With the “awards” season in the entertainment industry in full swing, maybe we should all get honest and call these shows what they really are: Anti-Semitic and Anti-American propaganda.
Nowhere is this clearer than the recent Grammy awards, whose viewership was down over 50% from last year’s ratings. The “song of the year” was “I Can’t Breathe” by H.E.R., a song about George Floyd, the convicted felon whose tragic death sparked so many riots.
A song that includes the lyrics about bringing a “gun to a peaceful fight for civil rights,” and an American pride in “justifying a homicide,” it is an anthem not for the equality that all Americans (black, white, and everyone) should have, but an attack on our nation while propping up a felon as if he were a saint.
It is true that music has always been a voice for political change. And it should always remain so. Even though this piece of propaganda is over the top, it carries an important voice into the national stream of consciousness.
But the inclusion and promotion of hate-monger Tamika Mallory in the Grammy awards is a great reason to never support the industry again.
Mallory is one of the most vocal anti-Semites and hate-filled people on the national stage today, and giving her time would be offensive on its face. She was even thrown out of the 2019 Women’s March for her unrelenting anti-Semitic views and her vocal support of Louis Farrakhan, whose decades-long anti-Semitism is well documented (including calling Jews “termites”).
But the National Academy of Recording Arts did much more than that: by giving her a speaking platform they endorsed her hate as well as the devastating riots of the past year as though it was heroic.
Mallory has repeatedly demonstrated that her hatred towards Jews is at least equal to her mentor, Farrakhan. She has repeated anti-Semitic trope and attacked even left wing Jewish organizations like the ADL. She justified the riots, which in Los Angeles (and many other areas around the country) targeted Jewish homes and businesses, and she is vocally supportive of BLM’s anti-Semitic core beliefs and practices.
And despite her vitriol, and her unabashed hatred of anything except black radicalism, she was not only invited to participate in the Grammys, but to give a political speech set against a background that adulates the violence of the riots. Screaming for violence, she made threats and demands, proudly asking for “accomplices not allies.” This is a music awards show?
There was a time I loved watching the Grammys (and even attending once). The glitz, outfits, and music were a joy to watch. But what I loved most was how the awards showed the ways that music can bring people together, transcending color and culture to create peace through musical harmony.
The Grammys always celebrated that coming together.
I’m old enough to remember the Ella Fitzgerald/Mel Torme spontaneous duet that had people of every color and religion (Torme was Jewish as well) in the audience smiling and clapping. That was in 1976, but the tradition of Grammy performances bringing color and cultures together through music has been consistent throughout the years and included all styles of music from a Chuck Berry/Stevie Ray Vaughn/George Thoroughgood musical mashup to an elecrifying Justin Timberlake/Jay Z performance.
Throughout history music has had the power to bring people together, and Grammy performances were a reflection of that healing power.
But the most recent Grammy awards were the final nail in the coffin of the music industry using their art to truly heal. Like so many other award shows, the Grammys have become a mockery of themselves. They are now a podium to express the hate-filled ignorance of spoiled artists. This year they have now even embraced a woman who is not only an anti-Semite, but is devoted to hatred of anyone different than herself. Mallory’s brief speech is a demonstration of how far the Grammys have fallen, and should be a warning of what not to do at all other award shows.
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES
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