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I am a come-to-opera-late-in-life white singer whose coming-of-age experience consisted of working in drought relief in Ethiopia during the first two years of a bloody Marxist revolution. Having witnessed starvation and brutality firsthand as a young woman, I have always known how much is at stake when power and privilege run amok. During the Covid Pause, I listened many times to Barbara Hendricks’ recording of a really hard Strauss aria I decided to learn with “lockdown time” on my hands. As I studied the aria, America convulsed with anguish over the murders of George Floyd and the violent response to BLM protests. Our then-President dog-whistled white supremacy. The question haunted me: How could an African American sing this celebration of homeland? Even the word “homeland” conjures images of white supremacy and toxic nationalism. I became obsessed with rewriting the lyrics to reflect our country’s profound and self-evident need to be “more perfect”, taking inspiration from the Obamas, from the musical Hamilton, from John Lewis, and from generations of pain and activism. My Black friends helped me understand that I could not speak for Barbara. But I could speak as a White to other white Americans, urging them to acknowledge the harsh reality baked into our history, reminding them of how we have all benefitted from battles for social justice, and finally facing the work that remains to be done. Many questions linger about the value of a work like “Activists Aria” – questions uncomfortably raised in our Zoom panel discussion with two Black activists who study arts and racism. Is the work merely “performative” – designed to make people feel like they are doing something when, in fact, they are putting nothing at risk? As a work of art, does it inappropriately exploit other people’s pain? What am I willing to risk in social justice work? I find these questions personally challenging and appreciate the soul-searching discussions this film has generated.
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Duration | 6 Minutes |
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