The Song of Life
Mikki Morrissette: One of the things I find most heartening during the COVID-19 crisis has been the livestream performances of musicians. Friends have posted on social media their recordings from home as part of a Livestream Cover Challenge. “One World: Together at Home,” curated by Lady Gaga on a Global Citizen platform, drew an audience of nearly 21 million. The April event was designed to support healthcare workers and the World Health Organization, and raised more than $100 million to support front-line workers in the coronavirus pandemic. I enjoyed seeing bandmates perform from individual homes, spliced together musically on split screens to create harmony nonetheless.
Curated by assistant editor Lydia Moran, we celebrate that collaborative spirit in this issue of the Minnesota Women’s Press.
Music Carries
Lydia Moran: Sitting at my desk as I worked on this issue, I would sometimes hear the rumble of a subwoofer waft through the crack under my windowsill as a car inched up the empty street. Or, on the back porch, melodies emanating from my neighbor’s apartment mixed with evening breezes.
Perhaps it is a cliché, but music really is the great connector. Hearing it trickle in from the outside world assures me that people are savoring this first bit of spring.
I have always been jealous of musicians. As someone who works with written words, there is something about being at a live concert, experiencing art with its creators.
For this issue, I wanted to highlight storytellers who have made community in music and dance. We feature stories about women who find solidarity while navigating a sexist industry, bandmates combating impostor syndrome, musicians who work to shift DIY punk culture, and a dancer who is developing trauma-informed movement for healing.
In these stories, community is as much about seeing oneself represented as it is finding a connection with others. Without community and representation, in the music world and elsewhere, it is difficult to feel validated — and feeling validated is a crucial part of pursuing your passions.
I encourage you to take this digital issue outside with you as you read on the porch, stoop, roof, or wherever you can catch a bit of breeze. Spend time listening to your surroundings.
Sound carries even while there is
space between us.
What’s Inside: May 2020
Action = Change — Support Small Businesses
Tapestry — reader stories on inspiration from music and movement
Health & Healing — Dancing My Body’s Truths
Art of Living — Navigating the Music Industry
Identity In Music
Natalie Klemond: “Like Me Now”
Ka Lia Universe: Seeking New Heights
LGBTQ+ Storytelling — The Punk Scene: Not Just for Cis Dudes
Equity — Rock & Roll Roots
Indigenous Storytelling — A Conversation With Annie Humphrey
BookShelf — Rewriting Music History to Include Women
GoSeeDo — Art-A-Whirl, Subversive Sirens, Dance Classes
In The News — Lockdown Music, Rent, Community Care
Remembering — Dance Pioneer: Loyce Houlton
Kids Guide — How Dance Moves Me
Three Notes From our COVID-19 World
Normally in May we celebrate the Reader’s Recommend winners (formerly known as What Women Want), chosen by readers as favorite businesses and service providers. As we wait for more of our 500 distribution sites to open, we created this May issue as our first digital- only edition. In a later print magazine we will announce the 2020 honorees you chose.
We postponed the launch of our “35 Years of Minnesota Women’s Press” book. Find a sneak peek.
Have you seen our three-part Quaranzine series? Stories include:
- a look at gender violence
- grieving the separation from ailing loved ones
- three lessons from Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring
