Bruce Springsteen Live – Von seinem Zuhause in dein Zuhause / Volume 5

Der 46jährige Afroamerikaner George Floyd kam am 25. Mai 2020 in Minneapolis, MN bei einem Polizeieinsatz ums Leben. Videoaufnahmen lösten seitdem in über 140 Städten der USA und gewalttätige Proteste aus. Die Unruhen forderten sogar Todesopfer und zahlreiche Gemeinden sahen sich gezwungen, nächtliche Ausgangssperren zu verhängen.

Bruce Springsteen war gestern – 3. Juni 2020 – wie schon am 8. April 2020, am 24. April 2020, am 6. Mai 2020 sowie am 20. Mai 2020 „Live On Air“ und führte durch eine 90minütige Sendung auf SIRIUS XM E STREET RADIO. Selbstverständlich thematisierte er George Floyds Tod und spielte seinen Song „American Skin (41 Shots)“.

Bruce Springsteens Komposition „American Skin (41 Shots)“ aus dem Jahre 2000 wurde durch die Ermordung des aus Liberia stammenden Amadou Diallo inspiriert.

Am Morgen des 4. Februar 1999 stand Diallo vor seinem Haus in der Wheeler Avenue, Bronx, NYC und machte sich auf, in die Innenstadt zu fahren, um Videokassetten an Passanten zu verkaufen. Die vier Zivilfahnder Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss verwechselten ihn mit einem Serienvergewaltiger und wollten ihn verhaften. Als Diallo in seine Jacke fasste, eröffneten die Polizisten ohne Vorwarnung das Feuer und streckten den 24jährigen mit 41 Schüssen nieder.

Der Vorfall löste in den Vereinigten Staaten eine heftige Diskussion über das grobe Vorgehen der Polizei aus und gipfelte in gewalttätigen Demonstrationen. Letztendlich wurden die Polizeibeamten in einer Neuverhandlung vor einem Gericht in Albany, NY freigesprochen.

Springsteen begrüsste die Zuhörer mit folgenden Worten:

Eight minutes. That song is almost eight minutes long. And that’s how long it took George Floyd to die, with a Minneapolis officer’s knee buried into his neck. That’s a long time. That’s how long he begged for help and said he couldn’t breathe; the arresting officer’s response was nothing but silence and weight. Then, he had no pulse. And still it went on.

That goes out to Seattle, to New York, to Miami, to Atlanta, to Chicago, to Dallas, to Philadelphia, to Washington, to Los Angeles, to Asbury Park, to Minneapolis, and to the memory of George Floyd. May he rest in peace.

As we speak, 40 million people are unemployed. 100,000-plus citzens have died from COVID-19, with only the most tepid and unfeeling response from our White House. As of today, our black citizens continue to be killed unnecessarily by our police on the streets of America. And as of this broadcast, the country was on fire and in chaos.“

Tracklist:

Bruce Springsteen – „American Skin (41 Shots)“
Bruce Springsteen – „Murder Incorporated“
Childish Gambino – „This Is America“
Joe Grushecky & Bruce Springsteen – „That’s What Makes Us Great“
Joe Grushecky & Bruce Springsteen – „Idiot’s Delight“
Bob Dylan – „Political World“
Bob Marley & the Wailers – „Burnin‘ and Lootin'“
Martin Luther King Jr. – „Keep Moving,“
Kanye West – „Who Will Survive in America“
Kanye West & Jay-Z (with Frank Ocean) – „Made in America“
Paul Robeson – „Go Down Moses“
Bruce Springsteen – „Heaven’s Wall“
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros – „Get Down Moses“
Thea Gilmore – „Brother Can You Spare a Dime?“
Bob Dylan – „Blind Willie McTell“
Billie Holiday – „Strange Fruit“
Nappy Roots – „Work in Progress“
Paul Robeson – „The House I Live In“
Patti Smith – „People Have the Power“
Bob Dylan – „Murder Most Foul“
United States Army Field Band Soldier’s Chorus – „America, My Country Tis of Thee“
Gram Parsons – „In My Hour of Darkness“

Ausserdem sagte Bruce Springsteen folgendes:

One of the darkest songs in the American canon.
The video of the death of George Floyd is a 21st cnetury visual lynching. And „Strange Fruit“ was written on the lynchings of black Americans that took place after the Reconstruction and into the 20th century. It was recorded in 1939 by Ms. Holiday, and written by Abel Meeropol in 1937. It’s just an incredible work. We remain haunted, generation after generation, by our original sin of slavery. It remains the great unresolved issue of American society. The weight of its baggage gets heavier with each passing generation, and as of this violent, chaotic week on the streets of America, there is no end in sight.

We need systemic changes in our law enforcement departments, and in the political will of our national citizenry, to once again move forward the kind of changes that will bring the ideals of the Civil Rights movement once again to life and into this moment.

We have a choice, between chaos or community. A spiritual, moral, and democratic awakening, or becoming a nation fallen to history, with critical issues we refuse to or couldn’t address. Is our American system flexible enough to make — without violence — the humane, fundamental changes necessary for a just society? The American story, our story, is in our hands. And may God bless us all.

Stay safe. Stay well, stay strong, until we meet again, stay involved. And… go in peace.

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