Michael Brown. Trayvon Martin. Oscar Grant. Eric Garner.
Kenneth Chamberlain. Amadou Diallo. John Crawford.
These African-American men–each killed by police or other authority figures–are the subjects of a powerful multi-movement choral work by Atlanta-based composer Joel Thompson titled “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed" followed by Glory from the motion picture "Selma" arr. by Eugene Rogers. The piece was premiered by the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club in 2015 under the direction of Eugene Rogers, director of choirs and professor of conducting at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. This is an excerpt of a documentary created in 2016 by Bob Berg and the Michigan Media. For the complete documentary and educational materials, please visit sevenlastwords.org
