I'm Here performed by Aida Valdez

features a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Ali Lewis, and Stephen Bray. This musical premiered in Georgia and was such a success that it soon opened on Broadway in 2005. It was again revived in 2015 starring Cynthia Erivo, Jennifer Hudson, and Daniel Brooks. It is now a major motion picture in theaters now. The production earned the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, and Cynthia Erivo took home the Tony Award for Best Actress for her performance as Celie. An unforgettable story of enduring love and triumph over adversity, this stirring family chronicle follows the inspirational Celie as she journeys from childhood through joy, despair, anguish, and hope to finally discover the power of love and living, being able to grow in her own self-realization and overcoming oppression and abuse to finally find fulfillment and independence. We now present Aye, I'm Here.

I don't need to love me. I don't need to love you. I've got, I've got, I've got my sister. I can feel her now. She may not be here, but she's still mine, I know. I know she still love me. God, my children, I can't hold them now. They may not be here, but they still my— I hope they trust me. Them. Got my house, it still keeps the cold out. Got my chair when my body can't hold out. Got my hands doing good like they supposed to, showing my heart to the folks that I'm close to. Got my eyes though they don't see as far now, they I go no. Take a deep breath. Gonna hold my head up. Gonna put my shoulders back and look you straight in the eye. I'm gonna burst somebody. When they walk by, I'm gonna sing. Out. Sing out. I believe I have inside of me everything that I need to live a bountiful life. With all the love inside of me, I'll stand as tall as the tallest tree. Here I am, thankful For every day that I'm living, for these inhales, I'll give back. But most of all, I'm thankful for loving who I really am. A beautiful. Yes, a beautiful.