TL;DR:

• Please accept the invitation to the “rrc-announce” email list
• Watch for an invitation early this week for our next/training rehearsal 11 am Saturday, March 1.

Hello Choristers!

Thanks for the great rehearsals at the Meadworks and at my place over the last two weeks. We all sound great and we’re building a great set list.

I was at a singing protest at the IRS on Friday and realized that with our practices we have enough key members knowing enough music to get rolling with public events. So let’s go!

Email lists

We are moving to email lists hosted with Groups.io, instead of me emailing you directly. Please accept the invitation to rrc-announce, which is a low-volume list for announcement from moderators (like this one). If you’ve not received an invitation, email [email protected].

We also have rrc-discuss for all y’alls to chat amongst yourselves.

We’ll have a similar setup for Signal channels (to come) with one channel reserved for critical updates and alerts, another one for general news.

“Dress rehearsal” on Saturday, 11 am (exact time/place TBD)

Our next event is going to be a “dress rehearsal” to practice assembling at a muster point, then moving to a performance location, and running through our songs. We’ll also have:

• De-escalation training
• Signal group setup
• Reflective vest distribution
• Review of our “runbook” (still in development) for how to conduct our public events.

I’m working on a location and I’ll send more details when that’s secured.

Future events

For March I’d like us to consider the following events:

• Singing at a local federal workplace to honor civil servants for their service. Potential locations: NOAA Climate Center in College Park, College Park National Archives.
• Singing for a local Spanish-speaking conversation. I’ve been volunteering as a “door guardian” for a congregation, and the Deacon there would love for us to come sing in support when their service is coming to an end
• Singing at a local community event like the Riverdale Farmer’s Market

Help Wanted

We have work to do to improve our message, and get the word out. You can help. Email [email protected] for more (or reach me on Signal)

Help Wanted - Social Media Manager

We’ve secured the following handles

• Instagram: RapidResponseChoir
• BlueSky: RapidResponseChoir
• Xitter: RapidRespChoir

We need someone who’s comfortable with any of the above to manage our presence across multiple platforms.

Help Wanted - Concoza Sus Derechos

Fluent Spanish lyricist needed to set the key points of Know Your Rights / Conozca Sus Derechos to a catchy well-known Latin American folk tune or pop song (e.g.: Guantanamera, or La Bamba, or something by Bad Bunny?)

Help Wanted - Banner maker

When we go sing for federal workers, it would be amazing to have a Spoon banner to bear.

Reading and Listening

Seems I accidentally paralleled the work of the Resistance Revival Chorus of NYC, right down to our RRC initialism. Their work is amazing and has brought me great joy and comfort the last few weeks since I was introduced to them. Give them a listen.

Why Movements Need to Start Singing Again. I like this quote:

Songs of power are sung together by a group; they are used to strengthen bonds among people who have come together for a common purpose… “​​Songs of power are about decentralizing the performer and centralizing the people and the needs of the moment.”

One take-away is that we’ll need 21st century songs for a 21st century movement, but: one step at a time.

Joy in Resistance,

Peter