Singing in community is a container that heals, centers, and strengthens us

—we’re not alone in the struggle. And singing is also one of the most effective ways to help new cultural narratives take root and spread. Experienced song leaders Liz and Conie will use singing to demonstrate how songs can deepen group connection, hold difficult and complex truths, internalize new stories, and organize toward a future no longer driven by racism and oppression, but by solidarity and compassion.

We will anchor our time around ideas from:

—The Black Freedom Struggle, the Labor Movement, and the current Poor People’s Campaign’s use of music to ground, motivate, and imagine a better world.

—Ricardo Levins Morales’ Soil Strategy: We need cultural “soil” full of healthy narratives before our “seeds” (projects, organizations, campaigns) will grow and flourish.

—Resmaa Menakem, in “My Grandmother’s Hands”, highlights singing together as an important somatic practice for harmonizing with other bodies, especially those you may not align with.

In addition to the songs, we will tend the community’s need for connection by facilitating introductions in small groups, offer and invite somatic awareness and noticing throughout the workshop, and solicit takeaways at the end. As we are still in a respiratory pandemic and singing is a high-risk activity, we will require all attendees to mask. A setlist with links to online recordings and songbook resources will be provided after the workshop, so participants can continue to carry these songs with them and use them to build a better world.