Brandee Younger
“Unrest”
Unrest is a piece that tells truth about our current moment of racial reckoning. The piece was composed with the backdrop of protests happening outside of my window here in Harlem after the murder of George Floyd. One thing is true for every person hearing this piece; we've all witnessed unrest as the nation graples with its past and present - all in the midst of quarantine and major political change. In the piece, you will hear a deep, almost rumbling sound from the very beginning, a reflection of the bubbling systems at play beneath the surface of our country and the feelings of uncertainty and hesitation about what is to come. It's followed by an expressive lament section in the middle of the piece - a moment of reflection for the Black lives lost in 2020 and hope for the future. The piece ends again in protest, a mirror of the turbulent end of the year 2020.