“Prayer of the Children”

https://newslit.org/

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception:  How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation."  In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information.  They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1.  Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2.  Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs.  Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3.  Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp.  Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4.  When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5.  Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.  

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source:  Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Composer Kurt Bestor composed this song based on the effect that this tragic civil war between Bosnians, Croatians and Serbians was having on the children of the region. The civil war occurred in the aftermath of the death of Yugoslavia’s strongman president Josef Tito in 1980 and continued into the mid 1990’s. Read more about it by following this link to the story behind “Prayer of the Children” found on Mr. Bestor’s website.

I first sang this song in the mid 1990’s with the Bakersfield Masterworks Chorale. It brought the war home to me. Even though it was in a distant far off land that I knew almost nothing about, the tune and the words were forever to be etched in my memory as a singer and as a human being. The BMC performance of this piece was a live performance. I sang it with tears streaming town my face while makings every effort that I could to produce the sound and words that would give our audience to have their own reactions to the message of the song.

As the scope of the tragic war in Ukraine unfolded, it became evident that the level of suffering for children in Ukraine has reached the levels of those in the post Yugoslavian Balkan states. When Unitarian Universalist choir director John Ector brought this song back in 2022, I was more than ready to add my voice to the choir tasked with performing and recording this piece in the context of the invasion of Ukraine.

This time the song was recorded in virtual choir form. Each member of the choir digitally recorded one or more tracks and submitted them to Ector who then turned them into a choral piece using his skills as a musician and sound engineer. I think that my vocal quality was improved in this 2022 performance. Normally I thrive on performing in front of a live audience, but in this case I believe that performing in front of a microphone alone in my back room recording “studio” was the most effective venue for sharing this piece and communicating the message embedded within it.

I am including this recording by the Alegria Singers of the First Unitarian Church of San Jose, California for you to experience. Any re-use of the song is subject to the approval of Mr. John Ector who arranged this song for Alegria.

I recommend that you close your eyes and listen with headphones or ear buds to enhance the listening experience and get the most out of the piece. Enjoy.

Thanks,

Bruce