This week I caught a performance of Jubilee at the Seattle Opera. It tells the story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. This Black college choir was formed in 1871 at Nashville’s Fisk University. The newly emancipated African Americans folded the religious folksongs of their enslaved ancestors—the “spirituals”—into their repertoire.
For the singers, spirituals were a cultural and historical inheritance still under negotiation. At first rejecting the idea of sharing them outright, then rehearsing speculatively behind closed doors, they collectively decided to share this musical heritage with their world.
Catalyzed by this profound pivot—one that transformed “slave songs” into concert pieces—the Fisk Jubilee Singers shifted the narratives about Black music while performing for the likes of Queen Victoria.
Have you ever heard this true story? Does your perspective shift now that you know it?
When do you think it was that women first enjoyed the right to apply for a loan—even a credit card— in her own name? Was it part of Alexander Hamilton’s plan? Were women emancipated financially after the Civil War? The answer is that women were freed from the burden of applying for a loan in their husbands’ names about the same time Roe v Wade was signed into law.
History matters. The past impacts today’s actions. We know that if we compare male and female physicians both employed full time in the same medical specialty, they do not earn the same amount. The man earns on average 30% more than the woman for doing the same job.
It’s easy to take things in our lives for granted. Of course anyone can apply for a credit card. Of course we can sing mournful spirituals. Of course each adult Americans enjoy the freedom to vote. Read history. View the full arc of change. Understanding where we’ve been helps plot a path to where we want to be.
