See Bruce Springsteen slam Trump, ICE in Washington, DC ‘sermon’
Just miles from the White House, Bruce Springsteen called out President Donald Trump during his Washington, DC show.
WASHINGTON – Bruce Springsteen often has incendiary words about the Trump administration.
But while accepting an award from the American Civil Liberties Union on July 24, he steered his commentary toward praising “the folks and organizations that do the real work” in supporting democracy.
“I never really considered myself much of an activist,” Springsteen, 76, said sheepishly. “At best, I’m a concerned citizen who plays guitar and says what’s on his mind.”
The rock icon brandished his acoustic guitar and wore a harmonica rack around his neck to perform “Streets of Minneapolis,” the blunt protest song he penned in January in response to the fatal shootings of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers.
“I will accept this award tonight for the folks who really deserve it. You know, as the citizens from all walks of life in Minnesota, Portland, Portland in Los Angeles and New York. Our other under-siege cities who this year put their beliefs and their lives on the line in defense of the rights of their neighbors and in service of our American ideas,” Springsteen said before launching into the stark ballad.
Springsteen was among five honorees at the Biennial Leadership Conference organized by the ACLU. About 1,200 people – the majority high school students from the National Advocacy Institute – gathered in the main ballroom at the Washington Hilton for the 2½-hour event.
The rock icon received the newly established Ralph Ellison Award for Defenders of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Arts, Business, Science, and Sports, as did activist and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who told the crowd, “We get to rewrite history … We do not have to be passive. We do not have to be spectators. We get to choose how history remembers us.”
Along with the entertainment figures, the honorees were Vanita Gupta, former U.S. associate attorney and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (ACLU Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty); Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley Law (ACLU Presidential Prize); and Elizabeth Foster, a South Carolina advocate for the freedom to read (the also-new ACLU Next Generation Leader in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties award).
Actor, producer and LGBTQ rights activist Laverne Cox hosted the ceremony and implored the attendees to “Know your truth … know your rights … know that love and empathy are some of the most powerful forces in the world.”
Springsteen’s ACLU award comes a few months after he granted the organization the use of his oft-mischaracterized 1984 anthem “Born in the USA” for an ad campaign highlighting the stakes of the Supreme Court birthright citizen case, Trump vs. Barbara. In June, the court rejected President Donald Trump’s executive order to end automatic birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented or temporary-visa parents.
Last month, Springsteen was also bestowed with the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at the Tribeca Festival in New York.
