David Sampson

In Memoriam: W.E.S.

On the morning of November 3, 1979, a convoy of cars and minibuses carrying members of the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi groups drove to the Morningside Homes housing project in Greensboro, North Carolina. About a hundred people had gathered there for a demonstration against the Klan. When the convoy arrived, verbal provocations quickly escalated into physical altercations. Members of the Klan and the Nazi groups opened the trunks of their vehicles and pulled out shotguns and large-caliber rifles. They then opened fire on the crowd. Eighty-eight seconds later, five protesters lay dead or dying on the ground. One of them was my brother, William Evan Sampson. *In Memoriam: W.E.S.* was created a year and a half after the murders as an attempt to express my personal feelings in the face of this tragedy. To this day, the music pales in comparison to the actual pain, anger, fear, and profound disillusionment. Nevertheless, it served as a form of catharsis for me and continues to be an expression of my deep love for my brother.