"I Will Stand With You" Anti-Racism Video Project
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I'm Heather Wertheimer of Shantala. I'd like to ask you to join us in working together to dismantle racism. Here's the story of our project and our vision for how we can make a difference together.
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The same week George Floyd was murdered, a friend of mine was verbally attacked because of her color when she was driving in the streets of her city. These events were extremely disturbing, and I was moved to write a song called “I Will Stand With You.” My husband and I recorded it and gave away the song for free on our website, asking people to donate to causes working for racial equity in exchange for the song.
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Since that time, I’ve been working to create a full-length song video to educate people about racism, to help end white silence, and to motivate people to action. To develop the messaging for the video, I consulted with Ayisha Elliott, who is an advisor on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (www.blackgirlfromeugene.org). Ayisha and her son are survivors of police violence after being attacked in Eugene, Oregon. Ayisha was badly hurt and had a very long recovery from the assault.
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I invited Ayisha to tell her story as part of the video. She feels that the most effective way to tell her story is to film a reenactment of what happened to her and her son. Portland filmmaker Elijah Hasan will film the reenactment of Ayisha’s story as a very powerful way to help people get inside her experience. Ayisha will portray herself in the film.
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There’s another dimension to the project that is an audience participation program called Signs of Change. Members of our audience are invited to take pictures of themselves holding signs with anti-racist messages. Going through the process of creating the signs and photos is a very moving experience. We plan to include many of these photos in the video and to feature them in a sign gallery, which will serve as a virtual protest. Here it is in its very beginning phase: https://shantalamusic.com/signs-of-change/ We hope you will participate!
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The promotional video for this project was produced by Peter Teys of Byron Bay, Australia. Musicians in the video include Shantala artists Benjy and Heather Wertheimer, Tyia Wilson on vocals, Bibi McGill on electric guitar, Morgan Doctor on drum kit, and Jared May on bass. Karen Bayard, whose Facebook video inspired me to write the song, appears in the promotional video as well. For more information, please find links at the end of this page.
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The success of our fundraising efforts will help us to film Ayisha's story. It will help us to reach as many people as possible once it is released. Funds will pay for the filmmaker, promotion, actors, film editing, and soundtrack. Benjy and I will not receive payment for our work on this video project or keep any of the money raised from this fundraiser beyond reimbursing our expenses.
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Thank you so much for caring about this and doing something to make a difference!
Heather Wertheimer
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Here is a link to download a free MP3 of the song from our website: https://shantalamusic.com/store/i-will-stand-with-you-single-video-version/
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Here is a link to hear the song on your favorite streaming platform:
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If you’d like to know more about “I Will Stand With You," here is a link to our promotional video (also above):
Organizer
Heather Wertheimer
Organizer
Portland, OR