Take Responsibility: A Song of Hope for COVID-19

Grace Jerry is a 2015 Alumna of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Civic Engagement Institute at the Presidential Precinct. She is using her voice to encourage and inspire other leaders around the world with a simple message: Stay Home. Stay Safe. Stay Strong. We can work together to beat this pandemic.

We look up, in high regard, to our alumni like Grace who are using their talents and platforms to give back to their communities with hope. Grace reminds us that “while the #COVID19 crisis reminds us of our shared fragility, it also demonstrates how everything and everyone is truly connected.”

Grace’s gifted voice has been impacting our Presidential Precinct community regularly ever since her visit to the Precinct in the Summer of 2015. She began her Fellowship prepared to deploy the lyrics of another hope-filled song highlighting the unavoidable potential of African youth. “E Go Happen” soon became an anthem for Mandela Washington Fellows, eager to return to their home countries with a mandate to give back to their communities. The official YALI tribute music video was filmed at Presidential Precinct partner site, James Madison’s Montpelier.

“E Go Happen” earned Grace the attention of NPR’s Goats and Soda series, which in late 2015 featured her rising musical success. The article, above all else, reminds us that Grace’s music is about so much more than entertainment; rather, her art is a beacon of resilience and advocacy for people living with disabilities in Nigeria and around the world.

Grace’s contagious joy also reached Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) leadership at the State Department and White House. They knew her testimony of encouragement and eagerness to impact the African continent would be a perfect part of the program’s concluding Summit in Washington, DC. With all 500 2015 Mandela Washington Fellows gathered together in late July, Grace introduced then President Barack Obama for his long awaited remarks and town hall with the Fellows.

Her story serves as a reminder to us all that, even alongside COVID-19, we can speak life and hope into our communities and the world. That hope is contagious. And that now more than ever, hope may be exactly what we need. Thank you, Grace!

Want to stay up to date on Grace’s latest music? Follow this link to subscribe to her YouTube channel.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX. The Presidential Precinct is a sub-grantee of IREX and is implementing a U.S.-based Leadership Institute as a part of the Fellowship. For more information about the Mandela Washington Fellowship, please visit the Fellowship’s website at www.mandelawashingtonfellowship.org.