Social science education freshman Jacinta Henry started writing songs when she was 14 years old. But she hadn’t written a song in a year until the Feb. 13 shooting on Michigan State University's campus.

She knew she had to take a stance with her talent and use music to heal herself — and hopefully the community as well.

Henry said she knew she would be able to articulate what she wanted to say through lyrics. Henry performed her original song “America” in front of a crowd at a "Sit Down, Speak Up" protest at the Capitol. Other students read speeches and spoken-word poetry.

“We’ve been fighting since we could talk / Been protesting since we could walk,” she sang in front of the crowd.

Henry had written about school shootings before when she was in high school and her school faced threats of a shooting. But she said that it was hard to write her original song, "America," which is about herself and her own experiences at MSU. 

She was encouraged by her community and the knowledge that she has now shared something with all of her college peers. This inspired her to tell the story shared fear on her campus and what gun control means for her generation, she said.

“Along with the wonderful words that everybody had, I wanted to add something that would add music and another form of expression to the many feelings that we all have, as well as something that might be relatable,” Henry said.

Henry said she honestly could not remember writing it —  the song just came to her on the Friday before the protest while she was sitting in her bed. She began playing and singing along to her favorite chords on her baritone ukulele.

She said it seemed obvious what she wanted to say. The lyrics, which center around being exhausted of the constant threat of gun violence around her, came natural to her.