RAMONDA HOLIDAY (SHE/HER)
(Diné/Navajo)
R&B musician, Before the Rocks Cry Out founder
Monument Valley, Diné Bikéyah
My new album starts off telling stories of addiction, sex work, life in survival mode as a trans woman in the early 2000s. It then progresses into when I got sober and got delivered. I close with the gospel song that I wrote in jail, kind of telling God that I’m sorry. My journey inspired my nonprofit work with the organization Before the Rocks Cry Out, which intertwines mental, spiritual and physical health with music. It focuses on Indigenous communities, and we reach out to people who are experiencing addiction, people who have been abused. We had our first-ever event last year with a famous gospel artist, Vicki Winans, and I invited a lot of the behavioral health services in the area to bring resources and speak. Music brings a therapy and an uplifting spiritual experience. So it’s very inspirational, uplifting, educational for people who are not comfortable going to get help. We bring the help to you in a safe space.
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This article appeared in the March 2026 print edition of the magazine with the headline “#IAMTHEWEST.”
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