Friday, January 27, 2017

TGIF FEATURE: Songs of protest touch the heart and soul


The celebrities who took part in the newest incarnation of "Where Is The Love."

IN THESE TURBULENT TIMES, we all try to do what we can to fight the rising ugliness of racism, mysogeny and hate: Writers write, organizers organize, marchers march, speakers speak and singers sing.

The Black Eyed Peas updated their video and lyrics to "Where's The Love" to make it more relevant to the times we are currently undergoing. Besides Filipino/American Apl.de.Ap, it featured a score of celebrities from the entertainment world including Hawaii-born Nicole Scherzinger, who is part Filipina.


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THE WOMEN'S MARCH held Jan. 21 inspired singer/songwriter MILCK, aka Connie Lim, who wrote a song "Quiet," that has become the unofficial anthem of The March. 

Samantha Bee, host of Full Frontal, saw a lot of things that inspired and gave her hope, but one thing stood out: the #ICANTKEEPQUIET Choir of DC, a group of women who spent the weekend doing flash mob-style performances around the city on the day after Donald Trump's inauguration, surprising unsuspecting strangers with their soul-stirring a cappella empowerment anthem, "Quiet."  She brought the women onto her show to perform the moving song. (Go to the 4:25 mark to hear the song.)

"The words of violence towards women ... about grabbing the pussy ... brought up a lot of issues for my friend, who was abused," Lim told Billboard. "She got really traumatized, she couldn't leave her house and when I was writing with her she shared her emotions with me. I said, 'Holy crap, this is not casual words to fly around. We need to step up and protect people and make them feel safe and loved again.' And then the Women's March became this beacon of light and hope, something for us to do that was positive." 


EDITOR'S NOTE. If you found this interesting, for additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

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