There is a short Wikipedia entry re Walter Robinson, author of the Ballad of Harriet Tubman and also a "several operas." Songs of Slavery In Operatic Form - CSMonitor.com https://www.csmonitor.com/1992/0324/24101.html Composer Walter Robinson brings gospel music and African-American history to classic opera March 24, 1992 By John Budris Special to The Christian Science Monitor CAMBRIDGE, MASS. AFRICAN-AMERICAN... "[In 1984], Mr. Robinson became a fellow at Harvard University's Du Bois Institute, an independent research facility that brings scholars together to pursue African and African-American themes. There Robinson began work on "Look What a Wonder Jesus Has Done," an opera based on the life of Denmark Vesey. For Robinson, Vesey encompassed what he called the 'dichotomy of the African-American hero.' " 'He [Vesey] was a devout Christian but had to reconcile the use of violence to regain his people's dignity. He was a prosperous and free African at a time and in a place when 70,000 of his brothers and sisters were enslaved,' explains Robinson. " 'Originally I had intended to write the opera about Harriet Tubman and the 'underground railroad.' But the contradictions faced by a black male brought another dimension to the story I wanted to tell.'"
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