Episode 25 is a mixed bag of tunes, starting out with Pay Attention by Joyce Johnson Rouse, singing with her group, Earth Mama. It’s a simple – even childlike – doo-wop kind of song that asks us to pay attention to the earth, and all the wonderful things it gives us.  But it also makes clear our responsibility to keep it clean and whole.

Building on Earth Mama’s insistence to take responsibility for our planet, next is Crys Matthews, singing her Waking Up the Dead, a song about our generational responsibility to the slaves, some dead hundreds of years, now buried in the cemetery Crys finds herself walking through. She feels their suffering and celebrates their struggle to achieve the freedom they got only in death. But she also offers her gratitude for all they went through toget her to her own freedom – and wonders: Who were they?  It is a moving ode to freedom and responsibility.  

And speaking of freedom, our next song, No Kings, comes with a montage of all the demonstrations that arose on No KingsDay last June 14 – one of the largest protests in US history. The song says “No Kings in the USA,” and we all know it’s talking about that corrupt Man Who Would Be King, sitting in the White House. It’s a boisterous, rousing piece of soul music, rejoicing in the knowledge that “No man owns the USA.” It’s a good reminder that the second No Kings Day is coming up soon, on October 18. And courage is contagious, so tell all your friends.

Finally, we round out today’s episode. with something of the spoken word – Come Write a Song With Us, by Lu Aya, co-founder of The Peace Poets – a hip-hop and spoken word crew from the Bronx. Lu is an educator, musician, and champion of social justice. His poem tells us we are all interwoven, and songs have the power to embody that idea.