“Hearts starve as well as bodies: Give us Bread, but give us Roses.”
— James Oppenheim, 1911
Our History
We quote Oppenheim from his poem “Bread and Roses” because it succinctly connects to the history and hopes of the Jubilation Foundation.
In the 21st century, with an unprecedented global wealth divide, with the specter of climate change and the dislocation caused by COVID-19, it is clear something is untenable.
We have a health care system based on profit, an era of wage stagnation while the richest are enriched, cell phones that record violence against unarmed African Americans, a powerful fossil fuel industry that denies climate change. And more.
There are enormous social and environmental challenges to tackle.
People need bread. Where do roses fit in?
If you are on our site, you most likely have been energized by your own experience with music and dance. You know it has filled you in ways that make other parts of life more doable.
The Jubilation Foundation was formed with input and love from ethnomusicologist Charlie Keil, music educator Pat Campbell, and community musician Becky Liebman. Funding came from the manufacture of inductors, which are still a mystical component in the world of electronics, having to do with electromagnetic forces still not completely understood. It’s a lovely analog to the forces people feel when they are in sync with each other, through music or dance, also not fully understood.
The founders have a bead on what is needed, in terms of structural changes for a more fair and equitable world. They also believe hearts starve as well as bodies. They believe music and dance are roses… and that they are also bread.
jubilationfoundation.org 