EP 6 Marian Anderson: The Voice that Defied Jim Crow I Women and Resistance 🌍

In this episode of Women in Resistance, host Adesoji Iginla speaks with Aya Fubara Eneli Esq, who embodies the spirit of Marian Anderson, a pioneering African American singer who broke racial barriers in the music industry. 

The conversation delves into Anderson's early life, her struggles against Jim Crow laws, her experiences in Europe, and her significant contributions to civil rights through her art. 

The discussion highlights the importance of community, faith, and resilience in overcoming adversity, as well as the lasting impact of Anderson's legacy on future generations of artists.

Takeaways

*Marian Anderson's life exemplifies resilience against racial adversity.
*The importance of community support in artistic development.
*Jim Crow laws significantly impacted African American artists' careers.
*Anderson's performances were acts of resistance and empowerment.
*The role of faith and spirituality in overcoming challenges.
*Her experiences in Europe contrasted sharply with those in America.
*Anderson's legacy continues to inspire future generations of artists.
*The significance of the Lincoln Memorial concert in civil rights history.
*Marian Anderson broke barriers for African American performers in opera.
*Fear can hinder dreams, but perseverance leads to success.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Marian Anderson's Legacy
02:24 The Early Life of Marian Anderson
04:24  Challenges and Triumphs in Music
06:56  The Role of Family and Community
09:27  Overcoming Racial Barriers in Music
11:59  The Impact of Jim Crow on Performers
14:07  Personal Struggles and Resilience
16:32 The Journey to Europe and Recognition
19:10 The Influence of Religion and Culture
21:58 The Importance of Community Support
23:58 Breaking Barriers in the Music Industry
31:01 The Journey of Love and Career
33:07 Perseverance in the Face of Adversity
33:52  The Artistic Migration to Europe
36:17  Recognition and Success in Europe
38:46  Returning to a Divided America
40:55 Defiance Through Art and Activism
42:10 The Fight for Equality in Performance Venues
44:02 A Historic Concert at the Lincoln Memorial
47:50 Breaking Barriers at the Metropolitan Opera
50:12 A Life of Love and Resistance
52:37 Global Solidarity and Recognition
55:02 Reflections on Life and Legacy

Welcome  to Women and Resistance, a powerful podcast where we honour the courage, resilience, and revolutionary spirit of women across the globe. Hosted by Aya Fubara Eneli Esq and Adesoji Iginla...

You're listening to Women and Resistance with Aya Fubara Eneli Esq and Adesoji Iginla—where we honour the voices of women who have shaped history through courage and defiance...Now, back to the conversation.

That’s it for this episode of Women and Resistance. Thank you for joining us in amplifying the voices of women who challenge injustice and change the course of history. Be sure to subscribe, share, and continue the conversation. Together We Honour the past, act in the present, and shape the future. Until next time, stay inspired and stay in resistance!

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:01.422)
Greetings, greetings, and welcome to another episode of Women and Resistance. I am your host, Adesuji Igilla, and with me today we're joined by Sister Aya Fubara Eneli Esquire, who would help us understand the life and times of Maria Anderson. And for those who are joining us for the first time, Miss Eneli would be

embodying the life and times of Marian Anderson, who is the subject of our discussion tonight. So welcome, Miss Anderson.

Aya Fubara Eneli (00:44.924)
Thank you.

Adesoji Iginla (00:47.17)
Yes, you are considered the voice that defied Jim Crow. Could you take us back to who is Marian Anderson?

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:02.714)
Well, good evening everyone and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening.

or whenever it is that you happen to be watching this.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:19.952)
You know, when I received your invitation, I really did ponder it for a while.

having perused the other women that you have, spoken with. I wasn't so certain that I should be counted in their company as

Adesoji Iginla (01:46.582)
humility, yeah?

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:48.668)
a woman.

who really committed my life to resisting. You know, I bore no weapons in that traditional sense.

Adesoji Iginla (02:02.082)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (02:04.684)
And I really did have to think about it to consider my life on this earth and in ways, and in the ways that that life could have embodied a sense of resistance.

And you know I lived to be 96 years. So I lived almost a century and saw a great deal of change in my lifetime and yet still not enough change.

Adesoji Iginla (02:43.235)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (02:45.428)
And so I really had to think about, well, what would I share with you and your audience today? We certainly don't have the time to cover 96 years and the breadth and depth of my life and my experiences. So I would hope that during our time together, I can highlight a few things and

I think what might be more beneficial is to share some of my philosophy, the things that guided me on my sojourn in the hopes that

Adesoji Iginla (03:26.702)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (03:30.904)
They provide some guidance as well for your listeners. And I want to thank them so very kindly for joining us today as a performer for a great deal of my life. I recall a particular performance where I was so excited to be asked to perform in this arena.

And I was made to believe that it was going to be packed to the rafters. And you know, I was at that point, of course, considered a Negro and not at all what people, well, let me rephrase, what white people would consider the face of opera by any stretch of the imagination.

And I remember preparing so intensely and being so excited for this opportunity only to walk out on the stage. And I think I would be generous to say that the hall was maybe about a third filled. And I just, in that moment, felt so many of my hopes and my dreams and aspirations just

fall like a cloak off my shoulders and fall to the ground and gather around my feet. And

It was a moment that really made me rethink whether I could really have a career as a singer.

Aya Fubara Eneli (05:23.204)
or whether I should find another profession. And my dear mother, Annie Delilah Rucker Anderson.

great woman of faith. She said,

You cannot go through life thinking that you are going to please everybody or everyone would be pleased with or for you. You cannot let that be the thing that defines your life.

But let me go back, I suppose. For I did not just suddenly appear on the landscape of the world. I was birthed into this like all of us are. And I must call on the name of my dear, dear father, my papa, John Berkley Anderson. He was born in Virginia.

Adesoji Iginla (06:01.784)
beginning.

Aya Fubara Eneli (06:27.842)
a really handsome man to look at, very, very tall. I remember on one occasion as he was getting dressed and my mother was helping him with his tie. And I recall him saying, well, Annie, you may need to stand on the newspapers.

so that she could be tall enough to reach to assist him because my mother was rather small, short in stature.

Aya Fubara Eneli (07:01.51)
But my father was a man who worked at whatever job he could find as a black man. Jobs were hard to come by for people of the Negro race. And he was a loader at the reading terminal market, but he would also sell coal and sell ice to support our family. He and my mother married.

and they had three, us three girls, myself and my two younger sisters. And they eventually moved to Philadelphia, which has a long and storied history in terms of the Negro people in the United States of America. You know, you had freed,

Adesoji Iginla (07:48.78)
history.

Aya Fubara Eneli (08:00.412)
African Americans as we are called now, who were educated and had great sources of income and unfortunately you also have the masses of us who were struggling to make ends meet. And there were tensions between the white immigrants and

the black people, the Negroes, who've gone by so many names in my lifetime, we've been colored, we've been people of color, we've been colored persons, we've been Negro, we've been black, we've been black Americans, we've been Afro-Americans, we've been African-Americans. I've seen every iteration.

I suppose that in my earlier years, we even just called ourselves Africans in some places. But that would be another conversation for another time to talk about evolution, if you will, and the question, what's in a name, you might ask. I was born in February 27, 1987.

Adesoji Iginla (08:56.472)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (09:19.388)
in South Philadelphia, in 1897, course, 1897, in South Philadelphia. And ours was a close-knit community of Black families and churches. Oh my goodness, the churches were the center of everything, of Negro life at that time. We had our socials at the churches. We had our dinners at the churches.

Adesoji Iginla (09:19.662)
1887.

Aya Fubara Eneli (09:47.869)
Of course we had church at the churches. Sundays were definitely set aside for all day you were in the church. You went in the morning and we had a little break and we were back in the evening. And it was not a wealthy world, but it was rich. It was, my world was rich in gospel and rich in community and rich in traditions and rich in the sense that we belonged to each other.

Adesoji Iginla (10:06.102)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (10:18.712)
And so when I began to sing as a little girl in the church, know, first, you know, just my mother having me in the children's choir and my aunt Mary, my aunt Mary, who had such a profound impact on my life, began taking me to her choir rehearsals. And, you know, they started to call me baby control toll. And I recall a time

Adesoji Iginla (10:44.034)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (10:48.326)
When I was on my way home and I saw this leaflet and I picked it up and lo and behold, there was a picture of me and my name. It was the first time I had seen my picture and my name and it was an invitation for the community to come and hear Baby Contralto sing and they had me listed as 10 years old, but I was actually just eight.

And you know, my father, he was...

He worked in the church as well and he was an officer in the church. And one of my fondest memories was hearing my father just hum as he went about his day. He had just this deep, un-beautiful voice and he would hum. He didn't sing in the choir, that was Aunt Mary who did, but I suppose that I came about my...

ability to sing quite honestly. And my sister's names were Elise and Ethel. And we had a great faith in my father, my mother raised us with this sense of dignity. You know, my mother had gotten her certificate to teach when they still lived in Virginia.

But in Philadelphia, she could not teach because Philadelphia would not recognize the teaching certificate of a Negro woman. And so my mother cleaned homes as a way to also assist with the family. But you know.

Aya Fubara Eneli (12:46.374)
While those early years certainly provided a great deal of stability for me, that was soon to be shattered as my father met a quite unfortunate death when I was just 12 years old. He was out working and he was hit in the head by some object.

It was some stone of some type. And I suppose he may have survived had he gotten immediate medical care, but that was not available to him. And by the time he received the care he needed, he soon perished. And my goodness, did that throw the family into turmoil. We simply did not have

enough to live on. And my grandmother, my father's mother, my maternal mother, she was quite stern and very strong in her ways of being, if you will. And we moved into her home, my mother and myself and my two sisters. And...

Adesoji Iginla (13:51.608)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (14:13.766)
We had a hard time making ends meet and my mother wanted to return with us to Virginia where she could at least get back to teaching and be able to provide for us. And my grandmother would have none of that, none of that at all. And she insisted that my mother go to work as a domestic and do whatever it took to assist with the family.

And my mother did. She did. And I struggled to stay in school because the finances just weren't there. And so from time to time, I did drop out. And I too worked as a domestic to assist with the family finances. But all through it all, my Aunt Mary would take me by the hand and would take me. And I stopped singing with the junior choir and as a still very young

teenager, I was now singing with the adult choir, but she just really believed in my talent and so did every member of my family. And so I was always encouraged to continue to sing. I was recognized as having a quite extraordinary voice. And I was very grateful for the support.

that I had at that time. I sang not just because I loved to sing, but something in me needed to sing. And I would sing all over the world for many decades of my life. I got the opportunity, I was invited to sing in Boston.

Adesoji Iginla (15:57.432)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (16:10.204)
And when I arrived, Bobby King, a name you all should know, actually whispered in my ear and he said, I will accompany you. And I was just thrilled beyond belief. And after a series of performances, a very distinguished and well-known voice teacher, vocal teacher, coach,

invited me to come on as one of his students and in return for his coaching services, I would serve as a maid for him. I was thrilled beyond belief and I shared this news on my return with my family and my grandma said,

That simply was not going to happen. You will not go and be a maid for this man in order for him to coach you. And so there it was. But I came again, like I said, from, I am going on and on. Was there something else you wanted to ask me?

Adesoji Iginla (17:27.842)
No, I was going to ask you when you said the mother trained as a teacher only to end up as a maid. What was that like for your mom?

Aya Fubara Eneli (17:35.142)
Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (17:42.493)
you know in my book, My Lord, What a Morning, this is a copy of that book. This is a first edition of it actually. And I have a chapter dedicated just to my mother. You know, my mother worked as a maid for many, most of her years really. And then eventually she worked at this.

Adesoji Iginla (17:52.664)
Wow.

Adesoji Iginla (18:00.663)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (18:10.882)
store called Wanna Maker and they worked her something really fierce. I remember one time stopping into the store with my sister and my mother was so hard at work, so engrossed in these endless tasks that were put on her shoulders that although

My sister and I were there for quite some time. She never even looked up from her work, never even noticed we were there. It was one of my greatest joys in life. At a time when my mother was ill and I had called a doctor to check on her and I said, mom, you, mother, mother, you simply cannot go in. And as I contemplated it, I said, she simply does not have

Adesoji Iginla (18:46.35)
you

Aya Fubara Eneli (19:07.866)
to go back in. And it was with quite some glee that I picked up the phone and called the supervisor, Antoine Mika, and I said,

Mrs. Annie Anderson will not be coming back to work because I was now at a place where I earned enough that I help my mother, assist my mother, and that I did with so much joy at the opportunity that I had to finally give something back. But I tell you something that was the thrill of my life.

Adesoji Iginla (19:27.63)
Hmm

Aya Fubara Eneli (19:51.383)
and I realize for your audience I might be jumping around but forgive an old woman. There's so much of my life and I cannot possibly condense it into this time frame so follow along as you can and of course I left my biography there are so many documentaries about me and other books that have been written so don't let your

Adesoji Iginla (20:15.0)
Sound that, yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (20:20.368)
This time that we spent together, be your only time that you spend with me. I always adored audiences and I definitely adore you being here too. And so I was in Europe. I had been in Europe for quite some time. Cause you know, and I will share a little bit about that, performing in the United States of America, presented quite a few challenges.

for those of us consider it Negro at the time. And I asked my mother, is there anything that you desire that you have not yet had an opportunity to do? And my mother was a reader and...

Aya Fubara Eneli (21:14.338)
We had a discussion about her coming to visit me in Europe.

Adesoji Iginla (21:21.486)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (21:21.936)
But she was much more advanced in age at the time. And so I reached out to Bobby King, who had accompanied me for many years as I performed in the United States. And I reached out to him and I said, would you be so kind? Haven't had him as a companion when I traveled in the United States because, it would have been something fearsome for a young woman, a young Negro woman.

to travel to the places where I performed in those days. So he was my companion and of course accompanied me on piano as well, much to the chagrin of a man that I will talk to you more about, the love of my life, Orpheus. And Bobby, I knew was, you know, had some interest in me, but I was committed to Orpheus.

Adesoji Iginla (21:59.629)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (22:03.854)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (22:20.54)
And, you know, Ophius would write and he would say, I hope he is conducting himself properly. I hope that he is only serving in the role of my travel companion and my accompanist during my performances. And indeed he was, but he did desire something more, but that was not to be. But I reached out to Bobby King and I asked if he would.

Adesoji Iginla (22:27.586)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (22:50.844)
accompany my mother to Europe. And I said, of course, I would cover all of your expenses and it would just be you just assisting her and making sure that she got here safely and returned safely. And I am eternally grateful that he said yes, because what a wonderful experience it was to meet my mother.

Adesoji Iginla (22:51.118)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (23:19.246)
as she arrived in Europe and I was able to take her to the Louvre and she was seeing things that she had only studied in books and never knew that she would experience herself. So back to the question you asked me it seems like so long ago. What was it like to see my mother serve as a maid? A role that I played as well.

Adesoji Iginla (23:30.21)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (23:48.423)
from time to time, you know that I did not graduate from high school till I was 24 years old because I frequently had to drop out of school to help out with the family finances. But at any rate, it hurt my heart. know, traveling with Bobby across the expanse of the United States.

Adesoji Iginla (23:56.322)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (24:16.38)
There were times when I was terrified. I just knew we were going to be accosted by those just gruesome, those fearsome night riders. It never happened, but I did live in fear. And when we would be forced to go on the Jim Crow coaches, I would observe my fellow black people and I...

Adesoji Iginla (24:43.64)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (24:44.944)
would recognize that some were simply resigned to our fate, as it were. Some were deeply embarrassed and ashamed to constantly be, you know, have our dignity questioned in the attempts to strip us of any sense of our humanity. And so it ran the gamut, but you could not escape at that time.

Jim Crow or the ways that it restricted and impacted our lives. so seeing my mother in that station of life was certainly worrisome. know, prejudice was this thing that it's like, you ever had a string of hair that is in your face and you're trying to flip it away and sometimes you

can't quite touch it, but you can feel it and it's getting in your eye. And prejudice and racism in America was just this ever-present thing. And so I wanted better for her. She wanted better for herself. But we lived in our times. But you know, it wasn't just my mother. It was me. I was shut out from many places that I could have performed.

Adesoji Iginla (25:44.238)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (26:07.214)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (26:10.096)
and there were places where they would want me to go in only through the kitchen, through the colored section. There were many times when I would perform the exact same songs, first for an all white audience, and then the same performance, but now for an all black audience, all in the same day. But going back to my childhood, because it's important,

Adesoji Iginla (26:33.165)
Wow.

Aya Fubara Eneli (26:37.956)
to center community. I must speak of the Union Baptist Church on Fitzwater Street because that was one of my earliest sanctuaries. It was at this church that I first discovered the power of congregational music, the role of voice in lifting and liberating oppressed people in communities and the expectation

that I always hoped to embody that excellence in and of itself is a form of service. It was ingrained in us that regardless of the unfortunate circumstances that may be forced on us in Jim Crow America,

We must always present ourselves in excellence with a sense of composure and dignity not tied to our station or the audience we might receive. You see, you had to know who you were within yourself.

And so excellence for me was always a form of service, something that was modeled for me at Union Baptist Church. And so by age 10, like I said, but really by eight, I was singing solos. By 13, I was leading the junior choir at our church. And by 18, the church was raising money to send me to professional vocal training.

Because you know, although they were really reputable schools in Philadelphia, music schools, they would not admit black students. Of course, this was not just my experience. I believe you spoke to the great Nina Simone, whom herself was barred from pursuing

Adesoji Iginla (28:57.4)
Simone, yeah?

Aya Fubara Eneli (29:03.078)
her God-given talent in these institutions simply because of the color of her skin. You know, unfortunately.

Adesoji Iginla (29:10.798)
That's black.

Aya Fubara Eneli (29:20.324)
And I pause here, very intentionally. Of course, part of my training as an opera singer, we are after all very dramatic beings, wouldn't you say? But I paused just then.

Adesoji Iginla (29:32.044)
That's it. Yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli (29:53.553)
The remembrance of the rejection that seemed to be the lot of Negro people, Black people, Afro-Americans, colored people, whatever we called ourselves, rejection was a recurring theme. Rejection from the nation that we had built and sought to

exercise our full citizenship in, but I tell you where we did not reject ourselves, at least back then, not within our communities, for you understand my church and many other churches would take up collections simply to ensure, as they would say, that our Marion got

the training she needed. I belonged to the community and the community belonged to me. Do we still cultivate those kind of deep ties? sense of do we today young man, do we?

Adesoji Iginla (30:52.494)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (30:58.402)
to you.

Adesoji Iginla (31:05.134)
There's an element of it. I mean, there are elements of it, but it's somewhat lacking in general sense of it.

Aya Fubara Eneli (31:15.28)
would love to hear from your audience. Do we? Do you feel that sense of we belong to each other? I was much older, much more advanced in age when I heard this proverb they said, Ubuntu.

Adesoji Iginla (31:34.658)
Yeah, because of you.

Aya Fubara Eneli (31:36.603)
Yes, I am because we are and because we are I am. And we, whether we had that straight line connection to our African philosophies, nonetheless lived them, wouldn't you say? So yes, rejection was a recurring theme from the outside world. We accept

Adesoji Iginla (31:57.154)
We did.

Aya Fubara Eneli (32:06.46)
and embraced and supported ourselves within our own world. And let me tell you, that would become the basis of our resistance. Yes, yes, yes. And so in terms of my education, I attended the Stanton Grammar School. I attended the South Philadelphia High School for Girls. And I later had a...

Adesoji Iginla (32:19.138)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (32:36.206)
wonderful and really life-changing opportunity to study privately with Gusep Boghetti, who helped train my voice, and Agnes Riefsneider, both who were prominent voice teachers of their time. Again, I attempted to enter the Philadelphia Music Academy

and I was denied solely because I was black. It would not be the first nor the last time. But that is not what defines who I am and my legacy.

never stopped showing up in spaces that did not want me and eventually would be one who broke the barrier for many others even as there were others who came before me and opened doors for me as well. In fact, the first time I performed for the NAACP it was because of a door opened

me by another great, in fact I would say he was the leading opera black singer at the time who sang in German no less. By the late 1910s I was performing at community events, benefits and small recitals but my breakthrough, my breakthrough occurred at 28 in 1925.

when under the training of Giuseppe Boggetti, I won a contest sponsored by the New York Philharmonic. Out of hundreds of applicants, my contralto voice, deep as they would describe it, velvety, and I certainly agree with that, solemn and resonant.

Adesoji Iginla (34:37.006)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (34:53.956)
took me right to the top.

Aya Fubara Eneli (35:00.346)
This led to my debut with the Philharmonic at the Louishawn Stadium and of course, again, battling the reception from some. But the critics did rave and the audiences who came to hear this black young woman were certainly stunned. But that does not mean that the doors were flung open to me.

by any stretch of the imagination, the whites, the wealthy, the elitist, they continued to gatekeep. It was clear that America was not for me. There are a series of events that took place, if I could share this with you and your audience, that almost led to me not being the woman that you know of and the woman that you have invited to speak with you.

Adesoji Iginla (35:49.324)
Please do.

Aya Fubara Eneli (35:59.517)
It was the year 1924, right before this breakthrough that I had told you about. And my dear Aunt Mary went to be with the Lord. She had been such a staunch supporter of me, accompanying me, ensuring that no harm came to me. And when she passed on, it was a very great blow to my spirit.

Adesoji Iginla (36:14.936)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (36:29.404)
It was also around this time that I had that very humiliating experience of singing to an almost empty hall. And there was yet another one. And for those of you who've ever been in love, you might particularly know what this feels like.

Adesoji Iginla (36:39.424)
empty.

Aya Fubara Eneli (36:52.896)
I had met a young man when I was just 18 years old and he was 15. He was so light skinned he could have passed for white. I was performing at their home and I recall about to walk in and he was this tall, very good looking young man and he put his arm across the doorway, preventing my

entrance.

young man and we did strike up a conversation and when I finally was allowed to get into the room I saw yet another young man not quite as tall in stature but clearly cheering features with the first one I had met and from time to time this younger man would come that well not younger but this

Adesoji Iginla (37:46.636)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (37:54.031)
Other men would come and visit me and at one time the two brothers, we were in each other's company and the taller one brushed my shoulder with his hand and surreptitiously he gave me a note which I read later and he said, this thing with my brother in you must

Adesoji Iginla (38:12.206)
I'm gonna teach this to me, yeah?

Aya Fubara Eneli (38:23.767)
end.

That began our courtship over many years and he did ask for my hand in marriage. He asked for us to elope. And at this time I had started, I should, okay, I'm so excited about telling you these stories. So he did ask for my hand in marriage, but I had started my singing career. And when I contemplated marriage, it occurred to me that

If I got married, I would be expected to settle down in the ways that are the custom for married couples. And I would not be able to continue with my singing career. And so I turned him down at the time. Well, in 1924, the same year my Aunt Mary died, wouldn't you know that this young man

went ahead with his life and he married and he married a white woman and he was passing for white at the time.

and it was quite a blow. And I share this because there may be some of you who experience such a

Aya Fubara Eneli (39:54.053)
a downtime in your lives that if you let it consume you, it may take you off of what could have been the trajectory of your life. It can take you off from answering your calling.

Aya Fubara Eneli (40:11.876)
And it took me a while to get back that feeling of I want to sing. But the very next year in 1925 was when I had that breakthrough, when I won that contest by the New York Philharmonic. So you must persevere. You must persevere even when it looks so dark and gloomy and all seems to be lost.

and so

As my career continued, it became clear that United States of America was not going to be the place and Europe beckoned. And so I traveled to Europe in the early 1930s. And I must tell you that I was in Europe, that my artistry fully blossomed. Have any of you or your listeners ever been to Europe? Have you ever been able to?

contrasted with the experience of Negro life in the United States of America, I would be curious to know.

Adesoji Iginla (41:25.742)
I mean, that would also lead to the question that why is it that Black artists from the United States have to move to Europe in order to enhance their careers?

Aya Fubara Eneli (41:40.518)
Mmm, I can think of...

Adesoji Iginla (41:43.864)
Tims Baldwin, Nina Simone.

Aya Fubara Eneli (41:44.357)
And yes, Nina Simone, Josephine Baker, Paul Robeson, the list goes on, absolutely. Well, I think that we can lay it squarely at the feet of Jim and Jane Crow.

Adesoji Iginla (42:03.596)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (42:06.448)
but to go a little further.

Hmm, lay it at the feet of a very deep rooted fear.

that it appears white America has that causes them to do everything within their power to limit opportunities for people of the Negro race to be fully themselves. Perhaps a fear that

Aya Fubara Eneli (42:50.05)
If they were not the barriers, we may prove not just to be more because we did that all the time and we did not do it to prove anything to them. As I said, we were an excellent people, we are an excellent people, but that it might prove to them that we are not what they say. And furthermore, may reveal.

Adesoji Iginla (43:16.942)
you

Aya Fubara Eneli (43:19.226)
that they are not all they say they are.

Adesoji Iginla (43:21.752)
Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (43:27.746)
But in Europe, I studied languages. Italian and French and German and...

I expanded my repertoire. Now understand my repertoire always included the spirituals. Whatever else I sang, I would also always sing the songs on which I was nurtured, so to speak. And I performed in prestigious venues across Scandinavia, Russia,

and Central Europe.

And I will tell you about my experience and when you say, why is it that black artists had to flee the United States?

The great, her name escapes me now. and I hate to call her in relation to a man because she was her own self, but you know her, Hazel Scott. The great Hazel Scott, who could play two pianos at the same time, better than most people could play one, had to leave the United States as well to find a career. But in Europe.

Adesoji Iginla (44:40.012)
At the same time.

Aya Fubara Eneli (44:53.05)
We were not forced to enter through back doors. We were not confined to Negro programs. We were not compared to just a social novelty. Now don't get me wrong, there were, there were, there would always be these elements who were intrigued by what they would, I suppose, term our exoticism.

But I feel my experience was that in Europe, I was allowed to just be an artist, to be a human being, to not always be constrained or confined or defined by the color of my skin. Now that wasn't 100 % the case, you know. There were times and places where there was unrest.

Adesoji Iginla (45:48.59)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (45:53.341)
particularly as fascism began to, yes, in Europe. But I was simply recognized as a great and talented artist, and I deeply appreciated that. Now, my success across Europe caught the attention of conductor Arturo Toscanini.

Adesoji Iginla (45:59.832)
secret.

Aya Fubara Eneli (46:21.944)
And he said these words, a voice like yours is heard once in a hundred years. I would never call him a prophet, but I did live to be almost a hundred years. And in 1935, I gave a wildly successful concert in Salzburg.

and in 1936 in Austria. And some of you, or maybe, let's see, what would be a reference that some may know of? The Sound of Music. Remember the issue with Austria and the fictional Von Trapp family. But you could see even from that movie, the role that concerts and musical contests even.

Adesoji Iginla (47:02.158)
And then it's really interesting.

Adesoji Iginla (47:10.382)
One minute, yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (47:21.052)
played in that area. And in 1936, I performed for the rooftop concerts before King Gustav V of Sweden.

Adesoji Iginla (47:21.304)
Please.

Aya Fubara Eneli (47:36.444)
Europe validated my brilliance. They paid me well too. But home, home was still the United States of America and home would always test my courage.

Aya Fubara Eneli (48:02.012)
I was still on a trip in Europe.

when I received a letter from Orpheus informing me in so many words that he would soon be a free man again. I suppose his marriage had not worked out. We had kept up correspondence and he wondered when I would be returning and he hoped I would make it back for Christmas. And yes, I did land back in the United States of America just the day before Christmas.

It was a triumphant return, but also one that would test my ability to resist. Because again, returning in the late 1930s to the United States of America, I was not shielded from racial discrimination. My mother was still working for someone else, and I was denied hotel rooms.

I was refused service, I was barred from certain concert halls, and I was expected, yet again, to navigate through kitchens instead of front doors. How is it that my talent is enough for you to pay money to come and see me, but I am not allowed to come in through the same doors as you? But my excellence

was my defiance and my dignity I wore for myself, but also to show that I could never be dehumanized just because they were not acting as humans. And my grace was certainly a weapon. I was not known for fiery speeches or for...

Aya Fubara Eneli (50:07.12)
picket lines in the such, but I did sing in 1963 at the faint march on Washington. And my voice drew multiracial audiences at a time when the country was still segregated. and that made a lot of institutions nervous.

It also landed me in the hot seat with the NAACP. I, at the time, bought into a notion of vertical segregation. I will explain.

Adesoji Iginla (50:40.814)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (50:56.262)
I would be in a concert hall and there would be a line and to one side of the line the white people would watch and applaud and enjoy my talent and on the other side of the line the black people the Negroes but the two could not mix well the NAACP had about enough of that and they picketed one of

concerts. And I was so embarrassed.

was made by my community. I belong to my community and my community belongs to me. In fact, during the war effort, when I would go and sing to troops, I always made it a point to have some extra time with the colored troops, as they were called at the time, because I belong to my community and my community.

belongs to me. In 1936, Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband actually invited me to come and sing in the White House, again, much to the dismay of many racists across the country.

Adesoji Iginla (52:03.0)
to you.

Aya Fubara Eneli (52:24.309)
I was supposed to sing at Howard University in 1939.

we realized that that space was rather too small. And so...

Aya Fubara Eneli (52:40.55)
The organizers reached out to see if perhaps I could perform at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. This was a venue that was operated and controlled by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

that DAR enforced a white performance only rule. These daughters of the American Revolution, also the ones behind all of these Confederate statues and monuments that started to pop up all across the United States of America decades after the Civil War had been fought and we thought, one.

Adesoji Iginla (53:28.046)
you

Aya Fubara Eneli (53:28.322)
So of course, they denied me performing at Constitutional Hall.

Aya Fubara Eneli (53:38.594)
after all of these years and all of the fame and all of the audiences kings and queens I had performed for. And here come these people.

Aya Fubara Eneli (53:53.753)
Now this humiliation as they thought, this racial humiliation, I suppose they thought could have ended my career. But I'm telling you about these moments that feel like all is lost. That if you just resist and persevere, turn into moments that change your life for the better. First Lady,

Eleanor Roosevelt, who I must say was quite the friend to many black people, colored people, Negroes, much to the dismay again of some in the circles in which she naturally walked.

Adesoji Iginla (54:42.452)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (54:44.216)
resigned from the DAR in protest. Hmm. For those who would consider themselves our allies. Perhaps it behooves you to study the life of Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a friend to us and she frequently took measures and took stands that could have

created and did create some discomfort for her. Well, that did not sway those daughters of the American Revolution. The Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickx, worked with the NAACP and Howard University to create an alternative, they said.

Adesoji Iginla (55:17.516)
on confidence in husband.

Aya Fubara Eneli (55:39.997)
How about an open air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial? Now imagine this. There are logistical issues here. When you sing in a venue and you're an operatic singer, you understand the acoustics. What happens in an open air concert? Well, on Easter Sunday, April 9th, 1939,

Adesoji Iginla (55:44.301)
Lincoln Memorial.

Adesoji Iginla (56:04.064)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (56:10.734)
not a very warm day either, consider the impact that has on the vocal cords of a singer. I stood up proud and as tall as I could be, wrapped in what black women understand to be a sign of our dignity in those times you had to have a fur coat.

Adesoji Iginla (56:16.052)
The local codes. Yes, yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (56:40.42)
Don't talk to Aretha Franklin about her fur coats, but wrapped in my fur coat.

I sang before 75,000 people.

Aya Fubara Eneli (56:58.876)
The Hall was too small. The place they wanted to keep me out of allowed me not only to showcase my gift and elevate my community in front of an audience of 75,000, but guess what else? Millions more listened to me

on the radio. This was 1939. I believe today you young people call it, my nephew said, streams. And you are excited when you get to the streams. And I'm telling your audience, get this man his 2000 subscriptions. We already had accomplished a lot more in 1939.

Adesoji Iginla (57:40.398)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (57:55.597)
Surely you can get the 2,000 subscriptions. That is what you're aiming for this month, right? And I sang my country, Tis of Thee, not as a concession to patriotism, but as a challenge to our nation's injustice.

Adesoji Iginla (57:55.63)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (58:02.67)
Correct, correct, correct, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (58:20.142)
.

Aya Fubara Eneli (58:22.928)
essentially said, maybe I didn't need to, whether you like it or not, I too am America, maybe even more so America.

Adesoji Iginla (58:36.312)
in 1939.

Aya Fubara Eneli (58:38.94)
So, let me quickly run through some other things. I would go on to break the racial barrier at the Metropolitan Opera, becoming the first black singer to perform there in 1955. I was almost 60 years old. Certainly not a time or an age when you consider yourself doing something for the first time.

So also don't let age limit you. I certainly in terms of my resistance did everything within my power to support younger artists, to write them letters of introduction, inspiring singers like Jesse Norman and Kathleen Battle and the incomparable Leontine Price. And not all while.

Adesoji Iginla (59:07.96)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (59:37.213)
I believed that I could be at the apex of my career, of anyone's career as a singer and still live with humility. Do you know that in 1941, I earned $175,000?

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:00:04.388)
I believe today that would be the equivalent of 3.5 million. I was on the road quite a bit.

The racial rejection, the humiliation that they tried to impose on us never dissipated. I attempted to check into a hotel, the Nassau Hotel, and I was rejected. Albert Einstein heard about this rejection, and he rushed to my location, and he offered me to stay at his home.

And for the next 18 years, any time I went to perform in that area, I stayed at Albert Einstein's home. I bet you did not know that about him.

I should tell you, going back to the great love of my life, Orpheus Kingfisher. In 1943, when I was at the ripe old age or young age of 46, I married Orpheus Kingfisher, my childhood friend who was now an architect and a builder.

We had no biological children together, but we lived together until he passed away in 1986. We had 43 wonderful years together. Orpheus built me my sanctuary. We found this beautiful land in Connecticut and Orpheus, who I told you

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:44.711)
Too late.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:01:58.013)
could pass and had passed at one point for white, was the one who went to purchase the property, even though a large amount of my resources were really what was going to help fund the purchase of the property. Well, they accepted the deal until they found out, he's married to Marian Anderson.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:21.813)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:02:26.936)
And so what they did then was they now came back and said, we cannot sell you the land as we had previously agreed to because whoever buys this land actually has to buy a hundred acres. And I suppose they thought that would be too much and we couldn't afford it. They were concerned that if he moved there with his

colored white that it would bring down the property values of the farms of the white people in the area. We paid for the hundred acres and we built our farm, Marion's Farm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:00.173)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:03:21.584)
Like I said, we did not have any biological children, but I had the love of the children of my sisters. And in my latter years, after my dear Orpheus died, by the way, there have been stage performances of the love letters between Orpheus and I. You should check them out. I don't know if you young people write letters anymore. Do you?

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:49.13)
No, we're sending.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:03:49.98)
pour yourself out and just express your hearts and words? Do you still do that?

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:56.682)
No, do DMs now.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:03:59.037)
you are missing out on an incredible form of courtship. There is nothing as heartwarming as snuggling in the covers and reading the words of a loved one.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:13.452)
Yeah, DMs. We do DMs now.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:04:17.628)
You call that DMs? What is a DM?

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:20.834)
direct message.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:04:23.962)
and T and I write O.

Okay, for another time. All right, now I...

showed my resistance in a number of other ways as well. Some may know that I worked with a China relief that Paul Robeson was very instrumental in heralding and supporting, but he was not allowed to perform. And so I performed and gave voice. And in doing that,

Both Robeson and I recognized the oppression of black people in the US, and we recognized the occupation of China. We recognized the colonial rule in Africa, and we recognized the fascism in Europe, and we saw that all of these things were intertwined. And if we were going to fight against one, we needed to fight against others. All. And you know China supported black Americans in return. Their newspapers covered the

covered me and Paul Robeson with great admiration. Chinese students invited us to perform and Chinese leaders publicly thanked black Americans for our solidarity. There were many honors, I will not go through all of them, but I did get the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963. I did sing at the inaugurations of Dwight Eisenhower and also

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:06:02.018)
John F. Kennedy. I received the United Nations Peace Prize in 1977, the Congressional Gold Medal in 1977. I received a Kennedy Center honor before it was violated in the way that it is being violated by someone that I cannot believe you all elected as your president. But I received that honor in 1978.

I received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991 and honorary degrees, doctorate degrees from more than 2000 universities. And the NAACP also recognized me with their highest medal, their highest honor, the Spingarn Medal.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:06:57.172)
I retired from public life. I had my farewell tour. And I lived quietly in Portland, Oregon with my nephew after my dear officer's death. I enjoyed my garden. I kept up with young musicians. And I attended occasional events in my honor. But I did not need the ongoing.

Pump and Patron Tree, I had had a lifetime of that. And I died on April 8th, 1993 at the age of 96.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:07:44.004)
I told you that I would share just very briefly, just a couple of words on some of my philosophies. I suppose I should read from my book. This was something that I learned from my mother.

I suppose, this is what I wrote, I suppose you can always find manifestations if you are a believer. And if you don't believe, you can find reasons to prove that the believer is wrong. But you can only travel the spiritual way you believe to be best for you, regardless of whether it is good for anyone else.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:06.542)
Hmm?

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:08:25.474)
Mother's faith has lighted the way for us in all the days of our lives, even the hardest we have gone through. Her day-to-day living and the way she accepted and greeted life and its meaning were the forces that guided us.

Mother feels especially blessed that the family holds closely together and that it does so because it wants to.

As I speak to you this month of December, this month where so many religious groups celebrate their holidays, their holy days, I would say, hold your family close because you want to. We owe this blessing and many others to her whom I call my little girl. That was my name for my mother. I believed

that fear is a disease that eats away at logic and makes man inhuman. I believed that when you stop having dreams and ideals, well, you might as well stop altogether.

I believe that prayer begins where human capacity ends.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:09:51.653)
And this is what I would like to leave with you and your audience, that everyone has a gift for something.

every single woman you have been in conversation with took their gift as varied as those gifts have been and they did something with it. Even if your gift is just being the gift of being a good friend, use your gift because that in and of itself is an act of resistance. Thank you for having me.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:31.426)
Thank you very much for honoring our call to come to sit with us and share your, not just your philosophy, but also your life, your pains, the fact that you had to live through dire times. And sometimes they say a prophet is not recognizing their own country. You've had to go to Europe to gain acceptance.

And even then, when you return home, home still was not embracing. For that, we thank you. We thank you for coming through. And so with that, we've come to the end of another episode of Women and Resistance. And as it's custom, next week, we're looking at the life and times of Sarah Hoon Magoo. Some of you might struggle to pronounce that name, but.

Next week, would know who this remarkable woman is. The name again is Sarahoun Magu. She's from Niger. That's just Africa that is. And again, it just goes to show that the women that we've shared on here have traveled the so-called barriers of borders. And again, like,

Ms. Mary Ann Anderson has just invited us to do, to embrace that the gifts that we've been given on all these women from the firsts to the current have all embraced their individual gifts and have shared it with the world. And so we'll continue to do that next week by highlighting the gift of Sarah Hoon Magoo.

And again, as Mr.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:12:30.172)
May I pause for a second? And I would encourage your community to acknowledge the gift of you at SOG for the work that you're doing for...

Adesoji Iginla (01:12:47.086)
Thank you.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:12:55.526)
bringing to the remembrance of some and introducing to others many women whom the larger society would relegate to obscurity. I believe that, I did not tell you this story, but as a child I was going to drop.

a basket of clothes for my mother. was running an errand for her and I heard this beautiful piano playing and I tiptoed and I looked in the window and I saw a black woman just in her home, not dressed up or anything, just playing her heart out. And I remember in that moment thinking.

If she can do this, I can too. And so you raising the voices of so many women, I believe, will be.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:14:01.039)
a catalyst for some other woman who says, did not know that my foremothers had done these things under even harsher circumstances and that that would inspire them. I have no doubts that there are some who have heard us today who may be of more advanced years who are nonetheless now excited.

to make the most of what they may have, the years they may have left here on earth. And so I encourage you young man to continue to pursue your dreams and ideals. And as you lift others up, I know that you too shall be, as we would say in the Baptist church, you too shall be lifted up.

Adesoji Iginla (01:14:56.238)
Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you for those kind words. again, as part of growing this space, we're looking for 2000 subscribers by the end of the year. Again, each one bring one. I'm sure we can get to that number by the end of the year. So again, thank you all for listening. Until next week, it's good night and God bless.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:15:24.538)
night