TWO DAYS LEFT, make a better world now

★ Kids Count - Day 7 ★

TWO DAYS LEFT!

WE NEED YOU!

Help make a better world for kids.

[donate]

"I want a better world now.
We need to put the guns down.
I want a better world now.
We need to put the guns down,
guns down, guns guns guns down."

From the song "Neighborhood Struggles"
by Amina Cochran, Layla Turk, Breina Burnett & N'deia Fields
8th grade, Philadelphia

Four students wrote those lines as part of LiveConnections' year-long album-creation project last year in collaboration with Henry H. Houston School in Philadelphia. Poet Jacob Winterstein had asked students to write what mattered to them.

The song became an important part of the album we made, "A Day in My Life." It was featured on the radio. A Philadelphia Quaker group used the song to lead off a screening of a film about gun violence. The album was honored in the Pennsylvania state legislature and received its own proclamation in Philadelphia City Council.

Most importantly, we were honored to lift up the voices of four young women making a simple, heartfelt and powerful plea for a world where they could feel safe. They sang it to city leaders. They sang it in the State Capitol. They are singing it to all of us.

You can listen to the song "Neighborhood Struggles" here.

20 professional artists joined us on this album. They were blown away by these kids and the commitment of the school, especially teacher Ezechial Thurman. We want to do more of this work, where student voices get the platform they deserve.

We have just TWO DAYS LEFT to tell kids like Amina and Layla that their voices count.

Let's help make a better world through music education!

Donate today!

♫ P.S. TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW! Tag @LiveConnections #KidsCount2017 on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and share your own stories about the power of music.

TOP: a cappella group BrotherlyLove at Houston School. BOTTOM: students from Houston School who created "A Day in My Life" with LiveConnections. [Images: Jaci Downs Photography]

About LiveConnections
LiveConnections inspires learning and builds community through collaborative music-making. In 2008, a team of artists, educators and entrepreneurs founded LiveConnections to address declining music education in Philly schools and tap into the people-connecting power of music. Bridge Sessions, our signature interactive educational programs, blend live performances with hands-on activities, introducing urban students and people with disabilities to diverse musical cultures. Our in-school and after-school residencies provide students with sustained, in-depth music-making experiences. In addition, our critically acclaimed LiveConnections Presents concert series features collaborative concerts that cross musical boundaries. We are a nonprofit organization in residence at World Cafe Live. [learn more]

STAY CONNECTED:

Thanks to our 2016-2017 sponsors!

(List includes sponsors at the $2,500 level & up, current as of sending.)

LiveConnections is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support provided in part by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

LiveConnections.org is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, tax ID 26-2666641. The official registration and financial information of LiveConnections.org may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

liveconnections.org | 267-295-2947 | info@liveconnections.org