E s sounds like an energetic speech from an activist at the Protests in Minneapolis: “We are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.” But the words come from US rapper Bad Bunny’s acceptance speech at the Grammy Awards.
His album won the most important music prize in the USA “I SHOULD TAKE MORE PHOTOS” named best of the year. The fact that a Spanish-language album won the category for the first time was almost a side note that evening. Because the focus of the award this year was the political and resistance.
Because not only Bad Bunny, who has long taken a position against Donald Trump’s migration policyrailed that evening against ICE, the US immigration and border protection agency, which is terrorizing an entire country. Billie Eilish, who won the best song of the year for “Wildflower,” also commented on the current political situation: “Nobody is on stolen land illegally.” And added: “Fuck ICE.” Newcomer winner Olivia Dean got personal in her criticism of Trump’s policies when she said, “I stand here as the granddaughter of an immigrant. I am the product of courage and I think these people deserve to be celebrated.”
The fact that celebrities in the USA make public political statements – for example, speaking out in favor of queer rights or against violence against women – is nothing new. Political commentary has increased since Trump’s presidency and has probably reached a new peak since the brutal ICE operations in recent weeks.
Your voice has weight
No wonder given the cruel images going around the world these days. Staying silent and carrying on as usual is not an option if ICE agents have lost all sense of human behavior: When they arrest children, brutally drag people from their homes or execute them in the streets. The operation in Minneapolis leaves a city – indeed, an entire country – in fear. People barricade themselves in their houses, children are no longer sent to school. It is only logical that those who have a voice use it.
In times of increasing fascism, not only art is needed as escapism and a coping strategy, but also the voice of artists to rebel against the circumstances. And not just because it annoys Trump, like now at the Grammy Awards, but because their voices have weight. They are heard and resonate, giving voice to those who are afraid to speak. And the stronger the fascist tendencies and the louder the authoritarian voices become, the greater the resistance to them must grow.
We also urgently need this resistance in Germany. Just because we don’t (yet) have the same conditions as in the USA, developments shouldn’t leave us indifferent. Last week is The election program of the AfD Saxony-Anhalt became known. It reads like Trump’s little brother’s wet dream. A declaration of war against migrants and for more patriotism. There you can read about a “deportation and remigration offensive” as well as about a “perverse rainbow agenda.”
The program doesn’t sound surprising, but it is shocking – especially if the right-wing extremist party could achieve an absolute majority in the elections in September. And then an authoritarian restructuring of the country could begin in Saxony-Anhalt. But Germany seems to remain in a state of disinterest and paralysis.
To free us from this situation, prominent voices could help. Could call and support the resistance of the many. Because it’s not too late yet. An absolute majority of right-wing extremists can still be prevented. But that won’t happen if it stays this quiet.