This Little Light of Mine; Is Mine! Reflecting on A Concert with Artist in Residence, Lester Mayers

Lia Rivamonte, Artist in Residence and Beloved Community Communications Teams

“The idea is to write it so that people hear it, and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.” — Maya Angelou

Every once in a while, we are lucky to witness a thing of beauty. In nature, a spectacular sunset, a fall maple ablaze in color, for example, will provoke shudders. In art, a passage of music, a stunning painting may delight and move us, making us grateful to be human. Those of us able to witness Lester’s show on Saturday, November 12, 2022, received such a gift: one of hope, and love, and yes, beauty.
 
Lester and his friends delivered an emotional wallop through poetry and song that described lives of difficult, traumatic relationships impacted by addiction, social and racial injustice, and poverty. Abandonment, neglect, and rejection can be survived if we can muster the wherewithal to believe in ourselves and in our own self-worth despite what the world seems to be telling us. And when that moment comes when we can see ourselves as worthy of love—as it must—it’ll be joyful because just as there is more love, “there is more joy somewhere.” Even in those bluest hours so often susceptible to despair, it is there, rooted in the expansive imagination, and in the embrace of community. And while we know it isn’t that simple, that the road to self-acceptance is not straight nor without potholes, it’s the only one that can lead to love.
 
Okay, so, I’m more than a bit biased—I’m a member of the Artist in Residence Team (AiR)—but the decision to select him for AiR was a unanimous one. The purpose of the AiR program to help advance Unity’s vision of becoming an antiracist multicultural community through art was clear; he was willing and very able. As a performer he is a consummate professional—charismatic with a forceful presence, and as a writer his subject is urgent and timely—self-worth and self-love. His method of expression is both artful and raw at the same time. Nothing, however, prepared me for the care and passion he invested in his culminating work as our Artist in Residence.
 
As a lifelong practitioner and advocate of art, I know that art has the power to reach people in real ways. As UU’s we have a tendency to value head over heart, even though we understand the value of engaging our whole selves. A close encounter with art can change us, touch us in unexpected ways, and expand our perception of what it is to be human.
 
“This Little Light of Mine; Is Mine!” is a gift that will keep on giving. Lester and his talented guest artists, Nubia Monks, Siddeeqah Shabazz, and John Jamison put their hearts into their all-too-brief time on the stage. Unity’s musical director Ahmed Anzaldúa provided grace notes on the piano. In the final moments of the performance, Lester, dressed in priestly robes, conjures up the spirit of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, asking her where and how we can find joy in a world so full of adversity. She reminds him in song, “This Little Light of Mine,” and so we all sing it together.
 
View the concert on Unity’s YouTube channel
Learn more about Unity's Artists in Residence Program
Check out Lester Mayers’ website

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