Soprano Sumayya Ali as Harriet Tubman in an early American Opera Projects workshop. (Photo by Danielle Rivera for AOP)
Nigerian-American Turns Story of Harriet Tubman into Opera
A new opera, written by a second-generation Nigerian-American, tells the story of Harriet Tubman, who, a century-and-a-half ago, escaped from slavery and led others to freedom.
When Nkeiru Okoye was a little girl, she spent a lot of time shuttling between the United States - her mother’s home country - and her father’s homeland, Nigeria. While she found the culture shock disorienting, there were some things that remained constant. For one,
“I don’t remember ever not knowing about Harriet Tubman," she said. "My mother used to love to read my sister and me stories, so my mother probably told me about her even before I learned about Harriet in school.”
Those early stories turned into a fascination that Okoye has now turned into a work of art.
Tubman was born into slavery in the state of Maryland around 1820. In 1849, a dozen years before the U.S. Civil War would be fought between northern and southern states over the question of slavery, Tubman escaped to the north and freedom.
“But she became famous because she went back down to rescue the rest of her family and anyone else that would go with her,” Okoye said.
Tubman helped arrange a series of safe houses and hiding places called The Underground Railroad, that escaped slaves used to reach freedom. The people who ran the Railroad were called “conductors.”
“Harriet, who became known as ‘Moses,’ was the most famous conductor in the U.S,” said Okoye.
There are many tall tales about Tubman’s life. And Okoye says she originally set out to add to that tradition.
“When I started this process, I wanted to pay tribute to Harriet Tubman by writing a highly fictionalized account of her,” she said.
Instead, she was inspired to dig into the true story of Tubman, rather than the legend.
“I spent three years getting to know Harriet's world,” she said.
Nkeiru Okoye (Courtesy of American Opera Projects)
Using that research, Okoye created what is called a “folk opera.”
“Which is slightly different from regular opera. Most of the music in Harriet Tubman is rooted in traditional African-American folk idioms," she said. "So there are elements of gospel, jazz, blues, and then you hear a “field holler,” you hear ragtime, work songs and there are things that sound like spirituals throughout the opera.
Okoye’s attempt to be true to Tubman’s life is a key part of "When I Crossed That Line To Freedom."
“The First Act is called ‘In slavery’ and the Second Act of the opera is called ‘In Freedom.’ I did that because I thought it was very important for listeners to experience Harriet as a full person," Okoye said. "I think most people like to think of Harriet as a born liberator and it robs them of an important part of the story. It’s kind of hero worship. We don’t get that there’s this vulnerable person who’s there. We don’t get the full picture.
"Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line To Freedom," is being performed in December, February and March in New York’s Fort Greene, the location of an actual Underground Railroad station.
