2023 Summer Friends and Family Concert

Program:

I

  • One by One - Lebo M

    Soloist: Jeanné Lewis

    “One by One” was written by Lebohang Morake, a South African producer and composer known as Lebo M, who was exiled from South Africa in 1979 during Apartheid. The song was composed for and popularized by the well-known Broadway musical: The Lion King. It's sung in Xhosa, the language of the second largest ethic group in South Africa.

    The lyrics are:

    Hold on tight, my people

    Don't get weary; don't lose your strength

    We can see they wanted to hold us back

    They will not succeed

    We will win, because we know who we are

    The color of my skin that is dark

    I'm proud of it

    The color of my skin that is dark I will die with it

  • Glory - John Legend and Common (arranged by Mackenzie Howard)

    Soloists: Diana Liao & Sandra Guzmán

    “Glory” was written by John Legend and Common for the critically acclaimed 2014 movie Selma, which told the story of the 1965 protests for voting rights. This song bridges the contemporary struggle for racial justice to the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s through its lyrics, and the combination of gospel, R&B, and rap musical styles.

  • A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke (arranged by Lauren Peters-Collaer)

    Soloist: Nikki Nesbary

    “A Change is Gonna Come” is an early 1960's hit by Sam Cooke who felt compelled to break from pop music to write a song that spoke of his own experiences with discrimination.

  • We Are the Ones - Sweet Honey in the Rock (arranged by Mackenzie Howard & Jeanné Lewis)

    “We Are the Ones” was adapted from a poem called “Poem for South African Women” by June Jordan. The poem commemorates a group of women with profound inner strength who marched on the South African government in 1956 to protest the Apartheid regime.

  • Reclaiming My Time - Mykal Kilgore

    Soloist: Imani Pugh

    “Reclaiming My Time” is a musical parody created after a 2017 congressional hearing in which Representative Maxine Waters stood up for her right to talk while continuously being interrupted.

Intermission

We encourage our community to donate to Church of Pilgrims, to thank them for generously hosting us for so many years.

The Church can receive cash, checks made out to Church of Pilgrims, or virtual donations.

Access the online donation portal through this link: https://onrealm.org/pilgrims/give/donations

OR

Texting "PILGRIMS donate" to 73256

II

  • Rise Up - Andra Day, Lin-Manuel Miranda (arranged by Ricky Jabarin)

    Soloist: Mackenzie Howard

    “Rise Up” is a mash-up of two contemporary songs: Andra Day’s ‘Rise Up’ and ‘My Shot’ from the popular Hamilton musical.

  • Mountain Song - Holly Near & Emma's Revolution (arranged by Laura Bellows)

    Soloist: Bianca Flokstra

    “Mountain Song” speaks to the incredibly destructive process of mountain-top removal coal mining. Explosives and enormous machinery are used to blow apart Appalachian mountains to get at small seams of coal and the waste rock is dumped in local stream beds. Already, over 600 mountains and several thousand miles of streams have been destroyed in this way for our electricity in the US.

  • Pilot Light - Sarah Beller (arranged by Noel Leon)

    Soloists: Sarah Beller & Katherine Philipson

    Written by Sarah Beller and arranged by Noel Leon (both SongRisers), “Pilot Light” is a song about persisting in our justice struggles in the face of burnout. It tells the story of the movement for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants from 2015-2018, during which Sarah worked at HIAS, the world’s oldest refugee agency.

  • I’m Gonna Walk It With You - Brian Claflin & Ellie Grace

    "I’m Gonna Walk It With You" is an anthem of solidarity for a new era. We sing it as a message of solidarity for all sorts of audiences, from marginalized communities experiencing injustices to close friends going through a rough time.

SongRise