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Singer-songwriter Heather Mae discussed her mental health issues, as well as body positivity and racial justice, in a virtual concert Sunday night.

Students United for Body Acceptance hosted and organized the live concert, which Mae performed on Zoom for Syracuse University students and faculty. Mae is an artist known for openly addressing social issues such as self-love, women’s rights, racial injustice and LGBTQ rights in her music.

The concert was the first that SUBA organized, The organization formed in fall 2019 and focuses on topics such as body acceptance and anti-racism.

“There’s a lot of messaging from a campus like SU’s that’s conformity-based, and if you don’t look a certain way you don’t belong there, and we want to create a space, at least an hour a week at our meetings, where you don’t feel that,” said Eli Blodgett, co-founder and president of SUBA.

Blodgett has been following Mae on social media for a while and even went to one of her concerts. He reached out to Mae last year about performing at SU and planned a concert for the spring 2020 semester, which was then canceled. This time, Mae performed virtually.

Mae thanked the audience for their jazz hands during her performance. Courtesy of Students United for Body Acceptance

During the concert, Mae wore a white shirt, yellow striped pants and an orange beanie as she performed in her home. She played the keyboard throughout the entire performance and opened the concert with a song called “Hero” from her debut album “I Am Enough,” which was released in 2016.

“It feels good to actually see humans experience my music, so thank you for those jazz hands,” she said.

In 2013, Mae developed nodules, or growths that form on vocal cords, and thought she would never sing again. The time she had off made her reevaluate her singing career.

“I made a vow to the goddess, I like to call her, and said, ‘If you give me my voice back I will do you justice. I will fight for the oppressed, those marginalized. I will come out in my music. I will be free with my voice once again,’” she said.

Mae also performed another song, “Stand Up,” from her album “I Am Enough.” She encouraged her audience to sing the lyrics along with her.

In between each song, the artist engaged with her audience, giving them the opportunity to talk to her.

“If anyone has any questions about being queer, coming out to parents, how to have body neutrality, coffee recipes. If you need a coffee recipe, anything, just throw it in the chat. If you don’t want to make it public, write to me privately and I will not say your name,” she said.

Attendees asked about coffee recipes and body neutrality, which focuses on the capabilities of one’s body instead of its appearance. Mae also gave advice on body neutrality through her own personal lens, ending her performance by talking about how one can reach neutrality.

“One thing that you could do to reach that neutrality is to become a blank slate. Recognize the appearance ideals you think you should have and ask yourself ‘Who put that there?’ Was it you?”

She called each person out by their name and asked “Are you good? Is everybody good?” And before the Zoom concert ended, she shouted out Blodgett.

“Thank you so much for the work that you do to gather people, we need more people like you,” Mae said.

Published on September 28, 2020 at 12:19 am