Thulani Davis (born July 19, 1949[1]) is an American playwright, journalist, librettist, novelist, poet, and screenwriter.
Davis wrote for the Village Voice for more than a decade,[2][3] including the obituary for fellow poet and Barnard alumna June Jordan.
It was based on a case of an apparent slave mutiny on a Spanish ship, which reached the United States Supreme Court.
Page wrote, "the incident is a welcome historical example of the United States behaving with wisdom and compassion toward the helpless and downtrodden.
This is grudgingly and elusively acknowledged in the opera, but nowhere near so forcefully stated as it should have been, particularly with all the distasteful examples of white racism that were paraded throughout the evening.
And in so doing they {the Davises] created not only a masterpiece of American opera, but further a work that — against a contemporary horizon darkened by undercurrents of racism — resonates today far beyond Memminger and Spoleto USA.