On April 5th, Spotlight on SWAN had time for all these things. It was a day when music had its powerful way in 
our lives. This was a day when music lifted the bars of oppression, for one wonderful day, in the hearts of our children and audience alike.
What gave slightly built, 7 year old Amaya courage to sing in front of a room full of adults? This was the week her dad was released from prison. When she started singing, she could hardly be heard but then her eye caught Dad’s and immediately a huge smile came on her face and her voice was so loud we could hear every word!
Did you know that when our drummers were drumming the memories of policemen taking their mom away again and again faded into the sky? This was a time to feel the music and to be set free, to be empowered to go on.
Did you know that when Bryanna received a standing ovation it was the time for her to forget the pain of abandonment and rejection from her mother? As her audience cheered for her, clapped and embraced her, she experienced unbridled joy. It was a time to laugh and to dance, to heal and to be built up.
And did our audience arrive that day on perfect clouds of ease? I’m sure that most did not but they came. They were our heroes that day because they came to support our children. But isn’t it always the way of love…they walked out on a cloud of joy realizing they came in to give but left having received far more.
View photos from the Spotlight on SWAN event.
