Women's march anthem penned by AAPI songwriter

SCREEN CAPTURE

Songwriter Connie Lim explains her motivation for writing 'Quiet.'

IF YOU TOOK PART if the Women's March last year, or you watched news clips of the historic event, you also know that the million-plus demonstrators were anything but quiet.

It's fitting then that the unofficial anthem of the march on Washington by a million people is a song titled "I Can't Keep Quiet," written by Connie Lim. In a November 2017 interview at Fortune Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif. that although she wrote it in 2015, it took "a lifetime" to write.

“Growing up as a Chinese-American woman, I was torn between two different approaches of living: as a confident American and as a Chinese woman … I was told when I was younger that the smaller a woman was, the smaller her mouth was, the more attractive she was,” she told the audience in Laguna Niguel, Calif.

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Lim explained to her interviewer that the real inspiration for the song was her experience with sexual assault at age 14. She was told that the rape was her fault and was slut-shamed, as a result of which she developed an eating disorder and body dysmorphia. 

Since her a cappella performance of the song at last year's march drew the attention of women around the world. The song is being performed at graduations, concerts and in the streets.

Lim has performed the song on a number of national venues and has signed with Atlantic Records. Her new album is scheduled for release early this year.

The next Women's March and sister marches will be taking place the weekend of Jan. 20-21, exactly one year after Donald Trump was inaugurated. While the main march on Jan. 21 will take place in Las Vegas, sister marches will occur throughout the world that same weekend. Click here to find an event near you.

In a Facebook post, organizers said, "Nevada has recent experience with some of the most pressing issues facing women in our nation today, from gun violence to politicians accused of sexual assault." Adding, Nevada is a swing state that will help shape the Senate in 2018, which makes it the perfect place to commemorate the Women's March.

The march will kick-off national voter registration and help the organization advocate for policies and candidates it believes in. _________________________________________________________________________________

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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." 

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