Freedom Songs 2021-2022

The Theme of Freedom Songs 2021: Pieces of Home

What did you bring with you to Whitman?

No starting point, yet little puzzle pieces fit together to create a bigger, brighter picture. Home. These puzzle pieces are stories from a place we call home. Some of them shine bright with colors, symbolizing every vibrant piece of one’s culture and history. Home as a site of pride. Some of them are missing fragments and paint, symbolizing the injustices, sacrifices, and obstacles. Home as a site of trauma. Some are not on the table at all; they are kept close to heart, so they won’t be stolen. Home as a site of struggle. As we return back to campus, we are coming back together with different pieces of ourselves and our culture to create a new puzzle. In this year’s Freedom Songs, we share these pieces of our homes through the universal language of art and performance. We gather around to listen to stories untold, celebrate our experiences, cry out our struggles, and feel a sense of belonging. As our puzzle pieces come together, we begin to make connections that we could not see before, and we face each other's struggles to help heal. We are here, and we are the new picture.