This program was performed on Thursday, July 23, 2020. Thank you to everyone who attended.
Resilience and Resistance in Black Art, from Black Artists.
All donations will go directly to the artists involved.
Featuring the voices and talents of Denisha Ballew, Dom Embretson, Will Liverman, Mikalia Bradberry, and Jordan Weatherston Pitts.
With works by Margaret Bonds, William Grant Still, Nkeiru Okoye, Undine Smith Moore, Maria Corley, Robin DiAngelo, and Joy DeGruy.
Black voices have been silenced for centuries. Black artists have had to fight for visibility and resources. Black singers have struggled within the largely white westernized classical art form. And we’re fed up.
Join us for an evening where we celebrate, uplift, and rejoice in Black Art and Artistry with a continued call to action; to keep our boots on the ground and fight for justice for BIPOC rights, black lives, and black trans lives. We Out: Voicing Our Truth is a program of resilience and resistance in Black compositions presented and curated by all Black artists.
Produced by AOT, this event is entirely conceived by the performers.
Each brilliant artist has individually selected music and texts of personal meaning to share with the community.
ANTI-RACISM RESOURCE PACKET
Our Artists
Denisha Ballew
A small town girl from Richmond, KY, Denisha Ballew had a dream to one day perform professionally as an opera singer and God truly surprised her with so much more! Ballew resides in New York City where she continuously pursues creative and diverse opportunities to explore and share her artistry with an open heart and no limits.
Mikalia Bradberry
Mikalia has been singing since before she could speak. She received a bachelor's degree in vocal performance and graduated from Abilene Chrisitian University and recently graduated with my master's in vocal performance from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
Dom Embretson
Dominique Wooten Embretson is an American tenor born in Cape May, New Jersey. He currently lives in Malmö, Sweden with his husband Timothy and their dog Fancy Pants. Dominique studied operatic vocal performance and humanities. Post-graduation Dominique started his music career in Minneapolis Minnesota.
Jordan Weatherston Pitts
Tenor Jordan Weatherston Pitts has been recognized for his "heroic", "passionate" and "bewitching" performances both on the operatic stage, as well as in concert. Mr. Pitts holds a Master of Music from Boston University and a Bachelor of Music Performance from SUNY Fredonia.
Will Liverman
Called “one of the most versatile singing artists performing today” (Bachtrack), baritone Will Liverman is quickly gaining a reputation for his compelling performances, while making significant debuts at opera houses across the world. Liverman is a recipient of a 2019 Richard Tucker Career Grant and Sphinx Medal of Excellence.
Round Table Panelists
Free Black Dirt
A MINNEAPOLIS-BASED ARTIST COLLECTIVE BRIDGING THE CULTURAL AND THE MAGICAL.
Free Black Dirt is an artistic partnership formed by Minneapolis based collaborators Junauda Petrus and Erin Sharkey. Committed to creating original theatre and performance, hosting innovative events, organizing local artists, and promoting and supporting the emerging artists’ community in the Twin Cities, Free Black Dirt seeks to spark and engage in critical conversations.
Keturah J Herron
Keturah J. Herron, born and raised in Kentucky, is a social justice advocate and change agent with over 15 years experience working with youth and families involved in the social service and the criminal systems. Currently she is a Policy Strategist at the ACLU of Kentucky and is leading the work for legislation in the Breonna Taylor case. She is dedicated to Black Liberation and reimaging what our community looks like for all Black Kentuckians.
Maria Thompson Corley
Maria Thompson Corley (DMA, piano, The Juilliard School) began composing and arranging as a child. Her works for choir and solo voice have been commissioned by Dr. Odell Hobbs (Florida A&M University); Randye Jones, soprano; Dr. Darryl Taylor, countertenor; Dr. Louise Toppin, soprano; Dr. Buddy James (California State East Bay University), and Dr. Jillian Harrison-Jones (MUSE: Cincinnati's Women's Choir), among others. Her arrangement of "Mary had a Baby" was published by Walton, and her song cycle, For Terry, is published by Classical Vocal Reprints. Her art songs and arrangements have been performed, recorded and/or taught in the United States and abroad.
Thank you to our pianists!
Maria Thompson Corley
Jonathan King
Paul Sánchez
Rickard Söderberg
Mary J Trotter
Kyle P Walker
Advocacy Resources
SUPPORT BLACK TRANS LIVES
JUSTICE FOR BREONNA TAYLOR
Sign Petitions
Fight for Breonna: This petition outlines a list of demands, most of which provide support and answers for Taylor’s mom Tamika Palmer. Some of the demands have already been met, including the dismissal of Walker’s charges and a ban on no-knock warrants.
Change.org – Justice for Breonna: Law student Lorelai HoJay launched this Change.org petition to demand charges to be filed as well as damages paid to Taylor’s family by the LMPD. It has nearly met its goal of nine million signatures.
Color of Change – #JusticeforBre: Color of Change is calling for Mattingly, Hankison and Cosgrove to be fired immediately.
Contact Louisville Officials
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer: Demands for justice can be made by calling Fischer’s office at (502) 574-2003 or by filling out the contact form on his site.
Louisville MPD: A contact form is available on the department’s site. A template is widely available as well as a submittable form that will automatically send an e-mail in your name.
Special Prosecutor, Attorney General Daniel Cameron: Call 502-696-5300 or e-mail attorney.general@ag.ky.gov
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear: Call 502-564-2611
Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Thomas Wine: Call 502-595-2300 or e-mail winejcooke@louisvilleprosecutor.com
Donate
Breonna Taylor’s Family: An official GoFundMe page has raised over $6 million for Taylor’s family through their loss, surpassing its original $500,000 goal.
Louisville Bail Funds: Protesters have rallied in support of Taylor and the calls for justice daily throughout June. Donating to the bail fund provides support for those who have been arrested in the process.
ANTI-RACISM RESOURCES
READ
"White Debt" by Eula Biss in The New York Times
“The Death of George Floyd, In Context,” by Jelani Cobb of The New Yorker
“Of Course There Are Protests. The State Is Failing Black People,” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor for the New York Times
“This Is How Loved Ones Want Us To Remember George Floyd,” by Alisha Ebrahimji for CNN.
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning The 1619 Project is as important as ever. Take some time to read (or re-read) the entire thing, particularly this essay by Nikole Hannah-Jones
“You shouldn’t need a Harvard degree to survive birdwatching while black,” by Samuel Getachew, a 17-year-old and the 2019 Oakland youth poet laureate, for the Washington Post
“It’s exhausting. How many hashtags will it take for all of America to see Black people as more than their skin color?” by Rita Omokha for Elle
“The Case for Reparations,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates for The Atlantic
“How to Make This Moment the Turning Point for Real Change,” by Barack Obama in Medium
“Black Male Writers For Our Time,” by Ayana Mathis in New York Times, T
“I Was The Mayor Of Minneapolis And I Know Our Cops Have A Problem,” by R.T. Rybak
“Don’t understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge,” by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Los Angeles Times
“I’m Black. My Mom is White. This Is The Talk We Had To Have About George Floyd’s Killing,” by Kimberly J. Miller for the Huffington Post
A project from Harvard University about implicit bias
“The Law Isn’t Neutral,” by Boston University School of Law dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig in Slate
Mitch Landrieu’s Speech on the Removal of Confederate Monuments in New Orleans
WATCH
The Hate U Give, a film based on the YA novel offering an intimate portrait of race in America
Just Mercy, a film based on civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson’s work on death row in Alabama
The 1965 debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley
My hour on the history of Confederate statues in Nat Geo’s America Inside Out
Becoming, a Netflix documentary following Michelle Obama on her book tour
Let It Fall, a documentary looking at racial tensions in Los Angeles and the 1992 riots over LAPD officers’ brutal assault on Rodney King
When They See Us, a Netflix miniseries from Ava DuVernay about the Central Park Five
13th, a Netflix documentary exposing racial inequality within the criminal justice system
I Am Not Your Negro, a documentary envisioning the book James Baldwin was never able to finish
Selma, a film that chronicles the marches of the Civil Rights Movement
Whose Streets?, a documentary about the uprising in Ferguson
Fruitvale Station, a film with Michael B. Jordan about the killing of Oscar Grant
American Son, a film with Kerry Washington about an estranged interracial couple waiting for their missing son
The Central Park Five, a documentary from Ken Burns
A Class Divided, a Frontline documentary
LISTEN
School Colors, a narrative podcast from Brooklyn Deep about how race, class, and power shape American cities and schools
On Being: "Talking About Whiteness" Episode with Eula Biss
Still Processing, a New York Times culture podcast with Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morrison
Seeing White, a Scene on the Radio podcast
Code Switch, an NPR podcast tackling race from all angles
Jemele Hill is Unbothered, a podcast with award-winning journalist Jemele Hill
Hear To Slay, “the black feminist podcast of your dreams,” with Roxane Gay and Tressie McMillan Cottom
Pod Save The People, organizer and activist DeRay Mckesson explores news, culture, social justice, and politics with analysis from fellow activists Brittany Packnett, Sam Sinyangwe, and writer Dr. Clint Smith III
The Appeal, a podcast on criminal justice reform hosted by Adam Johnson
Justice In America, a podcast by Josie Duffy Rice and Clint Smith on criminal justice reform
Brené Brown with Ibram X. Kendi, a podcast episode on antiracism
Come Through, a WNYC podcast with Rebecca Carroll
The Kinswomen, conversations on race, racism, and allyship between women, hosted by Hannah Pechter and Yseult Polfliet