Watch Bruce Springsteen denounce President Trump’s ICE for ‘preaching’ in Washington, D.C.
Bruce Springsteen called out President Donald Trump during a performance in Washington, D.C., just a few miles from the White House.
WASHINGTON – Bruce Springsteen often has inflammatory things to say about the Trump administration.
But when he accepted an award from the American Civil Liberties Union on July 24, he pivoted his commentary to praise “people and organizations doing real work” in support of democracy.
“I never thought of myself as an activist,” Springsteen, 76, says sheepishly. “At best, I’m a concerned citizen who says what’s on my mind while playing my guitar.”
The rock icon brandished an acoustic guitar and performed “Streets of Minneapolis” with a harmonica rack around his neck. The song is an outspoken protest song he wrote in January in response to the shooting deaths of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Preti by federal immigration agents.
“Tonight, I accept this award for the people who truly deserve it. You know, the citizens of Minnesota, of Portland, of Los Angeles, of all walks of life of New York; of other besieged cities who are risking their beliefs and lives this year to protect the rights of their neighbors and serve the cause of America,” Springsteen said before launching into the grim ballad.
Springsteen was one of five honorees at the ACLU’s biennial leadership conference. About 1,200 people, mostly high school students from the National Advocacy Association, gathered in the Washington Hilton’s main ballroom for the two-and-a-half hour event.
The rock icon accepted the newly created Ralph Ellison Award, given to champions of civil rights and freedom in the arts, business, science and sports, as did activist and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who told the crowd, “We can rewrite history… We don’t have to be passive. We don’t have to be spectators. We can choose how history remembers us.”
In addition to entertainers, recipients included Vanita Gupta, former U.S. associate attorney and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (ACLU Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Freedom). Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (ACLU President’s Award); Elizabeth Foster, a reading freedom advocate from South Carolina (also a new ACLU Next Generation Leader in Civil and Civil Rights Award);
Actor, producer, and LGBTQ rights activist Laverne Cox served as master of ceremonies, imploring attendees to “know your truth, know your rights, and know that love and empathy are some of the most powerful forces in the world.”
Springsteen’s ACLU award comes months after the organization allowed the organization to use his often misunderstood 1984 national anthem, “Born in the USA,” in an ad campaign highlighting the stakes in the Supreme Court’s Birthright Citizen case, Trump v. Barbara. In June, the court rejected President Donald Trump’s executive order ending automatic birthright citizenship for children born to parents with illegal or temporary visas.
Last month, Springsteen also received the Harry Belafonte Voice for Social Justice Award at New York’s Tribeca Festival.
