KEEP ON GOING
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the resounding chorus of “Keep on going” from the climax of Nkeiru Okoye’s opera Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom was a source of inspiration at The American Opera Project. AOP, in partnership with our Fort Greene neighbors at BRIC, brought together cast members from AOP’s 2014 world premiere, the 2020 production at Knoxville Opera (canceled due to the pandemic), and guest singers to sing these words attributed to Harriet Tubman as a new message of hope dedicated to the doctors, nurses, workers, and patients at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in Fort Greene, and to all essential workers. As New York City prepares to reopen, we remind everyone to please stay vigilant in preventing the spread of the disease. We are not out of the woods yet, and complacency risks a return to the horrors that overwhelmed our hospitals.
Since this recording, we have seen America reel from one attack on our collective body to another via the disease of racism. For those fighting back against this disease, let this message be for you as well.
“Keep On Going”
from harriet tubman: When i crossed that line to freedom
By nkeiru okoye
Keep on going.
Keep on going.
If you’re tired, keep on going;
and if you’re scared, keep on going.
If you’re hungry, keep on going.
If you want to taste freedom, keep on going.
Set your mind to freedom and the promised land,
We shall be free,
Just like in the scriptures
free indeed,
We shall be free
You will be free, free, free.
I want to be free.
We shall be free.
Artists include:
Janinah Burnett, Harriet / soprano
Sumayya Ali, Harriet / soprano
Jasmine Muhammad, Harriet / soprano
Louise Toppin, Harriet / soprano
Christiana Cole, soprano
Sequina DuBose, soprano
Hannah Fuerst, soprano
Patrice Eaton, alto
Briana Hunter, alto
Tesia Kwarteng, alto
Vincent Davis, tenor
Ernest Jackson, tenor
Cornelius Johnson, tenor
Leslie Tay, tenor
Charles Carter, bass
Kyle Guglielmo, baritone
Damian Norfleet, baritone
Jubilant Sykes, baritone
Creative team includes:
Nkeiru Okoye, composer & librettist
Julius Williams, conductor
Mila Henry, pianist
The KEEP ON GOING video was produced by BRIC:
David Feldman, video engineer
Eric Haugesag, audio engineer
Tony Horn, editorial director, custom content
Sharon Polli, executive vice president, advancement
Thank you for watching KEEP ON GOING.
50% of your tax-deductible donation will be given to The Brooklyn Hospital’s COVID-19 fund.
About the OPERA:
Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom is a two act theatrical work that tells of how a young girl born in slavery becomes Harriet Tubman, the legendary Underground Railroad conductor. Based on recent Tubman biographies, the story is narrated and told in the context of Tubman’s tight-knit family of lively characters. Harriet Tubman carries the universal themes of sisterhood, courage, sacrifice and doing what is necessary to keep a family together. Moreover it is a heartwarming tale of two sisters vowing that nothing but death will separate them, despite the slavery threatening to tear them apart.
