Power of her voice

Overview

FROM BIRTH, OUR VOICES, EXPRESSING NEED AND DESIRE, ARE TOOLS IN SERVICE TO OUR SENSE OF AGENCY. BY THE THREAT OF VIOLENCE FROM LEGITIMIZED POWER STRUCTURES, CERTAIN GROUPS HAVE BEEN STRIPPED OF THIS TOOL AND LEFT WITHOUT A SAY THROUGHOUT HISTORY. THEY'VE BEEN TOLD THEY WERE TOO WEAK, UNWISE, OR UNREFINED TO DECIDE THEIR OWN FATES. YET, THROUGH THE STRENGTH OF THEIR OWN HUMANITY, THESE PEOPLE FOUND WAYS TO EXPRESS WHAT THEY KNEW TO BE RIGHT, REAL, AND NECESSARY.  WITH ITS PULL ON THE HUMAN HEART, THE ARTS PROVIDED SPACE EVEN IN THE RACIALIZED, PATRIARCHAL WESTERN WORLD FOR BLACK WOMEN'S CONTRIBUTIONS. BLACK WOMEN ARE AT THE INTERSECTION OF TWO IDENTITY GROUPS THAT WERE AND STILL ARE EXPERIENCING VIOLENT OPPRESSION IN MANY INSTANCES. YET, THROUGH AN ORIENTATION TO THE ARTS, THEY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO STAKE THEIR CLAIM ON WHAT MIGHT OTHERWISE BE DEEMED A WHITE MALE PATRIARCHAL WORLD. THEY HAVE, AND CONTINUE TO, SHAPE IT IN THEIR OWN IMAGE, USING THE VERY PARTICULAR EXPERIENCE OF BEING BLACK AND WOMAN IN AMERICA AS INSPIRATION. 

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 TRUTHFUL 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!” 
​
WATCH AND ENJOY!

Francis ellen Watkins harper
​

Born free in the antebellum south, wielded her pen and her love of knowledge to fight for justice for her people. Her battlefield was the pulpit, and her weapon was the word—or, let’s say, the truth! She was a poet, an author, and a traveling lecturer for abolitionist and suffrage organizations like the Maine Anti-Slavery Society and the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society.  And 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 lamented the complacency of white women suffragists when it came to working on behalf of and in collaboration with Black women struggling for rights and for justice. Ms. Watkins used her agency and her voice to enumerate the problems of disunity among those experiencing the same plight. 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 published composer, passionate educator, and highly proficient performer. After studying at Boston’s New England Conservatory, and teaching back in Little Rock, she  eventually found a creative community in Chicago when she moved in 1927. And it was there that she developed a distinct sound, often featuring Black contemporary and historical musical trends. This was a brave statement in those days because it asserted the relevance of Black musical invention in the world of classical form. Her unique sound earned her the Wanamaker Prize in 1932 and a performance of her award-winning Symphony #1 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra the following year. The piece's third movement is renowned for its celebration of a musical, movement-oriented tradition called Pattin' Juba, which began with Black enslaved people, in response to despotic conditions in the antebellum south. When Chicago Symphony Orchestra played it all those years ago, it would be the first time a major orchestra played a symphony by a Black woman composer.
​
The tradition of Black women composers, bringing alternative cultural references to the forefront of their work did not end with Ms. Price. It but has extended into modern day with creatives such as 

Valerie coleman

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 and Ms. Price’s life path mirrors 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 through her work. And finally, Coleman's piece, Umoja, which she composed in 2002, was played by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2019. As was a similar case with Price's Symphony #1 in Chicago, Umoja was the first composition by a living Black woman to be played by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Coleman fills her predecessors' shoes so effortlessly--and to do so with a composition as grounded in Black diasporic experience as Umoja! 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: the Imani Winds. Ms. Coleman has a knack and a passion for giving voice to pan-African themes in her musical pursuits. The words "Imani" and "Umoja" are Swahili words known in popular culture as virtues celebrated during Kwanzaa. Perhaps her compositions, too, are meant to celebrate blackness! 

In a way, the lives of all three of these women give voice to the Black experience. 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
​
With historical contextualization by L’Merchie Frazier, Director of Education and Interpretation for the Museum of African Americans.
​

Reflection & Discussion

As you watch the Castle of our Skins and learn more about the life and work of Francis Atkins Walker, think about these 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?