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Breathe Now

In History, Social Justice, Theology by Keith Sanford3 Comments

Breathe Now is a song of hope in the face of adversity and oppression. Building on a familiar hymn tune, its words are inspired by Martin Luther King, his Dream, his determination, and his use of biblical imagery to energize the pursuit of equality and justice.

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Whips

In History, Social Justice by Keith SanfordLeave a Comment

Whips is a song remembering the history of slavery, to confront racism and oppression today. A privileged class of people lived in world built on a cotton industry that ripped children from mothers, placed Black people in coffles, and used whips and torture to extract work out of slaves.

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Burning Land of Flame

In Environment, History by Keith SanfordLeave a Comment

Burning Land of Flame is a song of warning about the ways humans foolishly destroy the earth. It draws from Jesus’ words about the valley of Gahenna, and it uses a 400-year-old tune to tell a historical story about early railroads and homesteading in the United States.

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Hope and Tears

In History, Social Justice by Keith SanfordLeave a Comment

Hope and Tears is a song about the Trail of Tears, the trail traveled by the Cherokee and other Native American peoples when they were expelled from their homeland in the 1830s. They were forced to march hundreds of miles and thousands of people died along the way.

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Who Will Weep?

In History, Social Justice by Keith Sanford5 Comments

Who Will Weep? is a song of compassion for refugees. In 1939, the SS St. Louis sailed near the coast of Florida with more than 900 Jewish refugees on board fleeing from Nazi Germany. The United States forced them to return to Europe and many later perished in the Holocaust.

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Red Lines

In History, Social Justice by Keith SanfordLeave a Comment

Red Lines is a song about racism and the history of redlining. Starting in the 1930s, banks used maps with red lines around neighborhoods where black people lived, thereby designating these areas as high risk for home loans.