#TheDayWithTrae - Trae Holiday, host of “The Day With Trae,” welcomed Crystal Hairston, the founding director of Lifted! Youth Gospel Choir to the Black Media Matters Studio. She explained that Lifted! is a nonprofit offering music education to young people in the community to remove all the barriers for kids to come together, have a place of belonging, and enjoy gospel music.

Born in 2020 during the pandemic, Hairston recalled that the choir began with seven brave souls who sang six feet apart with masks on. The choir has since grown tremendously, now in its fifth year with 65 families, and performing at various community gatherings, including MLK Day events, at the Highline Heritage Museum, and the Seattle Opera. 

The director explained that a key choice was to create a community choir rather than a performance choir, emphasizing the importance of building deep wells of connection and belonging. Hairston expressed her strong belief in creating an environment where a child knows that they are worthy of love, that they belong, and that someone around them believes in their gifts and is willing to nurture them. 

Hairston invited the community to their annual Christmas concert, Holy One, on Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. at John Knox Presbyterian Church, 109 SW Normandy Rd, Normandy Park. For tickets and more information, visit liftedcommunity.org or the choir’s social media.

Catch The Day With Trae weekdays at 11 a.m. on all Converge streaming platforms.