To be a stranger (virtual choir; world premiere) - Eric Banks

"To be a stranger" by Eric Banks (PREMIERED: Tuesday, August 25 at 8:30pm EDT by the School of Good Citizenship) Copyright © August 2020 Eric Banks. Used by permission. Commissioned by The Virtual Choir Consortium – a project of the Firebird Arts Alliance, August 2020 TEXTS: “Identity is not inherent. It is shaped by circumstance and sensitivity...” -- from "The Wedding" (1995) by Dorothy West “There is no life that does not contribute to history.” -- from “The living is easy” (1948) by Dorothy West “Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time, don’t be afraid to stand up, to speak up, and to speak out against injustice.” -- from “Across that bridge” (2012) by John Lewis “Any real change implies the breakup of the world as one has always known it, the loss of all that gave one an identity, and the end of safety.” -- from “Nobody Knows My Name” (1961) by James Baldwin "It is not the light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake." -- from “What to the slave is the 4th of July?” (1852) by Frederick Douglass “If there is no struggle, then there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are like men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want the rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.” -- from “West India Emancipation Speech” (1857) by Frederick Douglass “An identity is questioned only when it is menaced, as when the mighty begin to fall, or when the wretched begin to rise, or when the stranger enters the gates, never, thereafter, to be a stranger.” -- from “The Devil Finds Work” (1976) by James Baldwin CREDITS: Music Direction by Eric Banks Performed by Ensemble Diaspora Audio mix by Eric Banks Video by Eric Banks Choir Achil Jackson Obenza Anthony Trecek-King Bel Quintela Brian Chu Brittni Liyanage Carol Yeh Daniel Sabzghabaei David Tang Dawn Ellis Edelmar Obenza Eugene Rogers Fahad Siadat Gitanjali Mathur Hanna Benn Jennifer dela Cruz Jennifer Munzel Jimmie Herrod Johnaye Kendrick Jonathan You Marjorie Gómez Melissa Givens Michael Bussewitz-Quarm Michael Walker Michele Kennedy Phillip Cheah Phillip Woods Rebecca Burke-Agüero Rémie Christ Sandhya Iyer Tai Oney Thales Silva Theo Yaung

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