Americans will take to the streets this weekend to demonstrate against Donald Trump’s power grab. We put together a playlist fit for the moment
The right to protest has defined the United States of America since its founding. It’s protest that led to the nation’s founding in the first place, and it’s protest that lies at the heart of the Constitution’s First Amendment.
It sure seems like Donald Trump isn’t a big fan of any of this, as he repeatedly suggests that media outlets who report on him should be prosecuted, and as his administration takes steps to crack down on nonprofit organizations and others who demonstrate against him. Trump put it bluntly last week while signing an executive order aimed at punishing anyone who chooses to protest by burning an American flag.
“We took the freedom of speech away,” the president said.
This weekend, millions of Americans are expected to take to the streets across the nation to protest this increasingly oppressive administration. It will be the second widespread demonstration this year by the “No Kings” movement, the first coming on June 14, the same day the president held a military parade in Washington, DC, on his birthday. Republicans have cast “No Kings” protesters as antifa extremists and anti-American “terrorists” — but few things are more patriotic than exercising one’s right to free speech to protest authoritarian rule.
“(We) want to be out there carefully, peacefully speaking our minds,” Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, one of the organizations participating in the protest, told Rolling Stone this week. “The one thing we cannot be at this moment is cowed by what (Trump) is threatening, and we won’t be bullied into fear and silence at this moment.”
Music has been an integral part of protest movements across generations, the present one being no exception. We released our Top 100 Protest Songs of All-Time earlier this year — chronicling how artists from Woody Guthrie to Public Enemy have inspired millions to stand up for their rights — and ahead of this weekend’s “No Kings.” demonstrations we’ve put together a playlist fit for the moment, filled with anti-authoritarian anthems in which some of our favorite artists put their foot down and give an emphatic middle finger to the idea of a king.
اترك تعليقاً