Monk's Community of Modernity

San Juan Hill, the area of New York that Thelonius Monk grew up in, had a widely known reputation for being extremely violent. This area was originally named due to the black veterans of the Spanish American War living there, but also kept this name to represent the violence that ran rampant in its streets which was compared to the vicious scene that Teddy Roosevelt endured at the Battle of San Juan Hill (Kelley, 16). As Kelley says, San Juan Hill was an immense cultural melting pot; although this apparent diversity may seem positive in principle, it was actually the source of the area’s violent outbreaks (18). Intolerance for other racial groups led to recurring fights, and the area was publicly known for its many race riots from 1900 to 1917 that were only perpetuated by the local police (Kelley, 17).

               From the undesirable conditions of San Juan Hill, however, came the genius of Monk’s music. The dissonant melodies put out by Monk in his early career were not particularly popular and held little mainstream appeal originally. However, regardless of the initial popularity of Monk’s music, the unorthodox rhythms and heavily improvised attacks on the piano keys that Monk was known for were just as unorthodox and confusing as the community he was shaped by (Lecture, 2/28/13). The pauses he would take in between riffs and the seemingly random notes that he would strike with great force during his performances can be seen as parallels to the unpredictability one would face living in San Juan Hill, wondering if his or her trip down to the store would be cut short by a fight with someone of a different race.

               With Monk’s obviously unconventional style of music, he was able to break free from the restrictions of his community and in turn create his own community: one that held a profound respect for progress and new ideas (Lecture, 2/28/13). This progressivism endorsed by Monk can be seen not only in his dissonant musical style, but also in the diverse relationships that he upheld in his personal life. For example, Monk received his first formal piano instruction from a Jewish-Austrian man named Simon Wolf. Wolf not only recognized Monk’s genius from the start, but he also broadened Monk’s horizons by introducing him to classical music from composers like Chopin and Beethoven, furthering the multifaceted diversity that Monk would later foster (Kelley, 26). Additionally, Monk’s created community was forward-thinking in that it inspired young people, blacks and whites alike, to rebel against many social norms in America (Lecture, 2/28/13). Perhaps the most prominent of these embedded American sentiments was the issue of race that Monk tried to deal with by transcending the traditional racial politics of the time.

               Rather than allowing his race to define or hinder him, instead Monk chose to separate himself from such notions. This fact is highly impressive given the racism that he endured, not only from the diverse array of neighbors he fought with in San Juan Hill but also from various policemen that held him responsible for crimes he did not commit (Lecture, 2/26/13). In forming his own progressive community as mentioned before, Monk made his music and his life concerned less with race and more with tolerance for changing times. In doing so, he was able to help society make advances in race relations, at least among the community members who were willing to embrace his ideas. Even after all Monk had done to remain tolerant, however, his tolerance was not ultimately reciprocated back to him. His arrest in Delaware in 1958 with his friends Nica and Rouse attests to the unfortunate and horrible state of police discrimination against blacks at this time. Monk, a preacher of community and ignorer of widespread racial issues, was heavily bombarded by an onslaught of unwarranted legal action against him and his friends (Kelley, 254). Perhaps his message of tolerance was not ready to be fully embraced by the society of his time, but his genius lives on regardless.