Presenter Resources
ACTIVIST SONGBOOK
Created by Byron Au Yong and Aaron Jafferis
Produced by Octopus Theatricals
DESCRIPTION
A powerful experience weaving activism and music, rooted in process and tailored to each community.
With Activist Songbook, composer Byron Au Yong and lyricist Aaron Jafferis explore how civil rights organizing and music intersect to inspire action and sustain the fight towards equity.
Activist Songbook began in 2017 with interviews of community organizers. Working with those interviewed, Au Yong and Jafferis created material for a Songbook to energize efforts of individuals and collectives counteracting racism and hate crimes. The project will ultimately result in a collection of 53 songs and raps, initially prompted by the racially motivated 1982 murder of Vincent Chin, a Chinese American man who was beaten to death in the Detroit suburb of Highland Park at a time when Japanese automakers were believed to be taking American jobs. Each future touring engagement includes workshops for teaching existing material as well as generating new songs based on the needs and desires of that community, whether they be university students or local organizers partnering with a city-wide festival.
Living between oppression and imagination, Activist Songbook calls for justice through live performances, informational scores, and instructional recordings that honor the legacy of Asian American, Asian immigrant, and Asian refugee activism as a springboard for future organizing. .
VIRTUAL ACTIVIST SONGBOOK
Activist Songbook is specifically tailored to each engagement so that it can be leveraged to engage a community remotely. Below are some components that can be combined/personalized to create the experience that is the right fit for a given community:
VIRTUAL CHOIRS
Virtual Choirs, made up of community musicians and non-musicians, perform songs from the Activist Songbook repertoire from the safety of their own homes, led by Activist Songbook Chorus Director Stephanie Tubiolo (Associate Director of Choirs at Princeton University).
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THE SONGBOOK
As new songs are created, local or student artists design images inspired by the music that can be used as rally signs or coloring pages, with music on one side and image on the other. All artwork is compiled in a free searchable website for future use.
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PANELS
Curated panels with national and local activists.
LOCAL ACTIVIST INTERVIEWS
inspiring new songs rooted in that community
MUSIC AS HEALING
sessions led by local/national community workers
A BESPOKE ACTIVITY
tailored to your specific community
THE 53RD SONG
Aaron and Byron lead songwriting workshops to encourage the writing of new songs that respond to the local activist community’s needs.
LIVE ACTIVIST SONGBOOK
If a live engagement is possible, all of the above virtual activities can be conducted in a live format. Additional activists are possible, such as:
PERFORMANCE
A culminating public performance, with guest celebrity renditions of Activist Songbook songs
TEACH-INS
Teach-ins, where rally songs are taught to a crowd before an activist action
HISTORY
The International Festival of Arts and Ideas (New Haven, CT - virtual)
Activist Songbook launched as part of Asian Arts Initiative’s 25th Anniversary in May 2018, with rally songs taught on buses and more.
PROGRAM COPY
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