heART for Justice Open Mic Brings Justice Choir, Art as Resistance to Bemidji

Bemidji's newly formed Justice Choir took the stage Friday evening as part of heART for Justice, a community open mic hosted by the Headwaters Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at the Headwaters Peace Center on 1826 Mikrantip Road.

The two-hour event, which ran from 6 to 8 p.m., centered on art as a "powerful form of resistance, resilience and hope." Alongside the Justice Choir's performance, attendees encountered a display of protest signs, fiber art and other artistic expressions of resistance and resilience, part of an open-mic format that invited community members to participate alongside the featured act.

The Headwaters Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, known locally as HUUF, organized the gathering and opened it free to the public. Indivisible Bemidji also backed the event, using it in part to encourage participation in an upcoming "No Kings" rally scheduled for Saturday, March 28 in Bemidji.

The Justice Choir's appearance marked one of the group's early public performances since forming in Bemidji. The broader program, blending vocal performance with visual art installations, reflected a deliberate effort to frame creative expression as civic action at a moment when advocacy organizations across the region have been ramping up public engagement.

The March 28 "No Kings" rally represents the next organized opportunity for those who attended heART for Justice to carry that participation into the streets.