We the Black Artist: In Our Words

We the Black Artist is an offering of connection, a conversation, and a call to action.

“We the Black Artist is a way of coming together as a Black ensemble in a time when we are not only physically apart but also mentally at odds with what feels like the entire rest of the world,” says third-year actor Britnie Narcisse. “This is Black Juilliard saying ‘I love you’ to each other. This is Black Juilliard saying ‘I see you’ to each other. We’re expressing ourselves fully and allowing people to come and really hear us.”

On August 12, join Juilliard’s Black Student Union and other students, including a chorus from the Preparatory Division (Pre-College and Music Advancement Program), for a multidisciplinary, multimedia production of pieces created exclusively for and by black artists. 

By Marion Grey
We the Black Artist took root during the weekly Black Student Union Zoom-based check-ins that followed the murder of George Floyd. The pain, frustration, anger, and lack of support was clear. But how to move through it? How to address it? And how could we use our arsenal of artistic skills to help other Black people around the country and world process and feel connected through such a turbulent time? This summer, many traumatic wounds were ripped open to bleed afresh while we are quarantined. Feeling more alone than ever. We the Black Artist is an offering of connection, a conversation, and a call to action. All may not need it. All may not want it. It exists for those who do. 

But don’t just take my word for it …

We The Black Artist is a way of coming together as a Black ensemble in a time when we are not only physically apart but also mentally at odds with what feels like the entire rest of the world. There has been an overwhelming amount of trauma for Black people, and I believe that this is how we as a community are trying to heal. This is important because it is entirely for us by us. It’s all the feelings, all the pain, all the trauma, and all the healing. 
—Britnie Narcisse, third-year actor

Being a part of WTBA is a huge honor. As a young Black person in America I think that our voices need to be heard. We have been silenced for too long. I have a younger brother, he is a Black male—the abuse that Black men go through could happen to my brother at any time. It can happen to any of us for no reason. The media has portrayed us as violent people, but that is usually not the case, and we have proof of that. If we start working together and doing amazing projects like WTBA, then all of us can grow and be stronger together.
—Niara Adebanke, Music Advancement Program

We the Black Artist is an ode to the strength of our love and the support we continue to provide for one another. The experience of our connection makes me want to do nothing but celebrate our beauty and pride until I am no longer able.
—Eleni Loving, third-year dancer

We the Black Artist is a project created by the Black student body at Juilliard to empower and embody our creativity through our blackness. As a small community within an already small school, it’s important that our voices be heard during a time when people are ready to listen. You can’t silence creativity. This is our form of protest.
—Cami Williams, third-year violist

This event shows that Black artists are classical music artists too, and through our music we express our pain, our grief, our beliefs, and our hopes. We lift Black voices up and stand together in support of ending racism.
—Naamia Rivera, Music Advancement Program

We the Black Artist is a sign of strength and empowerment shown by the Black students. Racism and injustice are often thought to be overt, actions such as the killings and lynchings of Black people, but racism comes in many forms. I hope this event sparks a conversation of racial inequality in the arts as well. The idea in art that black doesn’t fit the “pretty, innocent, or heroic” figures in the eyes of many goes to show how deep that runs in America and worldwide. Hear us! Hear the pain, the sincere meaning of the message we are telling, not a preconceived notion you already have. We are Black artists, and we are important. We aren’t asking to be treated extra nice, we just want to be treated equally and given equal opportunity.
—TJ Reddick, fourth-year jazz drummer

WTBA is a space for us and for our voices. Our speaking out will promote healing, raise awareness, and encourage much-needed discussions within the Juilliard community. This is what we need right now and that is why we stand up, together.
—Trinity Williamson, Music Advancement Program

We the Black Artist is the representation of what a true community looks like when it comes together. Our country needs more than ever to see the beauty and excellence Black people bring when united!
—Waverly Fredericks, second-year dancer

We the Black Artist not only furthers a much-needed emphasis on racial injustice, but it also brings to light a different and less-seen aspect of the Black Lives Matter movement. The event not only gives us, Black artists, a unique spotlight to express ourselves and our pain, but it also demonstrates to the world our ability to create and persevere in fields in which we are typically not represented or at times even welcomed in. This event is crucial not only for us artists but also for our communities as we continue to inspire change through who we are and what we do.
—Kayla Cabrera, fourth-year violist

As Black artists, we have the responsibility of ambassadorship for students of color who wish to succeed in the arts at the highest level.
—Njioma Chinyere Grevious, fourth-year violinist

We the Black Artist challenges art’s aesthetics, expanding its boundaries and modes of expression. We affirm ourselves through our shared unique perspective and experience of the world.
—Giveton Gelin, fourth-year jazz trumpeter

Our movement is more than just a movement.
—Jade Diouf, second-year dancer

We look forward to sharing our voice on August 12. We hope you will be there to listen
—Juilliard Black Student Union, Marion Grey, second-year drama student, president 

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We the Black Artist
August 12 at 7pm

I Can’t Breathe 
  Composed by Marion Grey
  Performed by MAP and Pre-College students

Truthful Gaze
  Original song by Giveton Gelin

Black Recognition
  Movement piece by Jamaii Melvin and Ricardo Hartley III

Relationship to Creativity Conversation

My Brother’s Sun 
  A short film by Britnie Narcisse

The Mothering Blackness 
  Composed by MAP student Naamia Rivera
  Performed by Pre-College student Jesse Hubbs and alum Aleea Powell

Black Girl Black Girl
   Original poem by Marion Grey

Whose Lives Are Black Lives Conversation

Black Breath
   Drama and classical music collaboration

COCOA
   Dancers’ celebration of blackness

I Can’t Breathe 
  Composed by Marion Grey
  Performed by College Division students