On Easter Sunday, 1939, contralto Marian Anderson stepped up to a microphone in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Inscribed on the walls of the monument behind her were the words “all men are created equal.” Barred from performing in Constitution Hall because of her race, Anderson would sing for the American people in the open air. Hailed as a voice that “comes around once in a hundred years” by maestros in Europe and widely celebrated by both white and black audiences at home, her fame hadn’t been enough to spare her from the indignities and outright violence of racism and segregation.
Marian Anderson
as Self (archive footage)
Renée Elise Goldsberry
as Narrator (voice)
Allida M. Black
as herself
Angela Brown
as herself
Lucy Caplan
as herself
Alisha Lola Jones
as herself
Adriane Lentz-Smith
as herself
Carol Oja
as herself
Jillian Patricia Pirtle
as herself
Sharon Vriend Robinette
as herself
Kira Thurman
as herself
Leslie Ureña
as herself
