In the mid-1990’s, we faced a new medical crisis: AIDS was upon us. While the scientific community worked, sometimes at cross purposes to understand this disease, in many quarters fear gave rise to hate. Much of that hate claimed to take inspiration from God, making it all the more blasphemous. Many leaders stood up and man cowed with fear, placating the rabble by spewing ignorance and hatred. As a result, thousands died unnecessarily. These were mostly young men who suffered painful deaths that wasted their bodies.
We cannot undo the past, but we can learn from it. I fear we are forgetting the hard lessons taught us through the deaths and suffering of our brothers and sisters, our fellow citizens. We are pointing fingers, denying people’s humanity, denying love, fueled by ignorance and that leads to hatred and is often done in the name of God.
Larry Kirwan and the boys from Black 47 would refuse to play “Danny Boy,” it was the type of sappy, sentimental song they were rejecting in their gritty music. That is until they made it their own, telling the story of their Danny, who lived his life this way, fought back against the anti-homosexual taunts and died from AIDS. When they close this tune with stanzas from “Danny Boy,” Kirwan has made the song his own and given us emotional truth.
We need to stand for our brothers and sisters. We need to stand for people as they are. We need to embrace love. And we cannot be silent in the face of hatred.
#Songoftheday #spreadinghappiness #love #black47 #dannyboy #AIDS #LGBTQ
YouTube: https://youtu.be/-YZhTP5ke80?si=TW6yiorCY270b0aj
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/28bY4KloYPCR9WHdVXnf9Q?si=3781c921ba184807