The Resistance Revival Chorus is a collective of more than 60 women and non-binary singers who join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center women’s voices. The chorus performs in conjunction with the closing night of the exhibition Who We Be! A Celebration of Black Life in Columbia County at Lightforms Art Center in Hudson.
Please note, both the discussion and performance will take place off-site at Lightforms Art Center, Hudson
Founded in 2017, the Resistance Revival Chorus released their debut album This Joy on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Record label in 2020. They have performed original and traditional protest music on the streets at marches and rallies, and on major stages and festivals including at The Grammys, Carnegie Hall, The Apollo, Newport Folk Festival, and Outside Lands.
Chorus members are based in New York City and work as touring musicians, film and television actors, Broadway performers, solo recording artists, gospel singers, political activists, educators, filmmakers, artists, and more, representing a multitude of identities, professions, creative backgrounds, and activist causes. The chorus centers women and non-binary folks in music, and address how historically marginalized women have been in the music industry.
“When the movement is strong, the music is strong” – Harry Belafonte
The Resistance Revival Chorus lives up to Belafonte’s message, as it calls for justice and equity for women, and all humans, across racial, ethnic, economic, sexual identity and religious lines. They aim to be intersectional in their feminism and reveal that all social justice issues overlap heavily with women’s issues; to harness the collective power of women to help change the world; to celebrate each other through song; and to embrace poet Toi Dericotte’s idea that “Joy is an act of resistance.”
Ahead of their 6 PM performance, members of the Resistance Revival Chorus will lead a free community singing workshop and open discussion on art and activism. Free and open to all attendees of Hudson’s 4th Annual Juneteenth Celebration. Panelists Include: Jessi Olsen, Music Director of Resistance Revival Chorus; Tanya Jackson, Founder of Who We Be!
Tanya Jackson is the Founder as well as the Creative and Artistic Director of the annual Who We Be! Columbia County Black History Exhibit, and lead organizer of the annual Hudson Juneteenth Celebration. She also serves as the executive director for the Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition (HCHC).
This engagement of Resistance Revival Chorus is funded through the Mid Atlantic Tours program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support has been provided by Eutopia Foundation.
Presented in collaboration with Who We Be!, Lightforms Art Center, Operation Unite, Kite’s Nest, Grow Black Hudson, and Overcomers Ministries
