Many of you might remember ABC’s Wide World of Sports that aired each Saturday afternoon in the 1970s. Jim McKay’s voice narrated, dramatic music played, while the visuals showcased the variety of sports events covered in the show. As a child, I was in awe of the strength and excitement of the athletes, but invariably, I couldn’t wait for “the agony of defeat” moment when a ski jumper completely wiped out at the point of take off. How could anyone survive such a crash? The defeat was as exciting as the other athletes highlighted in the show’s intro. (Vinko Bogataj, the skier, only had a concussion and broken ankle, by the way.)
It was March 3, 2017. My husband and I eagerly sat in front of the television. It was a “great victory”—OMAG would be showcased on the Cleveland PBS station, WVIZ. It had been months filled with preparations, details, special permissions, and audiovisual editing. As the introduction to the story began, I began to hoot and holler. Then I held my breath. What if this story would not be true to the OMAG story. Suddenly I realized this could be disastrous! I had not had a chance to preview the video.
The OMAG segment link appears below. As I watched, I thought, “Ok, this isn’t bad. It’s a sterilized view of what we do, but it is sensitive and respectable.” Truth be told, I was quite weepy throughout the 7-minute segment. Tears of joy and thinking of the special singers in the OMAG choir and what we do together each week. At the following OMAG rehearsal, I was excited to ask the question, “So, what did you think?” Then, the agony of defeat: SILENCE, followed by hands raised and men saying that there wasn’t enough of the actual OMAG story, not enough of the music, too many “stock” photos from the Ohio prison system that weren’t even from Grafton, no mention of their rehabilitation and hard efforts. Then one member said, “No offense, Jody, you’re a nice person, but you talked too much.” Ouch! Their criticisms were valid, of course, but I thought they’d be really excited that some of their story was made public. I felt awful. I told them that their faces couldn’t be shown in the segment and that I expected the segment to have an impact on those who saw it on tv and heard the audio on the radio. What is one person’s victory, can be another person’s defeat. In time, I hope the men can come to see this experience as a neutral, even positive, one.
https://www.ideastream.org/news/oberlin-music-at-grafton-correctional-institution-mens-choir
Singing Behind Bars 