“We were tempted to wallow in despair,” a girl named jean (agnj) sings on her new track “Resist,” which looks back on the night of the 2016 election, “trying to figure out how we had gotten there.” Although agnj is not usually a political artist, she felt she needed to issue a wake-up call in advance of the midterm elections—and do her part to change the nation’s course.
The song, released this week, is about refusing to accept defeat—and taking action instead. “Resist as long as we are breathing,” she sings, “resist when greed is succeeding, resist when there isn’t justice, resist when there is oppression—our voices exist, to illuminate we must persist.” The song ends with the simple message: “Stay awake through the revolution.”
Although agnj does hope that “Resist” spurs others to action, she’s helping them on their way by donating all of the proceeds from the track’s downloads to the Southern Poverty Law Center, National Endowment For The Arts, Charity Water and The Nature Conservancy.
What matters most to agnj is that her listeners stay engaged and informed and focus on the power of community in these turbulent times—and she hopes that through her relatable lyrics and foot-tapping beat, people will take up her battle cry to pay attention and never stop trying.
Miranda Martin is a feminist writer and activist and an editorial intern at Ms. She has written for a variety of publications and been published by The Unedit and Project Consent. Miranda recently graduated from University of Wisconsin La Crosse with a major in Interpersonal Communications and a double minor in Creative Writing and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She loves to travel, read, exercise and daydream about the fall of the patriarchy.
