Lakewood Harding Sings to 'Stop the Hate' at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

LAKEWOOD, OH — Three choirs each from Harding and Garfield Middle Schools recently competed in the "Stop the Hate: Youth Sing Out!" at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Sponsored by the Maltz Museum and Roots of American Music the program combines anti-bias training with the power of music.

Lakewood students prepared for the Stop the Hate: Youth Sing Out! by visiting the Maltz Museum to learn about hateful events from history. Students then took what they learned back to the classroom to create an original song. In just a few weeks they had something to work with.

Middle school choir director Lisa Richards said that a visiting artist from Roots of American Music helped the student groups create each unique song with the incorporation of diversity and tolerance themes in their lyrics.

The choirs performed their songs for a panel of judges and for each other and the winning song will be selected from the middle school songs. The selected song will be performed at the “Stop the Hate: Youth Speak Out!” awards ceremony in the spring by the students who wrote it.

The students also took a short class at the Rock Hall, “Fight the Power: Music as Social Force.” The class featured songs from the 1960s and early 1970s that have challenged audiences to consider the alternatives and make changes in our society. Students explore recordings and videos of legendary artists to examine expressions of social commentary contained in lyrics, performance styles, and historical images.

Photo: Lakewood City Schools