Please U2 consider adding Cuban women democrats to your Ultraviolet montage on Women's movements

Open plea to the Irish rock band to consider adding images of Cuban women human rights defenders to their tribute to women's movements during the song Ultraviolet.

Images of women's movements and movement leaders during U2 concert

Dear Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry:

Great show tonight in Miami. One Republic was also a great opening band. Furthermore thank you for your shout out of support tonight for Senator Marco Rubio, and his support for AIDS funding for those most in need. I've been a U2 fan since high school, remembered your performance during the Conspiracy of Hope tour in in 1986 and seen all your concerts in Miami beginning with the Pop tour and was there on June 29, 2011 when you gave a shout out of concern for Cuban human rights defender Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet:

"Now I would like you to do something we've never done before. A beautiful man, a doctor who has spent his time in the prisons of Cuba. He is also released. His name is Dr. Biscet. I want you to hold him up. Let everyone in Cuba know that he is special to us and we are watching WE ARE WATCHING. Hold him in your thoughts. Hold him in your prayers."

The past six years have been difficult ones and although Dr. Biscet, perhaps thanks to your shout out, is still alive and doing well others have not been so fortunate.

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo died on October 14, 2011 at 7:50pm from heart failure at the age of 63 under suspicious circumstances in the custody of Cuban State Security. Dr. Biscet called it a case of purposeful medical neglect. Laura was one of the founders of the Ladies in White, a movement nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and winner of the European Union's Sakharov Prize.

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo (1948 - 2011)

The Ladies in White came into existence in the midst of a government crackdown in Cuba that imprisoned 75 Cuban human rights defenders in March of 2003 sentencing them to long and unjust prison sentences. Amnesty International recognized them all as prisoners of conscience. This movement was made up initially of the wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters of these political prisoners. They began organizing regular events, marches and campaigns for the liberation of their loved ones. They faced regular harassment, beatings, and death threats but refused to back down. They continue to march and protest today under the leadership of Berta Soler.

Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, and Harold Cepero Escalante were killed in what has all the hallmarks of state security extrajudicial execution camouflaged as a car accident on July 22, 2012. Both were members of the Christian Liberation Movement. Oswaldo was the founding leader and Harold, a youth leader in the movement.

The Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), founded on September 8, 1988, organized a petition drive in Cuba named after a Catholic priest called the Varela Project that called for human rights reforms in the Cuban legal code. Tens of thousands of Cubans signed it, MCL turned into the National Assembly and it led the Castro regime to ignore its own laws refusing to debate this initiative and instead change its constitution to make it "unchangeable." The current MCL leader in Cuba is Eduardo Cardet, who has been jailed since November 30, 2016 and is an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience.

Rosa María Payá Acevedo

Following the deaths of Oswaldo and Harold, Oswaldo's daughter Rosa María Payá Acevedo began the CubaDecide campaign calling for a plebiscite, that she says is a continuation of the Varela Project. She frequently travels to Cuba and remains a legal resident there.

Tonight watching the images of women's movements during your performance of Ultraviolet from the Achtung Baby album I was surprised not to see the Ladies in White or Rosa Maria Payá represented.

Both Rosa Maria Payá, and the Ladies in White would benefit by being highlighted in your Ultraviolent video montage on Women's movements. Please consider adding these Cuban women democrats to your tribute to women's movements because at times of uncertainty it could make a crucial difference.

Thank you.

A lifelong U2 fan


 

25 years after the Berlin Wall was torn down: A Celebration of Freedom

Don't let them tell you the Berlin Wall fell. It was torn down.

Tearing down the Berlin Wall

25 years ago today the Berlin Wall began to be physically torn down. It was a great day for freedom and the triumph of long years of nonviolent resistance throughout Eastern Europe. The Berlin Wall had been constructed beginning on August 13, 1961 with barbed wire fence followed by a 100 mile wall and more than 300 watch towers to spot and shoot escapees and the East German communists called it the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart." Minefields were laid in some sectors.

In Germany, this was not a passive top down process or the Berlin Wall falling as a result of gravity and inertia. It bears repeating that it was torn down by courageous Germans.

Remember that between 1961 and the very year it was torn down at least 136 Germans were extrajudicially executed by the East German border guards just for trying to cross the Berlin Wall to freedom. There is The Berlin Wall Museum that offers a complete listing of the 136 known victims with details about them and their deaths.

Chris Gueffroy shot and killed crossing the Berlin Wall February 5, 1989

One of the last victims, Chris Gueffroy was born on June 21, 1968 and shot dead on February 5, 1989 trying to cross on the Britzer Zweigkanal, near the small garden colonies “Harmonie“ and “Sorgenfrei” on the sector border between Berlin-Treptow and Berlin-Neukölln. Dead at 20 years of age for the crime of wanting to live in freedom. A memorial column commemorating Chris Gueffroy was erected at Britzer Zweigkanal in Berlin-Treptow in 2003 in honor of his 35th birthday. A biography and account of the circumstances that led to his death and the aftermath are available online.


On the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall being torn down U2 sang at the Brandenburg Gate and on the 25th anniversary the performance that stands out is Peter Gabriel's singing a cover of David Bowie's song Heroes which has lyrics that make allusion to the Berlin Wall:

I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing, by the wall (by the wall)
And the guns shot above our heads
(over our heads)
And we kissed,
as though nothing could fall
(nothing could fall)
And the shame was on the other side
Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever
Then we could be Heroes,
just for one day

It is an appropriate song for the occasion. Prior to the start of the song the pictures of the victims who were killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall from 1969 through 1989 were shown on a giant outdoor screen. Walking through the Berlin Wall Memorial and listening to the names of the victims and seeing them is a powerful experience that all who visit the German capital should experience.

Google made public a video on the 25th anniversary showing where pieces of the Berlin Wall have been placed around the world and in Miami a piece of the Berlin Wall was unveiled in a ceremony at Miami Dade College in Downtown Miami.

From the rooftop to the open balcony: Porno para Ricardo, U2 and The Beatles

Today, El Nuevo Herald reported that the Cuban punk rock band, Porno para Ricardo, had initiated a protest. Now watching a video posted by the band of the events that led to the news story a different narrative appears.

Porno para Ricardo is a punk rock band that has been censored and prohibited from playing in public. It appears that drawing inspiration from The Beatles who on January 30, 1969 held their last public performance on the rooftop of their building at Apple Records. It was unannounced and ended with the London police shutting them down because the concert had left to traffic stoppages because drivers and pedestrians stopped commuting to watch the concert. The Beatles strategically and secretly placed recording cameras to document the entire affair.



It appears that Porno para Ricardo did the same thing. The only difference being that it was done on an open balcony and not the roof top. The lead singer of the band, Gorki Aguila announces into the camera because they were not allowed to play concerts in public on International Human Rights Day (December 10) that they were going to play at their studio "La Paja Recold." Their are cameras outside on the ground and on the balcony itself recording the happening.



Porno para Ricardo are not the first to steal this stunt from the Beatles, the Irish rock band U2 on two occasions ripped off The Beatles with two rooftop performances. The first, like The Beatles unannounced, was on March 27, 1987 on the roof of of the Republic Liquor Store on the corner of 7th and Main Street in Los Angeles and involved the police. The second was on February 27, 2009 on top of the BBC Broadcasting House in London.

The difference between the roof top live concerts by The Beatles/U2 and Porno para Ricardo is that in Cuba the police didn't even bother to show up and tell the band to stop the public disruption. In communist Cuba the state security agents just shut off electricity to the entire building.

U2 has spoken out on behalf of Oscar Elias Biscet, something Gorki Aguila did first, and called out for a free Cuba. Wonder if they'd be welcomed to play a concert in Cuba today?

Porno para Ricardo should feel in good company because when The Beatles were conquering the world with their music in the 1960s they and their music were forbidden in Cuba. The Castro dictatorship banned their music and also banned The Beatles from ever playing on the island. Decades later, after John Lennon had been assassinated, they erected a statue of him.

Biscet on Bono

The Cuban human rights defender and the Irish rock star


BONO HONORS ME ME AND THE SYSTEM REPRESSES ME

by Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet
President of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights

An interesting moment during the U2 concert at the Sun Life stadium, in Florida, were the words of the rock star and humanitarian activist Bono. With them he has made the world have a more transparent vision of the state of neo-slavery the beleaguered Cuban people are living in.

The Irish singer Paul Hewson made a call for freedom for the Cuban people to recognize the humanistic work of a man whose essential purpose is the freedom of a nation.

Bono offers concrete reasoning of the spirit of struggle of a human being, his principles, dignity, profession, pain, unjust imprisonment, worry, hope, faith, for the future of a people.

Before a crowd of more than 73,000 people the poetic prose of the Irish man was defined by these moving words: "A beautiful man, a doctor who has spent his time in the prisons of Cuba. He is also released. His name is Dr. Biscet. I want you to hold him up. Let everyone in Cuba know that he is special to us and we are watching. WE ARE WATCHING. Hold him in your thoughts. Hold him in your prayers."

And these compliments, although they fill me with emotion, do not affect my psyche, because I am convinced that his goal is to save my people from the Castro-communist dictatorship. I accept them, not as a personal praise but as a tribute to my heroic Cuban people. That is why I ask many other honored and famous personalities to follow the dignified attitude of Bono for my nation to soon enjoy full freedom and respect for human rights of each of her children.

The Free spirit of Ireland manifested in Bono's gesture causes me to evoke the many Irish who died for the freedom of Cuba. As those five shot at Castle Atares in 1851, or the Liberation Army Colonel O'Hara, who wrote on the first flag raised in Cárdenas: Cuba: Primus in Cuba!, Or James J. O'Kelly New York Herald correspondent, who interviewed some of the nation's founding fathers in the free territory of Cuba and reported beautiful stories.

While the famed rock singer honored me, the Castroites showed their resentment and cruelty preparing a plan to repress me. At police station Aguilera, Lawton, they manufactured a criminal record of control with my photograph and personal data. In an unsuccessful attempt to humiliate me they urged me to go to said headquarters to sign a document of control on the first five days of every month while the probation license is in effect.

Categorically I tell these people blinded by hate and resentment that I'm not going to sign any document that restricts my freedom or violates the agreements signed in the church-state document that served as the basis for my release and my brothers of the Cause of the 75. For they, inspire me and encourage the rebellious spirit of Eire, the rebellious spirit of the Irish compatriots of the Liberation Army and the rebellious spirit of Bono, my distant friend in geography but close in the principles and struggle for human rights.

I end with two phrases of love and hope, one from the celebrated Martin Luther Jr. and the other from he who writes you: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And mine: "Freedom is only found when men with dignity search it out."

God continue to bless your homes and your lives.

Original blog post in Spanish from Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet

U2 Rocks Miami: Bono's love song for a free Cuba and shout out to Oscar Elias Biscet

Oscar Elias Biscet and U2 Concert in Miami on June 29, 2011

"Now I would like you to do something we've never done before. A beautiful man, a doctor who has spent his time in the prisons of Cuba. He is also released. His name is Dr. Biscet. I want you to hold him up. Let everyone in Cuba know that he is special to us and we are watching WE ARE WATCHING. Hold him in your thoughts. Hold him in your prayers." - Bono at Sun Life Stadium on June 29, 2011

“As you read me what he said, I was shaking with happiness because it showed it’s good when one is chosen as a symbol of his people. He’s praising not me but all my people, all Cubans, and I agree that Cuba will be free, if people like Bono join the cause” of human rights on the island. - Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, Havana, Cuba on June 30, 2011 to El Nuevo Herald, which first told him of Bono’s comments.

There wearing this Biscet t-shirt preparing to toss a spare one brought for if the opportunity presented itself during the show at the Sun Life Stadium and progressing steadily to the front row in the outer ring of the field area. All of a sudden Bono begins talking about a free Cuba and dedicates a song from their 2009 album No Line on the Horizon with the title "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" which contains the following lyrics :

Every generation gets a chance to change the world
Pity the nation that won't listen to your boys and girls
Cos the sweetest melody is the one we haven't heard
Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear?
The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear
Oh, but a change of heart comes slow

Further on in the song "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight":

It's not a hill, it's a mountain
As we start out the climb
Listen for me, I'll be shouting
Shouting to the darkness, squeeze out sparks of light

"I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" with intro

The song pleads for the nation to listen to the new generations and about the power of love to drive out fear. Towards the end of the song the words indicate the height of the challenge and the need to speak up to denounce the darkness and struggle for light. A beautiful anthem and a love song for a free Cuba.

This was followed by "Sunday Bloody Sunday", a song originally about the troubles in Northern Ireland but relevant today too so many places where people struggle in the midst of conflict. The color green dominated during the song in honor of the Green Movement in Iran. The song is a rejection of violence.

Last part of If I go Crazy followed by Sunday Bloody Sunday

From previous encounters with U2 any fan would know that the song "Walk On" was written for and dedicated to former prisoner of conscience and human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma. It also meant that there was a second opportunity for the band to make a statement on Cuba. They did not disappoint. U2 began playing "Scarlet" which lyrically is the word "rejoice" repeated and on this evening was dedicated in honor of Suu Kyi's recent release from prison. The band transitioned into "Walk On" with Bono giving a shout out to Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, who was also recently freed, when Amnesty International walked around the stage with the glowing symbol of the organization. At that moment realized whether or not the spare t-shirt reached the stage the message had been given. The words of "Walk On" are powerful and apply to all prisoners of conscience:

You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

"Walk On" from the U2 concert in Miami on June 29, 2011 at Sun Life Stadium


U2 ended Walk On with a snippet of "You'll Never Walk Alone" a 1945 show tune from Rogers and Hammerstein that has been covered by Frank Sinatra, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Doris Day. An excerpt of the lyrics reveal words of inspiration and encouragement for anyone facing adversity:

Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone.

An excerpt from U2.com's report on the Miami show North Star Over Miami:

A shout- out to Lebron James - who is here and gets a mighty reception - and also to Carl Willner, the father of producer Hal, a longtime friend of the band. Carl has recently published a remarkable book, Carl's Story; The Persistence of Hope, a memoir of how as a teenager he survived the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Dachau.

'Unos, dos, tres...'

'Are you ready to take the roof off... if we had a roof?' By Vertigo everyone was ready and the roof we didn't have was duly removed. 'Crazy' became ' a love song to Cuba - one day Cuba will be free' and as Walk On arrived, Bono invited everyone to remember Cuban human rights activist Dr Oscar Elias Biscet. Dr Biscet endured many years in prison in Cuba for opposing the government and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George Bush in 2007. 'Let everyone in Cuba know he is special to us and we are watching... we are watching.'

After four decades U2 is still on top form musically and still manages to do the unexpected. Looking forward both to their next album and concert.

The Miami Herald has a good breakdown of the concert. The Associated Press has more information about the shout-out in Miami to Cuban human rights activist Dr. Biscet. Below is the song set list (hyperlinks are to original or concert videos of the songs) :

Even Better Then the Real Thing

The Fly

Mysterious Ways

Until the End of the World

I Will Follow

Get on Your Boots

Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For/ The Promised Land (snippet)

North Star

Beautiful Day/Space Oddity (snippet)

Elevation

Pride (In the Name of Love)

Miss Sarajevo

Zooropa

City of Blinding Lights

Vertigo

I’ll Go Crazy / Discotheque / Psycho killer (snippet)

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Scarlet

Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)

One/Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (snippet)

Where The Streets Have No Name

========

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

With or Without You

Moment of Surrender/Jungleland (snippet)

Orlando Zapata Lives: Tribute to a Cuban Hero

“Zapata’s struggle is our own without hatred and violence. May God grant that his martyrdom help all Cubans to see each other as brothers and sisters and thus take the path towards reconciliation, freedom and peace.” - Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas

Marc R. Masferrer who put together the video and montage has this to say about the passing of the Amnesty International Cuban prisoner of conscience: "Cuban political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo died Feb. 23, 2010, after an 83-day hunger strike during which he demanded his captors respect his human rights. They not only ignored his demands, but they took active steps to ensure his death. However, a month later, it is clear that Zapata lives! He is a Cuban hero."





In the days following the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo I found myself listening to two versions of the U2 song 'Pride' about another human rights martyr: Martin Luther King Jr., and in tribute to Orlando Zapata Tamayo I post post both versions below one by John Legend, and the original version by U2. Both have excerpts of Martin Luther King Jr. another apostle of nonviolent resistance to injustice.

Requiescat in pace Orlando Zapata Tamayo

Aung San Suu Kyi the importance of freedom songs & a meeting with diplomats

Amnesty International Action: On June 18 Stand with Aung San Suu Kyi. She turns 65 on June 19, 2010!










Aung San Suu Kyi on Importance of Freedom songs

As I post this videos Aung San Suu Kyi is meeting with diplomats as she continues to serve an unjust prison sentence. There has been an effective international campaign for Burma that has probably saved her life and the lives of many of her countrymen who face a genocidal military junta with a horrific human rights record.

Below she outlines the importance of "freedom songs" to the Free Burma movement and I think that it can be applied to other freedom movements as well.



"Lack of freedom does a lot of terrible things to people. It's only when your deprived of your freedom that you realize how precious it is." - Aung San Suu Kyi

"I think that musicians and artists anywhere in the world are in a position to draw public attention to our cause in a way in which others cannot. Because one good freedom song can go a lot further than several long speeches - well several interviews like this - or a number of interviews like this is nothing compared to a really catchy freedom song for Burma . If somebody would really come up with it. It could spread all over the world that would help us a great deal."

Both Jane Birkin and U2 have crafted songs dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi and have used her image in their work to highlight her plight and the plight of Burma.

Aung San Suu Kyi - Jane Birkin Music Video

Walk On - U2 Official Music Video & Concert Video below

Aung San Suu Kyi: Ambassador of Conscience Award from AI at U2 Concert