Emma's Revolution Brings Protest and Activism to the UU Stage

For nearly 25 years, Emma’s Revolution, the California-based singing/songwriting duo Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow (who goes professionally by the name Sandy O), has been crisscrossing the country sharing themes of protest through music and energizing engaged citizens along the way.

Named for political activist and writer Emma Goldman, whose work in the early part of the 20th century focused on women’s rights and social issues, Emma’s Revolution represents the next generation of protest and activism. Bridging the musical social justice movements of the 1960s and 1970s with 21st century concerns, Humphries and Opatow’s contemporary songs address issues of our day, offering pointed and fearless criticism of a broken system as well as hope for those who seek to uplift and improve the lives of people everywhere.

Their song “Peace, Salaam, Shalom,” was written for a New York City peace march after the attacks of 9/11; among the musicians they have performed with are folk legends Holly Near (with whom they recorded a 2009 album) and the late great Pete Seeger. The duo is the subject of a forthcoming documentary, “Keep on Moving Forward,” by filmmaker Tom Weidlinger, which explores their work at the front lines of social justice movements. A concert filmed in conjunction with their 20th anniversary, featuring Holly Near and other noted musicians, will be included in the film.

“In 2005, we were asked by Pete [Seeger] to come to the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in Dallas-Fort Worth,” Opatow said recently in a phone interview with the duo. “We performed with Pete, and since then, every year we have attended the UU General Assembly.”

Humphries and Opatow have maintained their close ties with the Unitarian Universalists in the years since — their song “Love Reaches Out” was the official theme song of the congregation’s General Assembly in 2014.

This Sunday, November 2, Emma’s Revolution will make a stop at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork meetinghouse in Bridgehampton where they will perform in concert at 5 p.m. This show comes in the midst of an East Coast tour. On October 18, Humphries and Opatow performed in Concord, Massachusetts, as part of the “No Kings” rally there.

“The first shot of the Revolution was in Concord, Massachusetts,” Opatow said. “It was ‘No Kings’ then, and it’s ‘No Kings’ now.”

When asked about the emotions people across the country are sharing with them right now due to the actions of the current administration, Humphries and Opatow report that anxiety, anger and fear are among the descriptors.

“Everybody feels a little bit of all of those things,” Humphries explained. “It’s now about where they go to find ways forward — it’s in community, looking for like-minded folks and a place where people can share their experiences and come away with a sense of hope to energize them for the work ahead.”

“That’s exactly true,” added Opatow. “‘No Kings’ happened everywhere — big cities, small towns, red states, blue states. There’s no way to say there isn’t opposition. There are demonstrations against the ICE raids because family members are under threat, people are losing work because of the shutdown.

“A whole lot of propaganda is coming at us, and some people think that we don’t have a way to push back,” she said. “But we really do, and we have to remember that and take back our rights to say that what’s happening is ‘anti-democratic, anti-Constitutional,’ and that was what we have fought for for 250 years.”

As Emma’s Revolution performs in states of all hues from coast to coast, Humphries and Opatow can’t say for certain if their music is directly changing hearts and minds, but they do hear the stories.

“We talk to farmers or federal workers who were dedicated workers for decades and didn’t see themselves as politically drawn in one direction or another,” Humphries explained. “A lot of those folks are feeling really betrayed. No matter what side they lean toward, we hear stories all the time.”

“I have a number of family members who voted for him, they did that because they thought he’d bring grocery prices down,” Opatow added. “The cruelty that Musk and Trump were delivering during the first months was not what they wanted.”

“I think folks are feeling a lot of grief around their choices, and I think they’re slammed with that rather intense sense of betrayal,” Humphries continued. “And they’re ashamed for having bought this huge story.”

“They should be scared,” Opatow said. “Prices are going up, telehealth visits are going down.”

And it would seem that, given all that is happening in the world, the music of Emma’s Revolution is in high demand.

“We started this tour in September in Florida. Even when we were just starting out on the road, people were calling, saying, ‘Can you come here? Can you go there?’” Opatow said. “They are desperate for someone to bring hope, but also to come together and see support. The concert we’re doing in Auburn, Maine, tomorrow night — and the one on Long Island — those came together on the road.”

“In touring together for 25 years, this is the first time we’ve been on a publicized tour and while on tour got five calls asking us to fit them in,” added Humphries. “People are really suffering.”

The Emma’s Revolution repertoire includes a wide range of offerings and the concerts cover the gamut of Humphries and Opatow’s long songwriting career. That means audiences can expect to hear older songs that still have pertinent messages to share alongside several recent songs written specifically in reaction to the current political climate.

“‘We Are the Power’ we wrote in February when were last on the East Coast,” Opatow said. “It was when the Department of Justice firings were happening. We came down to D.C. and were going to some of the earliest demonstrations where workers were coming out to support their friends who had been fired.

“Driving by the Health and Human Services building, Pat sang verses of what became the song,” she added. “We were singing it every day for a week for the workers. This was right after the inauguration. The next day was when Bishop Mariann Budde spoke so clearly against this administration [at the Interfaith Service of Prayer for the Nation]. It was so inspiring and comforting. Our song ‘You Are Not God’ was written about that.”

Their song “Libre El Pueblo” was one that they wrote to sing outside the federal courthouse in San Francisco alongside activists and clergy who were supporting a young man that had come to the building to secure his legal status, but instead became a target of ICE.

“We also had an opportunity to sing that song outside the detention center in the Everglades —at Alligator Alcatraz,” Opatow said.

Humphries notes that the need to respond to current events in person through song is a big motivator for Emma’s Revolution. She added that their song “Keep on Moving Forward” is getting a whole lot of play on the streets and in concert halls and seems to be striking a major chord.

“We hear from people all the time. They need words of encouragement, they need some way to get through,” Humphries said.

“It works for us too,” added Opatow. “Touring is how we do our work in the world, but it’s also heartening for us — to see what communities are doing, taking action in support of neighbors, staying connected to people. That’s how we do it too.”

Over the years, as they have toured the United States Humphries and Opatow have continually discovered that those involved communities are often centered around Unitarian Universalist congregations, which is why they frequently find themselves performing at those venues.

“In the late ’80s I lived in Cambridge, and it seemed like every concert series then was housed in a UU church,” Humphries recalled. “Then I noticed them all around the country. Plus, embedded in the UU value system is the concept of social justice. I really have a lot of respect for folks who are open to willingly engage in these issues and talk about these things. It’s a community of people willing to take these things on and move forward.”

“At UU congregations, people who come that are not members of the congregation realize it’s a group of people who care about what’s going on,” added Opatow. “Or they’ll come to a service or another event and find the support they are looking for.”

“They are places that are sanctuaries, and not just from a religious perspective — but for their progressive beliefs and safety of people,” Humphries said.

Sometimes, Humphries and Opatow find themselves in a situation where Emma’s Revolution is called in to perform in order to help start a conversation while simultaneously acting as a support system for a population of people under stress.

“One time we got a call from students in Arkansas who were being harassed at an evangelical Christian school,” Humphries said. “They were LGBTQ students, and we said, ‘Aren’t you putting yourselves at risk by having us come in and do a concert?’ They said, ‘We need you here. We need a way for us to get together.’”

Humphries asked the students to contact some allies in advance, including supportive professors and community leaders, to be at the performance and get the conversation started.

“I said, ‘Ask them to come so we can help you create a network when we leave, because we’re afraid for your safety,’” Humphries recalled. “They did that to some extent. They set it up at a community gathering place, like a coffee shop. Folks came. We had a really interesting conversation. A number of students spoke; one professor spoke in favor of the students. It was a fascinating thing.

“Another thing we asked was that they reach out to different media outlets that are likely to be supportive,” Humphries continued. “They did and got some national coverage. In that way, they became visible. It kept this issue from flying under the radar.”

When asked if they’ve ever been targets because of their political beliefs and activism, Humphries said that there have been subtle things — the hacking of the Emma’s Revolution website when the text was changed from English to Arabic, or a state legislator who send out an email publicity saying that the duo was all about hate because of its support of the Palestinian people as well as the Israelis.

“We’ve had those kinds of things — but it’s not physical,” Humphries said. “People don’t have the courage to confront us personally. We’re not violent, angry, hysterical — we’re pretty reasonable. If you came to one of our concerts, the biggest risk is that they might agree with us.”

“Even if they didn’t agree with the words, they’d probably be singing along,” added Opatow. “You can’t stop a good song.”

“The good news is, people care everywhere,” she added. “That keeps us going.”

Tickets to Emma’s Revolution on Sunday, November 2, at 5 p.m. are $25 at emmasrevolution.com, $30 at the door. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork meetinghouse is at 977 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike in Bridgehampton.