Broadway Stars' Concert for America Is the Most Important Thing Happening on Jan. 20

By Courtney Enlow | Politics | January 17, 2017 |

By Courtney Enlow | Politics | January 17, 2017 |

Got plans for Jan. 20? There’s nothing going on that day that we need to watch. We’ll probably just be packing up for the trip to DC or finishing up our signs for local marches.

But, there is one important event we should absolutely pay attention to: the Concert for America, sponsored by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

So far just some of the names confirmed include: Chita Rivera, Betty Buckley, my favorite human Michelle Collins, Judy Gold, Andrea Martin, Waitress star Jessie Mueller, Stephanie Mills, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Bebe Neuwirth, confirmed presidential enemy number one Rosie O’Donnell, Rosie Perez, Caroline Rhea, Billy Porter, Hamilton star Javier Muñoz, and many more.

The event is sold out but will be simulcast on Facebook Live at 3 p.m. EST on Friday, Jan. 20. You have nothing else to watch that day, so you’re fine. Proceeds will be split evenly among the organizations that will save the world over the next four years: Planned Parenthood, NAACP, Sierra Club Foundation, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the National Immigration Law Center.

I am not here to tell Brian Stokes Mitchell anything (except “OMG OMG OMG I LOVE YOU”) least of all what to sing, but there is no more perfect song for this day, this occasion and this time in history for “Make Them Hear You.”

Go out and tell our story. Let it echo far and wide. Make them hear you, Make them hear you.

How justice was our battle
And how justice was denied.
Make them hear you,
Make them hear you.

And say to those who blame us
For the way we chose to fight
That sometimes there are battles
That are more than black or white…
And I could not put down my sword
When justice was my right.
Make them hear you.
Go out and tell our story
To your daughters and your sons.
Make them hear you,
Make them hear you.

And tell them, in our struggle,
We were no the only ones.
Make them hear you,
Make them hear you.
Your sword can be a sermon
Or the power of the pen.
Teach every child to raise his voice
And then, my brothers, then
Will justice be demanded
By ten million righteous men.
Make them hear you.
When they hear you,
I’ll be near you
Again.