Jim Blum
Overview
 
Jim Blum is a folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 DJ on WKSU-FM
WKSU-FM
WKSU-FM — branded 89.7 WKSU — is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Kent, Ohio and owned by Kent State University. The station features NPR, APM and PRI programming, classical music, regional news and, on weekends, folk music....

 in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, where he has produced shows for over 25 years in addition to producing shows for Internet radio Folk Alley since its inception in 2003. Blum is also heavily involved with the Kent State Folk Festival.

Blum got his start as the host of an hour-long bluegrass show on WKSU. The Kent graduate had no radio experience, but had played in a bluegrass and swing band, and had worked as an actor and voice-over announcer.
Quotations

I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.

"I, Too, Sing America," in the magazine Survey Graphic (March 1925); reprinted in Selected Poems (1959)

They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed — I, too, am America.

"I, Too, Sing America," in the magazine Survey Graphic (March 1925); reprinted in Selected Poems (1959)

The night is beautiful,So are the faces of my people.

"My People," in the magazine Poems in Crisis (October 1923); reprinted in The Weary Blues (1926)

I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers," from The Weary Blues (1926)

I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers," from The Weary Blues (1926)

The stars went out and so did the moon.The singer stopped playing and went to bedWhile the Weary Blues echoed through his head.He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.

"The Weary Blues," from The Weary Blues (1926)

Way Down South in Dixie(Break the heart of me)They hung my black young loverTo a cross roads tree.

"Song for a Dark Girl" (l. 1-4), from Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927)

Love is a naked shadowOn a gnarled and naked tree.

Song for a Dark Girl (l. 11-12), from Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927)

While over Alabama earthThese words are gently spoken:Serve — and hate will die unborn.Love — and chains are broken.

"Alabama Earth (at Booker Washington's grave)," from the anthology Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers (1941), ed. Arna Bontemps

Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.

"Dreams," from the anthology Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers, ed. Arna Bontemps (1941)

 
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