Reflections on the Fever Pitch Pilgrimage

From September 13–27, 2025, I walked 156.3 miles from Albany to Brooklyn with my beloved artistic collaborators Eliana Rowe and Molefi Ramos on the Fever Pitch Pilgrimage, a living, breathing action and prayer for climate justice and collective liberation. Alongside us on the road, Gaetano Vaccaro drove an electric support vehicle, providing food, equipment, and logistical care that helped make our journey possible. What began as a vision inspired by peace walks, frontlines tours, and the work of environmental activists like John Francis, became a deeply spiritual and transformative experience—part performance, part protest, part prayer.

Each day of this journey, we walked an average of 15 miles, feet pounding pavement and hearts aligned with purpose, toward cities and towns where we offered our voices in song. These “song offerings” weren’t just performances. They were moments of intention, communication and connection, co-created with local organizations and communities working on issues related to climate justice, as well as movements for immigrant rights, racial and gender justice, abolition, and a livable future for all. We sang against the forces of climate devastation, war, incarceration, fascism, and genocide, and for joy, for life, for each other.

At the heart of the pilgrimage was my multimedia performance Fever Pitch, a fusion of live music, dance, and video centered on the fight for climate justice. This show is the culmination of my two-decade journey as an artist-activist and is rooted in the understanding that art can both reflect and reshape the world. We brought this show to select community spaces along the pilgrimage route, offering it for free or sliding scale, and each performance included a post-show dialogue.

But this pilgrimage was never just about performance. It was a moving ritual. A practice of slowing down to feel the Earth beneath us. A way of gathering to build shared wisdom and grassroots power. In a time of climate crisis and political chaos, we need more than words, we need embodied commitment. We need cultural strategies that carry us forward with courage and clarity. The Fever Pitch Pilgrimage was one offering toward that vision.

Some of the most unforgettable moments included:

Singing at the Hudson River in Albany to begin the pilgrimage with intention and community presence.

Gathering with Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, Kite’s Nest, and the Hudson community for a shared call toward justice.

Visiting Sweet Freedom Farm and Bard College to connect with farmers and students organizing for climate and food justice.

Being welcomed in Kingston by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills, Bon-Odori Dance Day for Peace, and the local bomba community.

Powerful moment of performing Fever Pitch at the Unicorn Bar in Kingston

A warm send off by the community at Kingston Landtrust’s Red Fox Ravine.

Sharing food, stories, and music at a community potluck in Beacon hosted by Fareground and the Beacon Sloop Club.

Sailing on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater for a water ceremony and performance, and a generous ride to Bear Mountain.

Being welcomed by the sisters of Marydell Faith & Life Center and Mayor Nicola Armacost and members of the Hastings-on-Hudson community.

Collaborating with BombaYo for a performance at the Andrew Freedman Home in the Bronx.

Walking with the Harlem Palestine Peace Walkers from Washington Heights to East Harlem, ending with a performance at The People’s Church.

Offering songs from midtown Manhattan to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, with stops at the NY Public Library, Middle Church, and Grand Army Plaza.

Performing Fever Pitch at UPROSE Brooklyn during NYC Climate Week, the finale of their Climate Justice Lives Here series.

Closing the pilgrimage at Rise & Root Farm for the Abundance Festival in benefit to the Black Farmer Fund, where we also gave a collective gift from the funds we raised.

And finally, we returned home to offer one last Fever Pitch performance and a community report-back at The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy. There, we shared the stories, calls, visions, and prayers gathered along the pilgrimage path.

To everyone who walked, organized, supported, and showed up along the way, thank you. To our sponsors, donors, and the communities who fed us, held us, and witnessed us, you are the reason this was possible.

This was not the end. This is just the beginning.