On Oct. 23, the Santa Fe Opera and Center for Contemporary Arts will present a special online screening of “Is This America?,” a workshop of the new, one-act opera “This Little Light of Mine” that portrays key events in the life of voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.

Hamer was a Black woman of humble origins who spoke truth to power and her tireless efforts culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The consequences of the U.S. 2020 presidential election will be historic as the nation faces the global pandemic and polarized state. Despite discrimination, harassment, and brutality, Hamer fought earnestly to ensure that African Americans had the right to vote and this Fall, the Santa Fe Opera will join with other organizations in supporting the “Get Out the Vote” campaign through the development and national screening of “Is This America?”

As part of the Center for Contemporary Arts’ Living Room Series, the national screening of “Is This America?” will be followed by a panel discussion with stage director Beth Greenberg, composer Chandler Carter and librettist Diana Solomon-Glover.

The panelists will discuss the new opera, “This Little Light of Mine,” and the importance of hearing the collective voices of all U.S. citizens on Nov. 3, 2020.