More on the Arizona boycott! Almost everybody on this blog has talked about Conor Oberst’s letter on the subject, and this time I stumbled on Eugene Hütz’s statement on his website:
ATTN FRIENDS: GOGOL BORDELLO ARE OFFICIALLY BOYCOTTING ARIZONA IN RESPONSE TO SB 1070. READ EUGENE’S STATEMENT THEN JOIN THE FIGHT BY SIGNING THE PETITION AT THE SOUND STRIKE.
IMMIGRATION NATURALLY ENRICHES CULTURE AND HUMAN RESOURCE OF ANY COUNTRY. JUST LIKE NEW GENES BRING GUSTO INTO ANY GENETIC POOL. IT IS A COMPLICATED SENSITIVE SUBJECT TO CONSIDER WITH CARE AND LOVE, SINCE IT INVOLVES CHANGES OF ENTIRE DESTINIES ALL AT ONCE. IF A COUNTRY’S FOUNDING VALUES INCLUDE WELCOME TO NEWCOMERS, THERE MUST BE A COMMITMENT TO PURSUE THIS ETHIC. IF NEWCOMER IS OFFICIALLY WELCOMED, HE SHALL BE ABLE TO KEEP FEELING WELCOMED ONCE HE IS THERE, RIGHT? NOT INTIMIDATED, THREATENED AND HUMILIATED. AS A BAND OF IMMIGRANTS WE HAVE RECEIVED BOTH HONORS AND WELCOMES THAT REINSURE THE POSITIVE ASPECTS OF IMMIGRATION. AND WE VE BEEN GRATEFUL ABOUT IT TO NY EVER SINCE. ESPECIALLY WHEN SEEING OTHER COUNTRIES NOT DOING THEIR BEST. WITH MY OWN EXPERIENCE I MUST SAY U.S. ACTUALLY STANDS OUT AS A BETTER ONE AMONGST OTHERS. HOWEVER WE CAN NOT LOOK THE OTHER WAY WHEN DOUBLE STANDARD AND FACE CONTROL IS TAKEN PLACE. PLEASE LEARN ABOUT THE SITUATION AND TAKE ACTION TO PRESERVE PROGRESSIVE THOUGHT.
– EUGENE HÜTZ, JUNE 2010.
He used the capital letters, just to make himself even clearer!
Gogol Bordello also just filmed a music video for the song ‘Immigraniada (We Comin’ Rougher)’ off their freshly new released album ‘Trans-Continental Hustle’. The video is not yet released but the LAWeekly says it was shot partially at restaurant Citizen Smith in Hollywood, and depicts the day-to-day life of an immigrant in America.
Sure, this Ukrainian ‘Immigrant Punk’ knows what he is talking about when it comes to immigration: born in Russia, his family made a stop in Poland, Hungary, Austria, Italy before the US, and he is now living in Brazil.
Immigration is the subject of many of his songs, and the lyrics of ‘Immigraniada’ are pretty straightforward:
‘Frozen eyes, sweaty back/My family’s sleeping on a railroad track/All my life I pack/unpack/But man I got to earn this buck/I gotta pay representation/To be accepted in a nation/Where after efforts of a hero/Welcome start again from zero’
More than ever immigration is back on the hot burner and for someone who had a lot of experience on the subject, it is sure difficult to stay neutral.