It's been a year

One year ago on this day, I offered up We Rise: Love Bigger, a virtual choir video in response to COVID-19.

“Love bigger, imagine harder, and dream wilder, and share the wave of possibility that is sweeping our world for a brighter, more loving, and more just, and sustainable future.”

It’s hard to remember what it felt like, in the early weeks of the pandemic, locked down in our homes, with so few tools and so little understanding of what we were facing. As the first wave of the pandemic swept over us, we could hardly have imagined the toll of suffering and loss the world would experience. The friends, mentors, colleagues, and family members taken before their time, the industries and occupations decimated overnight, the communities battered, and the most precious of human connections denied us.

“One possibility is that we will accept these evils as the best we can do. Those of us who are privileged enough and lucky enough to make it through will sink back into that normalcy in which evil is allowed to triumph.”

Nor could we have known that coronavirus was just the first of the twin pandemics that would overtake us in this tumultuous year. We were only weeks away from the death of George Floyd and the convulsions of pain, rage, and violence that this reckoning with our legacy of racism would bring to the fore. A reckoning that would further polarize and divide us as a nation, bring us to the brink of insurrection, and ultimately reveal the "normal' we imagined returning to for just what it was — unjust, unsustainable and damaging to so many.

“…the possibilities for how we move through this time are many, and the outcomes…the community that will emerge out of these trials…those possibilities are many as well…and it is in the choices that we make that glimpses of hope can be found…”

One year ago, I also couldn't have imagined all the things that I would be grateful for. The ingenuity, courage, honesty, endurance, and compassion that I have witnessed from those around me — and around the world. In the staunch ally-ship of white friends and colleagues, the commitment, innovation, and adaptability of so many teachers and educators, the generosity and solidarity of neighbors, the steadfast cries for justice in the streets of my city night after night, I found reasons for hope, even in the face of the formidable challenges that are still ahead of us.

“…we encourage others to be a part of this wave: raising awareness and offering support for efforts that spread this sense of new possibility. I hope it will inspire the spirit of Ubuntu in others.”

With all the painful truths this year has revealed, it's much clearer now what we face and that the future depends on us facing it together. It depends on all of our willingness to do the hard work of listening, reflecting, challenging, and responding in the service of the larger community. With all that we have endured and all that we now know, it is no longer possible to ignore what hangs in the balance. Nor to deny how fiercely we need to draw on the best in each other, to imagine new possibilities, and to love even bigger.

With gratitude,
Darrell

“We Rise” from Step By Step: The Ruby Bridges Suite
Text from “The Rebirth of Wonder" by Reverend William Sinkford

Music and Lyrics by Darrell Grant
Arranged by Darrell Grant & Jason Shelton
Mixed by Sacha Muller
Video Editing by Cosmo Spada

Vocal Soloist: Marilyn Keller
Background Vocals: Jennifer Hayman | Jason Shelton | Tony Jackson

Musicians:
Drums: Brian Blade
Bass: Clark Sommers
Keyboards: Darrell Grant
Guitar: Lindsey Miller
Saxophone: Rahsaan Barber
Cello: Cremaine Booker

We Rise “Love Bigger” Virtual Choir in order of appearance:

#RiseUpBrandNewDay

HomeDarrell GrantApril 25, 2021COVID-19, community, communi, Georg, Black Lives Matter, BLM, Love Bigger, Resolution of love, Ruby B

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