People sing They Don't Care About Us at US protest

[HIStory]

Timbaland posted it on his Instargram: http://instagram.com/p/wPYxyemvJ4/

Eric Garner Protesters Shut Down West Side Highway In New York City

By Kathleen Caulderwood@kcaulderwoodk.caulderwood@ibtime s.com on December 04 2014 12:23 AM

Hundreds of people surged onto New York’s West Side highway Wednesday night in reaction to the news that a grand jury did not indict Daniel Pantaleo, a white NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, this past summer.

Protesters gathered at various spots around the city just hours after the announcement. Some convened at Rockefeller Center, where the city was holding its annual Christmas Tree lighting event. Others started in Union Square and made their way north. Eventually, hundreds came together in midtown and made their way west. By about 8:30 p.m., the group spilled onto the highway, blocking traffic and chanting slogans such as “no justice, no peace,” and lecturing nearby NYPD officers.



“I’m out here for my rights,” said Pilar DeJesus, 31, as she walked down the pavement with her friends from work. “We need to make some noise.”
Police lined up across from protesters, and warned them to keep off the road or risk arrest. At one point, officers surrounded a group of about 100 protesters from the north and south sides of the highway.



Together, the protesters lay down on the asphalt, singing Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Really Care About Us.”



Soon after, they continued their march uptown, and officers arrested some protesters who refused to keep moving. This provoked large groups of protesters to begin chanting, in unison, the phone number for the National Lawyer’s Guild.

http://www.ibtimes.com/eric-garner-...ay-new-york-city-1733563#.VIJyoTlzuME.twitter

 

[Tony R]

That's so weird. I was thinking watching the footage of recent weeks how apt that song was and thought that if Michael was more popular in America they they would be singing it as a protest song.

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

That's so weird. I was thinking watching the footage of recent weeks how apt that song was and thought that if Michael was more popular in America they they would be singing it as a protest song.

Right? Just as Donny Hathaway's song "Someday We'll all be free" became an unofficial anthem for the civil rights movement.

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

It's a cry of anger, desperation, hopelessness and impotence against the law enforcement corruption and their racism. Quite fitting and I don't blame them for their choice.

 

[elusive moonwalker]

Just like when they were protesting in brazil a teenager had a sign saying TDCAU. been listening to a radio programe called democracy now where they talk about civil rights issue and all this B.S that is going on with these corrupt grand juries. as a mj fan i shouldnt be surprised. but until GJs are done away with ontop of many other things nothing will change. heck i bet north koreas justice system is more legit than this lol at least they dont throw stones to hide their hands!

but i have to admit when i listen to democracy live and all the protests and all the talk about corrupt D.A's and the police etc etc part of me thinks where were u when mj was been lynched.

 

[RebeccaBlythe]

Wow, this is incredible. NYC has always been good at remembering Michael and his fight for equality. This shows just how important his music is and always will be. It's the perfect song for most of the situations going on across the nation. I've noticed myself listening to it more often in recent months.

 

[mijacxscape]

We don't care about them. They are fools.

 

[barbee0715]

Who are fools?

 

[Smooth72]

I think the poster is referring to the people who are protesting. Just because there is a protest Dosen't make the cause right. There are two sides to the story . The officer was not charged.

 

[barbee0715]

We have a real problem with racial profiling in this country. A few yrs ago a black kid was coming home here in Houston in an affluent part of town.
The police entered his license plate wrong and thot he stole his car.
His parents came running out screaming (so would I) bc they had him on the ground and the police ended up shooting the kid.
Police were not charged and civil case thrown out.
Why this didn't get more attention is beyond me. It happens a lot here.

 

[LindavG]

I think the poster is referring to the people who are protesting. Just because there is a protest Dosen't make the cause right. There are two sides to the story . The officer was not charged.

The fact that the officer was not even charged is exactly what makes this story so outrageous. It is an undisputed fact that the officer used an illegal tactic (chokehold) to kill Eric Garner. If any of us did that, we would not only be charged but most likely found guilty as well. But it seems that as soon as you put on a uniform, you can get away with pretty much anything. This is a classic case of police brutality and people are right to be upset about it. That is why TDCAU is so appropriate because it speaks about government corruption and police brutality that affects all races. This is not a white vs. black thing. This is about police officers abusing their position of power and authority against the poor and weak of society because they know they'll get away with it.

 

[elusive moonwalker]

Very true. its pretty impossible to go after a copper. even when hes filmed doing it and the coroner declares it a homicide based on strangulation the GJ still doesnt find probable cause. that is an outrage u seriously have to wonder about the IQ levels of the ppl on that jury or whether they have white sheets in their closet. to think there was around 140,000 grand juries last year and only approx 11 refused to indict. that says it all. special prosecutors should be brought in as the GJ is nothing but the prosecuter changing roles and doing what he can to get the officers off. U have darren wilson testifying for hours at his GJ. what defendent does that?! and the cop that shot the 12 year old was declared unfit for service due to his bad skills. he shot the kid within 2 secs of getting out his car. Gj's should be done away with they are hundreds of years out of date but i guess they come in handy for lynching ppl behind closed doors or getting coppers off in the dark.

 

[Tygger]

That's so weird. I was thinking watching the footage of recent weeks how apt that song was and thought that if Michael was more popular in America they they would be singing it as a protest song.

Quite the opposite. Michael and his TDCAU was popular enough to be used.

There is no reason to sing a protest song that is not popular. That is why We've Had Enough was most likely not used despite the first verse being extremely fitting in this situation.

 

[HIStory]

Quite the opposite. Michael and his TDCAU was popular enough to be used.

It's popular now. When it was released it was buried under an artificial and stupid "anti-semitism" scandal and wasn't played on US radio and so it only reached, I think, about #30 or so on Billboard. Internationally the media brainwash wasn't that successful and the song was a lot more popular. But despite of the hostile treatment by the US media the song actually did become very popular by now. I think it's MJ's second most played song on YouTube (only after Thriller) and on Spotify it's among his Top 5 most played songs (the other four in his Top 5 are songs from Thriller - Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller and P.Y.T.), so I think it's safe to say that despite of the media's attempts to kill this song they did not succeed and it stood the test of time.

 

[Annita]

It was Michaels 2. Number One-Hit in Germany after Earth Song.

 

[barbee0715]

I was amazed at the GJ decision with the Eric Garner case bc that film was crystal clear and that choke hold was uncalled for, not to mention not allowed by police dept.
Linda is right that this is a flagrant abuse of power.
We all know how a man in uniform automatically commands respect but for many that goes to their heads.
I'm a woman and white and always respected the police. But back in the 80s an officer pulled me over on a back country road and accused me of being drunk, of being on drugs, threatened me, harassed me and terrified me for hours. I thought I was going to be raped or killed for sure. Then just suddenly let me go.
Looking back now, I'm certain if I were black, I would definitely had been killed.
I know most of the police are good but I can't say they all are. There's a lot to be fixed. Starting with diversity in police depts, grand juries.
I also don't condone the looting and destruction either. This needs a lot of work.

 

[HIStory]

Everyone can see it for themselves. I don't know why people protesting against this are called "fools" here...

 

[HIStory]

This is also from the protest: https://vine.co/v/OrKw3EglVV5

 

[Tygger]

Respect77, I lived in the U.S. at that time and it was played on U.S. radio and the short film was played on television numerous times.

Yes, mainstream media tried to label Michael as an anti-Semite however; you would have to do some more research to find out why. You would find it had less to do with Michael and more about a particular group who sought to label him. Michael changed the lyrics and that was that.

Yes, it was #30 on the pop chart but, it charted much higher on other Billboard charts including R/B (#10) and Dance singles (#4).

Michael was and still is popular within the U.S. AND this song was popular at that time as well. That is why it is used as a protest song now. It would have no value as a protest song if the song only became popular after Michael’s passing particularly in the U.S. Notice no one questions what the song is. They know because they remember it from the 90's.

 

[HIStory]

Well, for MJ to be #30 on the pop chart is not considered great success. However, it was a Top 10 hit in many other countries. For example:

Germany #1
UK #4
France #4
Italy #1
Netherlands #4

Actually it was a Top 10 hit in most of Europe. This shows that Europe better realized the significance and greatness of this song when it was released than the US did.

 

[Tygger]

Actually it was a Top 10 hit in most of Europe. This shows that Europe better realized the significance and greatness of this song when it was released than the US did.

No, it only shows the song charted higher in the European countries you listed. This equates to purchases of the song and radio play. It does not mean the meaning of the song was realized more by European than those in the U.S. and it does not mean the song was less popular. Obviously U.S. R/B fans purchased the song and requested it on their radio stations more than U.S. pop fans. Many in the general public/non-MJ fans knew of the song because of mainstream media however; the mainstream media tales did not include a demand to purchase the song or request it on radio.

Currently, you have U.S. protesters using the song so; I am more inclined to believe it could be that the meaning is more significant for these protesters now than it was in the 90’s. That should not be confused with the popularity of the song.

 

[tricia70]

Well, for MJ to be #30 on the pop chart is not considered great success. However, it was a Top 10 hit in many other countries. For example:

Germany #1
UK #4
France #4
Italy #1
Netherlands #4

Actually it was a Top 10 hit in most of Europe. This shows that Europe better realized the significance and greatness of this song when it was released than the US did.

I agree. I think here in the U.S because of the controversy it didn't chart as well and also they played the video after 10pm or later on MTV.

I have to add, that the song HERE in the U.S. gained a lot more recognition because of the numerous times they played the short version of Michael performing this song in the TII rehearsals to prove that he was in fine shape. I remember all the channels couldn't stop playing that clip and the song. AND of course the video with the prisoners performing the song that went viral helped also.

 

[HIStory]

No, it only shows the song charted higher in the European countries you listed. This equates to purchases of the song and radio play. It does not mean the meaning of the song was realized more by European than those in the U.S. and it does not mean the song was less popular.

You say chart position equates to purchases of a song and radio play but chart position does not mean anything about a song's popularity? I don't get it logically.

Anyway, I do not want to go into a back and forth with you about whether #30 on Billboard was a successful song for Michael Jackson or not. I don't think it was and you think it was, let's agree to disagree then.

I personally think the song was rather later discovered and acknowledged as a great song by much of the US public. Like tricia70 pointed out maybe partly helped by the fact that it was often played with that clip from TII.

 

[Tygger]

Tricia70, MTV played it later in the evening; BET did not.

I agree with you that the song received a resurgence of sorts after Michael’s passing due to mainstream media. Mainstream media played the clip of Michael rehearsing TDCAU for TII because many believed that was Michael on June 24th. They were baffled that Michael could perform in that manner and pass from a rumored pharmaceutical death the next morning.

Respect77, I did not believe we were having a back and forth. I stated my view that Michael's TDCAU was not less popular in the U.S. than it was in Europe. I already stated the song charted higher outside the Billboard pop chart however you are narrowing the song's popularity specifically to that #30 spot.

Charting does not equate to a song's popularity simply because there were methods then to retrieve songs without purchasing a song. Very similar to how Xscape's popularity was not properly measured by it's number two U.S debut.

My response is specifically about U.S. fans who oftentimes are characterized unfairly in threads here. Yes, the U.S. is the land that accused Michael falsely however; Europeans gave crowned him an unkind name that many used because it was derogatory. In the case of U.S. vs. Europe, I believe Japan wins.

 

[Dan]

Michael created anthems like this. Songs that bring PEOPLE together.

 

[joejoe]

That's so weird. I was thinking watching the footage of recent weeks how apt that song was and thought that if Michael was more popular in America they they would be singing it as a protest song.

ummm michael is very popular here in the usa .

 

[Hess]

Michael created anthems like this. Songs that bring PEOPLE together.

That's what the music industy (if not the entire world!) needs these days!

Songs nowadays are about sex, drugs and partys.

MJ made great anthems...

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

That's what the music industy (if not the entire world!) needs these days!

Songs nowadays are about sex, drugs and partys.

MJ made great anthems...

True. Alicia Keyes song 'We Are Here' is a beautiful anthem though. She really set the example for other artists to follow in this day and age. I hope some will heed to that call. Sorry for deviating

 

[souldreamer7]

Hello

Guys the song "They Don't Care About Us" is NOT a USA vs Europe thing. There is many things that made those times in Michael's life different, and it was NOT his Fans. Sometimes one must actually live somewhere to know what really goes on, and not just base it on what the media is showing and telling us. That's why Michael made these songs, and that's why Michael wanted people all across the world to come together and not be ignorant to each other. Let us remember we all are Michael's fans Together!
We ALL know pain & discrimination




EDIT To Add:

Prison version was banned in several countries citing violence as a reason. in USA , MTV and VH1 aired prison version only after 9 PM. MTV Europe would only air it after midnight. That meant the video would get limited air time. That's why it was replaced with the Brazil version.

So the author is correct in saying prison version was banned - as it was banned outside USA. and in USA it was subjected to a very limited / controlled air time. This is widely reported and easily available on Internet.

:yes: agreed.

 

[AtlasAir]

We don't care about them. They are fools.

I think the poster is referring to the people who are protesting. Just because there is a protest Dosen't make the cause right. There are two sides to the story . The officer was not charged.

Are y'all serious with this? Wow.
The line that really stuck out at me was "the officer was not charged."

So that means he's in the right? Um.... y'all must not be paying attention.

I guess George Zimmerman is a-okay too because he wasn't sentenced to prison either, huh?