Rutha Harris story to be told in Albany

ALBANY — It’s a muggy August day in Albany as Rutha Harris makes her way to the front porch of her house. She turns on the fan and calmly recalls her trips around the country as one of the Freedom Singers, a group formed in 1962 to teach the community about civil rights issues through song.

For as long as Harris can remember, she’s loved to sing. Growing up during the tumultuous 1950’s caused her to realize that her gift had a much bigger purpose and that purpose has lived on and will be shared with Albany and beyond next month.

“I Love to Sing: The Rutha Harris Story,” a play written by Jeronn Russell, chronicles Harris’ journey in spreading her message during the Civil Rights Movement. From the moment she became aware of the issues plaguing the nation during that time, to her performance at the March on Washington, and several life changing moments in between, “I Love to Sing” captures the essence of Harris’ quest.

The cast of the play features a Washington, D.C. based ensemble of actors in The All About Drama Theater Group, including Kim Aldridge who plays Harris. The backup singers performing in the play are based out of Albany and have been hand-picked by Harris herself.

Russell, who has become good friends with Harris since embarking on the project, remembers the particularly luncheon when it was casually mentioned that Harris was one of the Freedom Singers. Russell said her interest was peaked immediately.

“I had heard of a Freedom Rider, but I hadn’t heard of a Freedom Singer,” she said. “And she told me about them forming that group so that they could share the message through music.”

From there Russell formed a relationship with Harris and saw her as a living history book, full of lessons and stories that left Russell craving more.

“Every time I saw her I’d have a different question that I had thought about since the last time I saw her, or I’d call her on the phone,” she said. “So it started out as Ms. Rutha and by the time I had asked her 10,000 questions she was Auntie.”

The play will make its debut at the Municipal Auditorium in Albany on September 3, and Albany mayor Dorothy Hubbard said it is an excellent way to educate the city on one of its very own heroes.

“It’s always important to have the opportunity, first off to honor one of our heroines and one of the people who stood up for civil rights,” Hubbard said. “But to have the play debut in our city and to have the person who is being honored, who is the heroine, here, and living in our city, is just awesome. So I have been encouraging people to join us in the presentation of the play.”

The debut will be special for Harris as well since she will be seeing the play in its entirety for the first time that night, and she said she couldn’t be more excited to see Russell’s vision come to life.

“She said ‘Auntie, I’m gonna write a story about you,’” Harris said. “I said ‘ok, that’ll be wonderful.’ I think that was maybe three or four years ago and here it is today. She has made it a story and it’s about to appear on stage. I’m ecstatic. I never knew that that would happen. I know she told me that she was going to do it, but it’s here now and I’m ready.”

While the play is open to the public and everyone is encouraged to attend, Russell is especially hopeful that the youth in the community will show up en masse.

“It’s beyond important,” she said. “Our young people have no clue, no clue, of the sacrifices that were made for them and it’s almost like them being taught in school. Whereas some people may come and see it as entertainment. This is living history reenacted.”

Russell went on to add that while some may already know the history, they should still come out and receive a positive reminder of who African-Americans are as a people.

“My hope is that it will show the African-American community that we are a resilient people,” she said. “When we join together, one thing (Harris) talked about, it wasn’t just her, it was a community of people. Sometimes it looks like as a people we’ve forgotten what it means to be unified and stand together. I’m hoping that it doesn’t take tragedy for us to come together briefly.”

After the Albany debut, the play will make its way up to D.C. for another showing, hopefully in the new National Museum of African American History & Culture scheduled to open in September.

“We’re looking to do it here (in D.C.) in February because we think it will be really well received with it being Black History Month,” Russell said. “I’m hoping I can persuade the African American Museum, when it opens up, to let us premiere there.”

Opening day will be Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Albany Municipal Auditorium located at 200 North Jackson Street. Tickets are available at ticketmaster with senior, military and students set at $35 and general admission at $45.