Black Lives Matter: A Music Video in Solidarity

Over the last week, many FIUTS students and alumni have been taking action in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, speaking out against racism all over the world. Todd Lien, a FIUTS alumnus from Taiwan who currently works as an actor and teacher in Los Angeles, created a music video with his students. Watch the video and read his story below.

I am Todd Lien, UW Alumnus of '12. I am from Taiwan and I currently live in LA. I am a full time working actor/performer and a part-time teacher teaching acting and singing at a studio catering to predominantly Asian American children.

The idea of creating this music video over the song Love Wins came to me when I was teaching two children acting last Sunday 5/31. The emergency alerts that came up on all of our devices that we were using for lesson (iPad and iPhone) piqued their interest in learning about the current situation with the protests and Black Lives Matter movement. As an educator/artist, it dawned on me how I needed to take this opportunity to not only educate our future generation but also involve them in supporting the movement through music/art. We did a teaser video together (12 seconds), and I realized why stop at 2 children, especially I currently have 25 online students.

So, I gathered as many as I could before BlackOutTuesday social media movement, and created this music video over the cover one of my students sang, Love Wins by Carrie Underwood. With 26 video clips, I arranged/wrote the script and supervised/produced the music video with a young aspiring music producing student of mine. I believe in the power of education. I believe in the power of love. I believe love wins. And Together We Rise.

Read other posts in our Black Lives Matter series