Hold On.
This is a story about a song.
Six years ago, seventeen-year-old Finn Rooney killed himself in his home in Walden, Vermont. A couple days later, his community held a bonfire in the parking lot of Hazen Union High school in Hardwick. Hundreds of people came. Tom Gilbert, who organized the bonfire, asked his friend Heidi Wilson to write a song for the occasion. The song was called Hold On. She made sure it was a song everyone could sing. And they did.
Now people are singing this song all over the world. People in Minneapolis have been singing it to ICE agents. They’re singing it for their neighbors who are afraid to leave their houses. They’re singing it in Wales and Australia and Ireland in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis. Peole are singing it all over, to give each other some comfort and some courage.
This is a story about where that song came from and where it’s gone.
Links and Thanks and Credits
Photos for this story are taken by Paul Hayes at The Caledonian. Thank you Paul.
If you want to see the videos of people singing this song, go to Instagram and search for Singing Resistance Hold On
If you want to learn the songs and learn about Singing Resistance, follow Serena Partridge on Instagram or go to linktr.ee/singingresistance to see the toolkit, songbook, and learn more and support!
HUGE thanks to Chelsea Edgar for her excellent edits.
