When I Rise

1956 was the first year that African Americans were admitted to the University of Texas at Austin as undergraduates. That very year a young, talented music student named Barbara left her small Baptist Bible Belt town of East Texas and entered the university. She majored in music, and was selected to play the lead in a romantic opera in 1957, opposite a white boy. As the news of her lead role spread, the Texas legislature advised the university president to remove her from the cast. National news picked up the story, and Barbara was thrust into the biggest controversy of her life in a time when civil rights were a volatile topic. She received attention good and bad from all directions; even pop star Harry Belafonte stepped in to offer to pay her way at any other institution of her choice. Barbara chose to stay at The University of Texas…

Many years and a lot of international fame later, Barbara Smith Conrad looks back on her life-altering experience and decisions and where she is today. Famous and acclaimed at her alma mater decades later, Barbara Smith Conrad is credited as one of the pioneers in the university’s progression of racial equality. The story of this outstanding musician and strong-willed woman will surely provide you with your daily dose of inspiration.

The film itself is not too long, but it can seem a bit slow as it is mostly comprised of interviews with older, soft spoken people. (I don’t recommend watching it in a dark room if you are already really sleepy from long days of a film festival.) The story, on the other hand, is one well worth telling as it provides not only historical perspective regarding one of the nation’s top universities, but also inspiration. I’m happy to have seen the film, but I do not need to see it again.