Feb. 18th, 2020 was Ms. Toni Morrison's first birthday since her Homegoing. Following her passing, I felt compelled to compose an Intentional Gesture in celebration of her life and work. On her birthday, spanning the full day (from 9:00 am until 6:00 pm), we invited the world to call in to the site of the Bench By The Road here in Oberlin, while reading favorite passages from her work.

The calls were live streamed on four separate channels, and played through speakers set within small shotgun structures arranged in an arc on the ground in front of the Bench. In this way, the voices were woven together in a manner that recalls the moments at the altar on any Sunday: an invocation. Simultaneously, we facilitated a continuous procession of people from throughout this region reading selections and/or speaking about the impact of her work in front of the Bench. The entire event was filmed and live streamed back out to the world continuously in real time throughout the day.

“The voices were woven together in a manner that recalls the moments at the altar on any Sunday: an invocation.”

— J.C.

In concert with Oberlin College, I reached out to public school systems, libraries, Churches, Community Groups, Colleges and Universities throughout the Region, the Nation, and the World—to invite them to call in.

Due to the weather in Northeast Ohio, I composed the Gesture within Wurtzel Theater, on the campus of Oberlin College. The shotgun structures were set upon four West African inspired seats before a large rear screen projection of the Bench. Fresh flowers were brought every hour-on-the hour, to baskets set upon tall end tables placed to the left and right of the screen throughout the day. An activated Altar was composed at the base of each table. A hand carved Walking Stick was prepared by Master Carver, Chris Wade, and set upon another Stool beside a recovered Pulpit.

In Celebration of Toni Morrison: A Gesture of Love and Reflection was a day-long commemoration of a Creative Giant, born and raised fifteen minutes north of the community of Oberlin, Oh. The Event existed as a College Convocation at the beginning of the spring semester.