Written and Performed by Ra-Re Valverde
as a Tribute to Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.
LOS ANGELES, CA (April 16, 2021) – Ava DuVernay’s narrative change collective ARRAY has unveiled the fourth artist commission for its Law Enforcement Accountability Project (LEAP), a propulsive fund founded in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 murder to catalyze creative expression around police violence.
Singer/songwriter Ra-Re Valverde, who has toured the globe as a supporting vocalist for such artists as Jennifer Lopez, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Lalah Hathaway and Rahsaan Patterson, wrote and performs Safe Where?. The original protest song focuses on the 2011 murder of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. due to the actions of White Plains, New York,
police officer Anthony Carelli. Chamberlain’s medical alert device was accidentally activated while he slept, prompting a welfare check by police that resulted in two fatal shots being fired from officer Carelli’s gun. The White Plains grand jury declined to indict Carelli or any other officers for Chamberlain’s murder. More details on the Chamberlain case can be viewed here.
Now available for download at www.leapaction.org and streaming on Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal, Safe Where? features raw and honest lyrics to address how badges allow police officers to blame fear as a reason for their actions, contributing to a Black genocide.
Download Safe Where? song here.
“We are thrilled to introduce Ra-Re’s powerful song, Safe Where?, in response to the murder of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.,” said ARRAY Vice President of Public Programming, Mercedes Cooper. “Music has frequently been used to address social justice issues and the lyrics of this song further amplify the calls for police accountability in Black and brown communities.
About LEAP
Administered by the non-profit ARRAY Alliance, the LEAP fund commissions projects across multiple disciplines including film, literature, poetry, theater, dance, fine art and music. LEAP is envisioned as a two-year project to catalyze a minimum of 25 artist commissions. LEAP’s previously announced artist grantees are photographer Steven
Irby’s photo essay, 41 To ’99, poet and activist W.J. Lofton’s visual poem Would You Kill God Too? and Jocelyn Jackson’s Fixed Price Menu. The Ford Foundation was an inaugural funder of LEAP. Data was contributed by the analytics organization Mapping Police Violence. For more information, go to www.leapaction.org. Follow LEAP on social: @leapaction.
About ARRAY
Founded in 2011 by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, ARRAY is a multi-platform arts and social impact collective dedicated to narrative change. The organization catalyzes its work through a quartet of mission-driven entities: the film distribution arm ARRAY Releasing, the content company ARRAY Filmworks, the programming and production hub ARRAY Creative Campus and the non-profit group ARRAY Alliance. www.arraynow.com. Follow ARRAY on social: @arraynow.