NOVANEWSDear John Legend, Like millions of Americans, I was profoundly moved by your Oscar performance of “Glory” with Common and by your principled speech which followed. For years, I have been a great fan of your work, and of your willingness and ability to take strong and informed political stands. That’s why I was astonished and dismayed to learn today that you were planning to play a show in Bahrain on March 2. I write in the hope that you will apply your strong political convictions at home to a very similar set of problems abroad, and reconsider this performance, or speak out about what you see. In March 2011, Bahrain carried out an astonishingly brutal crackdown on a peaceful resistance movement. Protestors inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions took to the streets, occupying Manama’s Pearl Roundabout and demanding constitutional reforms. As documented in brutal detail by the Bahrain Independent Commision of Inquiry, Bahrain’s regime responded with a violent crackdown, including the forceful dispersion of protestors and a sweeping campaign of arrests and torture. You would find the images of citizens facing off against armed police amidst clouds of tear gas very familiar. This repression had a sectarian dimension, with Shi’ite citizens singled out and punished for their religious identity. Over the last year, prominent non-violent activists such as Nabeel Rajab were imprisoned for their dissent. The Human Rights Watch 2015 World Report, released just a few weeks ago, describes Bahrain’s situation as “unchecked repression” in which there has been no accountability for those rampant human rights abuses. Amnesty International describes Bahrain in 2014/15 as a country in which the government works “to stifle and punish dissent and to curtail freedoms of expression, association and assembly. Security forces used excessive force to disperse protests, killing at least two people. Opposition activists sentenced after unfair trials in previous years continued to be held, including prisoners of conscience. Torture of detainees continued and a climate of impunity prevailed.” Source: E Online; Getty Images You have emerged as a voice of conscience in today’s America. In your writing, performances and speeches you have proven yourself to be a principled champion of equality who is unafraid to speak out for what is right. Last year, you wrote that “As I watched the final version of Selma, I did so with the backdrop of the streets of many of our major cities filled with protesters, crying out for justice after yet another unarmed black person’s life was taken by the police with impunity.” Bahraini lives have been taken by the police with impunity as well, and Bahraini lives do matter. I hope that you will think deeply about the implications of performing in a country like today’s Bahrain, where the violence of an unaccountable police against peaceful protestors mirrors everything against which you have spoken out at home. If you do decide to perform, perhaps you could speak out about the situation there as you have so gracefully done here in America. Yours sincerely, A fan. |
