Black. Lives. Matter
The history of the LGBT+ movement is written largely in the blood, sweat, tears, triumphs, and tragedies of queer and trans women of color. Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera. Miss Major. Zaza Nova. Without the early trans activists and the Stonewall Riots, it would have taken far longer to achieve marriage equality, pride, and GALA Choruses.
As a part of a performing arts community that strives for diversity, inclusion, and education, it is important that we recognize our country was built on slavery, denies its history of black and systematic oppression, and has long been silent in the face of ongoing police brutality. The choral community, specifically, is hugely complicit in the exclusion, tokenism, elitism, and racism towards black, indigenous, and people of color which keeps choral arts organizations largely white.
From our earliest days, our photo history illustrates both our own ignorance and complicity, but we did and do not sit in the darkness. To deny our initial ignorance would be to deny the constancy of our dedication to learning about white supremacy, elitism, and racism within the LGBT+ community in the decades that followed. LGBT+ folks are required to traverse a complicated network of systematic oppression, racism, and injustice, but Desert Voices is a group of individuals whose mission is to use music to foster understanding, acceptance, and community through our voices, through our song.
We are proud to have grown and to be growing in our diversity - in age, in race, in perspective, and in programming. We are proud to have the only black, female, gay artistic director in the Gay And Lesbian Association of Choruses. We are proud to have started the Voices Like Our program where we travel to small towns in Arizona to perform, to give to their communities, to sit down together for dinner, and to ask each other to have an open mind in conversation. We ask from the heart, human to human, to see and hear each other for who we are.
We support black lives and the #Blacklivesmatter movement, and are proud to take a stand against police brutality, against the killing of black people, and against the systems that hold black lives down. We are proud to be taking this opportunity to promote change, further educate ourselves, and provide resources and opportunities for our community to do the same. When injustice continues to keep our black brothers, sisters, and siblings down, a change is necessary and imminent. We ask you to be the change, stand with us in solidarity, and use your voice.
Board of Directors
Linda Bacon | Bernie Gay
Gail Sattler | Sharon Smith | Angela Green
Carole Baumgarten, Secretary | Pat Merrell, Treasurer
Martie van der Voort, Vice President | C. Scott Zimmerman, President
Kimberly Waigwa, Artistic Director
As a part of a performing arts community that strives for diversity, inclusion, and education, it is important that we recognize our country was built on slavery, denies its history of black and systematic oppression, and has long been silent in the face of ongoing police brutality. The choral community, specifically, is hugely complicit in the exclusion, tokenism, elitism, and racism towards black, indigenous, and people of color which keeps choral arts organizations largely white.
From our earliest days, our photo history illustrates both our own ignorance and complicity, but we did and do not sit in the darkness. To deny our initial ignorance would be to deny the constancy of our dedication to learning about white supremacy, elitism, and racism within the LGBT+ community in the decades that followed. LGBT+ folks are required to traverse a complicated network of systematic oppression, racism, and injustice, but Desert Voices is a group of individuals whose mission is to use music to foster understanding, acceptance, and community through our voices, through our song.
We are proud to have grown and to be growing in our diversity - in age, in race, in perspective, and in programming. We are proud to have the only black, female, gay artistic director in the Gay And Lesbian Association of Choruses. We are proud to have started the Voices Like Our program where we travel to small towns in Arizona to perform, to give to their communities, to sit down together for dinner, and to ask each other to have an open mind in conversation. We ask from the heart, human to human, to see and hear each other for who we are.
We support black lives and the #Blacklivesmatter movement, and are proud to take a stand against police brutality, against the killing of black people, and against the systems that hold black lives down. We are proud to be taking this opportunity to promote change, further educate ourselves, and provide resources and opportunities for our community to do the same. When injustice continues to keep our black brothers, sisters, and siblings down, a change is necessary and imminent. We ask you to be the change, stand with us in solidarity, and use your voice.
Board of Directors
Linda Bacon | Bernie Gay
Gail Sattler | Sharon Smith | Angela Green
Carole Baumgarten, Secretary | Pat Merrell, Treasurer
Martie van der Voort, Vice President | C. Scott Zimmerman, President
Kimberly Waigwa, Artistic Director
Above you will find a list of resources compiled by our artistic director. This list includes:
If you have information for your city you would like to include or any additional resources you would like to see included, please email them to kkwaigwa@gmail.com. Let’s keep this resource list active and growing!
- Links directly to the Black Lives Matter movement with their incredible list of resources, including donation opportunities, petition links, the list of names of black lives taken, and more
- How to make donations to Black Lives Matter if you don’t have money
- Organizations to utilize or donate to for the mental health of black people
- Educational resources to learn about anti-racism, systemic racism, complicity, white privilege and fragility, and allyship, how to have better conversations about race, how to talk to your kids,
- Book links to black owned bookstores, lists of books on racism, anti-racism, systematic racism, and allyship, as well as links to children’s books written by black authors, about black experiences, and lists divided by age bracket/grade level
- Protest safety - how to prepare, what your rights are, and resources for if you do get arrested
- City and government resources (specific to Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona) - this includes representative and senator contact info, how to find your district or ward, a template for making calls or sending emails, American Civil Liberties Union links about your rights and protest regulations, and local black owned businesses to support
- Social media resources both of individuals and organizations including Instagram, Twitter, podcasts, and facebook groups. Each of these sources offers a variety of information, including understanding the black experience, contributing to Black Lives Matter, anti-racism, allyship, conversation guides, and how to educate yourself
If you have information for your city you would like to include or any additional resources you would like to see included, please email them to kkwaigwa@gmail.com. Let’s keep this resource list active and growing!
Dear Friends,
We’re thinking of you; we hope you’re thinking of us. All of us from Desert Voices hope that you are safe, in good health, and following the guidance of healthcare officials and scientists to protect yourselves and our community. These are uncertain times for all of us, and in this unprecedented situation, we want you to know that your chorus is very much alive and engaged, even as we remain physically distant, meeting and making music digitally. There aren’t words sufficient to express how grateful we are for your support over the years. We love you: you are the lifeblood of our choral family. We are all in this together, and together we will endure and emerge from this crisis stronger, more resolute, and committed to the wondrous work of fostering community through song. Our last in-person rehearsal was on March 11th, and we have suspended them indefinitely until we are assured by the medical community that it is safe for us to congregate in numbers large enough to produce a quality choral sound. Likewise, our spring concert “Light And Love” has been postponed until live performances are deemed safe for everyone to participate in and attend. We’re working on a virtual recording, so keep an eye out for an update! If you purchased tickets for our March concert (postponed to June, and now indefinitely), we haven’t forgotten you. We would like to offer three options regarding the tickets you’ve paid for:
Something you can do to help us while you’re shopping online - signing up with AmazonSmile. How do I select a charitable organization to support when shopping on AmazonSmile? On your first visit to AmazonSmile smile.amazon.com, you need to select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. To select Desert Voices, you will need to search and select “Tucson Metropolitan Community Chorus” - our former name. Amazon will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation. AmazonSmile will occasionally contact you about donation amounts disbursed to your chosen charity or about the program. We’d appreciate it, and it’s a painless way to support us during this crisis.
Fred Rogers had comforting advice for just such times: “Look to the helpers”. Amidst the uncertainty, the news, the numbers, the closures, the images from our hospitals, we can fight our fear by focusing on the helpers. So many are stepping up in ways big and small to ensure the safety and sanity of others. They’re making masks, creating entertaining videos, wearing crazy costumes to take the trash to the curb, and finding new ways to reach out to the isolated. They are all helpers and heroes, as are you, our devoted friends.
Again, to you, our audiences, our donors, our volunteers, and supporters of every kind, thank you. Stay tuned, and stay safe.
C. Scott Zimmerman
President, Desert Voices Board of Directors
For more information, please contact us at office@desertvoices.org
We’re thinking of you; we hope you’re thinking of us. All of us from Desert Voices hope that you are safe, in good health, and following the guidance of healthcare officials and scientists to protect yourselves and our community. These are uncertain times for all of us, and in this unprecedented situation, we want you to know that your chorus is very much alive and engaged, even as we remain physically distant, meeting and making music digitally. There aren’t words sufficient to express how grateful we are for your support over the years. We love you: you are the lifeblood of our choral family. We are all in this together, and together we will endure and emerge from this crisis stronger, more resolute, and committed to the wondrous work of fostering community through song. Our last in-person rehearsal was on March 11th, and we have suspended them indefinitely until we are assured by the medical community that it is safe for us to congregate in numbers large enough to produce a quality choral sound. Likewise, our spring concert “Light And Love” has been postponed until live performances are deemed safe for everyone to participate in and attend. We’re working on a virtual recording, so keep an eye out for an update! If you purchased tickets for our March concert (postponed to June, and now indefinitely), we haven’t forgotten you. We would like to offer three options regarding the tickets you’ve paid for:
- If you’re so inclined you can opt to roll your ticket dollars into a donation. Should you find yourself in such a generous position and would like a tax credit for your contribution please contact our office and we’ll be happy to provide you with that information.
- You may hold onto your tickets and we will honor them at our next performance, whenever that may be.
- If you’re in need of reimbursement we will gladly refund your purchase. Please contact our office or the chorus member who sold you your tickets. The Desert Voices office phone number is (520) 791-9662, or you can email us at desertvoicestucsonchorus@gmail.com.
Something you can do to help us while you’re shopping online - signing up with AmazonSmile. How do I select a charitable organization to support when shopping on AmazonSmile? On your first visit to AmazonSmile smile.amazon.com, you need to select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. To select Desert Voices, you will need to search and select “Tucson Metropolitan Community Chorus” - our former name. Amazon will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation. AmazonSmile will occasionally contact you about donation amounts disbursed to your chosen charity or about the program. We’d appreciate it, and it’s a painless way to support us during this crisis.
Fred Rogers had comforting advice for just such times: “Look to the helpers”. Amidst the uncertainty, the news, the numbers, the closures, the images from our hospitals, we can fight our fear by focusing on the helpers. So many are stepping up in ways big and small to ensure the safety and sanity of others. They’re making masks, creating entertaining videos, wearing crazy costumes to take the trash to the curb, and finding new ways to reach out to the isolated. They are all helpers and heroes, as are you, our devoted friends.
Again, to you, our audiences, our donors, our volunteers, and supporters of every kind, thank you. Stay tuned, and stay safe.
C. Scott Zimmerman
President, Desert Voices Board of Directors
For more information, please contact us at office@desertvoices.org
Want to Help out?
Use AMAZONSMILE to support Desert Voices, Tucson Metropolitan Community Chorus
How do I add Amazon smile to the Amazon app?
Download or update to the latest version of the Amazon Shopping app on your phone. You can find it in the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android. Open the app and find 'Settings' in the main menu (☰). Tap on 'AmazonSmile' and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone.
How do I add Amazon smile to the Amazon app?
Download or update to the latest version of the Amazon Shopping app on your phone. You can find it in the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android. Open the app and find 'Settings' in the main menu (☰). Tap on 'AmazonSmile' and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone.
Sign up for Fry's Community Rewards Program and choose to support Desert Voices Chorus/Tucson Metro Community Chorus
OUR MISSION
"Fostering Community Through Song"
Desert Voices is Tucson's premier gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and ally chorus. We are a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing Arizona beautiful music and to forging a positive and resolute LGBTQA presence in the community. Our unique chorus welcomes all voices to attend our rehearsals and come to our performances, regardless of age, gender, race, creed, or sexuality. Our members are diverse in voice and in background, of gay and straight singers, of all ages and identities. We strive to bring quality, unique music performances and the harmony of community to Tucson. Our purpose is to give a voice to those whose songs go unheard.
OUR VISION
Desert Voices is an inclusive chorus organized to provide the opportunity for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and supportive others to sing together in order to:
- Build community within and outside the Chorus through our love of music.
- Produce shows that are entertaining and musically excellent.
- Perform music that reflects the lives of the LGBTQA community.
- Promote an ongoing, positive LGBTQA presence in our community.
- Advance positive social change in the larger society.
We are pleased to announce that Kim Waigwa will be our Interim Artistic Director heading into the new year. Kim's passion for and dedication to Desert Voices' vision, her musicianship, proficiency in teaching, and her established relationship with the chorus made her the best person we could possibly ask for to lead Desert Voices.
A Proud Sponsor of Desert Voices |
Desert Voices has been awarded a Community Investment Grant this year by the Arizona Commission on the Arts! We're proud to be a part of the Arizona arts community, and will keep fostering that community through song!
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