An American Tragedy As Seen Through The Eyes Of A Little Black Boy: Is There No Beauty in Darkness

Where does a person like Frederick Wilson go when there is no place for someone like him? He asks, “Is there no beauty in darkness?” These two questions frame the life story of Frederick Wilson as narrated in his memoir, “An American Tragedy as Seen Through the Eyes of a Little Black Boy”.This little black boy – Frederick Wilson – grew up in extreme poverty in Campbell, Ohio. He shared a flat on 10th Street with his mother and grandmother. All the odds seemed stacked against him; yet, he earned two college degrees, served in the United States Army Special Services, and excelled in his profession as a classically trained musician. The tragedy of his life relates to his on-going struggle for self-identity. As a young adult, he looked to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a model to emulate. He was impressed with Dr. King’s insistence on equality for both black and white citizens in America, and was devastated when Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. That date became a turning point in the life of Frederick Wilson. Wilson believed that only in a society envisioned by Dr. King could a person like him survive. He had to find a way to express his deep anguish and concern for a society now torn apart by an assassin’s bullet, demonstrations, and riots. That day – April 4, 1968 – Frederick Wilson began composing “Mass in f Minor in Memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” Wilson’s memoir, not only tells the story of how his life experiences inspired “Mass in f Minor” and other powerful musical expressions of the human spirit, it also compels readers to give serious thought to the question posed in one of his other compositions, “Is There No Beauty in Darkness?”