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Ray Charles Donates $1 Million to Study Black Culture

Photo credit: Dillard Today Dillard President Michael Lomax (right) greets Ray Charles on the morning of commencement on May 10, when Charles received an honorary degree.

By Shearon Roberts
Black College Wire

The renowned musician Ray Charles has donated $1 million for an endowed chair at Dillard University to study the cultural matrix of African American music, food and tradition.

�This is a passion of his,� said Marc Barnes, director of major gifts and planned giving, of the study of African American material culture. �And he could not think of a better place to have it than New Orleans.�

The donation, given by the Robinson Foundation for Hearing Disorders, which Charles heads, was presented to Dillard University President Michael Lomax at a closed meeting in October between Lomax and Joe Adams, Charles� longtime assistant, during the university�s annual anniversary celebrations. Lomax, the former Atlanta politician who was Fulton County Commission chairman there, announced during the celebrations that the school had received an anonymous $1 million gift.

In order to avoid fanfare, said Maureen Larkins, director of university communications and relations, the university waited until Nov. 10 to announce that Charles was the donor.

Barnes said that a $1 million chair is usually created by pairing $600,000 from a private donor and $400,000 matched by the Louisiana Board of Regents.

In this case, �We are going to use the remaining $400,000 from his gift to help us with professorships and programmatic costs to establish a program in material culture,� Barnes said.

Photo credit: (c) Kevin McClellan, raycharles.com Ray Charles performing in San Diego, 1999.

When Charles, the blind singer, pianist, saxophonist, composer and band leader, was honored in 1986 by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, the center called him "a towering figure in popular music."

"He not only defined modern soul music but also helped escape country music and influenced dozens of rock singers. He performs with a gospel fervor that brings to his concerts the atmosphere of a revival meeting. He commands a huge and widely diversified audience ranging from adolescents to foreign jazz connoisseurs and critics, primarily because he started in rhythm and blues, moved on into jazz, and then entered popular music. He has been successful with ballads, blues, gospel music, rock 'n' roll, and Broadway show tunes and still remains true to a tradition rooted in the blues, spirituals, and Baptist gospel music of the Deep South," the center said.

�New Orleans is a very special place for Ray Charles,� added Portia Williams, Dillard University media planner, saying that New Orleans was one of the places where Charles� performing career began.

Dr. Danille Taylor, dean of the Division of Humanities, said Charles was specific about the use of the donation.

�He is willing to give back in a very tangible sense, willing to invest in our preservation and furthering of bodies of knowledge,� Taylor said.

�That is a very extraordinary vision for someone we call blind.�

Taylor said that funds would be used for community events, preservation, faculty and student research, for courses and for an additional faculty member who will manage the project.

A study in material culture would bring intellectual credibility to the everyday traditions of African Americans.

�Food is more than just a plate on the table,� she said.

Describing "gumbo" as more a concept than a dish, Taylor said that the study would show how African Americans can take items considered garbage and make a gourmet dish.

Taylor also said music would be put in a living context, as it pertains to daily life in the African American household. She said that such studies were often overlooked. �The �uneducated� still have intellectual framework for what they do,� Taylor said.

The dean said that the Division of Humanities expects to consider video, oral history and library cataloging for researchers as means of preserving the recipes and musical traditions that the study will uncover. �This is very important for the community because it preserves and valorizes the elders,� she said.

Shearon Roberts, a student at Dillard University, is news editor of the Dillard University Courtbouillon.

Posted Nov. 12, 2003