Terry Sarten: BB King and his blues truth were witnesses to history

MAN OF HIS TIMES: BB King shared his talent with generosity in many countries. PHOTO/DEAN PURCELL

THE OTHER day, the guitarist, singer and world ambassador for the blues died at 89.

Riley B King was born in 1925 in Mississippi, the son of Albert and Nora Ella, into the hard life of a poor black agricultural worker. He learned guitar and eventually moved to Memphis, earning a living as a musician and DJ on regional radio as the Beale Street Blues Boy. This was abbreviated to BB King who, with his guitar Lucille's signature tone echoing his big voice, carried the blues to audiences all over the world.

His passing last week was noted by a parade of guitarists paying homage to the huge influence BB King had on the way the guitar is played.

It is also worth noting, in the light of recent events in US cities, that he has lived through and watched the social travail of blacks from the era of Jim Crow to the recent shooting of African-American citizens by police. It is distressing to read about the level of social and institutional discrimination that existed in the 1960s and how it framed and limited lives for black families. This was most evident in the southern and border states where everything was divided by colour. Routine use of derogatory terms such as "coon" and "nigger" were supported by notions of racial superiority that made black people second-class people, barred from access to services for whites.

Named Jim Crow, from 1877 till the 1960s, this form of discrimination was embedded in social etiquette and laws. Segregation was maintained by fear of violence. Lynching was one of the ways that reinforced the risks for a black people who breached the many and various "rules".

Examples of Jim Crow included; "No coloured barber shall serve as a barber (to) white girls or women (Georgia). All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and coloured races (Alabama). The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be conducted separately (Florida)." Perhaps the most ironic relates to blind people: "The board of trustees shall ... maintain a separate building ... on separate ground for the admission, care, instruction, and support of all blind persons of the coloured or black race (Louisiana)".

This history casts a long shadow. The recent news coverage of unarmed black people being shot by police in various parts of the US is part of the ongoing legacy of slavery that continues through active discrimination that creates huge inequities in health, social, education and employment outcomes over generations. Despite being a world power, the US is hobbled by its own unwillingness to address contemporary racial discrimination within its own boundaries. This undermines its ability to take a moral stance when addressing intolerance in other nations.

It is hard to know how BB King felt about this racial divide. It was not something he talked about but his voice, accompanied by Lucille, carried in it the universal sound of hope and sorrow.

Over his lifetime, BB King witnessed huge changes and, in his own way, used his music to challenge notions of identity. He performed at the White House as a guest of the first black US President and his musical influence has been carried forward by a long list of (mostly white) guitarists from all around the world.

He has crossed many borders as an emissary of the blues; continents and countries, musical influences and socio-political barriers, all with wit, wisdom, warmth and an instantly recognisable single note style that carried all the sorrow and joy of music in its soaring tone. He shared his talent with generosity and welcomed all to share in that glorious space where the blues resides.

-Terry Sarten is a Whanganui musician, writer and social worker Feedback: tgs@inspire.net.nz