MILCK is here to remind those of us who feel disenfranchised, marginalized and dispossessed…you all belong.
The Los Angeles-based singer and activist today shares her powerful new song “I Belong,” penned to honor the AAPI community in the wake of the Atlanta shootings that took six Asian women’s lives.
“Songwriting is my way of writing myself into existence, so I channeled this approach into my latest single,” MILCK tells Billboard.
The song declares that “each of us not only inherently belongs here, but also to each other,” she continues, “I desire for everyone to feel their sense of belonging, no matter what their heritage, because the more enoughness we each believe we have, the kinder and more welcoming we can be to everybody else.”
“I Belong” will appeared in the See Us Unite for Change special, slated to air globally on MTV and across Viacom brands tonight (May 21) in recognition of AAPI Heritage Month.
A first-of-its-kind cultural campaign aimed at building support for the AAPI community, See Us Unite will be hosted by Ken Jeong and feature Black Eyed Peas, Olivia Munn, Jhene Aiko, Saweetie and more.
“I know that this wholistic view of belonging will ultimately create a sustainably kinder world for my AAPI siblings to thrive in,” MILCK continues. Both the producer of the new song (Jeia Rouge) and the mixing/mastering engineer (Elisa Pangsaeng) are AAPI women, “and it felt so energizing and healing to create this piece with them after the April Atlanta shooting,” she explains. “I hope it’s just as healing for those who listen to it.”
Proceeds from “I Belong” will benefit the Somebody’s Beloved Fund, created by MILCK in October 2020 as a community “for racial healing, justice, solidarity and joy.”
See Us Unite for Change will air on MTV Entertainment channels, including BET, Nickelodeon, for streaming on Facebook Watch from 8pm ET.
MILCK isn’t alone in her work to crush the rise in anti-Asian hate across the U.S. Earlier this week, the House passed a Senate bill (with a 364 to 62 vote) to address the crime wave. The legislation had passed in the Senate with a 94-1 vote.
MILCK’s last release was the protest song “Somebody’s Beloved,” which dropped last October during the Black Lives Matter rallies and observes the crippling effects of systemic racism. Recently, she stopped by The Kelly Clarkson Show to discuss the #stopasianhate movement and participated in a TIME 100 Talk on the topic.
Stream “I Belong” below.
