Soul Communicators – Craig Werner

Craig Werner bookColorado Springs hardly seems the breeding place for a Soul warrior, but that is the childhood home of Afro-American Studies professor and author Craig Werner.   He received his PhD and began teaching Black Studies at Ole Miss before moving to the University of Wisconsin, where he's been a professor for over two decades, winning numerous teaching awards for classes such as Black Music and American Cultural History, Black Music and American Lit, Hip-hop Culture, and Gospel, Soul and the Civil Rights Movement.  He also won a national award for a summer course called called Freedom Ride 2001 on which he took students through the South where they had the chance to talk to musicians and activists about experiences in the civil rights movement.  His teaching ultimately led him to writing, and he's written two of the great books on the connection of music and race and the role of Soul Music in the civil rights movement, "A Change Is Gonna Come" and, more recently, the fantastic "Higher Ground" (click here to see our review of "Higher Ground").  He's on the nominating committee for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (fighting the fight for Soul Music acts), and has written liner notes for a number of Soul Music compilations.  His work in educating a new generation as to the role of music in the civil rights struggle and the African American community creates an essential tie to the past and makes him an important Soul Communicator.

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