Music Video with an original song created by Mr. Mackie’s Period 6 Senior English class at West Anchorage High School, Class of 2025.

Music by students and Kat Moore

Film by Alex Troutman with Channel Films

Thank you to the Youth Cultural Heritage Grant Program from the Alaska State Council on the Arts for making this project possible.

 

Lyrics:

{Chorus 1}

We rise to fight injustice
We rise to fight oppression
We rise together
(We rise together)
We will rise above the struggle
And continue to soar above the clouds
Eventually the fog will lift
And we will rise above the storm

 

[Cleo, Liam, Edward, Ayesha, (Verse 1)]

Drifting down the river
Unsure about the flow of life
Fightin’ currents through many channels
Weakenin’ vessel at its limits
a break in the flow
Unsure when the peace will last
Afraid of how to grow
Afraid of the peace passing

[Echo, Megan, Mr. Mackie (Verse 2)]

Scary feelings, the unknown,
In current society; nowhere to go.
It’s unfamiliar, seems so wild:
I need a place to call my home.
Scary feelings, exhausted eyes,
Nowhere to rest my tired soul;
I feel burned out, what does life hold?
I need a place to call my own/home? .

{Chorus 2}

[Rowan, Xavier, Jasmine, Jason (Verse 3)]

I got pressure pushing me, it’s immeasurable
Some cry over small things like they’re unbearable
Terrified of what’s coming, so I feel terrible
Remember the decisions you make they’re repairable
You call it luck we call it a miracle
Can’t keep on hatin’ that life is unlivable
You need to shut it down, that hole is unfillable.
The lessons learned on the journey are irreplaceable.

[Chanelle Chantel Janina Aaliyah (Verse 4)]

Family close by brightens each day
Sometimes life gets in the way clouding our judgement
There’s never a way
Home a special place in my heart, contentment
Language, a thread where feelings never stray
A gateway to development

{Chorus 3}

[JASON (Verse 5)]

A connection through words and voices
A bond between people, (and) their cultural choices
Preserve that idea that brought us together’
We don’t wanna forget our story that made us remember
Who we are, what we do, what we eat, what we speak‘
Who we’ve become, how we’ve changed, what does it even mean?
I don’t know what to do with these memories
Cherish histories… we are rising

[JASMINE (Verse 6)]

In the meadow,
wildflowers sway.
Dancing gently
in the sun’s warm rays.
A single can bloom, can light the way.
Bright light to the darkest day.
Petals are soft, colors are bright

{Bridge}
Kapag nagkakaisa walang makakatalo
(Tagalog: When we are united, no one can defeat us…)

{Chorus 4}

{Chorus 5 Overlay}