Hamilton siblings share the power of positivity through their voices
Macie and Marie Cunningham are singing their way across social media — and aim to spread good vibes along the way.
They are two of nine siblings in a family that is deeply involved in Hamilton. Their father, Marc, is a youth pastor at Hamilton Christian Center and he is a social worker at a charter school. Their mom Tara is a nurse for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The family is blended, with four of the children being adopted.
Macie Cunningham is 15 and a 10th grader at Hamilton High School, where she is a part of the award-winning Rhapsody in Blue show choir.
“My friends would describe me as funny, positive vibes, full of energy, and super sweet,” she told The Hamiltonian magazine.
Macie Cunningham said in addition to singing she likes to play basketball, and her favorite school subject is geometry.
Marie Cunningham, 13, is Macie’s younger sister and says Macie’s singing at church pulled her into singing, too.
“It took me some time to really find my voice and break out from the thought process that I had to sound like my sister. I always thought of myself as more than just a singer. I liked to dance, act, and sing. Having an older sister who started singing and doing all those things earlier than I did created some challenges for me,” Marie Cunningham said.
Marie is a student in the Hamilton City Schools Virtual Learning Institute and says she loves to write. She is also a dancer at MPower in downtown Hamilton.
The Cunningham family has music in its roots.
“My great-grandparents are Ben and Christine Franklin of Hamilton,” said Macie Cunningham. “They had 14 children, which included 10 girls. My great grandfather was a singer and played lead guitar in a gospel singing group called The Original Holy City Travelers. They traveled all over singing in different churches. My great-grandfather’s daughters (including my grandmother Daronna Jean) were all gifted singers and grew to be known as The Franklin Sisters. Growing up I was always surrounded by music no matter what we were doing as a family. My dad was a DJ, so music was life,” she said.
It was really in 2019 that The Cunningham Sisters was created. It was that year Macie and Marie performed together in The Cincinnati Kids Apollo Competition, where they took first place.
“That’s the first time my sister and I sang together, and we have been singing together ever since,” Macie Cunningham said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has really taught the duo a lot about positivity, Marie Cunningham said.
“I feel it was extra difficult for us — school stopped, my mom got COVID and then her best friend, more like a sister (and an aunt to me) passed away unexpectedly on July 18, 2020. She had three young children that came to live with us. The Gonzalez children … they are 12, 10 and 6 years old (I call them my bonus siblings, too). Two families trying to become one has a lot of challenges and I took it really hard. … as the baby of my family, I think I had the hardest time making adjustments. But then I realized that I was being selfish, they lost their mom. We did what was right, opened up our home — we’re family. We have a lot of hard days, but we are learning valuable life lessons,” Marie Cunningham said. “In life we have to make sacrifices so other people are OK, it’s not always about you. Look at others, put yourself in their shoes and really try to imagine if that were your life, that is what builds character and compassion for all God’s people.”
WHERE TO FIND THE CUNNINGHAM SISTERS
Facebook.com/cunninghamsisterlove
Instagram.com/thecunninghamsisters
Email: cunninghamsisterlove@gmail.com
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