Hear Haley & Michaels’ ‘Me Too’, for Abuse, Harassment Survivors [LISTEN]
Husband-and-wife duo Haley & Michaels have released an impassioned new song and music video in support of the #MeToo movement, featuring its founder, Tarana Burke. Readers can press play above to watch the clip.
Shannon Haley and Ryan Michaels, who make up the duo, released their self-titled debut album, featuring the single, "Just Another Love Song," in late 2014. Since then, the duo has continued to release singles that focus on the traditional male-female duet format, and they also tied the knot in 2015.
In the era of the #MeToo movement, Haley & Michaels were moved by the survivors coming forward to share their stories, and decided to make a contribution of their own: "We were deeply impacted and inspired when we first experienced so many people bravely coming forward and saying 'Me Too,'" the duo explains in the song's premiere in Time. "We wanted to add our voices in the best way we knew how -- through music. The spirit behind our song is healing, unity and empowerment."
"The song sends a message to survivors everywhere that they are not alone," a press release adds. "The inspiring anthem features a collaboration with a very special guest artist, founder of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke."
Burke, who was the first to use the now-viral hashtag in 2006 in order to bring awareness to the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and harassment, decided to collaborate with the country duo because she felt that they "got it," according to Time. "I'm so excited about the potential for survivors around the world to be touched by this song! It's a connector. It reinforces the truth -- we're not alone," she explains.
Burke appears as a silhouette at the beginning of the music video. Before the music begins, we hear her voice: "#MeToo is a movement about healing," she intones. It's about joy. It's about love." The black-and-white music video goes on to feature survivors and supporters of all ages, races and genders, interspersed with clips of Haley & Michaels singing passionately towards each other and the camera.
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