Collected from Lisa Perrywood
Bearing Witness demonstration at the ICE facility in Burlington, MA (3/5/2026)
I had been carrying a sign that said, “Solo el Pueblo Salva el Pueblo” at the Bearing Witness Wednesday demonstrations outside the ICE facility in Burlington, Massachusetts for several months. It means, “Only the people save the people.”
One day a woman came up and said, “Oh, I know that song. They’ve been singing it in Minneapolis!” So, she sang it into my phone for me and here it is.
Download PDF of We Have Come with a Force More Powerful
Music is sometimes more effective than words This is another of the Peace Poets short chants. They call this “a Deescalation song to honor the strength of our love.” Non violence is in its essence a method of communication by taking down walls and, if possible, making friends with the enemy and convincing them to change their ways. We always hope for that possibility. Often, we can do this work better through music than we can by yelling and arguing. Here‘s an interesting clip from The Tennesseean showing a confrontation at the No Kings demonstration in Nasheville between the police, a group from The Proud Boys and a crowd of demonstrators. A lot of protestors were yelling and swearing; but a brass band stepped up and started playing O Bella Ciao. By the end of the song, the tension had dissipated and everybody, even the Proud Boys, were clapping and cheering for the music.
Listen to the YouTube Video: We Have Come With a Voice More Powerful
Download a PDF file of The Beatitudes
Chant from the Russian Orthodox liturgy — Matthew 5:2–12
I have a fantasy of getting together a small choir and singing this on the steps of the Capitol, maybe singing it repetitively—a lot of times—to make sure it is heard.
Below is an excerpt of this wonderful harmonized chant from the Russian Orthodox tradition. Download the PDF above for the full thing, or go to the Episcopal Church’s The Hymnal 1982 (hymn number 560).
You can hear this chant, beautifully sung by the choir of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Fort Worth in the embedded YouTube recording below.
This site is, of course, about politics, but on a deeper level it is about clearing and healing our spirits through singing. Chanting is a kind of active meditation that goes very deep. I’d like to do more of it in vigils and witnessing actions, moments when we want to influence the course of events with the power of our own inner centeredness and peace, rather than with anger, times when we come together to remember those who have died or who are imprisoned.
Most of my experience is within the Christian Church; but chant is found in all faiths and spiritual traditions. A good book about chant is, The Sacred Art of Chant, by Ana Hernandez; however, better to start by chanting rather than reading about chanting.