Tom Morello has released a new single, Pretend to Remember Me, in support of immigrant rights across America. The single is released in partnership with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a non-profit organisation that has advocated for the Los Angeles immigrant community for nearly four decades.
“This song is written for all the families torn apart by the recent immigrant purges and kidnappings," says Morello. "Children torn from their wailing mothers’ arms by masked government thugs, people coming home to find their loved ones abducted by the state. Folks who worked, suffered, and struggled for decades just to make a decent life for themselves and their family were violently separated with an uncertain future.
"Pretend You Remember Me is for them and for all those who are finding the courage to stand up against racism, tyranny, and injustice."
The video for Pretend You Remember Me begins with footage of Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist and cause célèbre who was convicted of murdering two FBI agents in 1975. Peltier, whose conviction was criticised by a number of bodies including the International Federation for Human Rights and Amnesty International – as well as Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa – had his sentence commuted to house arrest by outgoing US President Joe Biden earlier this year.
Peteir also appears later in the video to proclaim, "Every inch of this country is stolen land... the only thing we should be deporting is injustice."
Morello, who was the musical director for Black Sabbath's wildly successful Back To The Beginning show in Birmingham last weekend, is now on the Canadian leg of his A Night of Stories & Music tour.
(Source: www.loudersound.com)