Driving while Black: Here’s how an opera will help you understand a Black mother’s fears

A repeated phrase in the opera “dwb” (driving while Black) is, “You are not who they see.”

Susan Kander, the composer of the opera, describes it as the mantra of a Black mother knowing her son, who is learning to drive, is in danger. It describes a feeling that goes beyond “the talk” Black parents have with their children on how to handle encounters with police officers, she said. It reflects a deeper, fundamental understanding of individuality, symbolism, and the story of America, Kander said.

“You are not who they see — ‘Who?,’ the individual, the stereotype,” Kander said. “They see a type, they see a representative, but every one of those people we can name is an individual child of somebody.”

The Fort Worth Opera will present the regional premiere of the one-act opera, “dwb” (driving while black) at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 16 and 17 at the Van Cliburn Concert Hall at Texas Christian University and at 2 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Kimbell Art Museum at 333 Camp Bowie Blvd.

After each performance, the Fort Worth Opera will invite ticket holders to join members of the creative team in a discussion. It will be moderated by TCU faculty members Stacie McCormick, associate professor of English, comparative race and ethnic studies and women and gender studies, and Brandon Manning, associate professor of Black literature and culture in the Department of English.

The idea for the opera developed after Kander’s friend Roberta Gumbel, a Black woman, told Kander about her concerns for her son, who was working to get his driver’s permit, in 2016. Kander said she felt the story would be impactful for an audience and wanted to write an opera based on their conversation.

When Kander could not find anyone to write the opera, she encouraged Gumbel to write the story. Gumbel pulled from her experiences as a mother, the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Philando Castille, and the experiences of her brother and his children of being Black in America. Kander wrote the music.

Opera reflects life of Black people

Gumbel says the art of the opera reflects life. She said she wants to reach people with a story they wouldn’t otherwise hear, whether they attend the show for the music, the story, or the love of theater.

“I think there’s two types of people in the audience,” Gumbel said. “One is relating to the story and another group of people, and it’s not just whether they’re Black or white, but other people who are learning and being exposed and understanding that this is the life for some people that they could not have conceived.”

The opera has one performer, along with a percussionist and a cello player who interact with the performer as a child who is understood to be there but never seen, Gumbel says.

The opera represents a 16-year journey of interaction between the mother and her son. The mother talks with her child as a passenger in her car — bringing him home as a baby, picking him up from school, and finally, teaching him how to drive. The mother must emotionally deal with the growth of her child and sending him out into a world that is frightening, Gumbel says.

Angela Turner Wilson, general and artistic director of the Fort Worth Opera, says she learned about the opera’s story as her own son was learning to drive and was drawn in. As a white woman, Wilson’s experience was not the same, and she started to learn more about the opera. When she was named director in 2022 she was able to bring the story to the board of trustees to share it with the Fort Worth area.

Uncomfortable conversations about racial equity, justice

The show will provide the opportunity to promote uncomfortable conversations in communities about racial equity and justice, Wilson says.

“You don’t need to shy away from talking about things that are hard,” Wilson said. “Art sometimes makes it easier to start that conversation.”

Marsha Thompson, a soprano, performs as the mother in the opera. She said she wants the performance to reach a diverse audience and show the Black experience in the United States.

“What we want to convey is the profound love that Black mothers have for their children, but especially their sons,” Thompson said. “Keeping in mind that a lot of times when young boys or young Black men are traveling in their daily life, that they are sometimes met with aggression that other people don’t have to consider in their daily lives.”

Cremaine Booker plays the cello in the opera and is performing “dwb” for the fourth time. He says the cellist continuously changes roles from a melodic character who provides context, to doubling as the child.

Booker hopes the piece opens the eyes of audience members so they can empathize with Black people’s struggles and be allies for people of color.

“I just hope our white counterparts get to see a glimpse of the things that we deal with on a daily basis.” Booker says. “And that starts a conversation within their own circles of people because without their ally-ship we don’t have these conversations.”

‘This is real’

Ayvaunn Penn is a playwright, director, and theater professor at TCU who will direct “dwb.” Her work focuses on applied theater or community engaged theater, and she gravitates toward works that discuss the reality of the world, along with social and systemic issues.

Penn wants to make sure the audience understands this experience is rooted in facts, anecdotes, and news about what happens every day to Black families.

“I want the audience to walk away knowing that this is real,” Penn said. “The last lines of the show, ‘Every time you walk out of that door, I’ll be waiting for your key in our front door,’ because it’s very real, that he may not come back.”

To buy tickets go to www.fwopera.org/productions/driving-while-black-2024.