WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!!!!
youtu.be/BfJgEsPvtFU

“Change’ is a powerful song sung by 7th grader, Zora Morais, pleading to all that today is the time to make a change and to take a stand together against racism, so people can stop dying. Middle school students from MA and CA unite in collaboration with Marthas’ Vineyard Diversity Coalition (MVDC), to voice their vision.
The idea started in November 2020 over zoom, after a Martha’s Vineyard Diversity Coalition meeting. Members and school teachers Lisa Pimentel, Shane Finch (Pinstock), and Victoria Dryfoos discussed bringing their middle school students, from Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School (MVPCS) and Los Angeles Oakwood School, to create a song of activism. The song project was conceived to connect students who were isolated at home during remote learning, with the shared goal to value, acknowledge, honor and support people of color, and to "lay the groundwork to eradicate racism."

Lisa Pimentel, a musician (NoSmallChildren?DramaDolls), music producer, recording artist, and music teacher at Oakwood School, saw the benefit of creating music over zoom.
Victoria (Spanish and Independent Study teacher at MVPCS) went to her students and asked for volunteers. Zora Morais and Madis Pitman, 6th graders at the time, agreed to meet periodically over zoom for months with Lisa, Victoria, and Shane (who is a recording artist and teaches coding, STEAM, and technology at Oakwood School.) Despite conflicting schedules and different time zones, they met during lunch breaks and after school from December, 2020 until May 2021. Oliver Stern, a 6th grader at Oakwood School, shared his musical ideas, which inspired the hook and direction for the song.

Lisa creatively led the group in brainstorming poetry sessions, and from these poems, lyrics were formed. One morning, Shane, woke up with a melody in his head, and after sharing it with the group, the chorus for “Change” was born. Lisa took the words that Madis wrote and pieced them together to fit the melody. The group then brainstormed together to edit the other verses.

On her own in L.A., Lisa arranged a variety of harmonies for the song to fit the lyrics. She flew to Martha’s Vineyard in June 2021 and met Zora and Victoria for the first time where they spent a day recording. Zora sang the chorus and each verse. The harmonies and lyrics were tweaked as the day progressed. It was a beautiful day to watch the creativity, musical ability, and the birth of the song.

Lisa Pimentel took the recordings back to L.A. and edited and built the track. When Corbin Jones (Beyoncè, JayZ, Lizzo, Lucky Daye, Lupe Fiasco. Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar) heard about the project, he volunteered to play bass on the track. which at that point included 6th grader Oliver’s keyboard programming. When it was finally ready, she handed the recording over to the legendary producer, Bob Marlette (Tracy Chapman, Wilson Philips, Black Sabbath, Filter, Shinedown, etc) , who created the final mix. The final version of “Change” was finished in March 2022.

Shane Finch created a lyric video with clips filmed by the group. The song was released on June 2nd, 2022 on all streaming platforms. The lyric video will be presented at the “Truth and Joy” Celebration at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs on June, 24th and 25th, 2022. Proceeds will help promote and support efforts to eradicate racism.