The story of Rosa Parks – tired after a long day at work, refusing to move to the back of the bus to make room for a white passenger – is a foundational act of defiance in the history of the Civil Right Movement. But it was also part of a carefully crafted plan to desegregate buses in Montgomery, Alabama that was carried to fruition by a group of women whose names have not been spoken nearly enough.
A new opera is seeking to bring these women’s accomplishments to the forefront while making history in its own right. Commissioned by the American Lyric Theater, She Who Dared highlights the untold story of the Black women behind one of the most successful boycotts in American history, and the landmark federal court case Browder v. Gayle, which ruled that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional. The world premiere by Chicago Opera Theater on June 3 will feature an all-Black woman cast, and will make history as the first professionally produced opera in the U.S. created by a Black woman composer and a Black woman librettist.
Composer Jasmine Arielle Barnes and librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton’s artistic partnership has been incredibly fruitful since they met as participants in the American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP). They have worked together on several projects, including the short comedy opera On My Mind, which premiered last year as part of Opera Theater of Saint Louis’ New Works Collective. The idea to create She Who Dared came from a piece of Mouton family history: Mouton’s mother mentioned that they had a cousin who had refused to give up her seat on the bus before Rosa Parks. While the familial connection could not be fully confirmed, Mouton’s research led her to Aurelia Browder, the titular plaintiff in the landmark case.
Barnes explained in our recent interview that she and Mouton made an intentional creative decision to feature an all-Black woman cast to focus on the change-makers rather than those causing trauma. “We decided pretty early on, no, we’re not going to cast a white man just to be an aggressor,” she said. “In a lot of operas that address traumas, that is the case, where it’s like, we have to get someone to embody this danger. But we trusted the women enough to be able to embody those dangers and actually still get the full picture of exactly what they were going through.”
Because of this structural choice, She Who Dared is providing a more inclusive space for Black women artists. “After creating my first opera, I had a singer tell me, ‘in my 20-year history, I’ve never sat across from more than one person who looks like me behind the scenes,’” recalled Mouton. “So, we also wanted to create that experience for our singers: that they could leave the show and be like, man, that was so much fun and not, oh my gosh, that was another traumatic situation that happened within the classical genre.”
Barnes felt it was important to include the sounds of Black America from the time period in which the opera is set. “We’re talking a really, truly American story… I felt like all of my influences were from American music, which, in turn, of course, is Black music,” Barnes said. The score blends operatic singing with doo wop, the early buddings of the renowned Motown sound, and traditional gospel music, taking inspiration from the pivotal role of the Black church in the Civil Rights Movement. “There are some moments where they [the singers] can lean into other genres vocally,” Barnes explained. “I think it’s one of those shows that kind of could crossover pretty easily.”
While Black women were deeply involved in the fight for civil rights, their contributions are often understated, unsung, or miscredited. When conducting research for the opera, Barnes and Mouton had difficulty finding resources that gave the women behind the boycotts enough recognition for their work. “At Rosa’s feet, the statue of her that sits in the center of Montgomery, are the names of the women who fought in this case with no context,” Mouton shared. “That is literally how history has done. They sit at the feet of Rosa Parks, and they don’t have any information about them.”
Barnes and Mouton challenged themselves to reframe this narrative: to give these underrecognized women equal credit without taking anything away from Rosa Parks. “I think we often feel like if we level the playing field, it takes the shine away from one person,” Mouton explained. “What we’re saying is that the spotlight is big enough for all of them.”
In addition to Parks, the opera features Browder and her co-plaintiffs Claudette Colvin, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith as characters. There is also Jeanetta Reese, a co-plaintiff who dropped out due to segregationist intimidation. “If you look her up, you’re not going to find anything besides one sentence,” Mouton said. By including Reese’s story, the opera explores the perspective of someone who was a part of the movement, but was threatened into silence like so many others.
The tendency to idolize select individuals in a movement can make their progress seem kismet, like it was a serendipitous occurrence that they were destined for. In reality, movements are successful because of meticulous planning and hard work, and they aren’t without conflict. In bringing this project to life, a huge priority for Mouton was treating the characters as complex humans – not symbols. She asked herself: “How do I show all the colors and variations of class, of upbringing, of allegiance, of dissonance between these women that exist?” Mouton continued, “Just because you’re in a movement with the same people, don’t mean that you like all of them, right? That doesn’t mean that you always get along or you’ll always agree on the approach. That’s what we don’t talk about as much: you can have a common goal, but have a different path to want to get there.”
When Barnes and Mouton started this collaboration, they had no idea how apt the story would be at the time of its premiere. This groundbreaking work brings Black history and artistry to audiences at a time when access to this knowledge is under constant threat. In the past few months, arts and education institutions have shouldered budget cuts, harsh restrictions, and public vitriol from the current presidential administration for supporting diverse storytelling.
While many may feel jaded in the face of such a blatant attack on artistic and academic freedom, Barnes hopes that the opera will leave audiences feeling energized about their ability to enact change. “I think it’s really important to know that everyday people were working towards changing laws around them, and while they faced really immediate dangers, they came together as a community. That, to me, is just a really powerful message, and I think we capture that in this piece.”
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN is an editorially-independent program of the American Composers Forum, and is made possible thanks to generous donor and institutional support. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author and may not represent the views of ICIYL or ACF.
You can support the work of ICIYL with a tax-deductible gift to ACF. For more on ACF, visit composersforum.org.
