History wrapped up in song: “Singing Freedom” with Tsitsi Jaji, Lucy Fitz Gibbon, and Ed Baptist

History wrapped up in song: “Singing Freedom” with Tsitsi Jaji, Lucy Fitz Gibbon, and Ed Baptist.

Soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon, poet and associate professor of English at Duke Tsitsi Jaji, and Cornell professor of history Ed Baptist, talk with Annette about ’Singing Freedom,’ a multi-layered collaboration with leading Black American composers and performers to create musical responses to materials in the Freedom on the Move archive. They talk about how music might give voice to those self-liberators and their stories, exploring ways the creative arts might grapple with racism in the past and present across literary and musical genres.

This episode was recorded in September 2021 by Bert Odom Reed and produced by Eric Harvey. We are grateful to Shawn E. Okpebholo and Rhiannon Giddens for permission to reproduce their music. Excerpts heard in this episode are from: Rhiannon Giddens, “At the Purchaser’s Option,” performed by Rhiannon Giddens from the album “Freedom Highway” (2017); Shawn E. Okpebholo, “The Rain” from “Two Black Churches” (poem by Marcus Amaker), performed by Will Liverman, baritone, and Paul Sánchez, piano from the album “Lord, How Come Me Here” (2022); and Shawn Okpebholo, “Oh, Freedom,” sung by Will Liverman, with Paul Sánchez (piano) from the album “Steal Away” (2014). 

Lucy Fitz Gibbon has recently taken a full-time position at Bard College and Conservatory.