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Connect! Unite! Act! Tributes for democracy [1]

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Date: 2022-07-09

If you’ve read the books, you know a bit more of the details. If you haven’t, I want to take a moment to get into why this song resonates with the moment we are in right now.

The lyrics start in this way:

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where they strung up a man they say murdered three

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree

This first stanza contains a lot to unpack. One of the most important lines is simple: “Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.” The song originated from the rebellion, it is discussed, and the emphasis I have put on “say” is because within the universe of the song, the ones who would say he had done the murders would likely be the capital or those opposed to the rebellion.

The tactic is pointed out in the book as the mother is so upset when she hears the song she demands it not be sung again, as the song itself is banned throughout all of Panem. The song’s next stanza contains this lyric:

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where the dead man called out for his love to flee

Originally, you’d think the dead man was someone who was murdered. Instead, the person who called out for his loved one was someone hanging in the tree for committing murders. What, exactly, was it that constituted murder?

This is where the Supreme Court and the right-wing decision comes in. As the right wing moves to criminalize reproductive care, we get to see the song from another perspective. The right wing loves to talk about who they say committed crimes, and they would love to demand prosecutions against health care providers and pregnant people.

Fetal personhood, anti-abortionist's argument that the fetus deserves the full rights and protections as people, are at the heart of these fetal harm laws and other traditional murder laws being applied to pregnant people.

Strange things indeed. I’ll tell you that I still think the song from the film and Jennifer Lawrence’s performance of it is fantastic, but it is also a song that fits the current moment. Come November, it is on a lot of us to volunteer to try and save democracy in any way we can. Whatever inspires you, take it with you to try and get things done.

What inspires you? What helps motivate you to get up and keep fighting? Sometimes I need humor. Sometimes I need joy. Sometimes I need a touch of anger. Or maybe something unique. Here are a few of the songs that work for me:

A great cover of a fantastic Paul Simon number, but it is the song that explains that America is a work in progress to me, and the view of someone experiencing it:

“The Boxer” is a different type of Simon & Garfunkel number. I always think of this as the song that tells the story of what it means to understand defeat, to fight back, and to overcome.

I’d rather die than give you control. You got my money, Trent.

Finally, appropriate for the moment:

Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom that said he was in love

He said, "Don't worry about a thing, baby doll I'm the man you've been dreaming of"

But three months later he say he won't date her or return her calls

And she swear, "Goddamn, if I find that man I'm cuttin' off his balls"

And then she heads for the clinic and she gets some static walking through the door

They call her a killer, and they call her a sinner and they call her a whore

God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes

'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to choose

What tribute do you have? How can you connect protect rights in your area?

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/9/2109087/-Connect-Unite-Act-Tributes-for-democracy

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