March 4th, 2022 at 8:45am caused a small audience in a big concert hall to be startled awake by the stomps of some 30 women, poised and standing strong. All clad in black business attire with golden jewelry as an accent, hoping it’ll work to brighten the heavy topic of their set list. NAU’s Women’s Chorale featured songs written by and about women in a multitude of sections. From civil rights, to surviving the horrors of being prisoners of war, to understanding that we, though few in number, can bring a multitude together to bring awareness to growing concerns.
Beginning the set with an acapella tune by the name of “What Happens When A Woman”, the stomps echoing through the Long Beach Auditorium asked and answered the question: What happens when a woman takes power? The strength in their voices, rather, the strength in our voices held captive the more than likely tired audience, as well as gave incentive to continue to listen to us, hear us, and be unable to ignore us.
The next song took a different more serious tone, the “Captive’s Hymn”, written by Margaret Dryburgh during her imprisonment in a Japanese POW camp during World War II, wrote this song to give hope and peace to the women and children trapped there, as well as mourn their lost comrades who died from torture and lack of care. It is a solemn piece of glimmering hope in darker times.
Moving on to a song by Ida B. Wells, a woman who wrote about the horrors of lynching in the south. Through the books called “Southern Horrors” and “The Red Record”, the seemingly unimaginable horror of black men being chased, beaten and hung by mobs was brought to life. The song echo’s the frustration and fury of a woman who was sick of being mistreated.
“Little Voice” a song composed by an NAU alumni, shows off what finding your voice can do.
The peak of the performance, in my opinion, was a song by the name of “When Thunder Comes” which listed the names of civil rights activists, and how the stories of their heroism and ability to promote change is not lost to us. Instead it is an inspiration to fight for what is right, no matter what the turmoil, the doubters, nay-sayers or hateful people. We as the next generation must fight in order to promote change.
But still, the question remains…what happens when women take power?
How can we keep hope in the darkest times?
How do we call out social injustice in an impactful way?
How do we use our voices to raise awareness?
How do we bring the Thunder in support of social change and bringing people together?
We have to remember: One of us can start, but when all of us come together, there is nothing that can stop us.