"I've been told and I believe/Ain't no justice, ain't no peace"
The opening lyric of Esperanza Spalding's new song of protest: "We Are America", seeks to draw the attention of the people back to an issue pushed aside by 13 years of continuous war, Obama's second electoral victory in 2012, and most recently, Sequestration and the tantrums of the teabag Congress.
"In the long and ignoble history of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba..." begins the article by Andy Worthington outlining recent celebrity acts by John Grisham, PJ Harvey, and now Ms. Spalding, to shed light on continuing injustices.
Due process and the Geneva Conventions became roadkill under the Bush Administration. The shutdown of Guantanamo Bay prison was a point of honor in President Obama's first successful campaign in 2008. It remains a campaign platform yet to be realized, even as President Obama has come under increasing scrutiny and censure for an extension of the extraordinary rendition policy- targeted assassination drone strikes.
"We are America/And our America/We don't stand for this/ We take a stand for this!"
#esperanzaspaulding we progressive Army wives are standing with you. Guantanamo Bay and the policy of both in-house and overseas extraordinary rendition endangers the lives of our spouses on every OCONUS mission. It fuels the recruitment of anti-American militant movements and it taints the efficacy of US aid and development assistance, and the good we do/can do in this world.
We wish for a world of peace and justice in 2014. We wish for a world where the Geneva Conventions are strong, binding, and bring our active duty soldiers and POWs home safely. We wish for a world where torture and the dehumanizing "enemy combatant" label are revealed as shields for dangerous men and cast aside as evil actions. We wish for a world at peace.
- See more at: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2013/11/19/award-winning-soul-singer-esperanza-spalding-calls-for-closure-of-guantanamo-in-new-song-we-are-america/#sthash.v8LZASbI.dpuf
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