On an early July morning around 2am, I had finally gotten into bed when suddenly distinct words entered and swirled around my mind: “We must reach across religion, politicians, stop division, and start to listen - maybe then we can change, make the world a better place.” As I fell out of bed to write them down, the next wave came: “We must stop spreading hate, throwing shade, calling names, and placing blame if we want the world to change.” Weeks later, on August 12, 2017, white supremacists and neo-Nazis began protesting in Charlottesville, VA. Then news broke that one of those protestors had driven his car into a group of peaceful counter-protesters, injuring 19 people and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. In the aftermath of this horrific day, the world saw clearly what many of us already knew: racism has never left this country. What I was surprised to see was that my social media feeds flooded with even more hate. Hate for our government, hate for Trump supporters, hate for white people, hate for black people, hate for Hispanic people, hate for Christians, and the list went on and on. As I was reflecting on the immeasurable amount of hate filling the media, the words that I wrote at 2am came back to me. Instead of pointing fingers, placing blame, and dividing ourselves based on religion or political party, we should be uniting as Americans to see racism eradicated and racial equality become a reality. I immediately knew that the song I started two weeks before Charlottesville couldn’t stay in my journal. It needed to be finished and spoken into the world. The words not only needed to be spoken, but acted upon. I realized that the reason that our society is in this mess is mostly due to the fact that people love to talk. They love to speak out against injustice, they love to condemn others, and they love to be heard. What people don’t always love to do is to take action. I decided that I had to be a person that didn’t just say something, but did something. Right then and there, I decided that I was going to release this song and donate all the money made from it to a charity or organization that is fighting against racial inequality. But I couldn’t do it alone. So I called Chris, a friend of mine who writes and performs spoken word/rap. We had wanted to do a project together for years, but we never found one that felt right. He is a black man from Washington, D.C. and I immediately knew that I wanted his voice to speak words from experiences that I have no business speaking into. I knew that his involvement and our friendship could breathe fresh and tangible life into the call for people of all religion, race, background, and economic status to unite as one. Chris was immediately on board. Then I started to assemble a team. I called my best friend Jake, a white farm boy, and asked him to help me with chordal structure and melodies. I met with Pete, the Puerto Rican man that designed my debut EP, to design the artwork and advise me on social media elements. I called Tori, a twenty-something former Tinkerbell at Disney World who is now a professional photographer, to capture the images for the cover art and promotional material. The list goes on of diverse men and women, all professionals in their craft, that are donating their time in an effort to come together and make a difference in our community and, Lord willing, our country. We are so proud to announce that 100% of the proceeds from Frontlines will be donated to The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). So join with us as we rise up as one to fight to see an end to racism and hate, and to see the beginning of a new world where we work together in love.