I Am Human / Oseh Shalom

Rabbi Sandra Lawson received ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in June 2018. She holds a Master’s degree in Sociology with a focus on Environmental Justice and race, is an Army veteran, and an Interfaith America Racial Equity Fellow.

Five years ago, after witnessing and learning about the oppression of a marginalized group, a group I am not a member of, I came home, wrote the song I Am Human, shared it with my roommate, and cried. I played it one Shabbat morning in front of a community and then put the song away and have barely looked at it over the last few years.

A few weeks ago, I started going through some of my old songs and rediscovered I Am Human, I played the song, and again I cried. Maybe I cried because my mother had just passed a few weeks early, not sure but what I do know is that this song speaks to the oppression and resilience of marginalized folks. And It speaks to our ability to adapt and overcome adversity, trauma, and tragedy.

It’s hard for me to believe that five years have passed since writing this song. It’s also been five years since Walter Scott was shot in the back by a police officer. And five years after Freddy Gray died from a spinal cord injury while in police custody. Five years after Sandra Bland was arrested and died in police custody. And five years have passed since a 20-year-old white supremacist murdered nine people while they were praying at a Mother Emanuel in Charleston, South Carolina. I had no idea that in five years, our country would look like it does right now. This song is our rallying cry, to never give up, remember the struggle, and always strive to see each other as created in the image of God because when we do, we treat each other with love, dignity, and respect.