*Proceeds from this song will go to the 5 Valve Turners – Ken Ward, Michael Foster, Emily Johnston, Leonard Higgins and Annette Klapstein of the #ShutItDown act of civil disobedience, who face massive, mounting legal fees.*
This song was written for the water protectors, the valve turners, and all for those who put their bodies on the line to fight the continued extraction and transportation of tar sands and other extreme fossil fuels. The words were inspired by the testimonies and interviews with the 5 valve turners that in October 2016 shut down all tar sands entering the United States via pipeline, with the help of their support crew. They now face federal charges and massive legal fees.
As of Feb 1st, the trial for valve turner Ken Ward resulted in a hung jury. Ken shut down the Trans Mountain oil pipeline, which runs from Edmonton, AB to Anacortes, Washington, and is in the process of being expanded.
This song honors their brave act of love, made in solidarity with Standing Rock. We must all use our bodies to raise up the severity of the climate crisis, and the colonialism and racism that underpins it. Only in vulnerability, and in community, may we come to a deeper place of truth with the grave, and inequitable situation we are facing for life on this planet.
Read more about their trials at www.shutitdown.today
“Act of Love” Lyrics
This is my hand uncovered
For you and me, and everyone we seeThis is my gift
of vulnerability
This is my body, I turn the valve
I turn the key,
Reveal the sorcery
The systems as they be
The systems as they be..This is fragility
What we’ve built our gospel on
God is not a paragon,
a pentagon, a president, an oil baronGod is you and me
God is everything you see
I am grateful, grateful for
your actionsTo keep this place, to keep this place
Breathing, breathing, breathing,Breath out, breath in, breath out in,
breath out, breath in, the work we’re in,
the ancient hymn, breath inThis is my act of love,
This is my hand uncovered
For you and me and everyone we seeThis is my gift
of vulnerability
this is my one body
Lovely song; wonderful cause. Thank you so for this work!!