When I arrived in Vienna in the Fall of 2016, I was told they had been “hiring too many niggers”. I kept getting pushed and shoved at the grocery store simply because I was an “other.” It seemed like I was the only black person for miles. I was reminded of the many PEOPLE of color I knew whose beautiful voices had never reached that stage because of the color of their skin — because, ‘there can only be so many in Opera ’.
That July, as I packed my bags to travel to Austria to begin my contract at the Vienna State Opera, I watched young people march across the 405 freeway in protest. I wondered aloud to my parents, “What am I doing? Where am I going? I should be out there protesting.” My mom told be, “Your protest is at the theatre. Go where others cannot.”
Showing up to make art everyday as one of the ONLY black people in the room since elementary school IS my protest. A lifelong protest that says, “I belong. WE belong. YES, we show up.” Yes I sing in “A” houses in Europe. Yes I fly FIRST class. Yes, I know my velvet from my velour; my Berg from my Bachianas; my Brut from my Brunello; my LAX from my CDG; my net from my gross.
I am a strong, talented, black woman and I will unapologetically show up. I show up because others cannot, not because they don’t exist. This IS my protest.
Photo credits:
Photography of Opera Singer Lauren Michelle 2016 Ensemble Member of the Vienna State Opera in Austria
Photographer| @matojohannik
Makeup | @Christopher_koller
Tulle Skirt | @Tiberius_Vienna
Black Lives Matter Shirt | Saint Louis street vendor circa 2014 Ferguson Protests
This content was originally posted on Facebook and Instagram June 3, 2020 shared over 4,000 as of June 17, 2020