The latest judgement in Britain and the passing of the thought crime Bills, HR 1955 and the SAFE Act, in the United States are frightening and a travesty.
In Britain Samina Malik, a 23-year-old store cashier, has been found guilty of thought crimes by the State and sentenced to house arrest and handed a nine-month suspended sentence. Her crime was to write ‘violent’ poetry and visit so called ‘terrorism sites’ on the Internet. During the sentencing, a “teary-eyed Malik insisted that she was not a terrorist”.
In the United States the same laws apply. Based on what Malik was charged with, almost every artist that uses explicit lyrics or images in their work could be incarcerated: from Immortal Technique to System of a Down to the Dixie Chicks to Willie Nelson to the Dead Prez and many others.
If we allow our governments to wage war on words then we have reached the end of freedom. We are indeed headed into dark times, when poets are convicted of thought crimes.
The following is a CNN Crossfire segment from 1986 where musical legend Frank Zappa discusses rock lyrics, censorship, and the value of words.
Below is just a sample of the revolution that is taking place within the music industry and the message that is being shared. Hopefully artists will continue to be allowed to guide us through these desperate times while helping us to create a truly free society.
Immortal Technique: Point of No Return
System of a Down: B.Y.O.B
Dixie Chicks: Not Ready to Make Nice
Dead Prez: Propaganda
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