SINGING RESISTANCE SONG CIRCLE

Join us for the Song Circle at 12:30!

Or come early and join us for Terri's Qigong class at 11 - 12. Pre-registration required: https://www.spiritguidanceandhealing.com/qigong

PLEASE NOTE: The studio is located in a second floor walkup. Due to the historic nature of the building, it is not ADA compliant and there is a flight of steps to navigate upon entry.

WHAT IS SINGING RESISTANCE?

Singing Resistance is building a mass movement of singers to protect and care for our communities in the face of rising authoritarianism. We are grounded in love, nonviolence, and solidarity. In the context of escalating violence towards our communities and federal invasions of our cities and towns, we sing because song is an antidote to fear, song helps us connect to each other, and through song we can name and protect what we hold sacred. We sing publicly in the streets for the sake of solace, strength, solidarity, to voice our dissent, and to refuse cooperation with oppressive and autocratic forces.

We welcome everyone into the movement for collective liberation. We are fighting for a future in which all people - Black, Brown, Indigenous, immigrant, trans, queer, disabled, poor - and the Earth are safe and sovereign. Through song, we can refuse to obey what authoritarianism wants us to do - get small, numb out, and forget. Instead, we will mobilize our communities in public, we will feel, and we will tell the truth of the violence and of the resistance. Through our actions we seek to embody and represent that which we are fighting for: beloved communities of strong ties, coming together in defense of life, where all are loved and cared for.

SINGING RESISTANCE GOALS:

1. To spread and deepen the practice of singing throughout US social movements, and to widely popularize powerful, modern social movement songs that feel potent and relevant for these times.

2. To tell the story of a loving, nonviolent, and joyful civil resistance movement in the US. Our singing actions are a powerful counter-narrative to the Trump regime's assertion that those on the Left are domestic terrorists. Through singing, we can quickly tell a story of who we are - loving, fierce, nonviolent. Through singing, we generate more safety for our movements and ourselves, because it becomes harder to attack us while maintaining a moral high ground.

3. To bring large numbers of people into movement and into deeper politicization. We bring people in through building a welcoming culture, and through offering powerful ways to take action. We are building the beloved community we long for, where everyone is welcome, everyone holds an important role in community, and everyone is held in their growth and mistakes. A welcoming culture looks like offering nourishment and drink, ensuring people know each other, offering a sense of belonging, sharing the workload, unlearning our biases, and celebrating our efforts.

4. To heal from the impacts of living in an oppressive society, by reclaiming our capacity to feel and express emotion, to connect deeply with each other, and to act in solidarity across difference. The movement of energy in our bodies, especially while singing collectively, supports our nervous systems and spirits. Singing with others offers us a path to feeling our grief, fear, connection, and power, even when it feels too much and allows for greater emotional expression. All of our ancestors sang, and, many of us have been forcibly disconnected from our ancestral songs and music (though for some of us, these traditions are intact). Song can help us reclaim practices that have been lost through the impacts of white supremacy, capitalism, Christian supremacy, etc.

5. To become more prepared for ongoing and escalating authoritarian threats by building infrastructure that keeps us more secure. This includes meeting your neighbors and building relational networks, creating a Singing Resistance group, learning about encrypted communications tools, creating safety plans, and preparing for unexpected disasters (whether "natural" or from the state). When we are prepared, we are more ready to be responsive vs. reactive in crisis.