Will I ever again write on a topic that isn’t Trump related? I’ve been asking myself this question for weeks now. Why aren’t I writing about everything else that distresses me or demands attention, as I have in the past, e.g. racism, ageism, solitary confinement, women’s rights, war? We, in the U.S., are facing a future that in reality may be worse than any scenario I’ve imagined. I’ve never developed a plot like the one we’re living, because I don’t write horror stories. At least I didn’t before Trump rose from the bog. So, has fear overwhelmed me? Has my body been drained of blood and my soul drained of purpose?
All I can say is: Hallelujah!
Yesterday, I received an answer to my self-query when I heard about Jan Chamberlain and her decision to publicly resign from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rather than sing at the upcoming presidential inauguration. To this woman, singing in celebration of Trump would be like singing for Hitler, an act she cannot align with her morality. The question that Jan spotlights with her resignation letter is the question that supplied my answer, namely: What do all fascists have in common?
When fascists, like Hitler, Franco, Erdogan, and Trump achieve power, their intolerant and intolerable ideas affect every aspect of life, from singing in a choir, to writing a play, to receiving health care, to educating a child, to breathing clean air. The suppression of all dissenting opinion, through surveillance, bureaucracy, force and fear, becomes standard and legal. Anyone who doesn’t agree with the government can and must be punished; severely if it’s to serve as a deterrent. Therefore, within a fascist society, all topics are one topic – Power: Those Who Wield IT and How To Resist IT.
My ideas are a product of our time. I can’t imagine living during the Thirties and Forties, within the Third Reich or elsewhere, and not focus my work on the horrors that became commonplace. So, I guess I won’t fight what I feel I must write.
Another bit of news I came across yesterday: Rebecca Ferguson has accepted Trump’s invitation to sing at the inauguration but ONLY if she can sing: Strange Fruit. This is a song about white people lynching black people and it was banned in the United States for being too incendiary. Well, art is meant to “light a fire” within us. Do we ban art, then, for being too good? Who knows anymore? (links to both Billie Holiday’s and Nina Simone’s covers are included below)
Before I close, I have a song suggestion for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir that I think would be appropriate for the inauguration of Donald Trump. I’m not alone in suggesting this as a proper piece for this particular person and occation. It’s called: The Horst Wessel Song.
| Die Fahne hoch! Die Reihen fest geschlossen! SA marschiert mit ruhig festem Schritt. Kam’raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen, Marschier’n im Geist in unser’n Reihen mit. Kam’raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen, Marschier’n im Geist in unser’n Reihen mit.Die Straße frei den braunen Batallionen. Die Straße frei dem Sturmabteilungsmann! Es schau’n aufs Hakenkreuz voll Hoffnung schon Millionen. Der Tag für Freiheit und für Brot bricht an! Es schau’n aufs Hakenkreuz voll Hoffnung schon Millionen. Der Tag für Freiheit und für Brot bricht an!Zum letzten Mal wird Sturmalarm geblasen! Zum Kampfe steh’n wir alle schon bereit! Schon flattern Hitlerfahnen über allen Straßen. Die Knechtschaft dauert nur noch kurze Zeit! Schon flattern Hitlerfahnen über allen Straßen. Die Knechtschaft dauert nur noch kurze Zeit!Die Fahne hoch! Die Reihen fest geschlossen! SA marschiert mit ruhig festem Schritt. Kam’raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen, Marschier’n im Geist in unser’n Reihen mit. Kam’raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen, Marschier’n im Geist in unser’n Reihen mit. |
The flag on high! The ranks tightly closed! The SA marches with quiet, steady step. Comrades shot by the Red Front and reactionaries March in spirit within our ranks. Comrades shot by the Red Front and reactionaries March in spirit within our ranks.Clear the streets for the brown battalions, Clear the streets for the storm division! Millions are looking upon the swastika full of hope, The day of freedom and of bread dawns! Millions are looking upon the swastika full of hope, The day of freedom and of bread dawns!For the last time, the call to arms is sounded! For the fight, we all stand prepared! Already Hitler’s banners fly over all streets. The time of bondage will last but a little while now! Already Hitler’s banners fly over all streets. The time of bondage will last but a little while now.The flag on high! The ranks tightly closed! The SA march with quiet, steady step. Comrades shot by the Red Front and reactionaries, March in spirit within our ranks. Comrades shot by the Red Front and reactionaries, March in spirit within our ranks. |