Performing Prophet at Spelman

Defiance! The Spelman Years: -

A letter to friends from Sylvia Ann Soares

Dear Friends,

Here is the promised overview of my trip to Spelman College on Oct 2-3, 2025. 

I've Been Around, But Never Before to Spelman

As an actress in 1965, I toured Germany entertaining servicemen. I returned to perform in D.C. for a few years, then pranced about working in Manhattan for a few more. There were stints at regional theaters in Princeton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and D.C. On national tours in the early ’70s, I spent six weeks each in Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, and Boston, before landing in Los Angeles for a ten-year stretch doing television and theater. I returned to Providence in 1981. Since then, I’ve lived in Chicago for two years and performed in Boston a handful of times. I have enjoyed Providence, smaller, quieter and my home since ’81. I’ll be 84 on November 23, and my recent visit to Atlanta was a brand-new treat. Getting there was fun—and riding through the city was even more fun as massive structures came into view, like the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is fifteen to eighteen times larger in ground area than Kennedy Plaza. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport? The busiest in the world—a fact.

The Journey and First Glimpse

On Oct 1, Kajette Solomon, RISD Museum Social Equity & Inclusion Specialist, drove me to Greene Airport to catch my flight to Atlanta. A wheelchair attendant greeted me at the entrance and silently whisked me off to register and then on a long ride to the departure lounge. On the plane, my window seat was over the wing—rumbling roar and minimal view—booo. The seats on the wing and to the rear are the noisiest. I asked for ear plugs and watched the news with earplugs in and my cap pulled over my ears. When I disembarked in Atlanta, Bomba from Senegal was waiting with a wheelchair. He enjoyed the fact that, since I am Cape Verdean, I dubbed him ‘Cousin Bomba.’ He laughed when, seated, I thrust my arms out and yelled, “Onward, ho!” He then whisked me on a  nearly mile-long (or more?) ‘amusement park ride’ past dazzling airport shops and weaving in and out of bustling crowds. Whee! It was a lo-o-ong way to a down elevator, then another lo-o-long way to board the Plane Train riding for two subterranean stops, then up on an elevator, and another lo-o-ong trek, —finally, all tolled miles(?)— to meet Chaunesti Webb-Johnson, Curator of Collection at Spelman Museum of Fine Art. She was cheery, welcoming and drove me to first class accommodations at the Glenn Hotel on Marietta, and from then on tended to all my needs, driving miles through Atlanta’s endless traffic. Coming from stoic New England, the workers in Atlanta gave me pause. From parking attendants to the Black policeman at the Whole Foods, they were all smiles, genuinely cheerful, friendly, beyond courteous, assisting with great warmth. Likewise, as expected, the Spelman staff were exceptionally welcoming, professional, gracious, warmhearted—thoroughly affirming and accommodating. I was in good hands.  

My Defiance! Series and Living History - Honoring Nancy Elizabeth Prophet

Back in 2024, RISD Museum’s exhibit “I Will Not Bend an Inch” presented the first full retrospective of the work of sculptor/painter/educator Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, (1890-1960.) It ran from Feb 17, 2024 - Aug 4, 2024. The exhibit is a powerful testament to Prophet, who, African American Narragansett Pequot, became in 1918, the first person of color to graduate from RI School of Design. As she taught at Spelman 1934-1944, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art is hosting the exhibit from Sept. 5 - Dec 6, 2025, in the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D. Academic Center Gallery. 

Since 2014, in addition to praising her artistry, I’ve enacted Prophet many times—not out of nostalgia or entertainment, but to bring her story vividly to life as: affirming positive motivation, a testament to resilience, a defiance of constraint and a protest against injustice. In my Defiance! Series, Prophet’s spirit resounds through my dramatic presentations of her diary and in my solos that reveal her “…dogged determination to conquer...” and her “… calm assurance and savage pleasure of revenge…”  as she defiantly battled through economic, racial, and gendered constraints. Nancy Elizabeth Prophet Diary 1922-1934  [ https://library.brown.edu/collatoz/info.php?id=250]

An Invitation to Spelman

In April 2025, I —funded in 2013 by RI Council for the Humanities, now RI Humanities, to enact “Nancy Elizabeth Prophet in Living History”— was contacted by Chaunesti Webb- Johnson, Ph.D., Curator of Collections at  Spelman College Museum of Fine Art inquiring as to a possible educational and creative collaboration in conjunction with their exhibit. This resulted in a memorable rewarding 2-day program at Spelman.  

Workshop with Spelman Students

On October 2, in Dr. Katie Schaag’s class, I led a student workshop focused on the enactment of historical and symbolic figures. This was my first attempt at a workshop. On Sept 21, I sent the workshop guidelines ahead. It outlines points on selecting and researching figures, composing narrative, facets of enactment, Key Elements of Storytelling, and documenting sources. That morning, I handed out a personal inspirational letter to the students—Thoughts for Spelman Students. The students, based on my guidelines, shared their astounding Micro-Monologues in development centered on their chosen figures—both in print and live presentations. In their Creative Research and Creative Process Statement, they outlined their reasons for selection and cited their resources. Their application of my guidelines, their research and presentations were exemplary.

WOW!! I was deeply moved. Figures represented were Claudette Colvin, Mary McCleod Bethune, Katherine Dunham, Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, Bell Hooks, Audre Lorde, Queen Catherine of Aragon, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gil Scott-Heron, Muhammad Ali, Octavia Butler, Billie Holiday, Alice Walker, Nikki Giovanni, Ida B. Wells, and Queen Latifah. Their subjects highlighted the intersection of race, gender, class oppression, religious conflict, substance abuse, rape, revolution, cultural pride, gender pride, tools for liberation, revolution, love, education, activism and hope.

Professor Dr. Katie Schaag is joyfully supportive of her students. Awed by their work, I pressed my mind for some reasonable spark of spontaneous insight and was grateful for their appreciation. At 83.9 years of age, I felt compelled to share life advice. Katie urged me on. I encouraged activism and reminded them of their uniqueness. “From the very beginning to the very end, there never has been and never will be another entity, another soul, another human exactly like you. Do you see how beautiful you are? Do you see how unique you are?” Their uniqueness is not just valid, it is revolutionary. The room was dead silent. Later, Katie said that the students responded in agreement that, “You breathed life into them.” The gift of that experience is beyond description.

When I was thirteen, a teacher announced that we would do a career book. “What’s that,” I asked. Response: what you want to be when you grow up. Without thinking, I blurted out, “a teacher.” That never happened in a scholastic situation until now. I hope to be teaching through my enactments and storytelling. That my guidance was received by the Spelman students and brought to life with such creativity, awareness, humanity and in such scholarly depth, was profoundly moving, a transformative realization for me—one beyond words.

Conversation with Dr. Myrtle Elizabeth Andrews,

Director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art

That afternoon I was to give a talk on my work enacting Nancy Elizabeth Prophet. This would be in the Baldwin Burroughs Theater located in beautifully renovated Latanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Performing Art Center. I composed an hour talk and created an aesthetically designed one-hundred image Power Point with titles. Two weeks before the gathering, I was informed that the afternoon talk would instead be a public Conversation with Elizabeth Andrews, Director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. Two hours prior to the event we received the questions. ‘Liz’ didn’t bat an eyelash. During the Conversation event , ‘Liz’—a pro, casually grabbed questions out of sequence and combined several of them. Yikes! Yet, much to my surprise and relief we sailed through it beautifully. The Q&A was lively. One question: why did Prophet not retrieve her artwork from Spelman after retirement? The answer, sadly still, at the end of her life—lack of finances.  Much of her work in Paris was never transported. The Conversation with Director ‘Liz’ was recorded for Spelman archives. Present was Rev. Dwight Andrews of First Congregational Church of Atlanta United Church of Christ. He composed the original musical scores for most of the August Wilson Broadway productions and far more. He greeted me later with great affirmation.

Honoring Nancy Elizabeth Prophet

Throughout my Defiance! Series, Prophet has proudly announced being African American and Narragansett Pequot. Beginning with my RI Black Storytellers Funda Fest 27 2024 solo, Defiance! In Our Defense, my Prophet begins to expand discussion on racial injustice. I based my choice on what she likely learned during her Atlanta experience, and on her 1940 article Art and Life. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/272300]

I included these references further on in my 2024 RISD Museum solo Defiance! Art and Life, beautifully hosted by Deb Clemons, Director of Public Programs at the RISD Museum. In the opening of each show,  elder Prophet rails against Cedric Dover who omitted her from his 1960 book American Negro Art refusing to honor her request that she be represented as bi-racial. She argues that his parents were British and Indian, and that it was widely known that he abhorred being referred to as ‘half-caste.’ My Prophet proclaims, “I never referred to myself as ‘half caste.’ I am wholly who I am, African descent and Narragansett-Pequot. Narragansett-Pequot African descent. One whole beautiful gift of the Creator.” Near the end of those solos, she relates the horrific incidents of the 1906 Atlanta massacre of the Black community. “The Atlanta newspapers calling it a ‘riot.’ To blame the Coloreds.” These proclamations were included in my 2025 Spelman College performance.

Safe Onstage in the Sacred Space of Theater

On the evening of Oct 3, in the Baldwin Burroughs Theater, I performed my new solo on Prophet, Defiance! The Spelman Years. Preceding this moment there had been challenges unlike planning  for my previous presentations. This 2-day project was new to me as it involved a student workshop which I had never done. Also, in the initial discussions with Chaunesti, I did not realize that she was simply floating an idea that I would script and direct students in a play about Prophet. Knowing that the proposed program might be slated for the beginning of October possibly early November, I experienced a slight hesitation when she mentioned discussing this with the theater team in the Fall, but eager to be prepared I leaped forward working on my script. It depicts present day students discussing a project on Prophet, and the play includes minimal glimpses of Prophet in the past. In it, I would portray Prophet minimally—actually off to the side with few lines. In the beginning of June, I was two-thirds through the script when I was informed that the student schedule could not accommodate a play. Instead of the play, I was to perform as Prophet in a new piece referencing her time at Spelman. So, alongside program changes, including the revamp of detailed guidelines from my proposed 3-day format to a 2-day program without the student production—I would need to pour through the Spelman online archives for any mention of Prophet. Generally, I love this work, but it was about time. Well, live and learn, I was made aware of the need to clarify collabs in future. Still—all is subject to change. However, fired up and with Prophet as a guide, I dove in “doggedly determined…” to succeed.

Then, two weeks prior to the performance, I was advised to cut my 90” piece to an hour. I reorganized the script and planned to incorporate notes into Prophet’s onstage activity, referring to my naïve facsimile of her diary and notes on her 1940 article scrawled in a 1950s composition book. My RISD Museum performance kimono was eager for action.

After a supportive afternoon run-through with Dr. Katie Schaag, my Oct 3^rd  Friday evening performance came to its own finding its full expression. In the darkened theater, from my very first utterance, and bathed in ever-comforting stage lighting, I was thrust—freewheeling—into unleashed drama. I was propelled by a rush of energy, spontaneous new intonation, gestures, even adlibbing and minimally referring to the notes. I ignored reacting to this unforeseen magic and rolled with it. Memories. Safe onstage in the sacred space of theater. The unfolding of destiny. The applause was heartening, and the Q&A was filled with insightful questions and heartfelt gratitude. A lovely reception followed in the lobby, with Spelman staff, students and community members with whom I chatted and exchanged contacts. I let myself wish it wouldn’t end.

At that performance, Spelman had three standing cameras and a roving handheld. Earlier that day at Spelman there was filmmaker and director Dianah Wynter who is creating a documentary on Nancy Elizabeth Prophet. Wynter visited RISD in 2024 to interview Kajette Solomon, Museum Social Equity and Inclusion Specialist and me. For her film, Wynter plans to license selections of Spelman’s footage of my performance. I will inform you of the release.

Reflections and Gratitude

The massive glass exterior of the Latanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Performing Art Center looks out onto one section of Spelman’s calm tree filled campus. Students passed by, offering pleasant greetings, their demeanor reflecting inner peace and self‑assurance.

My gratitude to Chaunesti Webb-Johnson, Curator of Collections; Elizabeth Andrews, Director of Spelman College Museum of Fine Art; Natalie Sowell, Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Theater and Performance; Dr. Katie Schaag, Assistant Professor of Theatre & Performance; Grad Assistant Lizette London and others. Chaunesti Webb-Johnson graciously tended to my every need. Just visiting Spelman College was an unexpected gift. I was deeply moved by the privilege of this rich experience, my first directly interacting with students. I am grateful for Unseen Influences that may have informed my journey there.

My inaugural performance as Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was for the RI Black Heritage Society in a three-day program organized by Ray Rickman and Robb Dimmick titled -- “The Art and Life of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: Black Sculptress. Calm Assurance and Savage Pleasure” produced by Providence Opera, Dr. Robert De Robbio, President. Robb Dimmick mounted a superb exhibit on Prophet at the RI Black Heritage Society Gallery in the John Brown House Museum titled  “Delicious Sensation of Rightness.” In this program I performed my first dramatic reading of Prophet’s diary in the RISD Museum auditorium on April 13, 2014. 

Just as I was warmly hosted at Spelman College, I’ve been equally honored and supported in my enactments of Prophet in the past: at RISD Museum  ‘14, ‘19, ‘24;  Newport Art Museum, ‘19;  Brooklyn Art Museum, ‘15;  John Brown House Museum, ‘14, ‘16;  RI Black Storytellers, ‘14, ‘24;  Wanskuck Library ’24;  Rochambeau Library ’24;  Stages of Freedom ’17, ’18, ’20,’24, ’25;  AS200 ‘17;  East Providence City Hall and Weaver Library, ‘19;  Trinity Repertory Company YASI ‘18;  Wilbury Fringe ‘14, ‘17; and…..  more later…..

Please inform me of your events,

Happy Celebrations in all your Holidays, May you and your families be well………

if you can, help those in need……..

With love, sylvia ann