News Release

No Tears Project Memphis to Unite Communities through Music and Conversation

One of the events as part of No Tears Project Memphis features a 90-minute concert from the No Tears Project ensemble led by Christopher Parker (piano) and Kelley Hurt (voice).

Oxford American

News Release Date: June 2, 2023

Contact: Brian Schwieger, 501-374-1957

Contact: Kelsey White, 501-374-0000

The Oxford American, Memphis Public Libraries, and the National Park Service are excited to announce No Tears Project Memphis, a series of civil rights and arts education residency events taking place in Memphis, Tennessee June 10 - 14, 2023. The events are an expansion of the No Tears Project programs that Oxford American has produced since 2017 in partnership with pianist/composer Christopher Parker and vocalist Kelley Hurt, a native Memphian. Originally inspired by a musical composition written by Parker and Hurt to honor the Little Rock Nine, No Tears Project has evolved into a touring outreach program that uses conversation and concerts to engage communities in learning about civil rights.


The No Tears Project Memphis residency is made possible by a consortium of generous funders led by the National Park Service’s Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative, Jefferson National Parks Association, Memphis Library Foundation, Stella Boyle Smith Trust, and Liz Armstrong. Additional support is provided by the National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis 13 Foundation, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, Historic Clayborn Temple, and Memphis Jazz Workshop.


View this link for a detailed listing of dates, times, and events or refer to the below information. 


The free to the public events will include a panel discussion, community concerts, and youth education programs that address Memphis’s past and present in the broader American civil rights story, and in relation to the experiences of people living in Jackson, Mississippi, and Little Rock, Arkansas. As a program created jointly between Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, and the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, the Memphis programs will explore in particular the integration of public spaces, including the experiences of the Memphis 13, and the student protestors from LeMoyne and Owen Junior College that led sit-ins at Cossitt and Peabody Libraries in 1960. Featured guests during the events will include a variety of artists, activists and community leaders, including Memphis 13 member and Executive Director of the Memphis 13 Foundation Dwania Kyles; Little Rock Nine member Elizabeth Eckford; activist Reena Evers-Everette, daughter of Medgar and Myrlie Evers; and President of the National Civil Rights Museum, Dr. Russell Wigginton.


During the residency several free community concerts will be held at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library and The Green Room at Crosstown Arts. Featuring a seven-piece band led by Parker and Hurt, the No Tears Project ensemble will perform pieces from the group’s existing civil rights-inspired repertoire, as well as the world premiere of new work by Memphis native jazz saxophonist Robert “Bobby LaVell” Garner, and a new arrangement of Memphis pianist Donald Brown’s song “Poem for Martin,” written by Marc Franklin. Ensemble members for these special concerts include multiple GRAMMY-winning drummer Brian Blade, in addition to Memphis natives and long-time residents, including Rodney Jordan (bass), Robert “Bobby LaVell” Garner (tenor saxophonist and son of Beale Street Walk of Fame musician Robert “Honeymoon” Garner), Marc Franklin (trumpet), and Chad Fowler (alto saxophone). Also joining the ensemble is author and poet Treasure Shields Redmond, and dancer Ashley Tate.

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. referenced Motown music as ‘emotional integration,’” said Robin White, Superintendent of Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. “I concur, music is a significant part of humanity. It has the capacity to merit profound intangible concepts. No Tears Project incites universal harmony consistently merging at the intersections of hope, faith, love and evolution.


“It’s an honor to do this work with these people and organizations in Memphis in the footsteps of so many giants of the Civil Rights Movement,” said Ryan Harris, No Tears Project Director and consultant to Oxford American. “We sincerely hope that the dialogue created through this music and these conversations can play a small role in forging a deeper understanding of each other with the goal of creating a better future.”


“We are so excited to have the No Tears Project come to Memphis. Given our city’s history in the Civil Rights Movement and the Cossitt Library’s place in history when it comes to the desegregation of public libraries, it is fitting that it will be the location for this event,” said Memphis Public Libraries Director Keenon McCloy.


“It’s no surprise that the Evers household was constantly filled with music: from Miss Myrlie teaching piano lessons to neighborhood children, to Medgar joyfully dancing to the Twist with the kids,” said Keena Nichelle Graham, Superintendent of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument. “Now, music from the No Tears Project will heal those hearts that were broken by the deaths of great leaders such as Medgar Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and by the deaths of unknown or little known, but no less loved warriors of justice.”


Schedule of Events


Education Concert
Saturday, June 10, 2023 @ 12:00 pm CST
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library 
Free to the public
Seating is limited - register here

A 60-minute education concert for youth and families featuring No Tears Project ensemble members. The artists will play short selections of music interspersed with dialogue that highlights key moments and people from Memphis, Little Rock, and Jackson involved with the civil rights movement.



Community Concert
Sunday June 11, 2023 - 2:00 pm CDT and 6:30 pm CDT
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Free to the public
Seating is limited and reservations are required - Register for the 2:00 pm show here. Register for the 6:30 pm show here.


A 90-minute concert from the No Tears Project ensemble led by Christopher Parker (piano) and Kelley Hurt (voice). The band will perform the world premiere of new works written by and in collaboration with Memphis artists, including saxophonist Robert “Bobby LaVell” Garner. A new arrangement of Memphis pianist Donald Brown’s song “Poem for Martin,” written by Marc Franklin, as well as selections previously written by Oliver Lake, Parker, and Hurt, in honor of the Little Rock Nine will also be performed. Poet and spoken word artist Treasure Shields Redmond, and dancer Ashley Tate will also join the ensemble as special guests for both community concerts.



Recognition Before Reconciliation
Tuesday, June 13, 2023 @ 6:00 pm CST
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
Free to the public
Seating is limited - register here

A panel discussion featuring civil rights heroes and activists including Memphis 13 member and daughter of Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles Dwania Kyles; Little Rock Nine member Elizabeth Eckford; and activist Reena Evers-Everette, daughter of Medgar and Myrlie Evers. Dr. Russell Wigginton, President of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis will moderate the discussion. Superintendent Robin White of Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site will provide opening remarks and context for the discussion.



Reading & Conversation with Elizabeth Eckford
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 - 10:30 am CDT
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
Free to the public
Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis

Capping the residency in a 60-minute program for youth and families, Little Rock Nine member and heroine Elizabeth Eckford will share personal experiences and read from her book, The Worst First Day: Bullied While Desegregating Central High. Eckford, who as a 15-year-old in 1957 faced an incensed mob of segregationists and soldiers alone, will inspire the next generation with her words and story.