Black History

Opera and the African American – ‘Figaro Meets Frederick Douglass’

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Our artistry is vast, and can be used in many ways, but without funding for creating new stories with casting of old stories in collaboration with advertising and marketing, one might think Black people never existed or have a place to shine in opera, which causes another challenge.”

Published

8 years ago

January 12, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Among many other trailblazing accomplishments, W.E.B. Du Bois stood among the many African Americans who composed, sang, and otherwise reveled in opera.

In 1955, Marian Anderson broke the color barrier at the Met. Yes, Blacks in opera – it’s a thing.

Opera is as much a part of the African American as Rhythm & Blues. It just hasn’t always been as celebrated, according to historians.

Consider, 19th century black singers like Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield and Sissieretta Jones sang opera but reportedly gave recitals because the opera houses refused to hire them.

Black churches were performing Verdi’s Requiem with all-Black casts and musicians. Coretta Scott King attended the New England Conservatory, planning to be an opera singer, according to Hyperallergic, a web forum for serious, playful and radical thinking about art.

Officials at the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts – or CAAPA – said they’re dedicated to “Bringing Color to the Classics.” The organization advocates for diversity on the stage on behalf of Black classical musicians, youth and others in the performing arts.

Through the nonprofit organization’s newly formed International Outreach Program, CAAPA provides a vibrant musical experience, bringing culturally diverse performance opportunities to the community and underserved population while promoting Black classical musicians and others in the performing arts.

The International Outreach Program offers concerts, recitals, festivals, panels, workshops, exchanges, musical performances, and more. The program will also target diverse populations in elementary, middle and high schools, camps, youth programs, as well as adult audiences, including seniors.

Officials hope the program will help overcome the radical racial barriers that have long kept Blacks out of the opera. “Like any other professional field or industry, there is always racial bias. However, it has gotten moderately better in past years,” said Terri Allen, the executive director of CAAPA.

For instance, Allen said when CAAPA began in 2003, only 3 percent of all opera companies and symphony orchestras had main stage roles for Black musicians.

Today, that total has risen by almost 5 percent – much of it can be attributed to the work that CAAPA has done on behalf of Black classical musicians. “While overall, it has gotten better, these challenges allow us to continue creating spaces for ourselves to tell our stories, as well as other stories that may not always look like us, while adding our perspective and artistry along the side of our colleagues who are not Black,” Allen said.

CAAPA is very aggressive in this regard.

“We deliberately create performance opportunities for Blacks. For instance, this season’s performance roster includes programs such as, ‘Figaro Meets Frederick Douglass’; ‘Musical Tribute to Shirley Chisholm’; and ‘Cotton Field to Concert Hall,’” Allen said.

Among the continued challenges is recognition of the seemingly endless pool of Black talent.

“CAAPA would love to have Black artists be seen and provided with an opportunity to shine purely based on skill and talent with consideration for casting and being matched alongside any other artist regardless of skin color, height, or weight,” Allen said.

“Often times, it is not what you know, it is who you know, when chosen for an opera. In some cases, plots in opera require a distinct ethnicity of a character to help further tell the story and assist with visually displaying the obstacle, while other operas can be more daring in casting.”

Allen continued:

“One opera even [literally] states the ethnicity of its characters. Representation is important and educates many who believe that opera is not a place for a Black person while exposing the existence of Black people already in opera.

“Our artistry is vast, and can be used in many ways, but without funding for creating new stories with casting of old stories in collaboration with advertising and marketing, one might think Black people never existed or have a place to shine in opera, which causes another challenge.”

Another challenge remains funding, Allen added.

“Statistics show minority organizations generally receive less and lower amounts for grants, resulting in fewer program including Black musicians,” she said.

Still, the outlook remains positive for Blacks in opera.

In its “Bringing Color to the Classics” efforts, CAAPA’s mission is to make opera more acceptable and palatable to the Black community through various programs, Allen said.

“Opera is a vessel that isn’t used often to tell a story like other vessels including Musical Theater, Stage Play, and Movies,” she said. “At times it can be challenging for Black opera singers to stay in an art form that some folks don’t see as valuable – African Americans traditionally tend to gravitate toward R&B, Jazz, Pop, Blues, Hip Hop, and Gospel – thus disregarding Opera as a legitimate art form for the Black community.

“CAAPA strives to change that attitude. CAAPA believes the outlook is good and moving forward.”

To find out more CAAPA and its programs, visit www.4caapa.org

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Nuna Phillips-McKee Celebrates 100 Years: ‘A Century of Faith, Family and God’s Amazing Grace!’

OAKLAND POST — Nuna’s life has been one of Christian service. A longtime member of Wings of Love Maranatha Ministries, now Incredible Church, she serves as director of Community Services and is actively involved in the church’s Food Ministries.

Published

23 hours ago

September 14, 2026

Post News Group

Nuna Phillips-McGee, far right, will be celebrating her 100th birthday with sisters (l. to. r.) Donna Hayes, Ida Williams, Sandra Phillips and Enis Harrison. Photo by Carol Dossman.

By Special to The Post

Nuna Phillips-McKee will reach an extraordinary milestone on Sept. 24 —her 100th

birthday, marking a century filled with faith, family, service, laughter and the amazing grace of God.

Born Sept. 14, 1926, in Oakland, Nuna has witnessed a world of change during her lifetime, yet the values that have guided her remain constant: a deep faith in God, devotion to family, a strong work ethic and a heart for serving others.

She enjoyed a distinguished career as a civil servant for more than 40 years, demonstrating the dedication, dependability and strength that have characterized so much of her life.

Nuna’s life has been one of Christian service. A longtime member of Wings of Love Maranatha Ministries, now Incredible Church, she serves as director of Community Services and is actively involved in the church’s Food Ministries.

Through the years, she has continued to help meet the needs of others—not merely with food, but with kindness, compassion and a genuine desire to serve. Her ministry reflects a simple principle by which she lives: when God blesses you, you bless others.

Nuna is the proud mother of one son, whose memory she carries in her heart, and the beloved grandmother of three grandchildren, as well as six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

At 100, she has the rare blessing of seeing several generations of her family carrying forward a legacy that began long ago.

She remains the loving, intelligent, witty, and, when the occasion calls for it, delightfully sassy Nuna that her family and friends know so well. Her contagious laugh, quick wit and youthful spirit have endeared her to generations of relatives, church members and friends.

Nuna was born into the large and loving Phillips family of seven sisters and one brother, with bonds that formed in childhood and have remained precious throughout the decades. Their shared love, faith, and family traditions have continued to be a source of joy, strength and countless treasured memories.

As family and friends gather for this special occasion, they will celebrate far more than a number. They will celebrate 100 years of prayers prayed and answered; 100 years of lessons learned and wisdom shared; 100 years of family, faith, laughter and love; 100 years of serving God and serving others.

Most of all, they will celebrate a life that stands as a testimony to God’s faithfulness through every season.

Nuna’s century-long journey can be summed up in the words chosen to commemorate this remarkable occasion: “100 years of God’s amazing grace.”

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Black History

BOOK REVIEW — Curved Air: A Biography of Sickle Cell Anemia and the Quest to Cure the First Molecular Disease

OAKLAND POST — Over decades, researchers worked haphazardly. Papers were written, treatments were tried, used, or discarded. Doctors discovered that genetic testing could prevent new cases, a heartbreak for would-be parents. Researchers discovered that “a perfect storm” of confluence spread SCD: malaria, human population, and mosquitoes.

Published

1 day ago

September 14, 2026

Post News Group

By Kevin Davies

Copyright: c.2026, Publisher: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, SRP: $29.95, Page Count: 338 pages

Four weeks of testing, and you’re exhausted.

Two gallons of blood, maybe three, have been removed. No lie. You’ve laid on tables, slid through machines, been scanned so much you lost count and finally, your doctors have a diagnosis. As in the new book “Curved Air” by Kevin Davies, you have hope there’s a what next?

Though the disease was known in parts of Africa and likely existed here in the United States for hundreds of years, sickle cell disease (SCD) is a relative newcomer in disease research.

Says Davies, “Sickle cell was first identified more than 120 years ago” and it was considered as a “Black disease.” Because of that, discrimination followed “sickle cell warriors” and research was scant, though white people can and do get SCD.

With “agonizing” pain as a major symptom, “SCD is one of roughly seven thousand genetic diseases” currently known to science. When someone has SCD, a genetic mutation causes their red blood cells to curve and get stuck in blood vessels, rather than flowing freely as they should. This diminishes the oxygen supply “to various parts of the body… which causes inflammation and pain,” jaundice, stroke, and damaged organs. Anemia, Davies says, can leave a patient fatigued and short of breath. Anticipating pain crises causes anxiety and PTSD.

Says Davies, “More than forty million people carry” one copy of the genetic mutation that causes SCD, and “five hundred thousand affected” babies are born with the disease per year, worldwide.

Over decades, research was done haphazardly. Papers were written; treatments were tried, used, or discarded. Doctors discovered that genetic testing could prevent new cases, a heartbreak for would-be parents. Researchers discovered that “a perfect storm” of confluence spread SCD: malaria, human population, and mosquitoes.

There was always hope that someday, sickle cell disease might be cured.

Then, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) gene-editing therapy was approved by the FDA, and a brave volunteer named Victoria Gray stepped forward…

So, you want to – need to – learn more about sickle cell disease? Is it imperative for you? Then, this is your book. But there are things you’ll want to know before you dive into “Curved Air.”

Because author Kevin Davies is the editor of The CRISPR Journal, you can expect up-to-date, cutting-edge information; but that’s a two-sided coin: the information is heavy-duty, not always easy to grasp, and it’s burdened by acronyms that can be overwhelming. Yes, that’ll inform you, but it may also send you elsewhere for further understanding, which really should’ve come from this book.

And yet, if you or someone you love has SCD, this is your book. It explains where the disease came from, why it hasn’t been completely cured yet, and what kind of hope you can hold. It’s a good start on a path to comprehension.

Also, be aware that the narrative here is sometimes padded with journalistic fluff that might annoy you if you’re eager to get to the science. Indeed, “Curved Air” will teach you. Then again, it also might test you.

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Black History

Henry O. Flipper: A Trailblazer at West Point and Beyond

OAKLAND POST — Flipper’s promising military career ended abruptly in 1881 when he was accused of embezzling commissary funds. A court-martial acquitted him of embezzlement, but convicted him of conduct unbecoming of an officer. The Army dismissed him in 1882. The circumstances surrounding his punishment would later be widely regarded as unjust and influenced by the racial discrimination of the period.

Published

1 day ago

September 14, 2026

Post News Group

By Tamara Shiloh

Henry Ossian Flipper’s life is a remarkable story of insistence, achievement, injustice, and ultimately vindication. Born enslaved on March 21, 1856, in Thomasville, Georgia, Flipper rose from the restrictions of slavery to become the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. His accomplishments extended far beyond military service; he later became a respected engineer, surveyor, author, translator, and government official.

After the Civil War, Flipper’s family settled in Atlanta, where education became central to his future. He attended schools established for African American children by the American Missionary Association and later studied at Atlanta University. In 1873, Congressman James C. Freeman of Georgia nominated Flipper for admission to West Point. He entered the academy that July.

Flipper’s four years at West Point were extremely difficult. Because of racism, he experienced harassment and almost complete social isolation from many of his fellow cadets. Nevertheless, he succeeded academically and graduated on June 14, 1877, ranking 50th in a class of 76. His graduation represented a historic breakthrough for African Americans in the United States military.

Commissioned as a second lieutenant, Flipper was assigned to the 10th U.S. Cavalry, one of the famed African American regiments known as the Buffalo Soldiers. At Fort Sill in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, Flipper served as an engineer, surveyor, construction supervisor, quartermaster, and commissary officer. One of his most lasting engineering accomplishments was a drainage system that eliminated pools of stagnant water around the fort and helped reduce mosquito-breeding areas. The system became known as “Flipper’s Ditch,” and portions of it remain associated with Fort Sill today.

Flipper’s promising military career ended abruptly in 1881 when he was accused of embezzling commissary funds. A court-martial acquitted him of embezzlement, but convicted him of conduct unbecoming of an officer. The Army dismissed him in 1882. The circumstances surrounding his punishment would later be widely regarded as unjust and influenced by the racial discrimination of the period.

Rather than allowing his dismissal to define his life, Flipper built an extraordinary civilian career. He became a civil and mining engineer and surveyor, working extensively throughout the American Southwest and Mexico. He established an engineering office in Nogales, Arizona, became knowledgeable about Spanish and Mexican land law, and later worked for the federal government, including service connected with the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior.

Flipper died in Atlanta in 1940, but efforts to restore his reputation continued for decades. In 1976, the Army changed his dismissal to an honorable discharge. Then, on February 19, 1999, President Bill Clinton granted Flipper a posthumous presidential pardon.

Today, Henry Ossian Flipper is remembered because his life helped open doors for generations of African American military officers, engineers, and public servants who followed him.