Our Story
First and foremost, 16 Lyrics is a group of friends. For some of us, our friendships go back 30+ years, though as a collective, many of us met on the campus of Wheaton College, Norton, MA. in the late ’90s. To date, we have remained connected by shared experiences in the form of sports, discussion, music, and enjoying one another’s company. As time has progressed, we have been able to share in the progression of our respective careers, saw one another start and nourish families, dealt with the ups and downs of life, and watched as each one of us has forged their own way. Up until recently, we have been secure in our friendships and our place(s) in the current world.
Then came the spring of 2020. The members of 16 Lyrics sought connection with one another, and we were able to achieve that connection more easily than ever before. We watched and commented as a pandemic ravaged our country, and we bore witness to mass protests. Protests that laid bare police brutality, inherent inequities in our country and made us see more than many of us had ever seen. This included recognizing that some of our closest friends had had FAR DIFFERENT experiences in life because of their skin color, experiences many of us had never acknowledged because of our own privilege. These previously unfathomable happenings, aided by constant connection and fueled by the realization within many of us, brought us to a point where we recognized we could actually take this energy and affect change in the world around us.
Out of all these experiences and this awareness, 16 Lyrics was born.