In the 60s,70s and 80s, the US gifted the opera world with something it hadn't yet been ready to see. Grace Bumbry and Shirley Verret, two black Mezzo-sopranos from working class families in the south, who eventually switched to singing soprano roles, were contending internationally with the biggest stars in the operatic world.

The racist backlash they experienced for being stellar only served to catapult their careers.  They became known as "die schwarze Venus" and "la nera callas" by their European fans. 

Nicole Joy Mitchell, Brooklynite and fierce contralto joins the discussion.