You must fight to overcome every obstacle…
Start...
To explore the amazing journey of Earnestine Rodgers Robinson from segregation and the Deep South to her triumphant bow on Carnegie Hall, travel through the collection of book chapters, interviews, film clips and audio of the composer narrating her own story.
Humble Beginnings
Composing classical music is not the most likely career that one would expect to come out of the Deep South. Such a career choice is unimaginable when you consider that I grew up during an era blighted with despair in the midst of segregation. Yet, it happened to me.
Going Up North
Audiobook excerpt from "Dark Before Daybreak"
In the 1950s, segregation was the norm. Beyond the insular border of my neighborhood, the color of my skin automatically labeled everyone like me as a second-class citizen. So, when Blacks dreamed of equality and prosperity, they dreamed of going to the northern part of the United States.
Dark Before Daybreak is the unlikely story of Earnestine Rodgers Robinson, a black woman born in the Deep South at the end of the Great Depression, who triumphs without formal music training as a composer at the world-famous Carnegie Hall. Her story has been the centerpiece of an award-winning short documentary film, Sounds of a Miracle, that has screened at several prestigious film festivals.
Staying at the Lorraine Motel in 1968
It was the summer when my husband and I pulled up stakes in Chicago and headed south. And I was feeling some trepidation about moving back to Memphis, even for a short while. The country was in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, and now we were moving into the middle of it.
The Miracle in the Spring of 1972
It was the spring of 1972. And my daily life, while pleasant, was ordinary. But this was spring and like the season, I was propelled by the inevitable cycle of change. But the real change was about to happen within me.
Discovery of Purpose
After multiple failures, there was one thought that plagued me the most, “Why did God choose me?” I showed no talent for music growing up. Furthermore, I did not know how anyone, especially me, a housewife, would promote classical music in Memphis, a city known for Elvis and blues.
First Carnegie Hall Premiere
Carnegie Hall, my music, collectively, were words that I never dreamed would be used in relationship to me. But the extraordinary was happening. After all of the previously failed concerts, the prospect of this premiere seemed unimaginable.
European Premiere in Prague
After my second premiere at Carnegie Hall, I set my sights on a new dream. I wanted to have my music performed in Europe. Despite having no idea of how to proceed toward this dream, the lack of details did not bother me. I was trusting God for the unbelievable, yet again.