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    Songs For Freedom: A Juneteenth Playlist From Pianist Lara Downes

    Music offers freedom. Freedom of expression — a way to rejoice and to mourn, to offer comfort, to call for change.
    Jun 18, 2021 4 minutes
    YWCA camp for girls. Highland Beach, Maryland, 1930. These photos are from the Scurlock Studio Collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. <strong>Read more</strong> about the photos at the end of this story.

    Let's sing a song for freedom this Juneteenth. Let's lift every voice. Let's celebrate our freedom of will, of mind, of spirit — our freedom to march on. We know that this march isn't over, this fight isn't won.

    The past has taught us a thing or two about faith; the present has brought us, at last, some hope for tomorrow.

    For me, music offers freedom. Freedom of expression — my way to rejoice and to mourn, to offer comfort, to call for change. This past year, music freed me to connect and communicate, even in isolation. Music echoes back to me the sorrows and struggles of our ancestors,

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