Two-Time Grammy® Winner J'Nai Bridges, Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), and Sozo Creative Releases Single 'They Still Want to Kill Us'

For Immediate Release
May 3, 2022
Media Contact: Paula Mlyn
Paula@a440arts.com
(212) 924-3829

BRIGHT SHINY THINGS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TWO-TIME GRAMMY® WINNER J’NAI
BRIDGES, DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN, AND SOZO CREATIVE RELEASES SINGLE 
“THEY STILL WANT TO KILL US” 
TO COMMEMORATE 101ST ANNIVERSARY OF TULSA RACE MASSACRE

All Proceeds of Audio and Video Sales to Benefit BIPOC Artists 
and Organizations Working in Classical Music

NEW YORK, NY–On May 27, 2022, Bright Shiny Things—in partnership with composer/violinist/activist  Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), GRAMMY® award-winning mezzo-soprano and activist, J’Nai Bridges, and Sozo Creative—releases a digital single and video of DBR’s “They Still Want to Kill Us" [BSTC-0172], an aria sung by Bridges, to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The video features performances by Bridges and Roumain intercut with archival film footage and images telling the story of the Massacre in an ominous shorthand. All proceeds from the audio and video sales of this release will be donated to Castle of Our Skins and may be shared with other BIPOC artists and organizations working in classical music and the performing arts. 

“They Still Want to Kill Us” is available for pre-order here. 

The Tulsa Race Massacre began when a 19-year-old Black man—later arrested but found blameless even by official police reports—stumbled into a 17-year-old white woman in an elevator. The sensationalist Tulsa Tribune ran a front-page article the next day titled “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in an Elevator,” and a quickly escalating series of events culminated in a white mob storming the Tulsa district of Greenwood, killing somewhere between 75 and 300 Black people, and burning or otherwise destroying an estimated 1256 homes, as well as churches, schools, businesses, a hospital and a library. Every visible sign of the creativity, self-sufficiency and vibrancy of Tulsa’s Black community was obliterated, with profound economic and psychological consequences ricocheting into the future. Nobody was ever prosecuted or punished for any of these criminal acts, and for decades the events were barely even acknowledged, left out of histories of the region and the country.

Roumain elaborates: “What happened to American citizens on May 31, 1921 in Tulsa was a massacre by white people perpetrated upon Black people. A toxic mix of misinformation, bigotry, ignorance, and white rage ignited a race war that left hundreds dead and a nation still struggling for its identity. For me, the most important part of this project is the historical context and honoring lives lost: men, women, and children.” 

Bridges says, “I channel my ancestors through this music. It becomes very visceral and real. It doesn’t feel like I’m acting - I’m the vessel that brings this story to life. I feel one with this music. As an artist, I have a duty to spread awareness and knowledge and to be an ambassador for humanity. We don’t learn about the Tulsa Massacre in school. I have the responsibility to help people to open their minds and hearts. I feel like the healing can’t happen until we know what we’re working with.”

Roumain adds, “Hopefully at its best, this recording can have an impact in our arts field, at a time when there’s division, there’s loss, and there’s sorrow. This work is a loving response from the arts community”, referring to the support by a unique coalition of 20 performing arts organizations and individuals to fund the single and video. 

CREDITS:
This work of social justice and global change is executively produced by Rika Iino and Ichun Yeh of Sozo Creative with support from Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, OK, and is commissioned by the Apollo Theater, Opera Philadelphia, the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage Anywhere, Joe's Pub, Stanford Live, University Musical Society at the University of Michigan, Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University, The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, Creative Alliance, Bill Bragin, and Washington Performing Arts with support from National Sawdust and the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation, distributed by ActiveCultures, Esty Dinur, globalFEST, ¡Globalquerque!, and HotHouse.

ABOUT DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN AND J’NAI BRIDGES: 
Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) is a prolific and endlessly collaborative composer, performer, educator and social entrepreneur. “About as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets” (New York Times), DBR has worked with artists from Philip Glass to Bill T. Jones to Lady Gaga; appeared on NPR, American Idol and ESPN; and has collaborated with the Sydney Opera House and the City of Burlington, Vermont. Acclaimed as a violinist and activist, DBR’s career spans more than two decades, earning commissions by venerable artists and institutions worldwide. dbrmusic.com

Two-time Grammy®-award-winning, mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges is a leading figure in classical music’s shift toward conversations of inclusion and racial justice. The ‘21-’22 season alone has seen Bridges’ ascent into the sphere of new music- taking on several world-premieres, but continuing to lend her “plush-voiced mezzo-soprano” (New York Times) to the traditional roles. She is one of the Kennedy Center’s NEXT 50 leaders of cultural diversity. jnaibridgesmezzo.com

Please visit theystillwanttokillus.com for more information on Roumain’s and Bridges’ activism, educational resources on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and more information on this project.