Process Paper

As I considered the theme for this years NHD, I chose to research Ray Charles since he
was a strong leader for the music industry. While I was looking for subjects who were leaders
that left legacies, I wanted to choose someone who most people would not think of researching,
therefore, I discovered Ray Charles. Throughout the twentieth century, new music styles were
constantly being produced. As Ray Charles was an extremely talented young man, he combined
the music styles he loved and was inspired by to form soul music. Being an esthete, I was
intrigued by the commitment he had for his music.
When I first started conducting my research, I used a ton of websites that basically gave
me the same information over and over again. After I realized I needed more than just websites, I
visited my local library where I found some interesting books and primary sources. As I began to
get deeper into the research, I watched several concerts and live interviews of Ray Charles.
I chose to do a website because I am more technologically advanced than I am at
organizing backboards. I created a website last year and it was easy for me to figure out, which
affected my decision of the presentation category I would choose this year. In order to
successfully begin my website, I used the skills I developed from previous years to select a
theme that would explain my thesis and my feelings towards Ray Charles works.
I contend that Ray Charles relates to the theme Leaders and Legacies in History
because he led young, thriving artists, such as Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder,
to express their own styles of music and he produced soul music through doing the same. Charles
served as a leader because he helped show other singers, songwriters, and musicians that you can
change your own music by incorporating different music styles together. His legacy on America

was his creation of soul music which he did through mixing the blues with the spirituals
(Carlin 50). Ray Charles has made an impact on Georgia because he sang the hit version of
Georgias state song Georgia On My Mind. Ray Charles was a musically inclined man; he was
very talented, and he wanted his music to be loved by the world. There will never be another
musician who did as much to break the perceived walls of musical genres as he [Charles] did.
Quincy Jones.