Jesse Cryor’s talented voice can be heard in Song of the South‘s well-known tune “Everybody Has A Laughing Place.” Recently, Jesse’s granddaughter Kimberley contacted me with information on her grandfather, and shared with me the frustration she feels about Song of the South‘s unavailability and the impact it has on Jesse:
- “…I’m so very sorry that my grandfather may never be able to go to the theatre or television and watch this movie with my children, neices and nephew and say to his great-grandchildren, “That’s your Great-Granddaddy singing, baby”. It may seem like nothing to many, I know. But, this movie was a highlight in his career as a vocalist. …My grandfather, Jesse Cryor, never became famous, has had his music stolen, was not even fairly compensated, financially—as was true for most of the Black artists of his day—for all of his dedication, creativity, hard work and time away from his wife and children. He knows that in some ways those are the breaks of the business while in other ways he was outright cheated. He is still very alert and very aware of this fact. And he remembers. This, even now, hurts him deeply.”
Her email was so moving to me, I requested if I could reprint it in its entirety on this web site for others to read as well. It is such a powerful message! Disney, if you’re reading this, you should be flat-out ashamed of yourselves for shunning the hard work of people like Jesse Cryor by not releasing this movie.
Click here to read Kimberley’s email. I highly recommend it.