Inspirational videos by members of the BCC community have practically become a genre in this time of COVID and conflict. A particularly stellar example is “The American Story: “Build It Back Better,”

featuring the song of the same name by performer, composer, playwright and director Pamela V. Eatman-Skinner, who is also the Managing Director of CUNY Start and Math Start at Bronx Community College.

The work is adapted from an earlier song Eatman-Skinner wrote for a musical entitled Mr. President: Courage at Midnight, an homage to Barack Obama, now reimagined for the Biden/Harris campaign. “With all that we’ve been going through as a society, between the pandemic, the painful racial reckoning and the White House and all that that implies, when I heard Joe Biden say ‘Build it back better,’ that theme just rang in my heart,” recalls Eatman-Skinner. “I kept hearing it in my sleep, as if we are marching toward something that would heal us and strengthen us as a people. We all need to build it back better in our lives, in our homes and in our nation.”

Family and friends contributed their voices and faces. These were interwoven with images from across the country by producer Chovidz with the stunning results that can be seen here: https://youtu.be/aEJL0SXBVhY