The video showcases the remarkable work of the Black String triage Ensemble, a musical group founded by Davin Holman in Milwaukee. This ensemble is composed of Black and Latinx musicians who perform on the scenes of tragic events like shootings and overdoses, offering solace and healing through music. Their mission is to provide a barrier against the persistent negative thoughts and memories that can arise from witnessing such traumatic experiences, offering communities a chance to heal and recover emotionally.

Viewers are given insight into a typical night with the ensemble, depicting how the musicians gather and prepare to respond to emergencies. Unlike regular concerts, these performances are at unpredictable times and locations. They wait for notifications on police activity and then make decisions on when and where to perform, striving to bring comfort immediately after incidents to prevent the trauma from taking root.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. compelled [kəmˈpeld] - (verb) - Forced or driven to take action due to strong emotions or circumstances. - Synonyms: (obliged, urged, driven)

It sounds cliche, but I felt compelled to do something.

2. aftermath [ˈæftəˌmæθ] - (noun) - The consequences or repercussions that follow an event, especially a disastrous one. - Synonyms: (outcome, repercussions, consequences)

In the immediate aftermath of tragic events, we in Milwaukee have chosen to prioritize shootings, reckless driving, and drug overdoses.

3. violoncello [ˌvaɪəˈlon'tʃelo] - (noun) - A large string instrument, also known simply as the cello, played with a bow. - Synonyms: (cello, string instrument, bass fiddle)

The Black String triage Ensemble is a group of black and Latinx musicians, violin, violicello, upright bass, that play at the scene.

4. reckless [ˈrɛkləs] - (adjective) - Marked by a lack of thought about a possible danger or the repercussions of one's actions. - Synonyms: (careless, thoughtless, irresponsible)

We in Milwaukee have chosen to prioritize shootings, reckless driving occurrences, and drug overdoses.

5. triage [ˈtriɑːʒ] - (noun) - The process of determining the priority of patients’ treatments based on the severity of their condition. - Synonyms: (sorting, assignment, prioritization)

The Black String triage Ensemble is a group of black and Latinx musicians.

6. supplication [ˌsʌplɪˈkeɪʃən] - (noun) - The action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly. - Synonyms: (beseeching, entreaty, plea)

It is an official place of worship. It is an official place of, you know, supplication and praise and asking for peace.

7. alleviate [əˈliviˌeɪt] - (verb) - To make something less severe or more bearable. - Synonyms: (ease, reduce, lessen)

My hope for the blackstream triage ensemble in the immediate is that the people in that space will come away feeling unburdened and like a different reality is possible.

8. unburdened [ʌnˈbɜrdənd] - (adjective) - Freed from a burden or relieved of a source of stress. - Synonyms: (relieved, liberated, unshackled)

My hope for the blackstream triage ensemble in the immediate is that the people in that space will come away feeling unburdened.

9. rankle [ˈræŋkl] - (verb) - To cause persistent irritation or resentment. - Synonyms: (irritate, annoy, provoke)

Because it rankles in my head that somebody's going.

10. rationale [ˌræʃəˈnæl] - (noun) - A set of reasons or a logical basis for a course of action or belief. - Synonyms: (justification, reasoning, basis)

But something has spoken to you and pushed you beyond all rationality so that you know this will be better.

When Musicians Become First Responders - Black Strings - PBS

You guys can check the area and see if you can come in. On the basis of the data alone, Milwaukee stands out. You can get to a place where you just believe that this is the normal and just throw your hands up and just say whatever. It sounds cliche, but I felt compelled to do something.

I am Davin Holman, founder and music director of the Black String triage Ensemble. The Black String triage Ensemble is a group of black and Latinx musicians, violin, violicello, upright bass, that play at the scene. In the immediate aftermath of tragic events, we in Milwaukee have chosen to prioritize shootings, reckless driving occurrences, and drug overdoses so that the seed of destruction that gets planted in your mind from either what you've seen or what you've heard does not continue to play over and over and over and over and take root and grow. And so the music that we play, the programs I try to design, are structured in that way to help move you across that river.

I feel like shootings and violent situations have become such the norm that we don't honor our dead at the moment of that traumatic situation. My name is Alita Lacott, and I am originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A night on call looks like we show up at a designated meeting place, whether that's someone's house or wherever it is, where we're gonna set up camp for the night. But we're together with the instrument music. Stand light, ready to go out if an emergency occurs. We watch the police calls, right? We have a couple different formats that we watch. We follow the call log, and then we collectively make a decision when shots fired comes up, if there's enough information for us to just roll out and go.

Normally, if you have to play a typical concert, you know, okay, my concert is at 07:00. I gotta be at the hall at 630. And you show up at 630. Maybe you're dressed, maybe not. Come 645. You're thinking about what it is that you have to play. Like you're getting your entire body and mind ready. The challenge for musicians in the blackstring triage ensemble is that you have to be in that state of being for a good four to six hour period. Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This just popped up. This one. I feel pretty confident about just blowing over there. It's a 13 minutes drive away. North 10th street and west rain. There's a lot of stuff that hatties over there. We should. We should go.

If we waited to go a day later, a week later, a month later, then what has happened has already set in for people. To be honest, I really don't like the reasons that we go out and play. Obviously, initially I go through this kind of, I don't want to do this, and I don't like what happened, and I don't want to really be there because it rankles in my head that somebody's going. But on the other hand, music is something that I can use to help somebody else. Then that kind of makes me feel better. I would consider us to be first responders. It feels like we're doing something actively to help because a lot of times when situations happen, first responders come. Yes, you know, you have your emts and ambulance and fire department, but once they're gone or once someone's dead, you know, what's the rest of the community left to do and feel? It's powerful, man, for real.

Who would thunk it on a Friday night? Milwaukee 25 music commissar this is what we call a positive distraction. A lot of the music that we play, you might hear in churches, right, places of worship. But wherever we show up and we play together is a place of prayer, right. It is an official place of worship. It is an official place of, you know, supplication and praise and asking for peace. We know what we're there for. We know what our purpose is. We just don't always know that everybody else is going to know it. Radhe. Why y'all doing. Thank you for why y'all doing that? Y'all don't want to answer nothing. Why y'all doing that? Take that bull somewhere. Why would you come over here? I don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear. You should be the one man, your daddy got killed.

So I don't give a what you talk. No, my bowing technique is not so. I know. My focus is, yeah, let's do this, and then let's probably get. I love everything that y'all was just doing for now. That was beautiful. And I told y'all I could see it, too. I think the thing that strings us together is our passion for music, but it's not just that. It is also, I think it's our love of our people. I think we love out loud through our music, and I think that's what makes us unique.

My hope for the blackstream triage ensemble in the immediate is that the people in that space will come away feeling unburdened and like a different reality is possible. That what has happened does not have to be the everyday, nor should it. The nature for those of us as people of color in the United States is we don't just get to acceptance. Acceptance is not enough. There must be something that convinces you. There must be something that lights a fire to drive you, to tell you that it is going to be better. The substance of things. Hope for the evidence of things not seen. So you don't know. You can't rationally prove it. You can't scientifically measure it out. But something has spoken to you and pushed you beyond all rationality so that you know this will be better. And the only thing that does that is faith in whatever, however, it is still faithful.

Art Therapy, Music Therapy, Community Healing, Leadership, Motivation, Inspiration, Pbs