Shine a Light on Our Rights
COMMISSIONED
The Canales Project in partnership with Vital Voices
DEDICATED
Nadia Bushnaq
FIRST PERFORMANCE
March 7, 2017 by Elizabeth Stanley and Kelly Moran at the House of Sweden in Washington, D.C.
ENSEMBLE
Soprano and piano
DURATION
4 minutes
PROGRAM NOTE
I was asked by the The Canales Project (in partnership with Vital Voices) to write a piece in honor of Nadia Bushnaq, Founder & Executive Director of the Family Guidance and Awareness Center (FGAC) in Az-Zarqa, Jordan. Nadia designs and leads training programs to help women, especially refugee women, regain a semblance of normalcy after violence.
Obviously I could not write a piece about such an empowering woman myself—The Canales Project’s poet-in-resident Jacqueline Suskin converted a statement from Nadia Bushnaq into lyrics and I set them to music. The first words “Shine a light on our rights” reminded me of The Statue of Liberty, (also known as Liberty Enlightening the World), so I hoped to create a lively, inspiring, and powerful musical beacon in honor of Nadia.
"Nadia Bushnaq" by Jacqueline Suskin
Shine a light on our rights
an endless will so bright
Power in determination
keeps her climbing high in spite
Who weaves the base of peace? It is she who believes
Who builds the bedrock?
It is she who will not leave
Take our trust in tradition
balance it with transformation Challenge our view of participation the worthy work of dedication
Who weaves the base of peace? It is she who believes
Who builds the bedrock?
It is she who will not leave
Overcome barriers
these roads aren’t paved with roses Expose the beauty of our fight
to uphold goodness with all our might
Who weaves the base of peace? It is she who believes
Who builds the bedrock?
It is she who will not leave