In Quanda Johnson’s graduate studies at Gallatin, she came across the harrowing story of her ancestor’s brutal murder in Abbeville, South Carolina. The powerful ballad, written and read by Quanda Johnson above, is one element of a collaborative multimedia performance that combines projections, live painting, music, and dance. The Ballad of Anthony Crawford: A Love Letter to America was an occasion for multidisciplinary artists to grapple with the reality of America’s past, and respond to the weighty history of lynching.