Editor’s Note

Rock ‘n’ Roll. The Fellowship Committee has fittingly adopted the theme “Rock ‘n’ Roll” for this year’s RCM Christmas party --- the Club’s first face-to-face Christmas gathering since the pandemic.

We know that the term rock 'n' roll, which is derived from the more literal “rocking and rolling”, has been used by 17th-century sailors to describe the motion of a ship on the sea. In our journey as Rotarians, we are sometimes buffeted by waves brought about by the challenges and hurdles while pursuing our advocacies. But we plow ahead. We sail on. We soldier on.

By the 1920s, the term “rock and roll” had become a popular metaphor for either dancing or sex. But, in the 1950s, a Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey named Alan Freed played a major role in popularizing the name rock and roll and promoting the music. He had a radio show on WJW (850 AM) called 'The Rock and Roll Session' where he played an eclectic mix of R&B, blues, gospel, boogie woogie, rockabilly and Country and Western music. DJ Alan Freed thus started using the term to describe the type of hyped-up country music infused with the primal urgency of rhythm and blues. With this, the sexual component of the term was toned down enough that it eventually became an acceptable term for dancing. Steve Propes and Jim Dawson in their book “What Was the First Rock ‘n’ Roll Record?” credit Alan Freed with using his groundbreaking radio show to popularize the term rock 'n' roll all over the United States.

"Rock and roll", according to journalist Greg Kot, refers to a style of popular music originating in the United States in the 1950s. By the mid-1960s, rock and roll had developed into "the more encompassing international style known as rock music, though the latter also continued to be known in many circles as rock and roll."

Interestingly, the two words “rock” and “roll”, taken separately, have their own unique and special meanings. On the one hand, Rock is derived from the Old English roccain, related to the Old Nordic rykkja meaning, “to pull, tear, move.” The earliest recorded use of the term in literature can be found in the lullaby “Rock-a-bye Baby” from 1805. Today, when one says “You rock!”, that person is using a slang phrase or encouragement conveying “You're awesome (at something)” or “You can do it!” So yes, the RCM Christmas Party is meant to reiterate the fact that we all rock! RCMers rock!

Whenever one changes the life of another, or make somebody’s world much better, the grateful beneficiary would sometimes use the expression: “you rock my world!” Hence our Christmas party theme actually underscores the RCM’s on-going mission, which is to rock the world of the marginalized with our impactful and unique brand of service above self.

The word ‘Roll’, on the other hand, is derived from the Latin rotula meaning, “small wheel”, diminutive of rota "wheel." In fine, let us all celebrate this season through our unrelenting effort to continue making our Rotary wheel rock!

To my brothers in the Rotary Club of Manila: may we all have a meaningful Christmas and a faith-filled brand new year ahead!