Roger Waters asks Maroon 5 to "take a knee" at the Super Bowl – Rolling Stone



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Former Pink Floyd bbadist Roger Waters posted a video of himself and his band kneeling to persuade Maroon 5 and their guests to do the same at the halftime show. Super Bowl Sunday. "My colleagues Maroon 5, Travis Scott and Big Boi are performing at the half-time Super Bowl show next Sunday and I call them" kneeling "on the stage," wrote Waters in a statement. "I ask them to do so in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, to do it for every child shot in these streets, to do it for every bereaved mother and father, their brother and sister."

Waters and his group knelt after a concert in Harford, Connecticut, in September 2017, about a year after former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began to refuse to defend the game. national anthem protesting racial injustice and police brutality. President Trump began speaking out against the protests around the time Waters knelt in the video. Kaepernick has not played the game since 2016 and claimed collusion with a lawyer that he was banned from the game for his protests.

"We did so in solidarity with San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick's protest against endemic racism and the often deadly force inflicted by the police in this country," wrote Waters. "It was the third Sunday of Colin Kaepernick's lockout by the NFL. The message was clear: "Shut your mouth, boy!" Next Sunday, it will be the 36th Sunday when he was excluded from your national game. It's not a win for the NFL, it's a defeat, you've deprived football fans around the world of the fun and honor of watching one of the biggest quarterbacks who have ever played the game, and you have shown your true colors. "

In his statement, Waters also stated that he was supporting a Change.org petition asking Maroon 5 to withdraw from the half-time show. It has collected more than 112,000 signatures so far for a target of 150,000.

"My mother said to me," In all situations, there is almost always a good thing to do, just do it, "wrote Waters. "So here's my brothers, you're faced with a choice, I'm not saying it'll be easy, all the president's men, all the huffers and puffers, will be royally pissed off, but, $ # @% 'em I invite you to do it because it's the right thing to do and because somewhere inside you know it. "

He signed his message, "Love, Roger Waters."

Earlier this week, Maroon 5 announced the cancellation of a press conference preceding the Super Bowl, saying they were working hard to create a show that "will meet and exceed the standards of this event." The group donated $ 500,000 to Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America, as well as the NFL and its label; people saw this movement as a response to criticism of their progress in performance. Travis Scott would have agreed to take part in the show only if the NFL made a $ 500,000 joint donation to Van Jones Dream Corps, which supports social justice initiatives.

Many artists, including Rihanna and Cardi B, refused to perform at the Super Bowl in solidarity with Kaepernick.

Read the complete open letter from Roger Waters:

That's my group that gets on their knees at the end of a concert in Hartford, Connecticut on Sunday, September 24, 2017. We did it in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick's gesture of San Francisco Quarterback to protest endemic racism and an often lethal force manifested by the police. departments across this country. It was the third Sunday of Colin Kaepernick's lockout by the NFL. The message was clear: "Shut your mouth, boy!" Next Sunday, it will be the 36th Sunday when he was excluded from your national game. It's not a victory for the NFL, it's a defeat, you have deprived football fans around the world of the pleasure and honor of watching one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game, and you showed your true colors. You can sit in your meeting rooms and flick your cigars in your glbad boxes, but your action is a shot in the eye for everything decent in America. Colin Kaepernick is an American hero. If the United States wants to have a future, it is the Colin Kaepernicks of this world who will take you there. In fact, it's Colin Kaepernick who is leading you now. My colleagues Maroon 5, Travis Scott and Big Boi are performing at the Super Bowl half-time show next Sunday and I ask them to "kneel" on stage in front of them. I ask them to do so in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, to do it for every child shot in these dark streets, to do it for every bereaved mother and father, their brother and sister. My mother said to me: "In all situations, there is almost always a good thing to do: just do it." So here, my brothers, you have a choice to make, I do not say that it will be the Easy case, all the Presidents, all the huffers and puffers will be royally exasperated, but, $ # @ %%, I invite you to do it because that's the right thing to do and because you know it somehow share in the interior.

Love, Roger Waters

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