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Overview

FROM BIRTh OUR VOICES ARE TOOLS which work IN SERVICE TO a developing SENSE OF AGENCY. THROUGHOUT History, THREAT OF VIOLENCE FROM institutionalized POWER STRUCTURES has stripped marginalized groups of access to this tool. They were silenceD, and prevented from commanding their own fate. Still, the human spirit finds ways to rejoice, Black people have always turned to craft whether in the midst of strife or contentment. WOmen have aways found ways of accessing their power through expressions of the heart.  THrough their most creative channels women reclaim their voices, and use it to shape their cultural community. . 

FROM PAST TO PRESENT, OF THE VOICE, OF THE STRINGS, AND THE PEN, BLACK WOMEN HAVE ENTERED UNWELCOMING SPACES BUT WITH BRAVERY AND AUDACITY MADE A joyful NOISE. THERE WAS FRANCIS WATKINS PARKER (1825-1911); THERE WAS FLORENCE PRICE (1887-1953); AND THERE IS, TODAY, OUR VERY OWN VALERIE COLEMAN. ALL THREE OF THESE WOMEN AND THEIR WORK ARE SHOWCASED IN THE CASTLE OF OUR SKINS KENNEDY CENTER ARTS ACROSS AMERICAN CONCERT: “THE POWER OF HER VOICE!” 
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WATCH AND ENJOY!

Francis ellen Watkins harper...
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...Born free in the antebellum south, wielded her pen and her love of knowledge in the fight for Liberation. Her battlefield was the pulpit, her weapon was the word, and her cause was freedom for Black people. Francis Ellen Watkins Parker was a poet, an author, and a traveling lecturer for abolitionist and suffrage organizations like the Maine Anti-Slavery Society.

in May of 1866 she spoke at the Eleventh National Women’s convention in New York. Her famous speech, “We Are All Bound Up Together,” was groundbreaking for its time. In it, she called attention to the complacency of White suffragists toward Black liberation struggles. Watkins used her agency and her voice to enumerate the problems of disunity among women of all races who experienced the same plight of patriarchy. She voiced this truth using the literary styles and political traditions that were historically used to silence her. And she did it with her people in mind.

There are instances of such bravery among creatives in other artforms as well, like... 

...Florence Price

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1887, she was a pianist, published composer, performer, and passionate educator,. After studying at Boston’s New England Conservatory and teaching back in Little Rock, she moved to Chicago in 1927 and found herself among a blossoming creative community. it was there that she developed a distinct sound, often featuring Black contemporary and historical musical trends. In a time when anti-black sentiments kept Black people out of classical art forms, she made the brave statement of centering black aesthetic traditions in composition, And asserted the legitimacy of Black musical invention.

Price's unique sound earned her the Wanamaker Prize in 1932. The following year the chicago symphony orchestra performed her  award-winning "Symphony #1." IT was THE FIRST TIME A MAJOR ORCHESTRA PLAYED A SYMPHONY BY A BLACK WOMAN COMPOSER. A unique feature of this is its third movement called "juba" for  movement-oriented tradition called Pattin' Juba, Pattin' Juba is a musical technique that black people enslaved in America developed when they were forbidden by their captors from access to percussion instruments. They used what they had, their bodies and palms to make music still. By referencing such a fierce tradition, Florence Price reflects on the strong connection between black people and music of all kinds. 
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The tradition of Black women composers, bringing Black cultural references to the forefront of their work lives on in composer...

...Valerie coleman

VAlerie COleman is a flutist and composer who has become a vital presence in the modern musical canon. It is a special coincidence that certain aspects of Ms. Coleman's and Ms. Price’s lives mirror one another. Like Price, Coleman was already composing and performing in her teenage years. Continuing into her adulthood, her compositions are often inspired by the histories of despair and triumph that have shaped communities of color. This is, no doubt, similar to how Price weaved the syncopated rhythms of a Black musical invention throughout her work. In 2019, The philadelphia orchestra played coleman's piece,"Umoja," the first composition by a living Black woman that the orchestra has ever played. The full name title of the piece is Umoja, Anthem for Unity, and was listed under "Top 101 Great American Works" by Chamber Music America. It was originally composed for the wind quintet she helped found called "the Imani Winds."

These three composers have stretched the boundaries of classical music simply by being who they are. In a way, there experiences being both black and woman are integral to how they were able to be as creative and experimental as they were.

We hope you enjoyed hearing from them through this performance by Castle of our Skins String! Performed live at the historic African American Meeting House of the Museum of African American History in Boston on August 17, 2020.

The program includes the following music:
- "Source Code" by Jessie Montgomery
- "String Quartet in A minor" by Florence B. Price
- "Umoja" by Valerie Coleman
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With historical contextualization by L’Merchie Frazier, Director of Education and Interpretation for the Museum of African Americans.
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Reflection & Discussion

As you watch the Castle of our Skins and learn more about the life and work of these three women, think about the following questions and then discuss: 

1. How do these three women exemplify power and strength within their art, genre, and community?

2. How is composing and performing politically charged work comparable to writing and speaking it? What are the differences or similarities in its effect on the listener?

3. Who are three women, composers of words or music, who you admire, that exemplify power in the way we’ve discussed it?

4. In what craft is your “voice” the strongest? And when have you used it? When and where do you aspire to use it. (ex/: at a convention? An orchestra?) 

5. What aspect of your culture would you include in your craft/art form? And what political problems would you reference?

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