I wrote this song about the greed of the world. I hope the message sits well with your soul❤️more

Flora Mae Lawson z'l passed away on Tisha B'Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, after a long battle with cancer. My relationship with my mother, like many daughters and mothers was a complicated one, but all that I am in this world I owe to her. I wrote this song a few years ago and sang this to her during her first battle with cancer, and I sang this to her the night before she died. No matter what I think of my own voice, I know she found comfort in my singing.more

Five years ago, after witnessing and learning about the oppression of a marginalized group, a group I am not a member of, I came home, wrote the song I Am Human, shared it with my roommate, and cried. I played it one Shabbat morning in front of a community and then put the song away and have barely looked at it over the last few years. A few weeks ago, I started going through some of my old songs and rediscovered I Am Human, I played the song, and again I cried. Maybe I cried because my mother had just passed a few weeks early, not sure but what I do know is that this song speaks to oppression and resilience of marginalized folks. And It speaks to our ability to adapt and overcome adversity, trauma, and tragedy. It's hard for me to believe that five years have passed since writing this song. It's also been five years since Walter Scott was shot in the back by a police officer. And five years after Freddy Gray died from a spinal cord injury while in police custody. Five years after Sandra Bland was arrested and died in police custody. And five years have passed since a 20-year-old white supremacist murdered nine people while they were praying at a Mother Emanuel in Charleston, South Carolina. I had no idea that in five years, our country would look like it does right now. This song is our rallying cry, to never give up, remember the struggle, and always strive to see each other as created in the image of God because when we do, we treat each other with love, dignity, and respect. Oseh Shalom Bimromav Hu Ya’aseh Shalom May the one who makes peace from heaven above Hu Ya’aseh Shalom (will Make Peace) I am human and I am free Watch me fly above the trees You can hear my cry and you can hear my roar but you can’t take away my soul Oseh Shalom Bimromav Hu Ya’aseh Shalom May the one who makes peace from heaven above Hu Ya’aseh Shalom (will make peace) We’ll fight and we’ll cry and we’ll even abide We’ll say goodbye just to stay alive And the day will come to have dignity again Oseh Shalom Bimromav Hu Ya’aseh Shalom May the one who makes peace from heaven above Hu Ya’aseh Shalom (will make peace) I am human and I am free Watch me fly above the trees Hu Ya’aseh Shalom (will make peace) I Am Human Written and Performed by Rabbi Sandra Lawson Special Thank You and Shout: FreeSound Tim Kahn Unsplash Clay Banks Videvo Alex Radelich Mattia Faloretti Alice Donovon Rouse Henry Ravenscoft Maria Oswalt John Ren Tandem X Visuals Andrew Winkler Zoe Fernandez Corey Young Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona Koshu Kunii Parker Johnson Luis Morera Aaron Cass Chris Henry Nechirwan Kavian Rabbinical Student Dr. Koach Baruch Frazier Rabbi Mira Rivera Gili Gertz Hazzan Sabrina Sojourner Arielle R-k Tonda Case Sue Dorfman Shahanna McKinney Baldon Yavilah McCoy Yehudah Webster JFREJ James Eades Mike Von Nathan Dumlao Rosie Kerr Logan Weaver Joan Villalon Aaron Hodge Greenberg aka Artistavivi Sticker You more