OK But How Come Nobody Said They Got Tessa Thompson and Ms. Rachel For the Anti-Trump Concert; "Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment" - Some Brief Highlights & Calls to Action

So tonight The Committee for the First Amendment produced this concert as counterprogramming against that UFC cage match or whatever that's happening at the White House. I wasn't going to tune in cause I perpetually have no energy and to be honest I never really cared much for music, but I'm glad I did end up catching most of it (minus about the first half hour), cause it was a very pleasantly surprisingly very encouraging experience. You can watch the recording above and Acyn Torabi clipped it, and I really don't want to go through the whole thing, but just real quick:

• Great to see "woke" (actually not even in scare quotes, see below) finally becoming a cause célèbre again, and the billing was even more impressive than the posted billing because - and I can't stress this enough - they got Tessa Thompson (who connected the shootings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti to police shootings and general oppression of Black people) and Ms. Rachel (who was part of a segment on Texas' Dilley Detention Center and the kids who've been detained by ICE there). Also, Robert de Niro, who's been outspoken and making appearances since last year, was here too (although I think I heard him say he's a "free speech absolutist" - maybe he doesn't know the connotations cause he also said "I want my country back"...but it was really a very good speech, very enlightened Goodfellas). And Ayo Edibiri, who I have heard of but admittedly am not actually familiar with, also talked about the Freedom Summer initiative against voter suppression/gerrymandering in the South and presented several other calls to action (below) with host Jane Fonda. 
• There was lots of consciousness raising. It was blessedly intersectional, not just about the 1st Amendment or Trump - Black people, Native Americans, LGBTQ+ (particularly T) people, women, immigrants (children) in detention, Palestinians in the genocide, all got spotlighted and there was emphasis on "no one gets left behind this time" (as one of the original songs sung goes). As Black Votes Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown said during her segment, "our politics will not save us, our humanity will", and "we need to start seeing ourselves as architects of a new America".
• Favorite musical highlight for me was definitely LaTosha Brown singing "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around" around 2 hrs and 22 minutes in:

And the calls to action, which are mostly also up at riseupsingout.com, were...

• Sign the petition to urge State Attorneys General to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
• Support grassroots organizing in the South via the Freedom Summer initiative, such as by contributing to the Black Voters Matter fund.
• Volunteer with the Election Protection Coalition: "Volunteer to answer calls, report issues at polling locations, and more."
• Become a poll worker through Power to the Polls.
• If you're in the entertainment industry, join The Committee for the First Amendment.
• Sign up with Indivisible and No Kings (I highly recommend at least getting updates so you can know what all stuff like this is going on).

Also, if like me you take offense when people say, out loud and in public, that they're supposedly introverts, Vote Forward is a great way to turn out voters without direct human contact by mailing letters.

All in all, as Kayla Davion and Broadway Inspirational Voices sang in the closing song, "progress is possible, not guaranteed", and, to paraphrase, we may not live to see the goal but we need to keep marching. I guess we'll see. As LA politicians like to say, if Hurricane Katrina happened on the West Side, everyone would be housed in two weeks...