Skip to main content

Penumbra company member Hannibal Lokumbe composed an original score for a video in tribute to George Floyd and all of the victims of state-sanctioned violence. Sarah Bellamy wrote the narrative and she and Lou Bellamy provide the voice overs.

About the Artists

For Art In This Present Moment, Penumbra Theatre created a video called "The Light and Water in Our Eyes." Company member Hannibal Lokumbe composed an original score for the video in tribute to George Floyd and all of the victims of state-sanctioned violence. Sarah Bellamy wrote the narrative and she and Lou Bellamy provide the voice overs.

Penumbra has also invited members of its racial healing artist institute to contribute, sharing brief statements about what kind of a world they dream of and imagining a brighter future.

Hannibal Lokumbe is a classic composer and jazz trumpeter. Lokumbe (né Marvin Peterson) has been celebrating and commemorating the African-American experience through music and words for over four decades. His work has been commissioned and performed by symphonies and orchestras across the country, including The Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra (“Can you hear God Crying?” conducted by Dirk Brossé, 2012), The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (“Dear Mrs. Parks,” conducted by Thomas Wilkins, 2005) and The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (“God, Mississippi and a Man Called Evers” conducted by Dr. Leslie Dunner, 2002).

Lokumbe’s piece “One Land, One River, One People” was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin during the winter of 2014, and during the fall of 2015. He is the founder and director of the Music Liberation Orchestra, a program that teaches music, genealogy and writing to incarcerated men around the country.

Snapshots

Art In This Present Moment

This project is part of Art in This Present Moment, an initiative of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, with funding from the McKnight Foundation. We provided grants to 12 Minnesota-based nonprofit organizations to fund work by over 50 BIPOC artists who are changing and challenging dominant narratives through their craft.

More Stories

Raine Cloud Preserves Dakota Art Traditions for Future Generations

Raine Cloud carries on the practices of her ancestors through the art of beadwork and design.

See the project

Rochelle Lame Bull Molds Her Own Path as a Fourth-Generation Potter

Rochelle Lame Bull carries on her family traditions and imbues cultural significance through her pottery.

See the project

2025: Bold Change, Bigger Impact

2025 ignited transformation — new strategies, grant and investment opportunities and a dynamic, new President & CEO, Chanda Smith Baker.

View Our 2025 Year In Review

Future Moves: Kealoha Ferreira Explores Lineage through Dance

Ananya Dance Theatre opened Kealoha to a world of dance and movement beyond Western techniques, which has helped her connect deeply to her own traditional practices.

See the project

Standing Together: How to Support Minnesota's Immigrant and Refugee Neighbors

These organizations work every day to support all members of our community — across cultures, identities and experiences.

How You Can Help

The Landscape of Minnesota: A State of the State

A webinar in partnership with the Center for Rural Policy and Development shared rural Minnesota trends, community impact and what we can do to build a thriving state.

Watch the recording

Singing for Justice: Waigwa Leads Choir in Lifting Voices and Community

Choral director Waigwa aims to bring the human experience to the concert stage.

See the project

Empowering Change in the Next Generation of Asian Leaders

Minnesota nonprofit Future of Us is helping Asian American Pacific Islander youth find their voices and become agents of change.

See the impact

GET MONTHLY STORIES, NEWS AND UPDATES

JOIN
US!

* Indicates a required field