Concert Review: Concert For America Reminds Us To Unite Under All
Concert For America was seriously impactful. An impromptu show raising funds for families separated at the border and headed towards “detainment” centers, a.k.a modern concentration camps. The concert was dedicated to keeping people as informed as they are entertained, and frankly, I learned a lot.
Perhaps, the most important details were the grimmest. I did not know that these families, coming across borders to escape the violence in their nations, were being made to work for basic necessities, like a toothbrush. They worked hours for a dollar: saving up to make a costly phone call to a loved one. For how expensive it is to create these internments camps, compared to our usual policy of letting refugees stay with their already, U.S> present families, the concert showed that the Trump Administration is just being cruel. These policies are not normal nor resourceful, and they have been going on for nearly a year without our notice.
Hosted by Sirius XM’s Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, the usually chipper husband and husband could not stop crying, which moved me. We are all trying to be so strong against this Administration’s inhumanity and what seems to be a small, but impenetrable support of it. Thus, they were refreshingly open with their heartbreak, which reminded everyone that these are CHILDREN BEING LOCKED IN JAILS. There may be more good people in America, but they are not running government. That is why Concert For America felt like a love letter to local NGO’s fighting to assure that the American people stay free and accessed to prosperity.
Working along the southern border to protect the civil and human rights of families, Al Otro Lado, Texas Civil Rights Project, ACLU Foundation of Texas, and Florence Project, received every cent from the concert. Hence, the participation of Broadways stars like, Tina Fey, Idina Menzel, Andrea Martin, and Olga Merediz felt particularly special. Everyone was giving their time and voice from their heart. They wanted to be there to say the arts will continue to express humanity, but also check it when it has lost its way.
Again, tears were abound with Audra Macdonald’s Climb Every Mountain; where after she began crying for us to NOT forget that this is NOT normal, and it is not. The reason we remember WWII Is because it was so outlandishly violent, unnecessary, and played out like a slow-motion car crash. As Seth put, when the Jews were coming after WWI to America, they were doing it because they felt the pre-emptive tension of WWII. Yet, we sent them away, and many died in that war’s targeted genocide. Still, after hearing members of each non-profit speak of the horrors happening like, having to explain immigration law to a six year old or seeing if children with medical conditions are being tended to, you had to wonder; are we the ones on Ellis Island denying aid to the needy and becoming the inadvertent, first step in Hitler’s reign?
From Idina Menzel’s “I See You” to Jeremy Jordan’s “Over The Rainbow/ Home” rendition, the night was filled with show-stopping numbers. Each one speaking of family such as, Patrick Wilson’s “Breeze Off the River.” Of course, people nearly leapt into another planet when Keala Settle performed “This Is Me.” Yet, my heart softened at seeing the Brooklyn’s Children Choir sing with Shaina Taub “Huddled Massses”; a song that reminds us Jesus was a refugee, Anne Frank could have left us so much more than a diary, and maybe the kid who cures cancer is currently held up in cage in Texas. We hear it all the time, “We Are All Immigrants,” but we truly are.
From Mandy Gonzalez speaking about how her Valley-Girl mom fell for her migrant working, Mexican dad to the legendary Chita Rivera’s dancing and singing of “ America,”I felt reminded on how much we move across this world to find a better life. Of course, we think “better” is more money, but, for many of these immigrants, it is also safety and the chance to be happy. Nobody wants to leave their home, but we all do because we know our happiness goes beyond borders. For More Information On Concert For American And To Donate To The Four Non-Profits Click Here.
