Etymologically, “regard,” “guard,” “spectate” and “respect” have a very close linkage. If I were a linguist, I could expand further on that point. For my purposes here, I only want to say that it’s important to LOOK at the things we wish to GUARD.
When we seek to respect our history, we’ve got to continue to bring it out into the light, and examine and re-examine it from time to time. If we defend it but don’t regard it, the result can look like that old fairy tale damsel Rapunzel, who’s so cherished that she’s locked away from all humanity in a high tower where nobody can ever get at her.
Harlem Opera Theater’s next offering, “TRUTH,” brought me to this realization. Composed by Paula M. Kimper, with a libretto by Talaya Delaney, “TRUTH” is a folk opera depicting the extraordinary life of Sojourner Truth. It is a life I hadn’t recently regarded, even though I try to emulate its lessons.
Truth (1797-1883), who was born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree in a Dutch settlement in upstate New York and was first sold along with a herd of sheep for $100 at the age of 9, emerged from the vicious institution of slavery to become a central figure in the ongoing struggle for abolition and human rights.
Once free, Truth found like minds in abolitionists Frederick Douglass, David Ruggles and William Lloyd Garrison at the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Massachusetts. Garrison published her memoir, “The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave,” in 1850.
In 1854, she delivered the “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech. An excerpt:
“That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud puddles, or gives me any best place, and ain’t I a woman?
“I have plowed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me-and ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man (when I could get it), and bear the lash as well-and ain’t I a woman?
“I have borne thirteen children and seen most all sold off to slavery and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me-and ain’t I a woman?”
Evelyn Harris will sing the character of Truth, and in many ways, she is the contemporary voice of the famed abolitionist.
An 18-year member of the internationally acclaimed Black women’s a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, Harris has been walking the walk. She has been weaving the narratives of people and their struggles for a long time. When she sings, one never mistakes her passion for mere vocalization. She has been politically motivated and culturally relevant her entire life.
Kimper has long been fascinated by the stories of women in American history, while Delaney has a PhD in the history of American civilization from Harvard University. Together, they have wrought a comprehensive, unflinching look at the great American life of Truth.
Act 2 of “TRUTH” will be presented on Friday, Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Faison Firehouse Theatre (6 Hancock Place at West 124th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue) in conjunction with Harlem Opera Theater and Old Deerfield Productions.
For tickets, call (212) 592-0780. The $25 price of admission covers the opera scenes, plus a gospel choir concert conducted by Gregory M. Hopkins, while a $35 ticket admits one to the wine and cheese reception with the artists after the show.
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