When I Rise (2010) - full transcript

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(music)

Barbara Smith Conrad: Every
morning when I wake up,

before I get out of bed,

I have a little prayer
and it starts with:

"Guide my feet, Lord,
while I run this race.

Hold my hand, Lord,
while I run this race."

That's a spiritual.

♪

That starts my day every day.



Because there are some days I
just don't know what I'm in for.

Or I don't want to face it.

No one had ever said to me
up close that you're

not good enough before.

♪

I felt so betrayed by
people I so trusted.

♪

I just did what I always do.

Just keep singing.

(Barbara Conrad singing)

In the world of performing arts,
it's called survival.

(Barbara Conrad singing)

(applause)

Music has kept me alive.



♪ Ride on King Jesus! ♪

♪ No man can na' hinder me ♪

♪ Ride on, King Jesus
Ride on ♪

♪ No man can na' hinder me. ♪

♪ For He is King of Kings, ♪

♪ He is Lord of Lords, ♪

♪ Oh, Jesus Christ,
the first and last, ♪

♪ Oh, nobody works like him. ♪

I am from east Texas,
Center Point community.

Rolling hills, red clay dirt,
honeysuckle everywhere,

pine trees everywhere,
oak trees everywhere,

and it is just sheer beauty.

This community was founded
by five freedmen,

and one of them was my
great-grandfather.

I know Center Point is going
to sound like Shangri-La,

and for some of us, it was.

(singing)

We sang all of the time,
in prayer meetings

and revival meetings.

It was a place where I could
express everything I felt,

and no one could judge me there.

(singing)

Music was the center
of my universe...

(singing)

and the singing,
the music,

was key.

(singing)

(applause)

Barbara Fluellen:
Music is the key.

It's something, you know,
that we take we take a

great deal of pride in.

Because that's the way
that we express ourselves.

(singing)

Barbara Conrad: My whole
family was musical.

My sister had a great voice.

My mother, my grandmother.

My brother, Dinard,
was a child prodigy.

He could play anything
on the piano.

(music)

Because of him, I grew up
learning the most

complicated music,
not realizing it.

I learned hard music.

I didn't know it was hard.

Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky.

When I was a teenager, mama,
whenever possible,

would take me to live concerts,
and the one she took me to first

was Marian Anderson.

( Marian Anderson singing)

I was just so in awe, seeing
your own kind up on a stage.

It was like opening a new world.

She did it.

Maybe I can too.

Barbara Fluellen: Center Point
built in us something

that said to me, "You are
a significant person.

"You are somebody of value.

We expect great
things from you."

You always knew that there
was a support system.

Barbara Conrad: We were always
safe in that environment

because we had each other.

But then you go outside
that little cocoon,

and it was not easy.

Because those boundaries had
been set for us so long ago.

The man that I had a
crush on when I was 12,

I saw them drag his body
out of a lake because he had

made a pass at some white lady.

I don't know if that was true or
false, but I know he was killed.

I wept for him for years.

Those were the things that
used to absolutely take me

from rage to sadness.

And I went directly to
my Big Mama's house.

She had this rocking chair
with a stool next to it,

and every time you had a
problem, she'd make you

sit on that stool, and she'd
read from the Bible.

"Come, let us reason together."

A 13 year old child
is not interested.

I just wanted to rant and rave.

She said, "You don't know
it yet, child, but you have

a built in motivation
for living."

And she said, "Well, now, you
know, what can we do with this?"

I was clearly enamored
with singing.

It had been a dream, a passing
fantasy sort of thing.

I really didn't understand
what it was to be

a professional musician.

I knew about music making.

I had a lot of
catching up to do.

If I were going to have a
really good education,

there were few options.

And none of them were
anywhere near Center Point.

Going away to college was
the highest possible goal.

Education was the way out,
or the way in

as the case may be,
you know.

So here was my opportunity.

I remember getting on the train,
going to Austin, thinking,

I don't really know where I'm
going or what to expect.

The University of Texas
had a fine music school.

I didn't know anyone at
the University of Texas,

but I knew I was from Center
Point, and from Jerrie Lee

and from Conrad Smith,
and whatever I had to do

I could do it.

Thurgood Marshall: The Negro
school children must

be given their rights.

Given them, to use the
court's language,

"As soon as practicable, and on
a non-discriminatory basis."

Desegregation will proceed
to open the door

to true democracy for all of
the children of our nation.

Barbara Conrad: I was
dreaming the same dreams

that everyone else was
dreaming in that period.

That we really will overcome.

That we really will be
brothers and sisters.

I thought that was
a great ambition.

You knew what you
were fighting for.

The right to higher education.

The right for equal education.

Ken Ashworth: The University of
Texas decided in fall of 1956,

the admissions requirements at
the undergraduate level would be

open to all races,
opening the opportunity for

African-Americans to attend
the University of Texas

at the undergraduate level,
since a few were already

studying here in professional
graduate school and law school.

Announcement: This institution
of learning belongs to you.

Your legislature has created it.

Your support has improved it.

Your growth has deserved it.

This is your university.

Ken Ashworth: Austin was more
receptive to desegregation

than the rest of the state.

♪ Oh there ain't gonna
be no runoff ♪

♪ No runoff anymore ♪

♪ We didn't like the runoff
When O'Daniel ran before ♪

♪ Oh there ain't gonna
be no runoff ♪

♪ No runoff anymore ♪

♪ We didn't like the runoff
When O'Daniel ran before ♪

Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel: Here's my
pledge to the people of Texas,

that as soon as I become
governor, and as long as I

remain governor, we are going to
continue to have segregation in

Texas, just exactly like
we've always had it.

Ken Ashworth: People drew on
whatever arguments they could

find to support trying to
keep those who were down

in their proper place.

Price Daniel: Here's a
front-page story, picture,

on the CIO news.

We see a picture of Walter
Reuther handing a $75,000 check

to the president of the NAACP.

What for?

In order to help finance law
suits in the southern states

against those school districts
which have not chosen to do away

with their separate
but equal schools.

Ken Ashworth: People here in
Austin often learned that

it was better to remain quiet.

♪

Barbara Conrad: There were no
accommodations for blacks,

men or women, on that
campus at that time.

We didn't live on campus.

We were not able to go to any
restaurant, on or off campus,

unless it were owned by blacks.

It was pretty much segregated.

Harley Clark: The
administration, I don't think

they did very much to
make everyday life

for the new students more
comfortable.

It dawned on us, being students
like me in leadership positions,

that we had black students
on the campus that,

if you were a man, hell,
you couldn't get a haircut.

Peggy Drake Holland: I lived
in Almetris Co-op,

and my first roommate was
Barbara Smith Conrad.

There were 25 of us from various
parts of Texas that lived there.

It was not a welcoming climate.

There were some people who
smiled at you if you

walked down the street or
something, but overall it was

a very tough place.

Barbara Conrad: And the
first day in orientation,

we gathered in front of
the great tower.

Even now my heart goes
t-t-t-t just a little bit.

It was exciting.

It was terrifying.

There were... some jeering.

And some boy screamed
out, "Oh, look at them.

"Our pappies probably
messed around with

all their grand mammies."

Peggy Drake Holland: When I went
into my classrooms, I had the

chance of sitting anywhere I
wanted, because if I were

the first one in there,
no one sat near me.

If I came in late and there was
an empty chair and people were

sitting around, they got up
and left and sat elsewhere.

There were occasions when people
just yelled out of their cars.

Sometimes it was just hurtful
that people would look at you,

and just because of
the color you were,

just treat you in a
certain way.

Barbara Conrad: When I would
go to the music school,

I felt very much at home
and accepted.

I was treated well.

We were just students
learning music together.

Learning how to perform it.

Learning about staging.

Learning about
developing characters.

Carolyn Graves Good: The music
school was full of interesting

people from different places,

and the teachers were
challenging.

Barbara Conrad: I had asked
for someone to help me tutor

in subjects that I just
couldn't catch up with,

and that's when I met
Carolyn Graves Good.

Carolyn Graves Good: When
Barbara came to the music

school, what I remember is that
there was this tall striking

black student that
sang so beautifully.

She had the most amazing
voice I had ever heard.

That's what drew me
to her was her talent.

Barbara Conrad: She was bossy.

She still is.

She still bosses me around.

She was a great friend to me.

She was the first person
who took me by the hand

and included me in every
possible activity.

Carolyn Graves Good:
She was a little shy.

She wasn't, her diva
self that she is today.

She didn't seem
country in any way.

She had her own
sophistication about her.

We just became good friends.

Music was a part of that.

I think music began that.

Ken Ashworth: Every year,
the College of Fine Arts

would put on an opera.

And this particular year, 1956,
they decided to put on

Purcell's Dido and Aeneas .

Barbara Conrad: And a woman by
the name of Josephine Antoine,

who'd been a wonderful
Metropolitan Opera soprano,

was on faculty there, and heard
me in a practice room,

barged in and said, "My dear,
you're our next Dido."

And of course I didn't
have a clue who that was.

Ken Ashworth: When the tryouts
came for the role of Dido,

Barbara was a natural.

Barbara Conrad: She asked
me to come and audition,

and I did the next day.

I sang The Lord's Prayer,
and the following day,

went to a big music, sort
of general music class,

and everybody stood up
and started applauding,

and I was thinking they
were jeering.

And "No, no," the teacher said.

"You've been selected
to do Dido."

That's how I got the role.

(Music From Dido and Aeneas)

Ken Ashworth: The interesting
thing about Dido and Aeneas,

it's represented as a romance.

Aeneas was the male who had been
shipwrecked on this island.

Dido was the queen.

They fell in love.

Some witches represented the
evil spirits, and they came

and warned him that he needed to
leave, and so he leaves Dido,

and then she stabs
herself and dies.

It's not a very romantic plot.

Carolyn Graves Good:
I was in the chorus.

I had never been in an opera
before, and I thought

it was just great.

Barbara Conrad: I had no idea
who the queen of Carthage was.

It was an opportunity to
sing my very first opera.

Can you imagine?

I was absolutely convinced
I was going to win the

Academy Awards with this.

Dwonna Goldstone: No one
thought about the fact that

a black woman would be
playing the romantic

opposite of a white man.

Ken Ashworth: Most parts of the
country were still steering away

from the idea of showing any
kind of love relationship

between the races, and here was
the University of Texas,

in the very first year that it
had integrated undergraduates,

casting them in a
love relationship.

Barbara Conrad: We began
rehearsals little by little.

One of the famous arias
from that is

"When I Am Laid in Earth."

That is the aria that
really captured me.

("When I Am Laid In Earth"
From Dido and Aeneas)

The melody will make you cry.

You don't have to know
anything about it.

I felt really, really blessed.

I started getting phone calls.

They had been happening
once in a while.

Just nothing that really
made me that nervous.

And then it became a little
bit more ominous,

because they would talk
about places I had sung.

After one rehearsal, for
example, there were three

or four big burly guys who
were, I guess the purpose

was to frighten me.

And they did that very well.

It got more ominous
as time went on.

Like the day I walked across
campus, and a man just came up

with a mouth full of spittle
and just -sp- right in my face.

And said, "You're the Negra girl
- you're that Barbara Smith."

And he disappeared.

I had no idea who he was,
or what made him feel like

he had the right to do that.

Carolyn Graves Good: I had
been getting death threats

because I was her friend.

And the White Citizens Council
was trying to say, "Wake up."

I didn't realize there
was such a thing as a

White Citizen's Council.

I knew about the
Klan in the south.

Horace Sherman Miller:
We are not negative.

We're positive.

We are for, a better
civilization,

a better United States,
a better Texas.

Barbara Conrad: All of those
organizations that were

concerned with integration
had their eye on places

like UT Austin.

Harley Clark: There were
men in the Legislature,

the Texas Legislature, who were
adamantly segregationists.

Ken Ashworth: The Legislature
in those days was dominated

by rural Legislators.

Segregationists, who were
representing their constituents.

They personally were opposed
to integration as well.

Harley Clark: That's all they
talked about, you understand?

I mean this was their life.

I mean, they were
eaten up with fear.

They had no discernment,

and that partly is what
made them dangerous.

Carolyn Graves Good: Joe Chapman
certainly made clear his views.

He didn't want the
University integrated.

He didn't want any money to go
to UT if integration happened.

Barbara Conrad: It was my very
own representative from

northeast Texas, Joe Chapman,
who informed everybody

that there's a Negra girl

playing opposite a
blonde, blue-eyed boy.

Joe Chapman: The University
students called to the attention

of several members of the
Legislature, including myself,

the fact that the music
department of the University

had auditioned and was
casting an opera.

A Negra girl attending the
University, as I understand it,

for the first time, was being
considered for the leading role.

The girl involved in this matter
is a perfect, perfect example of

the excellent schools that
Texas provides for Negras.

And the fact that she does have
a good voice, and has been

trained for two years in
a Texas Negra school

proves this excellent training.

I do not feel that out of a
student body of 17 thousand,

a minority of 50 should
impose upon the majority,

and force them to assume a
role that is not traditionally

socially acceptable to
the people of Texas.

Ken Ashworth: At some point,
Representative Chapman called

President Logan Wilson.

Logan Wilson had many
things to consider.

One of them is that it
was almost a totally

state supported institution.

Getting the State Legislature
angry with the University,

upset with the procedures,
what the University was doing,

was always a basis of
leverage with the Legislature

to try to get the University
to do what they wanted

with the threat of
cutting funds.

President Wilson called a
staff meeting, and brought in

Dean Doty and some other
advisors.

Dwonna Goldstone: On the one
hand people thought, "Oh, they

won't ever pull the University's
appropriations for this."

But on the other hand,
it was a very real threat.

Barbara Conrad: I was called
into Dean Doty's office.

Dean of the College
of Fine Arts.

And he had the unfortunate task
of telling me that I had to be

removed from the cast because of
concerns about my well-being.

I couldn't believe it.

I couldn't believe it.

I wouldn't have died if I hadn't
sung Dido in Dido and Aeneas .

But I felt so betrayed.

Dean Doty meant a lot to me.

He was one of my
favorite teachers.

I turned to him for
a lot of things.

And he had to sort of

cloak the real reasons,

and for me it was just a lie.

And that hurt more
than anything.

Harley Clark: Logan Wilson
was not a mean man.

But he just thought that
he was probably doing

what he needed to do.

I had been elected
President of the

University of Texas
student body.

I went up to the main
building where Logan Wilson

had his office.

Logan Wilson - he was
a heavy smoker,

and he talked out of the
left side of his mouth,

you know, sort of
growling like this.

And so the reason I went up to
see him was I wanted to make

a case out for Barbara.

And I got about halfway through
"my little rehearsed in my mind"

before I got there talk,
and he put his hand up and said,

"Listen, I've talked to many,
many people who are

"older and wiser than you.

"And I've made my mind up now.

"I'm a sociologist.

I think I know what's
best in this situation."

Barbara Conrad: I never
met the President of the

University of Texas
when I was a student.

Never met him.

And that was one of the
things that bothered me.

How can he make such a decision,

and he'd never even
talked to me?

How did I feel?

Well, I didn't matter.

Pretty soon the word got around.

And someone informed someone
at the Houston Post

what had happened,
and that was it.

The story broke.

Dwonna Goldstone: And it
became national news.

And the New York Times
picked it up.

Time Magazine picked it up.

The black newspapers applauded
her for the way she responded,

because she felt like, if it
was in the best interest of the

University, then she would
withdraw from the opera

and not cause a big deal.

Carolyn Graves Good: It was
clear that this

was a media story.

We knew outside the Music
School, everywhere were cameras.

So the question was, how
could you duck the cameras?

And how could you
get around that?

Barbara Conrad: I can't
go anyplace without

meeting reporters.

There was someone
outside my classroom.

In my dorm.

We were forever plotting
and planning how to hide me,

how to get people off my trail.

Carolyn Graves Good:
It was a full week

that the cameras were around.

Until they finally got
the feeling, I guess,

that they really weren't
going to get anything.

But it seemed like forever.

Barbara Conrad: I felt
so trapped.

I wanted to just say everything
that came into my mind.

But I was trying to be that
person who was a healer.

That was part of the upbringing.

You tried to make
peace and not war.

Carolyn Graves Good: Dean Doty
called me into his office.

And I thought, "Oh
dear, what have I done?"

He said, "You realize that
she's in some danger."

And I said, "Yes,
I understand that."

And he said, "I would like
you to get her out of town."

Barbara Conrad: Some professors
were really scared that it

could turn violent,

because we were always being
threatened about being raped,

and all kinds
of horrible things.

Carolyn Graves Good: One of the
first things I thought was,

"Am I the only one that's
protecting her?

"Isn't their somebody in
the school or somebody,

some adult, that
could do this job?"

Then she called her mother,
and her mother said,

"If you need protection,
you come home."

Barbara Conrad: My housemother
and I were on our way

out the door to take me to,
bring me home

where I could get some rest.

The rest is history.

Harry Belafonte: I saw this
story about a young black woman

in Texas.

That she could not
sing was a heartbreak.

And it was because of race.

And I was quite aware of the
fact that calling her might

put her life in a huge
imbalance.

So I wanted to approach the
subject somewhat delicately.

Barbara Conrad: The phone rang,
and the dormitory went wild.

"Harry Belafonte's
on the phone!"

Harry Belafonte: She, at first,
couldn't quite believe it.

But I finally convinced
her that it was me.

And I'd read what
had happened to her.

Barbara Conrad: Everybody at the
dorm, white, black or otherwise,

had a poster of Belafonte.

Because he was so gorgeous.

♪ I wonder why nobody
don't like me ♪

♪ Or is it the fact
that I'm ugly? ♪

Barbara Conrad: He was
hugely popular.

He had a new sound.

He was a pop calypso singer.

He was very engaged
in human rights.

Harry Belafonte: I tenaciously
decided that I'd just

engage in battle.

I'd be constantly before the
public with the information

that all's not well in America.

The person who holds in his
hands the power to fulfill the

American dream, to fulfill the
words of the Declaration of

Independence, happens to
be a person who is white.

1st Roundtable Speaker: It's in
the social fabric, you know.

2nd Roundtable Speaker: It isn't
anything - it's everything.

1st Roundtable Speaker: It's
everything, and I

really think...

Harry Belafonte: My extension
to her was quite simple.

If you want, pick any place in
the world where you can

advance your studies in music.

Anywhere.

And let's turn your
experience into a triumph.

Barbara Conrad: I wanted to talk
to my parents about what to do,

and this option from
Mr. Belafonte.

My father simply said,

"All you have to do is
remember what your name is.

"Who are you?

And if you need to go, go."

Basically.

"And if you need to stay
and fight for your

"rights to be here, stay.

I'll support you."

That's all I needed.

The reason for going to
University of Texas, Austin,

was I was gonna get a
better education.

So this was a dream,
and I was not about to

have that dream destroyed.

So I stayed.

Can't run me out
of my home state.

Didn't like the feel of that.

Harry Belafonte: I think it is
absolutely critical that not

only that she did that, but
that be the course we all take.

It is absolutely the
right thing to have done,

and the critical thing to have
done, and I respect her for it.

Carolyn Graves Good:
Things just settled down.

Barbara, I don't remember
how long she stayed home for

protection for a little bit,
but we went back to class,

and final exams and all that.

Barbara Conrad: You want to
graduate, you want to make

decent grades, you want a job.

I went back to being a
student and I was always

looking over my shoulder.

Belafonte called.

This time, I was very
pleased to hear from him.

Asked if I wanted to come
to New York to meet him.

Oh, my God, what a day that was.

I was so nervous!

I don't think I've been more
nervous about anything.

Everybody had given
me something to wear.

My mother her watch, her
best coat for the winter,

which was not nearly
warm enough.

And I went to his office
to meet him that morning.

Finally Mr. Belafonte arrives,
and he hugged me, and he said,

"It's our Texas nightingale!"

And then he went, "And she
smells like ivory soap!"

(laughs)

That just broke the ice.

It was magical.

Harry Belafonte: I was struck
by her stature.

She was quite elegant
and quite stately,

very much the diva type.

But I also saw the hayseed.

She came to New York and
she had a - you talk about

looking at tall buildings and
around the city and what not,

and she always seemed to
be in a perpetual

state of hyperventilating
or catching her breath.

I guess it was kind of
overwhelming in a way,

to be in this part of America.

Barbara Conrad: New York was a
little overwhelming for this,

this country girl.

No matter how it changes,
something about it

is just New York.

The energy here is unbelievable.

I met Poitier that day.

I met Sammy Davis, Jr. that day.

He took me to theater
and great restaurants.

What a time.

He got these people together,
and they listened to me

and determined that I
had something.

We went downstairs when it was
over, and I just remember the

hug he gave me, and he said,
"Hot dang, Barbara, we made it."

What was I going to study,
how was I going to

accomplish these things?

Harry very much believed
in the complete person

behind the artist.

He said, "I want to see you able
to move gracefully on stage."

So I studied dance,
jazz and tap and ballet.

I went to the Berlitz
school of languages.

I was all over New
York City studying.

It was a very exciting time.

Carolyn Graves Good: When she
went to New York, she was given

wonderful training,
wonderful teachers,

dance instruction, vocal
teachers, all of that.

But what was missing was food.

She really was struggling.

When she would perform in
New York, we would often

go and hear her.

We were there at one point, and
she had been in a dance class

and had fainted.

So we sent her care
packages from Boston,

and we would send her food.

She will tell you, I think,
that that sustained her,

and which we found very amazing,
because none of us had

any money, and we would send
her what we could.

The care packages
got her through.

Barbara Conrad: I wasn't eating
very much, and one day Harry

invited me to lunch, and
I ate a lot, and he said,

"How can you be that skinny
and eat that much food?"

It was a reveal that I
basically ate a meal a day.

And that's when,
really, things changed.

♪ Then you see that
fork of lightnin' ♪

♪ Fare thee well,
fare thee well ♪

♪ And you hear that
rumbling... ♪

Harry Belafonte: I got her
engaged in doing some background

singing and some recordings so
she could have additional income

to help her with her
financial burdens.

♪ fare thee well,
fare thee well ♪

♪ Then you see dem
sinners rising, ♪

♪ fare thee well,
fare thee well ♪

♪ See 'em marching
home to heaven ♪

Out of that came Barbara Conrad.

♪ Fare ye well,
poor sinners, ♪

♪ fare thee well,
fare thee well... ♪

Barbara Conrad: At a certain
point I wanted an independence.

I appreciated everything
Harry was doing,

but I didn't want to
be dependent on him.

So I did whatever job I could
find as time went along.

So I taught in the South Bronx
for an entire year.

They had terrible riots
that summer, and there were

kids and people of all kinds
lined up on these buildings,

with all kinds of stuff,
throwing it at people.

It was an ugly time.

It looked like a war zone.

It was clearly a time when the
imbalances in our system were

showing up in a
very negative way.

Bess Prui I was teaching
when I met Barbara.

I was working at Alexander
Berger Junior High School,

and she was in the
music department,

and I heard her sing.

♪ My Lord,... ♪

♪ what a morning... ♪

Bess Prui She was gorgeous,
and she was talented,

and I said, "Mmm!

"You have a beautiful voice.

"What are you doing?

"You should be on the stage.

"You shouldn't be
in the classroom.

You know, you should
be performing."

You have to keep
your talent sharp.

And then your talent
has to be exposed.

And to get it exposed,
you need help.

I became Barbara's
personal representative.

Barbara Conrad: Bess is a
person who gets things done.

She just delved right into it.

Didn't know a whole lot about
it, but went right into it.

Bess Prui The first time I
sent out Barbara's promotional

brochure, I sent it to a
lot of oriatorial groups.

And the people from the Dessoff
Choirs picked up on her.

I looked out from
behind the curtain.

I could see all of the
black sopranos who thought

Barbara was their competition.

And they were all
there listening.

And I said, "Barbara,
you are on your way."

And we were off and
running from there.

I was relentless.

And everything I was
doing was working.

And, of course, everybody
compared Barbara to

Marian Anderson.

And I began to study how
Marian Anderson did it.

From the moment she stepped out
of the wings, she was in charge.

♪ Ave Maria ♪

I got Barbara to notice
all these things.

Like, when you're singing,
where do you stand?

All of that we looked at.

Barbara Conrad: I got a
reputation for being agile

on stage, and a quick learner.

And I knew that, for me to be
able to be in that league,

there are things I had to know.

I had to be a strong musician.

I needed to know the languages.

I needed to know what to do
with, with certain texts.

My reality was unless I
learned how to compete,

I wasn't going to get the jobs.

There were lots of us out there.

Bess Prui When you would go
out with Barbara, if we went

to a French restaurant,
she was speaking French.

If we went to an
Italian restaurant,

she would speak Italian.

That has to do with her
personal discipline.

And she attracted the attention
of composers who were

interested in her inner drive.

♪ Certainly Lord
Have you got feeling... ♪

♪ Certainly Lord... ♪

I introduced Barbara to Hall
Johnson, who was the world's

best known authority on
music in the Negro idiom.

The spiritual in its true form.

He learned the spirituals
at his grandmother's knee

when he was a kid.

Barbara Conrad: Bessie
introduced me to him

because she felt that if I
were going to do this,

I should meet a
great master.

I sang "City Called Heaven."

It was one of my favorite
spirituals, and when I finished,

he said, "Well, child, that
was very interesting,

but that ain't what I wrote."

I was so embarrassed!

I was speechless for once.

♪ Oh no harm... ♪

The first spiritual I
worked on with him was

"Ain't Got Time to Die."

Maybe we got through
a couple of pages.

Maybe.

And that's like two hours later.

♪ No harm, no harm ♪

Bess Prui That man, he kept
you going over one measure of

music for an hour,
'til you got it right.

David Gilbert: One would not
expect that her great knowledge

of the spiritual would connect
with her singing roles in opera.

Her knowledge of the spiritual
is such a deeply emotional

thing that she brings all of
that emotional power to

her roles in opera.

So it really works.

For a singer to have a
major opera career,

it is of course important
to meet conductors,

especially highly established
and very famous conductors

if possible.

Because if they hear the voice
and they like the voice,

then they are the ones who
can open many doors.

Julius Rudel: I was, for a
long time, director of the

New York City Opera.

I escaped from the horrors of
the Nazi regime in Germany,

and I escaped because
of discrimination.

I've made music all my life,
and I like it that way.

I met Barbara in the
early sixties when she

auditioned for Bess.

We were going to do a new
production of Porgy and Bess ,

by Gershwin.

Barbara Conrad: I was
recommended to Maestro Rudel

to step in to do Porgy and Bess ,

and I went down,
auditioned for him,

it was love at first tone,
or sight, or something,

I'm not sure which,

and when I left, I had a job.

♪ I ain't say nuttin',
no matter how drunk ♪

♪ you get dese boys roun'
here on rotgut whiskey ♪

Julius Rudel: You need a really
stunning looking and sounding

woman for the part of Bess.

And Barbara was that.

Barbara Conrad: I didn't
get a crush on Julius.

I was in awe of him, I think.

I had one real, real rule:
number one, you don't date your

conductor, and you definitely
don't date him if he's married.

♪ Guten Abend, mein Schatz,
guten Abend... ♪

Rosalyn Story: For many
performers, once they get

discovered as a great opera
singer in Porgy and Bess ,

they want to go on
to other things.

They want to do European Opera.

African-Americans had
a difficult time

getting into opera.

You had to transcend all the
competition, you know,

like you're on a track, you have
to lap them a couple of times

to be considered someone
for whom all the barriers

are just broken down.

Marian Anderson was much more
than just an opera singer.

She was the one who inspired
many generations of

African-American artists.

She had a talent that
transcended race.

History has proven that she had
the ability, even though she

wasn't trying to, to actually
begin a whole movement

for change in the arts.

Barbara Conrad: It was
during the reign of

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

I say reign because she
was definitely right

in the middle of that.

♪ My country,
'tis of thee... ♪

She had been denied the right
to sing at Constitution Hall,

so Mrs. Roosevelt set it up
for her to sing in front of

the Lincoln Memorial.

And that was a phenomenon.

Thousands and thousands
of people came.

Then fast forward
those years later.

Tito Capobianco recommended
me for this film,

a reenacting Marian Anderson in
front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Can you imagine
what that was like?

I still am in awe about it.

Standing at the top of
the Lincoln Memorial,

the director asked me to
just walk down the steps,

and I thought, "Where can I
find inspiration for this?

"Someone who has been
denied a right to sing

in Constitution Hall."

Boom!

Up comes University of Texas.

♪ My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty ♪

I had no idea that was
even still in there.

You know, you just bring,
you just pull down the

curtain at a certain point
and go on with your life.

David Gilbert: The fact that she
sang Carmen with Maestro Rudel

is a big landmark itself.

Carmen is one of the absolutely
major roles for a mezzo soprano.

Julius Rudel: It's a difficult
role, it's a long role.

And it requires really
a first-rate performer.

♪ Carmen! ♪

♪ Sur tes pas
nous nous tous! ♪

Barbara Conrad: It was license
to be as much of a hussy,

as beautiful, as sexy -

I mean, I had great legs, kid.

I showed them off!

Quand je vous aimerai?

That's got to come from
something you experienced

somewhere along the way.

There's a dark side of her.

She was capable to make
anything work for her.

She did what she needed
to do to survive.

Bess Prui Barbara began
really to bloom after that.

She performed in every
major opera house.

She went to Caracas, Venezuela.

She was in the Hamburg Opera.

She went to Belgium.

She went to Paris.

Barbara Conrad: It was very
exciting to be an American

in Europe then.

I was making a new family.

What a difference it made to
be in an atmosphere where you

never once thought about race.

It was just being with people
who liked what you liked.

I absolutely loved it, I felt
like I was at home.

♪ Pallas, pardonne à Troie! ♪

Getting to the Met?

I didn't really think
it was possible.

Doors opened everywhere.

♪ He's got the whole
world in his hand... ♪

♪ He's got the whole
world in his hand... ♪

♪ He's got the whole
world in his hand... ♪

Announcer: Virtually all
the critics, notorious for

squabbling among
each other, do agree.

Barbara Conrad is one
of the finest talents

to have appeared on the opera
scene for a long time now.

(Barbara Conrad sings)

(Barbara Conrad sings)

(Barbara Conrad sings)

(Barbara Conrad sings)

Harry Belafonte: Her life
just began to take off.

And as she was developing
and working on her art

and her instrument, once in
a while I'd get a letter

out of the blue from somewhere
in the world where she was,

just telling me how
well she was doing.

It was a pleasant journey for
me, and I would be pleased

that the encounter and the
experience with her

should have been so positive.

Barbara Conrad: Harry Belafonte
is totally responsible for

the fact that I am sitting here
talking to you in an apartment

in New York City today.

So much of what I am
able to pass on

is because of his vision.

I respected him so much.

He was the last person in
the world I would want,

next to my mom and my daddy,
to disappoint.

And that just carried
through the rest of my life.

Bess Prui The thing that
was lurking always in her

background, you know,
was her experience at

the University of Texas.

I felt that that was a
key to a door for her.

Barbara Conrad: I had no
contact with the University

from '59 to '84.

Julius Rudel: Barbara never
mentioned the horrendous

experience that she'd
had as a youngster.

I was really quite floored when
I heard about it much later.

Bess Prui She was busy
focusing on her career,

and that was just a dark
shadow in the background.

Barbara Conrad: It was like a
part of your family that

rejected you, and you,
in turn, rejected them.

I didn't think about
University of Texas

until something happened.

Bess Prui They said that
she had been selected as a

Distinguished Alumnus.

Barbara Conrad: My first
response was,

"Why would I want to go back?"

Bess Prui That was
not an opportunity

that you would say no to.

Barbara Conrad: I would
have never dreamed that

I would come back to
University of Texas.

Ever.

Do you know what
a miracle that is?

It's definitely a miracle.

Bess Prui I feel like
the University of Texas was

correcting a wrong and
making it right for Barbara.

Barbara Conrad: Things changed,

but it was not completely
resolved.

It was still only a symbol.

Was I proud?

Clearly, it was very
meaningful to me.

Something was -

the door opened.

♪ Jauchzend grüsst das
junge Paar Vereint ... ♪

♪ sind Liebe ♪

Okay.

We're gonna stop there.

Bravi tutti!

Wonderful!

If you can conquer this,
you can sing anything.

♪ Wo in Bergen du dich birgst ♪

♪ de Gattin Blick zu entgehn ♪

I love teaching.

It's an ideal situation
if you want to continue

to grow yourself.

Just want to put in something

"Wo in Bergen du dich birgst
der Gattin Blick zu entgehn,"

I know this woman is
coming in with a certain

kind of resolve.

♪ der Gattin Blick ♪

We've got to feel
your womanhood.

I've had the responsibility of
such important young talents.

Female student: Incredible.

Thank you so much
for helping me.

Barbara Conrad: The balance
between my teaching

and a bit of singing
is just great.

How do you ever really
finally find peace?

I would say, every few months I
would get yet another article

about that same story for
years, it seems to me.

It felt so tenuous sometimes.

A part of me was holding a spot
for that healing to happen.

University of Texas taught me
far more than I ever realized.

And my appreciation is deep
and growing all the time.

All right.

Very good.

And your name, please?

Icy Simpson: Icy.

Barbara Conrad: Icy!

Who gave you that name, Icy?

Icy Simpson: My daddy.

Barbara Conrad: Your daddy,
he would, wouldn't he?

What are you singing?

Icy Simpson: "Willow Song."

Barbara Conrad: Oh, yes,
why not?

♪ Willow, where we
met together ♪

♪ Willow, when our love
was new... ♪

Barbara Conrad: Beautiful.

When you know that you have a
challenging note coming up,

I want to be sure that
the support is there.

It matters that you keep active
inside so that your body

really does serve you.

Thank you very much, everybody.

I wish you all so well,
I really, really do.

What you really are hopefully
going to be great communicators.

Female student: It was
lovely working with you.

Barbara Conrad: Oh, honey,
it's my joy.

It really is.

Icy Simpson: Thank you.

Barbara Conrad: You're welcome,
sweetheart.

You're so welcome.

What a beautiful voice.

Beautiful voice.

Walk tall, girl.

No leaning over!

♪

♪

Barbara Conrad: I didn't
feel I knew enough.

I had no interest in reading
these letters at the time.

"I read in the St. Louis Globe
paper about you being dropped

"from the cast of a student
opera at the request of

"Texas Legislator Joe Chapman.

I feel sorry for him, and
I'm sure God does, too."

"Modesto, California,
May 13, 1957."

This is a letter
to Logan Wilson.

"If the newspaper reports are
true, you are nothing but a

"contemptible craven, and unfit
to be janitor of the poorest

"one-room school in the most
backward and degenerate county

in Texas, much less a
university president."

"Dear Sir, Thanks for removing
the Negro girl from the

"cast of Dido and Aeneas .

"That is what I call fighting
for the white folks.

Let's wake up these sleepy
Texans before it is too late."

"Dear Dr. Wilson, I am strictly
opposed to any play

"that has in it actors
of two different races.

"I think that such will promote
intermarriage, and believe that

such marriages will result
in regrets and unhappiness."

"Dear Miss Smith, let me suggest
that the inspiring performance

"which you have given in the
real life role of Barbara Smith

"leaves the make-believe role of
Dido looking pretty unimportant.

"I believe we are going to have
a truly great university,

"and when that day arrives,
you should have a good,

"warm feeling from the
realization that you

contributed magnificently
to hasten its arrival."

Harry Belafonte: Dr. King showed
me the power of redemption.

The power of conversion.

The capacity to
forgive and to move on.

Much of that had to do with
the soul and the spirit.

What is going to be the
course of your life?

Barbara Conrad: What
is happening now

is what is the final
resolution for me.

One of my most favorite
things to sing is

The Prayer of St. Francis
of Assisi.

"Lord, make me an
instrument of thy peace.

"Where there is hatred,
let me so love.

"Where there is injury, pardon.

"Where there is doubt, faith.

It is in pardoning
that we are pardoned."

♪

♪

♪

Bryan Hughes: This ordeal that
Ms. Barbara experienced

way back in the 1950s, really
began here in the Legislature.

It was her state representative
from east Texas who first

objected to her performing in
the opera, and set all of

these things in motion.

So it's only right that today,
her state representative from

east Texas, now me, is the one
that gets to have a hand in this

and try to make it right.

Madame Speaker: Members,
may we have some order?

Thank you.

Bryan Hughes: I don't have to
tell you folks that the things

we do here are important,
and it's always a big deal.

But today is a really big day.

Ms. Barbara Conrad, she
experienced things that most

of us can't really imagine, but
rather than making her bitter,

you can just look at her
countenance and see how

she trusts God,
how she works hard,

how she uses her gifts.

We're so honored
to have her here.

Madame Speaker, I move
adoption of House Concurrent

Resolution 31.

Girl: "Now therefore, be it
resolved that the eighty-first

"Legislature of the State of
Texas, hereby commend

"Barbara Smith Conrad on her
accomplished musical career

"and her role in the movement
towards civil rights in

the United States of America."

(cheer and applause)

Ken Ashworth: We need to
remember, she was a mere

19, 20 years old
at that time.

I would say she reacted with
more poise, sophistication,

and aplomb, than practically
any of the other actors

in this situation.

I think that's the most
remarkable thing,

Barbara Smith's courage.

Barbara Conrad: Give me a
moment.

I am proud to be a Texan.

I always was.

Which is why you couldn't
take it away from me

in the first place.

It was always my home.

Some of the people at the
time didn't know I was

basically harmless,

basically.

What I'm most proud of,
is of those of you who

fought the fight continue to
do so for all human rights.

For all human rights.

You know, for me, it was
monumental because I was young.

But I knew that this was
my, this was my course.

(applause)

You all behave now,
or I'll come back with my -

(applause)

Barbara Fluellen:
It's not about looking back.

It's about saying, you know,
regardless of what you do to me,

and how you try to keep me down,

there's something in me
that's bigger than you.

Actually you're building in me

something that you didn't
really mean to build.

♪ In the mornin',
When I rise, ♪

♪ In the mornin'
when I rise, ♪

♪ Give me Jesus. ♪

♪ Give me... ♪

Harry Belafonte: There's no
force on the face of the earth,

in my opinion, that's
more powerful than music.

Singing is the way in which
people are most readily

and easily accessed
to a place of peace.

♪ Jesus! ♪

(applause)

(applause)

Barbara Conrad: This is
Carolyn Graves Good...

(Icy Simpson singing)