Cheers to the Truth

When I saw this challenge, I was excited because I love music and felt I could create a great playlist, potentially even win a prize, but I didn’t know that I would in fact win, before I even submitted. Here I am writing with tears down my face because all these anthems I have listened to over the years have empowered me and wrapped me in a hug of acceptance I never knew I needed.

When this pandemic started and a lot of people were feeling trapped in their homes, I met Vanessa and ever since then I have felt freer than ever. Confined within four walls but my soul has been traveling 1,000 miles a minute, exploring all these parts of myself I had never met before. This journey of self-reflection and discovery is one I never thought I would be on. I remember listening to “Same Love,” by Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and Mary Lambert, thinking what an empowering song and how inclusive and ahead of its time it was for the hip hop genre. This week I listened to it while making this playlist and my body froze as if I was hearing the lyrics again for the first time. Five minutes and 18 seconds, I was in a trance, realizing in that moment how singing along was the first time I was able to verbalize how I truly felt.

Music has always moved me and is something I feel emotionally connected to, but now when I hear Lady Gaga sing “Born this Way,” I understand her huge fanbase of little monsters; before it was because it made me want to dance, now I feel celebrated seen, accepted and welcomed. Music is so incredible for how it moves people in different ways, I was moved as an ally before and now that I have changed, the art of this song has allowed me to appreciate it in a different way.

I am so grateful for the mysterious ways the universe works. I already won because I am listening to all these songs and going through my emotions with a community, a community of other listeners who I know share similar feelings to me, a community where people have felt what I am feeling, made it to the other side, and found happiness no matter how deep it was buried down. I fought against my own being for a while and didn’t even know I was doing it because the easiest person to lie to has always been myself.

This playlist is full of artists such as Kehlani and Tinashe that have angelic yet seductive voices that make me feel proudly represented in the community. Other artists such as Diana Ross have been playing in the background of my childhood for years without realizing the importance I would one day find with them. Her song, ‘I’m Coming Out’ was an anthem before, but now I feel tears rolling down my face as I dance, so overwhelmed with emotion not even the biggest dance moves can express.

So, if you are reading this thank you for giving me an opportunity to feel so much love in this project, so much gratitude and confidence with who I am. This journey has been filled with so much doubt, but these anthems each channel a different energy and support me all around. I am grateful to each of these artists for being able to express things I so desperately needed to say but didn't know how.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2gYSBVJ7hJR5buacvVyn9o?si=yxpbwNLLS3e1eRdzLEgQjw