Faced with the rise of the far right in France, a collective of artists and players in the music scene have signed a platform to block it.
Because rock descends from the blues, a musical genre originating from work songs sung by oppressed African-American populations;
Because rock was born from a crossbreeding of drunks, rhythm’n’blues and country, black and white music, and made segregationist America tremble;
Because from its beginnings, rock opened up to Queer artists such as Little Richard or Big Mama Thornton;
Because as early as the 1960s, rock stood out against racism when the Beatles refused to play in a venue where segregation was in force;
Because in the 1970s, rock continued the fight, with Rock Against Racism, a movement which was already fighting against the rise of the far right in the United Kingdom;
Because in the 1980s, rock became synonymous with generosity and mutual aid with charitable events like Live Aid, USA For Africa, etc.;
Because at the same period, rock was fighting against Apartheid in South Africa and calling for the release of Nelson Mandela;
Because since its beginnings, rock has conveyed messages of open-mindedness, tolerance, freedom, and protest against all forms of oppression;
For all these reasons, rock and RN are radically incompatible. The first has always been at the forefront of social progress, the second defends conservatism and, in the name of protecting heritage, would like to freeze society in the past, even a fantasized past, which has never been
exist.
The first advocates openness, the second, withdrawal.
And that is why today, we, artists, actresses and actors of the rock scene in France, are signing this platform to ask you to put up a barrier against an ideology going against everything we defend, everything we are.
Here are all the signatories
