WEST BRATTLEBORO-The activist singer-songwriter duo Emma’s Revolution will return to All Souls Church at 29 South St., on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. for “Songs of Hope and Resistance,” a benefit concert for the Movement Voter Project.
On the nationwide No Kings Day of Action to “help voters make a plan,” organizers of the concert invite participants to “come and get recharged, inspired, and energized in community, justice, and song.”
Emma’s Revolution is the award-winning activist duo of Pat Humphries and Sandy O, whose performances feature harmonies and acoustic instruments, in songs that span folk to jazz and funk to rock.
September marked Emma’s Revolution’s 25th year of writing songs about world issues. The duo’s songs have been praised by Pete Seeger and covered by Holly Near, featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and Pacifica’s Democracy Now!, and sung around the world.
The Movement Voter Project (MVP) funds local organizing and movement-building to shift culture, win power, and shape policy. MVP describes itself as a “mutual fund” for political giving: “We raise money from donors, then channel it toward the most impactful organizations and power-building work around the country,” according to the organization.
Emma’s Revolution has been writing and performing songs to meet this moment in our country, including “You Are Not God,” inspired by the call for mercy by Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde at the Interfaith Service of Prayer for the Nation the day after the 2025 presidential inauguration.
Other songs they have composed during the Trump years include “We Are the Power,” written to sing at demonstrations in Washington in support of fired federal workers and subsequently sung at concerts and demonstrations across the country; “Libre El Pueblo,” written to sing at a demonstration outside the San Francisco Federal Building in support of a young undocumented man coming for his hearing; and “No ICE!” written after a federal immigration enforcement officer’s killings of Keith Porter in Los Angeles and Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
In the spirit of Emma Goldman’s famous aphorism, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution,” Emma’s Revolution brings their uprising of truth and hope to concerts and peace and justice, human rights, environmental, labor, and LGBTQIA+ and women’s rights events across the country. Emma’s Revolution’s touring has included performances in Canada, Scotland, England, Israel/Palestine, Nicaragua, Cuba, Chile, and Korea.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door or by donation. Tickets may be purchased at Everyone’s Books on Elliot Street in Brattleboro or at tinyurl.com/OctBrattleboro.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.