"We Are America"

Jazz/R&B singer and bassist Esperanza Spalding has produced a music video entitled "We Are America," calling for the either the prosecution or the release of the detainees who have been held without trial at Guantanamo Bay for more than a decade.

In a statement accompanying the release of the video, Ms. Spalding reports that she became embarrassed about Gitmo while touring in Europe. When she returned home, she contacted several Congresspersons. She received an answer from one Senator who said she had no intention of doing anything about Guantanamo, but would "keep [her] comments in mind." Her recommendation? The people who see the video should write or call their Congresspersons.

It's difficult to abandon the cliches we've been taught as children, or to think of alternative ways of influencing the political system, even when it's clear that the old ways are completely ineffective.