NEWSCASTER: The coronavirus
pandemic is bringing life
in the United States
to a grinding halt.
NEWSCASTER: Schools across
the country are closed
to try to stop the spread
of the coronavirus.
NEWSCASTER: Dark times call
for bright spots.
That's what Broadway star,
Laura Benanti
was hoping to accomplish
when she posted this video.
This may seem silly but I know
that a lot of high schools
were gonna have their musicals.
So, if you would like
to sing a song
that you are not going
to get to sing now and tag me,
I wanna see you.
That's me.
Tired, freaked out,
un-showered me.
When I posted that, I thought
I'd get maybe , responses.
But Sunshine Songs quickly
took on a life of its own.
I got thousands of videos,
each one more creative
and inspiring than the next.
JEFFREY: When Laura commented
on my first video
for Sunshine Songs,
I freaked out.
LAURA: These kids
were using their love of music
to connect with each other,
to connect with us,
and in many cases, themselves.
MAN: This turned into
what she calls
the world's biggest musical.
Even Tony Award winner,
Lin-Manuel Miranda, tweeted,
"I'm watching too."
LAURA: I was so blown away
by these young people
that I decided to take it
one step further.
For the final documentary,
we have to narrow it down
to seven kids.
And so, we just wanted to know
if you would be one
of those seven. [laughs]
- Are you serious?
- LAURA: Yeah.
I'm telling you,
you are officially in.
- Oh. Oh.
- [Laura laughs]
Yes, yes. A million times, yes.
Oh, my gosh. All right.
LAURA: The seven young people
you're about to meet
represent the thousands
of graduated seniors
who raised their voices
during this unprecedented time.
I love this project so much.
- My heart is gonna...
- [Laura laughs]
Are we rolling in there?
LAURA:
They've each selected a song
and crafted
a musical performance
to reflect their
experience.
They filmed themselves remotely
with the help of their family
and friends
in a COVID-responsible way,
of course.
These kids have brought me
so much joy during this time.
It's my honor to introduce
Homeschool Musical
Class of .
[music]
Hi.
Hey.
Friends.
Okay.
So considering...
everything that your generation
has been through
over from birth
through all of this,
how do you feel like,
in some ways,
that's helped mold
who you are today?
I feel like growing up
alongside the internet
as it became more
and more accessible to all of us
has made us a much more
conscious generation
than previous generations.
When COVID hit,
everything closed.
All the theaters closed.
ELIZABETH: I remember
it was Friday the th,
March th.
So it's kind of creepy
thinking about it now.
All of our shows slowly
one by one got canceled,
taken away.
FISCHER: And I remember at first
I was like,
"Whoa."
ANNIE: I think I was just
scared for the world
and our communities
and our families and friends
and their safety and health.
ISAIAH: My mom and sister are
both nurses and
living with people
who are, like,
working around COVID-
was scary
because it was getting worse.
JOSEPH:
There were a number of days
that I'd really just spent
entirely in my room.
It kind of sucked.
But my perspective of the world
has grown so much.
I wanna do everything that I can
to make the world a better place
and make some cool art
while I'm doing it.
[music]
JOSEPH: With a number of friends
from my high school,
we banded together and started
the West Orange Youth Caucus.
The main goal
for the youth caucus
is to give young people
a space to discuss
what they are seeing happening
politically in the country
and discuss what we think
needs to happen.
So we drafted a list of demands.
We scheduled a big protest rally
on the front steps
of our town's town hall.
And we publicized the heck out
of it on social media.
We got , people to come out.
And we ended up with ,
signatures on our petition
and we presented it
to the mayor of our town,
asking for more accountability
in policing
and to ensure transparency
to ban the use of chokeholds
in arrests,
ban the use of rubber b*ll*ts
and teargas on crowds,
to require by ordinance
a body cam
on all active duty
police officers in West Orange
while they're on duty.
Almost everything
that we demanded
ended up being passed
by our town council.
MAN: -
PROTESTORS: -
JOSEPH: I think ultimately,
I am feeling hopeful.
I am feeling optimistic
because I know that
so many people...
in my generation
are thinking proactively too.
I know that so many people
are committed
to trying to make
the world better
in the ways that we
know it needs to be better.
And because
of the intense circumstances
that we're living in right now
with the pandemic,
I don't think
that we have a choice
but to make the changes
that we know we need.
It's the end of the world...
- and we do know it.
- Yeah.
I don't know how fine I feel,
but that's how
I'm trying to feel.
I think the message in the song
is pretty clear
and R.E.M.'s orchestration
of it, like,
everything about it,
I feel like so perfectly
- encapsulates the theme.
- Uh-hmm.
And it is--it's vibes
that were being felt
when the song was recorded
and it's vibes that continue
to be felt today.
♪ That's great,
it starts with an earthquake ♪
♪ Birds and snakes,
and aeroplanes ♪
♪ And Lenny Bruce
is not afraid ♪
♪ Eye of a hurricane,
listen to yourself churn ♪
♪ World serves its own needs ♪
♪ Don't mis-serve
your own needs ♪
♪ Speed it up a notch, speed,
grunt, no, strength ♪
♪ The ladder starts to clatter
with a fear of height ♪
♪ Down, height,
wire in a fire ♪
♪ Represent the seven games ♪
♪ And a government for hire
and a combat site ♪
♪ Left her,
wasn't coming in a hurry ♪
♪ With the Furies
breathing down your neck ♪
♪ Team by team,
reporters baffled ♪
♪ Trumped, tethered, cropped ♪
♪ Look at that low plane,
fine, then ♪
♪ Uh-oh, overflow, population,
common group ♪
♪ But it'll do, save yourself,
serve yourself ♪
♪ World serves its own needs,
listen to your heart bleed ♪
♪ Tell me with the Rapture ♪
♪ And the reverent
in the right, right ♪
♪ You vitriolic, patriotic,
slam fight, bright light ♪
♪ Feeling pretty psyched ♪
♪ It's the end of the world
as we know it ♪
♪ It's the end of the world
as we know it ♪
♪ It's the end of the world
as we know it ♪
♪ And I feel fine ♪
My generation was born...
on and soon after / .
We are the / babies,
this whole class of .
Global pandemic,
climate crisis,
mass sh**t,
people lose their jobs,
lose their homes.
But we can use our collective
bargaining power
to send that message
to our authority figures
that something has to change.
♪ The other night I drifted nice
continental drift divide ♪
♪ Mountains sit in a line,
Leonard Bernstein ♪
♪ Leonid Brezhnev,
Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs ♪
♪ Birthday party, cheesecake,
jellybean, boom ♪
♪ You symbiotic, patriotic,
slam but neck, right? ♪
♪ Right ♪
♪ It's the end of the world
as we know it ♪
♪ It's the end of the world
as we know it ♪
♪ It's the end of the world
as we know it ♪
♪ And I feel fine ♪
♪ It's the end of the world
as we know it ♪
♪ It's the end of the world
as we know it ♪
♪ It's the end of the world
as we know it ♪
♪ And I feel fine ♪
[rock music plays]
Okay. So how was it
being with your family,
you spoke a little bit about it,
- but during quarantine--
- Uh-hmm.
--how was it being with them
for, like, long periods of time?
Quarantine, there was
a lot more together time
that really reminded me
of how it was growing up.
I grew up surrounded by strong,
powerful matriarchs.
So I know the power
of women of color.
I know our versatility,
our softness
but also our strength.
- I got it.
- No, Annie, no.
ANNIE:
I'm the oldest of four kids.
I have one brother
and two younger sisters.
We were very close
before quarantine, but honestly,
the time we spent together
physically...
- Frenzy.
- No!
- DAD: Out.
- [laughs]
Brought us a lot closer.
I was taking my family life
for granted.
I was taking, you know,
the support that I have
from them for granted.
But this just made me realize
these are my people, you know?
These are the people
that are gonna have my back
no matter what,
that are gonna support me %,
that will love me
even if we fight.
These are the people
that you have to hold you
when you cry and...
that you'll hold
when they cry.
[music]
ELIZABETH:
I come from a family of five
and I live with my two sisters
and my parents.
How much longer on these--
on these corns?
MAN: They're probably
already done.
ELIZABETH: My parents own
their own business
called the Market General Store.
Working there has been a blast.
A year ago, my plans for college
were to apply
to all the art schools
I had deemed fit to study opera
and maybe musical theater.
I had gone into the school
of my dreams
and I was so excited
to finally live out this dream
that I had been planning
since I was a freshman
in high school.
[music]
ELIZABETH: Towards March,
things started to change.
The city told us,
"You guys have to close
the store
because of this pandemic."
This means that there's no money
coming in at all.
We most definitely
pinched pennies.
We started getting back
the financial aid packets
and it really wasn't enough.
We couldn't pay
the big tuition bill.
And it hit me that I probably
wouldn't be able to go
to college this year.
And the idea of deferment
came up.
[music]
ELIZABETH:
I learned that my school
was going to be so gracious
and keep my two scholarships
that I had gotten,
plus my double major.
And I decided that
this is a year
that I could take
to grow my voice
and mature as a person.
It's going to be nothing
but growth.
I hope that I can find success
in my craft,
this thing that
I put so much work into,
that I pour my heart into,
that I can hopefully open doors
for girls that look like me.
"West Side Story" is one
of my favorite musicals ever.
And it's a dream to play Maria.
I think it's just
a beautiful song.
I feel like in the world
that we are living in,
there's a lot of crazy
and a lot of unrest.
And what we need now
more than anything is peace
and quiet and hope.
There is--there is
a driving hope in this song,
a hope that there is a place
for all of us.
[dramatic music plays]
♪ There's a place ♪
♪ For us ♪
♪ Somewhere a place for us ♪
♪ Peace and quiet ♪
♪ And open air ♪
♪ Wait for us ♪
♪ Somewhere ♪
[singing in Spanish]
My family was totally supportive
about my dreams and my goals.
I think they saw
something special in me.
They were just very...
"You can do this.
We believe in you.
We know you got this.
Go fly. Go do your thing."
♪ There's a place ♪
♪ For us ♪
♪ A time and place for us ♪
♪ Hold my hand ♪
♪ And we're halfway there ♪
♪ Hold my hand ♪
♪ And I'll take you there ♪
♪ Somehow ♪
♪ Someday ♪
♪ Somewhere ♪
How do you feel that theater
and music
has influenced you..
as a person?
JOSEPH: Whenever I'd play
in new character,
the overlaps between
my own personal character
and all of the quirks and traits
that the character has,
especially the flaws,
end up becoming tools that
I can use to better myself.
I think the most powerful voice
I have is through my music,
like I love musical theater,
I love singing, I love acting,
and I love dancing.
I'm not that great at it
but I've gotten better.
Theater is always trying
to reflect onto us
and to kind of like show
us our world as it really is.
We all go through things
from day to day
and art is what's
going to get us through,
it's what has got us through.
Theater has always been
a really big passion of mine
and what I love about it is that
I get to be someone else
for two hours
or however long the show is.
And just stepping out
into so many personalities,
you get to live vicariously
through them.
I find it so liberating
when you open on a stage door,
it's a whole different world.
You're not thinking about
any of the bad things
or thinking about
your show that you have to do,
and you love doing it.
Becoming a senior
is a very monumental moment
in anyone's high school career.
Because you're the top
of the food chain.
I was waiting for all the perks
that a senior gets
and I'm so ready
and excited for it
and then that changed
very quickly.
One day I was waiting for my mom
to pick me up after rehearsal
and she's never really
"late" late,
so I kept calling
and, like texting,
she was never answering.
And then one time
she did call me,
she was like,
"Hey, we don't have a house,"
and I was like,
"Like, what do you mean
we don't have a house,
like, I was just there
this morning?"
I got to my house at the time
and I just saw
a lot of our stuff outside
and I was just like--
my mom was like, "If you see
something that's, like,
important to you or of value,
take it
because we might not
come back to it.
And I was like, "Okay."
And so I just grabbed
a lot of things.
That night,
I went to a hotel with my mom
and my sister and my two dogs.
I knew nothing.
I was in the blue,
like I had no idea
about anything.
It was very challenging for me
but everyone outside
did not know anything.
As a senior, it's like
your moments with your friends.
And, like,
I just got in the show.
My first time
to ever lead a role,
playing Pinocchio.
I would, like, go through
the day all kind of sad
because I was thinking about
my life at home,
but I would walk into
a stage door
and I would shift.
I would be ready to work.
I would still have the thought
in my head
but at a certain point
of rehearsal,
I would just take a moment,
shut all the doubt in my head,
just like,
"You're fine,
you got it,
don't worry about it,"
and then I would look back up
and I would just go through
my rehearsal
like nothing ever happened.
WOMEN: Six, seven, eight.
[cheers]
"I will survive" really--
it really reflects on my year
because it's just like,
so much happened.
I went through the mud,
I went through the grass,
the tornado, the ocean,
and the desert,
the tundra,
every biome in the planet
and yet I'm talking to one
of my idols, hello.
Like, I came out on top.
Like at the end of the day,
like, it's my theme song,
it's my anthem,
I think it is my song,
and that's that.
[upbeat music plays]
♪ At first I was afraid,
I was petrified ♪
♪ Kept thinking
I could never live ♪
♪ Without you by my side ♪
♪ But then I spent
so many nights ♪
♪ Thinking how you did me wrong
but I grew strong ♪
♪ And I learned
how to get along ♪
♪ And so you're back
from outer space ♪
♪ I just walked in
to find you here ♪
♪ With that sad look
up on your face ♪
♪ I should have changed
that stupid lock ♪
♪ I should have made you
leave your key ♪
♪ If I had known
for just one second ♪
♪ You'd be back to bother me ♪
♪ Go on now go ♪
♪ Walk out the door ♪
♪ Just turn around now ♪
♪ 'cause you're not welcome
anymore ♪
♪ Weren't you the one who tried
to hurt me with goodbye? ♪
♪ You think I'd crumble? ♪
♪ Did you think
I'd lay down and die? ♪
♪ Oh no, not I ♪
♪ I will survive ♪
♪ Oh, as long as I know
how to love ♪
♪ I know I'll stay alive ♪
♪ And I've got all my life
to live ♪
♪ And I've got all my love
to give ♪
♪ I'll survive ♪
♪ I will survive, hey, hey ♪
And I would tell
my -year-old self,
"You are so much stronger and
braver than you think you are
and you have so much strength
and resilience, and power,
that you just don't know that
because you're so young
but when you get there,
you'll get in control
and you will love it."
♪ It took all the strength I had
not to fall apart ♪
♪ Kept trying hard to mend
the pieces of my broken heart ♪
♪ And I spent oh so many nights
just feeling sorry for myself ♪
♪ I used to cry ♪
♪ But now I hold
my head up high ♪
♪ So you see me, somebody new ♪
♪ I'm not that chained-up little
person still in love with you ♪
♪ And so you felt like
dropping in ♪
♪ And just expect me
to be free ♪
♪ Well, now I'm saving
all my lovin' ♪
♪ For someone who's loving me ♪
♪ Go on now go,
walk out the door ♪
♪ Just turn around now ♪
♪ 'Cause you're not
welcome anymore ♪
♪ Weren't you the one who tried
to hurt me with goodbye? ♪
♪ Did you think I'd crumble? ♪
♪ Did you think
I'd lay down and die? ♪
♪ Oh no, not I ♪
♪ I will survive ♪
♪ Oh, as long
as I know how to love ♪
♪ I know I'll stay alive ♪
♪ And I've got
all my life to live ♪
♪ And I've got
all my love to give ♪
♪ I'll survive ♪
♪ I will survive ♪
♪ I will survive ♪
How do you feel like that time
when quarantine
fostered your creativity
and really
what was that creativity?
I think during that quarantine
it was really--
it was more of a break,
a brain break for myself.
You know,
like most of us everywhere,
it's okay to have a brain break
and just like not do anything.
When you have all this free time
and you're allowed to creatively
let yourself roam and explore
what it is you want to do
with the art that you make
because everybody
has the capacity to make art,
everybody
has the capacity to be--
to be creative
if they so choose.
Like Liz said,
sometimes a brain break is good.
I'm someone who likes
to have things planned out,
I like to know
what's coming next,
and it was a big world-stopping
moment of nothing's coming next.
I definitely thrive off
of being around other people,
I feed off
of other people's energy.
I think that most performers do.
And going from seeing all
the people that I love so much
that I choose
to be around every day
and not seeing them at all,
just like cutting it cold turkey
was hard for me.
In those moments,
I just wanted to be in my room
and not do anything,
scroll through TikTok
mindlessly.
I was just like a wreck.
I was not fun to be around.
I was crying all the time.
I didn't really
wanna play the piano.
And my mom kept telling me,
"Music always
makes you feel better."
- You ready?
- Yes.
ANNIE: I started
my littlest sister Josephine
how to play piano.
It was nice
to just share something
that I love so much with her
and see her love it.
This is me writing a song--
um, ish.
Trying to write a song.
I was just feeling like I needed
to put my feelings somewhere
and so I started playing music.
And it just became
something for me
to put my energy
into that felt normal.
♪ And it all stops
everything you know ♪
♪ Everything you knew
where time stands still ♪
The difference in what music
I was writing before quarantine
and what I wrote
during quarantine was that,
the significance
of what it meant to me
was way different.
Music is a really powerful way
to reach people and in my life,
music has just meant such
a natural thing for me to do
that that just seems
the most natural way for me
to speak out and share
what my feelings
and beliefs are.
I think that quarantine
is the first time
that I ever sang just to, like,
feel the music, you know?
And I think that Sunshine Songs
also motivated me to keep going.
I thank you for doing this.
It just really warmed my heart.
I love that
I was reaching people
in a time where people seems so,
like, untouchable, you know?
This song is me being so excited
and eager for the future.
I love my hometown
and where I'm from,
and so grateful for my roots,
and I was so ready to leave
and come to college,
and meet new people,
and learn new things,
and be a part
of a whole new environment.
And that song was me, like,
realizing inside myself,
"Oh, I can do this.
Like this is my time.
This is now for me.
♪ I can't seem to focus ♪
♪ And you don't seem to notice ♪
♪ I'm not here ♪
♪ I'm just a mirror ♪
♪ You check your complexion ♪
♪ To find ♪
♪ Your reflection's all alone ♪
♪ I had to go ♪
♪ Can't you hear me? ♪
♪ I'm not coming home ♪
♪ Do you understand? ♪
♪ I've changed my plans ♪
♪ 'Cause I ♪
♪ I'm in love ♪
♪ With my future ♪
♪ Can't wait to meet her ♪
♪ And I ♪
♪ I'm in love ♪
♪ But not with anybody else ♪
♪ Just wanna get
to know myself ♪
♪ I know supposedly
I'm lonely now ♪
BACKUPSINGER: ♪ Lonely now ♪
ANNIE: ♪ Know I'm supposed
to be unhappy without someone ♪
♪ But aren't I someone? ♪
BACKUP SINGER:
♪ Aren't I someone? ♪
ANNIE: I'm excited to see
where music takes me in life.
It will be a part
of my life always.
And if I don't waver
from the fact that
that is what I want to do
with my life
and that is my dream,
I will live a very happy life
and be happy wherever I am.
♪ And I ♪
♪ I'm in love ♪
♪ But not with anybody here ♪
♪ I'll see you
in a couple years ♪
What have been the positive
parts of quarantine?
We play Minecraft until, like,
: AM, sometimes : .
But then, like,
we will get coffee and breakfast
and then we'll continue to play.
Like, it was just, like,
a random thing I would never do
but, like, that made me happy
even though, like,
I can't go outside or get
toilet paper for my house.
But other than that,
it was a great experience.
Oh, actually, that's such--
that's so false.
I would give coronavirus
a zero star on Yelp views
but, um, the inside part
was, kind of, decent.
In the last year, I've become--
I've become a force
if I do say so myself.
My mission statement
as an artist
was to use storytelling
as-as a platform
for understanding.
I would not be as bold
as I am today.
I would not be
as an apologetic as I am today,
had it not been for quarantine
because it forced me to try
and be the best person
for the future that I want.
I made a lot of discoveries
over quarantine.
[chuckles]
It made me really realize
that I can't take everything
for granted, ever.
Um, and I'm so thankful for that
because I look at things
in a totally different way now.
[music]
FISCHER: I grew up
with my mom and my dad
in a small house
in the village of Waynesville.
My dad competitively fished,
so that's why my name
is Fischer.
They were so fun
and so supportive.
I have, like,
the best childhood ever.
My parents taught me
from a very young age
that it's okay
to question things
and that I should be
questioning things.
And I think that's just
such an important lesson
to learn when you're young.
The first day of quarantine,
I re-condoed my entire house.
And then from that day on,
I did nothing.
The most I ever did
was get in my car and scream,
cry to Celine Dion
just to, like, feel something.
So, for the first couple weeks,
I was just sitting with myself
and was, you know,
forced to, kind of,
look back on things
that I haven't processed
and, you know,
I started realizing, you know,
"Wait a minute. I'm not a man.
I'm a woman. I'm-I'm trans."
And as soon as that thought
came into my mind,
it was, like, a wave of,
like,
"Whoa. You're right."
Um, I don't think I've ever had
an experience as a man before.
That's not who I am.
That's not who I ever was.
Um, I was just, kind of,
forced into that category.
And I just felt, like,
the longer I wait,
the more I miss out on.
And it was, like,
a big turning moment
where I was, like,
the fact that I am okay
with myself for the first time
in years
means more than
anyone else's opinion on me.
Telling my parents was easy.
Well, it wasn't easy.
It was hard.
It was a very hard conversation.
Um, but they were so supportive
and I knew that at the end
of that conversation,
I was gonna be okay.
I'm so excited because
I have so much more fun now.
[chuckles]
But, uh, I-I think
that what a gift it is
to be able to live how I want to
and to be seen
for who I really am.
I'm so thankful
to be able to be in a place
where I can be a woman
and I can wear skirts
but I can also wear,
you know, crocs when I want to,
and I do a lot and I'm ashamed
of it, but it's okay, you know.
It's-it's great, it really is.
[music]
I think the song,
there's something about it
that is just moving forward,
"dog days are over", is like,
I feel, like, a pretty big
anthem of our generation.
It was so fun to film.
It felt, like,
such a needed release
and I was just seeing, like,
these just random pieces
of inspiration come together
into this--into this, like,
finished project,
and that it truly
made me feel so special
and it was an experience
I'm so thankful for.
[music]
♪ Happiness hit her ♪
♪ Like a train ♪
♪ On a track ♪
♪ Coming towards her ♪
♪ Stuck still ♪
♪ No turning back ♪
♪ She hid around corners ♪
♪ And she hid under beds ♪
♪ She k*lled it with kisses ♪
♪ And from it she fled ♪
♪ With every bubble ♪
♪ She sank with a drink ♪
♪ And washed it away ♪
♪ Down the kitchen sink ♪
♪ The dog days are over ♪
♪ The dog days are done ♪
♪ The horses are coming ♪
♪ So you better run ♪
♪ Run fast for your mother,
run fast for your father ♪
♪ Run for your children,
for your sisters and brothers ♪
♪ Leave all your love
and your longing behind you ♪
♪ Can't carry it with you
if you want to survive ♪
♪ The dog days are over ♪
♪ The dog days are done ♪
♪ Can you hear the horses ♪
♪ 'Cause here they come ♪
♪ And I ♪
♪ Never wanted ♪
♪ Anything from you ♪
I'm always trying to tackle my
next challenge
and like to move on.
To like keep growing and keep
learning.
I think that's definitely
someone I want to become
and someone I am slowly
becoming.
♪ Run fast for your mother
and fast for your father ♪
♪ Run for your children,
for your sisters and brothers ♪
♪ Leave all your love
and your longing behind you ♪
♪ Can't carry it with you
if you want to survive ♪
♪ The dog days are over ♪
♪ The dog days are done ♪
♪ Can you hear the horses ♪
♪ 'Cause here they... ♪
BACKUP SINGERS:
♪ The dog days are over ♪
♪ The dog days are done ♪
BACKUP SINGERS:
♪ Can you hear the horses ♪
♪ 'Cause here they come ♪
+[vocalizing]
WOMAN: Free from distraction
and with a laser focus
on the news,
a shattering event
awakens the world
to every day in justice.
ISAIAH: When I first heard
about George Floyd,
I wasn't really shocked
because this has happened
for years
that a Black man is k*lled
by a White police officer.
JOSEPH: When that video
started circulating,
I think it stirred people--
it-it woke up people
who had never considered
the problem before.
JEFFREY: And I know
we're near giving up
for the Black Lives Matter
movement or any movement
that helps a disenfranchised
group of people
in the United States.
I know we're near
resting about that
because we're nowhere
near a solution.
ALANA: George Floyd and I
went to the same church.
Um, when I was about ,
he would set up chairs,
set up and tear down.
Um, they used to call him
Big Floyd.
Um, yeah.
Seeing George suffocated
for nine minutes was...
very difficult.
I watched the news slander
his personal life.
There was a protest happening
in New Braunfels
where I was,
where my grandparents live.
Finally, I saw some hope.
[music]
ALANA: People were protesting
all over the world.
People are united
for this one cause.
There were protests
in Hong Kong, in Europe,
and I was, like, "There's
a protest happening here
in this town,
it's time for me to get up."
That's when I realized
that this was a movement.
As we got up to the area
where the protest was,
I was all--remembering all this
feelings of hurt and pain
that I received at such, like,
a young age being in the city,
being around racial ignorance
and being the token,
the only one.
There were only two other people
protesting when we got there.
The rest of the people
were my family.
And I was like,
"I'm not gonna let that stop me.
I'm not gonna let
anything else silence me."
And I finally arose
out of that dark place
and I was, like, "It's time."
There was a lot of backlash.
People were driving by
with trucks flipping us off,
calling us slurs literally
in the street out and open
because, I mean,
I expected nothing different
in the city that we were in.
But I knew that none of that
was gonna-gonna stop me.
I was gonna be heard
at that moment.
I was going
to finally say in that city
what I had wanted to say
since I was .
I felt all the energy
of all the people before me.
My grandma,
my great grand mama Honey,
like, I felt, like,
I wasn't just that alone
little middle schooler
battling all this racial tension
by herself.
Maybe this is my purpose.
I realize in that moment
that Black joy is radical.
Being joyful in a world
where Black people are k*lled
for no reason at all
is a protest within itself.
I also realized that sometimes
you have to be still.
Sometimes, you have
to really look inside yourself
and heal, and-and breathe,
and use that time to think
and to bring myself peace
and healing
because I'm deserving of that,
and everyone is.
[music]
When I choose music
that I resonate with,
it's often music
that reminds me of,
you know, my childhood,
R&B that I grew up around.
One thing that H.E.R.
does with her music,
you know, she's a peace bringer,
I think essentially.
And I think
that's how I want to be,
I want to be a peacemaker
but to still say
what needs to be said.
+♪ Lift every voice and sing ♪
♪ Till earth and heaven ring ♪
♪ Ring with the harmonies ♪
♪ Of liberty ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Started a w*r, screaming peace
at the same time ♪
♪ All the corruption,
injustice, the same crimes ♪
♪ Always a problem
if we do it, don't fight ♪
♪ And we die,
we don't have the same rights ♪
♪ What is a g*n
to a man that surrenders? ♪
♪ What's it gonna take
for someone to defend us? ♪
♪ If we are lucky,
we were equal as people ♪
♪ Then why can't we see
what is evil? ♪
♪ I can't breathe ♪
♪ You're taking my life
from me ♪
♪ I can't breathe, yeah ♪
♪ Will anyone fight for me? ♪
I think my generation is going
to accomplish
true acceptance.
How everybody wants to be heard,
how people want to be seen
and perceived,
and taking them in
and-and honoring them
and that.
♪ "The Lord is coming." ♪
♪ My great grandmother said
when she was young ♪
♪ Visions of glory ♪
♪ While walking
through streets ♪
♪ Where heads were hung,
quite literally ♪
♪ On trees,
uprooting my bloodline ♪
♪ Funny how time
which is a bridge ♪
♪ For what is hers,
to what is mine ♪
♪ Like her, I carry, struggle ♪
♪ Your ignorance
fuels the flame ♪
♪ Like her, the ethereal essence
of my skin tone is restrained ♪
♪ , ♪
♪ See how few some things
have changed? ♪
♪ For like her, I have a vision.
And like her, I'm not afraid ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Oh ♪
[humming]
How are you all feeling
hopeful about the future?
JEFFREY: I'm so hopeful
for the future.
I'm happy to say
that through my grandparents
coming up into the -
civil rights movement,
there's been a change
with their children.
With my parents coming up
and raising my brother and I,
there's been a change.
The difference is now,
this change is being
hyper-accelerated
because we have the internet,
because we have social media.
It's so hard to stay
blind to these topics.
It's so hard to not see
what's going on in the news.
We started
social movements and justice
and I hope that we continue
to grow in these aspects
and that we get the respect
we deserve
because we have done so much.
We also have
that community mindset
where it's made our ability
to see and hear each other
a lot stronger.
So we're willing to listen
to other people's stories.
I feel our generation,
like, lifting each other up
and lifting the world up
and creating so much
adrenaline for us to,
like, change the world.
I'm looking forward
to becoming a better person,
a better performer,
a better activist,
a better ally,
and I'm looking forward
to making art and creating
things that made people think,
and that challenge what they
once believed to be true.
[music]
Music is the most
beautiful thing on Earth.
When there aren't words,
there's music.
And that's kind of a statement
that I've lived by
for a long time.
Music is really the only way
that when I feel
a really intense emotion,
I can get it out
and I get those emotions out
from composing music
or writing lyrics,
or writing a song.
[music]
I play nine instruments.
Piano, guitar,
ukulele, violin, viola,
cello, electric bass,
acoustic bass, and the organ.
I have this cool thing
called synesthesia
which basically when I close
my eyes, I can see colors.
If I'm listening
to my friends sing
or I'm listening to a song,
I can kind of see waves of sound
being painted by colors,
which is really cool.
I'll wake up sometimes
at : or :
in the morning
if I'm not already up.
And I'll have a new musical idea
because it'll just come to me
in the middle of the night.
And I have to pull up
my book of staff paper
and start writing
or pull out my keyboard
and start playing because I know
that if I don't get it out
right then and there,
I might lose it forever.
Quarantine really
kind of drained me
of all my creative energy.
I didn't have any shows
or any workshops
or any cabarets that I could do.
And it kind of sent me
into a state of depression
because I didn't have
anything to look forward to.
When Laura made her first video
about her
taking videos submissions
and saying she was gonna post,
repost them if she likes them.
And I was like, "Oh, my gosh.
Laura Benanti
is reposting my video.
If she thinks it's good.
I'm gonna sing."
I had a moment
where all this hopelessness
and all this-this doubt
and this desperation,
it kind of gave way
to this creative outlet
where I was able
to finally write
and-and express
how I've been feeling
when I was shut down.
I can't imagine life
without music
because it brings me so much joy
and it helps me cope
with the world.
With all the things
that happened to me personally
during the quarantine,
I went through-- I went through
some times where I had
nothing else to do but pray.
Because I know I'm not perfect.
I don't claim to be perfect.
But it's good knowing
that I have something
that I believe in.
I wanted something
that was reflective
of how isolated I felt
at times during quarantine.
Separation from my art
is really what drove me
to the point of feeling
like I needed to pray,
like the song says.
[music]
♪ I'm young and I'm foolish ♪
♪ I've made bad decisions ♪
♪ I blocked out the news,
turned my back on religion ♪
♪ Don't have no degree,
I'm somewhat naive ♪
♪ I've made it this far
on my own ♪
♪ But lately, that just ain't
been getting me higher ♪
♪ I lift up my head
and the world is on fire ♪
♪ There's dread in my heart
and fear in my bones ♪
♪ And I just don't know
what to say ♪
♪ Maybe I'll pray ♪
♪ Pray ♪
♪ Maybe I'll pray ♪
♪ I have never believed
in you, no ♪
♪ But I'm gonna pray ♪
♪ You won't find me in church ♪
♪ Reading the Bible ♪
♪ But I am still here
and I'm still your disciple ♪
♪ I'm down on my knees,
I'm beggin' you, please ♪
♪ I'm broken, alone,
and afraid ♪
♪ I'm not a saint.
I'm more of a sinner ♪
♪ I don't wanna lose,
but I fear for the winner ♪
♪ When I try to explain,
the words run away ♪
♪ That's why
I am still here today ♪
♪ And I'm gonna pray ♪
- SINGERS: ♪ Lord ♪
- ♪ Pray ♪
♪ I have never
believed in you, no ♪
♪ But I'm gonna pray ♪
♪ Pray ♪
♪ Maybe I'll pray ♪
♪ I have never believed
in you, no ♪
♪ But I'm gonna pray ♪
[music]
LAURA: Joe, Elizabeth,
Isaiah, Annie, Fisher, Alana,
and Jeffrey may only be
a sliver of the class of .
But despite the obstacles
that they go through,
they're still resilient
and optimistic and kind.
They're change-makers.
And I'm so proud of them.
[music]
♪ I've learned to slam
on the brake ♪
♪ Before I even turn the key ♪
♪ Before I make the mistake ♪
♪ Before I lead
with the worst of me ♪
♪ Give them no reason to stare ♪
♪ No slipping up
if you slip away ♪
♪ So I got nothing to share ♪
♪ No, I got nothing to say ♪
♪ Step out, step out of the sun,
if you keep getting b*rned ♪
♪ Step out, step out of the sun
because you've learned ♪
♪ Because you've learned ♪
♪ On the outside,
always looking in. Will I... ♪
♪ Ever be more
than I've always been? ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm tap, tap,
tapping on the glass ♪
♪ I'm waving through a window ♪
♪ I... ♪
♪ Tried to speak,
but nobody can hear ♪
♪ So I wait around
for an answer to appear ♪
♪ While I'm watch,
watch, watching people pass ♪
♪ I'm waving through
the window, oh ♪
♪ Can anybody see? ♪
♪ Is anybody waving? ♪
♪ On the outside,
always looking in ♪
♪ Will I ever be more
than I've always been? ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm tap, tap,
tapping on the glass ♪
♪ Waving through the window ♪
♪ I try to speak,
but nobody can hear ♪
♪ So I wait around
for an answer to appear ♪
♪ While I'm watch, watch,
watching people pass ♪
♪ Waving through a window, oh ♪
♪ Can anybody see ♪
♪ Is anybody
waving back at me? ♪
♪ Oh. Is anybody waving? Oh ♪
♪ Waving, waving,
whoa-oh ♪
♪ Whoa-oh ♪
I really do love you all.
Thank you.
- Bye. Bye, bye, bye.
- All right.
Oh, my God.
- Bye.
- I love you guys the most.
- I love you, guys.
- I love you so much.
- See you all very, very soon.
I love you all so much.
- Yeah, good.
- I love you.
[music]
Homeschool Musical: Class of 2020 (2020)
Moderator: Maskath3