Blog

The Interfaith Music Project of Philadelphia (IMPP) is an answer to a question posed nearly three years ago:  The question, asked by James Pollard Jr, ( bassist and musician extraordinaire at Zion Baptist Church in Ardmore) and myself, Harold Messinger, (Cantor at Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley) was simple: How can we best respond to the hate-filled rhetoric coming from the White House, but do so in a way that brings people together rather than further dividing them. It started with one song, "We Rise", written by Batya Levine, after she witnessed the protest at Standing Rock. Her song inspired James and me to record our own version of her song and create a video with our partner Sam Zolten, taking images from the historic Women's Marches and subsequent protests.  James and I have collaborated for many years and in 2010 had completed a project called, "These Songs of Freedom", songs of the Jewish Passover tradition alongside new and Traditional Gospel Mu...

Many of you know me as the Community Partnerships Manager at Interfaith Philadelphia. In addition to this, I ’ m also a published poet, movie quote encyclopedia, and lover of all things creative. Today I get to talk a bit about the latter.  I believe art and creativity are part of what makes us human. I live with the understanding that while not everyone considers themselves an artist, everyone has the capacity to be creative. Creativity is not a one-size-fits-all type of thing, and instead, it takes many shapes and forms, permeating almost every aspect of our lives, from the music we hear in the supermarket, to the architecture that makes and remakes our cities, to the culinary masterpieces people post on Instagram. I have been fascinated with creativity's power to stir something within us for a long time and channeled this interest into my education. I studied Music Therapy in college and then moved to New Orleans to intern at a psychiatric hospital. My internship was a diff...