The Resistance Revival Chorus fights the good fight through song | Music

Formed in 2017, members of the Resistance Revival Chorus (RRC) use singing as a form of political protest.

Their founding, spurred by a desire to speak out and join a resistance against then-President Donald Trump, won them international acclaim and even a spot on stage alongside Kesha at the 2018 Grammy Awards.

“I would say that one of our main goals is to be the voice of people whose voices are not always heard,” says ArinMaya Lawrence, one of the singers who has been with the group since its inception in 2017. “We also want to inspire others who can make their voices heard, to keep making them heard loud and clear.

Choir members are touring musicians, film and television actors, Broadway performers, gospel singers, political activists and more.

From grand concert halls and music festivals to pop-up performances for unsuspecting subway riders, Chorus performers protest the song of our rich history while embracing joy as an act of resistance.

And on October 7, the RRC will perform for a one-of-a-kind event at Downstage @ The Mann. Drawing on a large collective of over 60 non-binary women and singers, the Chorus will continue to merge music and activism, inspiring change and uplifting the voices of women in the music industry and around the world.

“The songs we perform are written by the band and by others,” Lawrence explains. “And when we write songs, we try to make them meaningful but simple enough for others to sing along to.”

Lawrence, who has been described as an inspirational singer, songwriter, sound healer and activist, has been labeled by Grammy-nominated jazz singer Gregory Porter as a singer with “a unique, old-school sound. “.

Although she is affectionately called “The Mayor of Brooklyn” because of her lifelong love of Brooklyn where she has lived for more than a decade, she hails from Chicago’s South End, where her artistic training began with studies of West African dance and rhythms, continued in numerous church and community choirs, and was encouraged by her parents’ diverse record collection.

“In the beginning, I always wanted to find a way to use my voice. I’ve always loved to sing,” Lawrence says. So she studied traditional black music with Bobby McFerrin and others. Her advanced studies also took her to Howard University and then to Stanford University.

Inspired by various experiences and her studies at the New York Open Center’s 190-hour Integrative Music and Sound Practitioner Training, she created Meditation Moments and Melanation Moments – free community sound healing offerings to help people to heal and center themselves in the midst of COVID-19.

And with all of that, she continues to tour with RRC and dedicates much of her time to their mission and their music, “which is to use our voices to create and send messages of protest but also to create joy.

“I believe we all have a responsibility to create a kinder, kinder world.”

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster or the Mann Box Office.