Bennie Lucille WilliamsBENNIE LUCILLE WILLIAMS WAS a musician and music teacher through multiple tumultuous periods of United States history. She forged powerful relationships with musicians of all kinds and witnessed the real, human effects of events from desegregation tothe Kennedy assassination. Bennie passed away in 2023 at the age of ninety, and this manuscript was compiled shortly before then.

JACQUELYN BENTON IS THE person to whom Bennie told her story, and she recalls Bennie telling her, "I'm a storyteller; you're the writer." Ms. Benton has done her best to faithfully preserve Bennie's words, and to put the story of a brilliant woman-and an era of Black history fewer and fewer living people recall-out into the world. She is a retired educator and academic writer living in Aurora, Colorado, with her children and grandchildren. Read More Read Less