This morning I got to shake hands with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon. That was kind of cool.

My chorus, the Empire City Men’s Chorus, was invited to sing at an event at the United Nations honoring the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign. The piece we sang was called “You Shall Not Go Down,” written by Dorothy Hindman, using text from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. Our piece led off the morning’s events. It’s not every day you get to sing for an audience that includes the UN Secretary-General.

After we sang, we took our seats, and then there was a series of speeches hosted by Good Morning America’s Juju Chang. the Secretary-General spoke, followed by the representative from Barbados, Joseph Goddard; former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet; and Debi Nova, a Costa Rican singer-songwriter.

After the speeches, the Secretary-General had to leave for another event, so he walked down the center aisle of the room toward the exit. I happened to be sitting on the aisle, so I got to shake his hand as he walked past.

Our chorus has also been invited to become part of the Network of Men Leaders, which means that we will officially support the efforts to end violence against women worldwide. Violence against women won’t end unless men commit to ending it.

It was an interesting event and I’m glad we were able to take part.

If you’d like to hear our chorus sing in person, please come to one of our two concerts next month, on Friday, December 10 or Tuesday, December 14. We’ll be singing a slew of gospel and spiritual songs. It should be fun.