The road ends, but the journey continues...

Fall of Freedom Project Update

Monday evening, 11/17: I just pushed ‘submit’ on the Fall of Freedom Event Registration Form. This is a big deal. Not in the fact that Kevin and I are now committed to the deadline, but because even as creative participants, we don’t fit the mold – we are not an organization.

In fact, under the heading Organization Name I entered: No Organization, just two composer-musician educators in South Carolina collaborating on a Fall of Freedom Project – Laura Bruno Lilly and Kevin McKinney (Doc Snow).

So, you see, filling out the form required a very creative approach. And while not necessary, it does ‘prove’ our participation in this call to stand up for our right to free expression.

Yes, one of the things that attracted me to this event was the assertion that no effort is too small. Ours is indeed small. Just us two with a fantastic 6-minute video piece (almost finished*!) we plan to launch on my website and his You Tube channel on November 21.

And, according to the Event Registration email confirmation I received, ours is the first from South Carolina! Small but mighty, eh?

It’s great to be a part of this socially relevant event even if we still feel very isolated from the rest of those participating.

“We live in a time when dissent is punished, truth is twisted, and silence can seem safe. Under the banner of Fall of Freedom, we stand together in creative resistance, because when free expression is under threat, art becomes our voice, our shield, and our sanctuary. Artists are a threat to American fascism.”

from the fall of freedom website

*Our scheduled voice-over recording session set for between-lessons (Kevin) on Monday ran into technical difficulties. My home alone ZOOM H4n Plan B recording session the next morning yielded (unknown to me at the time) too much background noise to use. Technical issues resolved, we hustled to set up again for another between-lessons (Laura) recording session Tuesday early afternoon. Successful this time around. I like to think of this as our ‘surprise snafu scramble moment’ that all projects with a tight timeline & deadline experience.


Breaking News 😊: I just went to the Fall of Freedom Participants Page. I entered in the ‘search events or states’ line – each item individually – first the name of our project, then Kevin’s name, and lastly, my name. Guess what? Each item entered yielded the same result. That creative entry I mentioned above? It pops up along with the name of our ‘event’. Check it out!


24 Comments

  1. Jennie

    Small and mighty, freedom of expression – Yes!

  2. Jennie

    Laura, this is just wonderful. Small and mighty, I love that description.

    • laura bruno lilly

      The best part is that it is literally true! 😉

      • Jennie

        That’s definitely the best part.

  3. marissthequilter

    Brava on your small but mighty contribution

    • laura bruno lilly

      Thank you kindly, Mariss – I just pushed ‘publish’ on our FoF project, ‘641’. You’ll find it in today’s post…

  4. Michael Watson PhD

    This is great! May there be many more projects born from it!

  5. Very awesome!

    • laura bruno lilly

      Thanks Tierney! Stay tuned! HA!

  6. Michele Lee

    “Small but mighty” Yes! Best wishes to you two and thank you for sharing this movement. ✨

    • laura bruno lilly

      You’re more than welcome, Michele. Rumor has it that a Winter of Freedom is forthcoming. 😉

      • Michele Lee

        Surprisingly, I’m not finding any events in my area.

  7. Andrew Murray

    What a creative act of defiance/protest this whole project is. When I have more time later I will look at all of the planned projects, but the first that I saw was ‘Authors reading sections from their favourite banned books’ which is wonderful, and dovetails nicely with you using banned words and phrases. (And I spotted a Murray 🙂)
    I look forward to experiencing your contribution tomorrow.

    • laura bruno lilly

      Thanks – I look forward to sharing it with you tomorrow! ps-you Murrays do seem to get around. 🙂

  8. petespringer

    Way to go, Laura and Kevin! Let’s hear it for free expression and the right to be creative without government interference.

    • laura bruno lilly

      Thank you, Pete! I hear your hearty support loud and clear echoing across the country from one coast to the other!

  9. Cheryl Batavia

    Laura, Kudos to you for participating in this very important initiative. I wish you great success as you support democracy by making beautiful music. 🎵 🎶🎵

    • laura bruno lilly

      Your kudos mean the world to me, Cheryl. hugs

  10. L. Marie

    I kept getting an error message when I went to sign up for updates. Will try again later. Meanwhile, I love that you are so proactive!! Can’t wait to watch your piece on YouTube. Can you email me a link to the channel?

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