Our Unitarian Universalist Musicians’ national conference took place in Denver in July. While these gatherings of about 200 professional musicians are always inspiring, exhilarating, and informative, this year’s event included a chance to join our voices in songs on the “front lines,” not just in our host church, the Universalist Church of Denver.

Shortly after our closing Sunday service, a busload of us drove out to an ICE detention facility, where an American Friends (Quaker) Service Committee member met us. This young Latino American said protests and vigils have been held here on Sundays (the only day visitors can come see detainees) for several years. This for-profit facility is known to be full to bursting, with inadequate medical care and lacking in nutritious food. The only space for fresh air is an interior basketball court. Our host said “a friend” on the inside had been tipped that we were coming, and had spread the word. Apparently, if we sang loudly enough, detainees—which included many families with children of all ages—could hear us from that basketball court that faced high, forbidding brick walls.

So we sang songs of solidarity and protest in English and Spanish. “Listen my people, the condor (Mexico) and eagle (USA)! No human being can ever be illegal!” All our UU principles resonated that day, hopefully carried in the hot dry desert wind to the ears and hearts of people from 30 different countries stuck in crowded, cavernous dorms awaiting their fate. I flew home with a sore throat, but with my heart pounding like the drums we brought with us, realizing again the power of music and the need to raise our voices in America at this difficult time.