A night of music sends a message to President Obama.
 
By Dan Skye
 
On Friday, December 14, celebrities and activists gathered at the Beacon Theater in New York City to raise their voices in support of Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier. The “Bring Leonard Peltier Home in 2012” concert featured Jackson Browne, Common, Mos Def, and Pete Seeger, while celebrity activists such as Harry Belafonte, Michael Moore, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, Danny Glover, and Peter Coyote offered words of support for Peltier, who has been behind bars for 37 years. 
 
Peltier was involved in a shootout with FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in 1975 in which two FBI agents were killed. The incident took place as the American Indian Movement gained prominence as a voice for reform on Native issues. Following the incident, two Indians were arrested and indicted on murder charges, but were acquitted. Peltier, who escaped to Canada, was arrested eight months later. His ensuing trial has been called one of the worst miscarriages of justice in American history; it is clear now that the FBI tampered with evidence and coerced witnesses to give false testimony. Peltier was sentenced to two life terms for the murder of the agents.
 
The concert took place in the wake of the Newtown, CT school massacre, which compelled documentary filmmaker Michael Moore to wonder about the “fabric of violence” that seems to have infected America.
 
Indeed, raising consciousness was the objective of the evening’s events; several short films recounted the facts of the Peltier case and the outrageous conduct of federal prosecutors.
 
Following an opening drum circle, legendary 93-year-old folk singer Pete Seeger took the stage and sang “Turn, Turn, Turn” with several new stanzas. Mohican guitarist Bill Miller torched the crowd with Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” and Common delivered “The People” and “The Light with energy and passion. Mos Def helped out with a rendition of “Umi Says.” Headliner Jackson Browne ended the night with “Boarding School Blues” and “Custer Died For Your Sins.”
 
A Presidential pardon is, essentially, the only hope that Leonard Peltier has of being released from prison. It’s up to ordinary citizens to persuade Obama that his imprisonment is unjustified, morally wrong, and contrary to everything that America supposedly stands for.
 
Find out what you can do to help. Visit whoisleonardpeltier.info.
 
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A drum circle opened the “Bring Leonard Peltier Home in 2012” concert.
 
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Pete Seeger sang “Turn, Turn, Turn” in support of Peltier.
 
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Harry Belafonte, along with actor Peter Coyote, hosted the concert.
 
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Bill Miller’s passionate guitar stirred the audience.
 
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Rapper Common exhorted supporters.
 
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Mos Def delivered “Umi Says.”
 
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Boxing champion Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who spent nearly two decades in prison after being wrongly convicted of a triple homicide he did not commit, lent his support to Peltier’s cause.
 
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Michael Moore decried the “fabric of violence” in American society.
 
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Long-time Peltier supporter Jackson Browne sang “Boarding School Blues” and “Custer Died For Your Sins.”