles, and materials, to requiring employees to work excessive hours with almost no benefit from their doing so. Garbage collectors often toiled up to eighteen hours a day without overtime pay, time off, sick pay, or even time to access restrooms. Many laborers were so poorly paid they needed welfare and food stamps to support themselves. They were also subject to firing without warning by white supervisors and completely deprived of any ability to file grievances. Cole and Walker\u2019s death ultimately became a breaking point in calling for change and caused 1,375 sanitation workers to go on strike and undertake peaceful protests. As part of their organized efforts, Reverend James Lawson expressed that \u201cat the heart of racism is the idea that a man is not a man, that a person is not a person\u201d and that as the workers are human beings, they deserve dignity. This message led to protestors\u2019 use of iconic placards reading \u201cI AM A MAN\u201d, the inspiration behind bassist Ben Williams’ newest album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams builds off of this simple yet powerful statement and extends it to movements today demanding that individuals be treated with respect \u2013 specifically Black Lives Matters and Me Too. To do so, he eschews all musical labels. This includes recording for a less mainstream brand, Jose James\u2019 Rainbow Blonde Records<\/a>, than Concord Records as he did for his first two albums. Additionally, Williams sheds the description of him as a bassist. While he plays bass throughout \u2013 both acoustic and electric \u2013 he now also takes on a new role as a vocalist.<\/p>\n\n\n

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