What Oprah, Springsteen, Bono and Beyoncé Should Do Now

In 1985, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organized two of the greatest music events in modern history to raise money for Ethiopian famine relief. Two shows were held on the same day — one at Wembley Stadium in London and one at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Artists such as Led Zeppelin, Queen, U2, David Bowie, The Who, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, members of The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Madonna and Phil Collins performed.

The concerts were televised live to 1.5 billion viewers across the world, raised over $125 million, and forced governments to increase aid to Africa.

Earlier that same year, a group of musicians calling themselves United Artists for Africa released a song called We Are the World, co-written by Lionel Ritchie and Michael Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones. A constellation of artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Dylan and Turner, sang on that single to raise money for African famine relief. The effort brought in tens of millions of dollars and focused attention on a human tragedy that too many Americans had ignored.

You felt lucky to be alive at a time when such star power could come together for an important cause.

But where are today’s artists when democracy is under attack? In the wee hours of Monday morning, Donald Trump sent out a raving mad social media post threatening Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen for campaigning on behalf of Kamala Harris last year. (He also appeared to threaten Bono, who had simply endorsed Harris.)

This is not about campaign finance laws, of course. It’s about the First Amendment — or, rather, Trump’s assault on the freedom of artists and the rest of us to exercise the right to speak freely.

Is there any doubt that Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice will at the very least investigate these entertainers and very possibly charge them on some trumped up basis? Not in this world and not under this president.

Bob Geldof, where are you? The Live Aid we need right now is one in defense of free speech. We need the world’s biggest entertainers to get up on stage in front of billions of people and say plainly that they are banding together to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans.

I am not naive about the fact that entertainment has changed drastically in the last several decades and that expressing support for starving African children carries with it much less personal and professional risk that standing up to the most powerful man in the world. Record labels are run by corporations whose leaders have bent the knee to Trump. Corporations handing out lucrative endorsement deals don’t like controversy.

But in choosing to go after these particular artists and, on more than one occasion, Taylor Swift, Trump has attacked the most powerful and influential entertainers in the world. If anyone has the clout to organize a Live Aid for our time, it is the this quintet.

It is not shocking to me that Springsteen, who is 75 years old and came of age during the protest music movement of the nineteen sixties, was the one who really laid into Trump’s abuses during a concert in Manchester, England last week. What is more disappointing is the silence from the millenials and Gen Z-ers who are now the biggest cultural influencers in the world. Being an influencer is so important to this cohort that they misunderstand how powerful their influence can really be in service of a cause, rather than a brand.

Four decades ago, Michael Jackson was the Taylor Swift of his era. While much can be said about his personal legacy, he helped put together one of the world’s greatest supergroups for one night and demanded that Americans pay attention to the suffering of people thousands of miles from our shores.

It is not simply enough for Swift to have endorsed Kamala Harris last year by saying that “she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.” By now, she should know that the very rights Trump is assaulting are Swift’s right to endorse whomever she chooses. It is not enough for Oprah, Beyoncé and Bono to appear at rallies or in endorsement photos — not when they are being used as high-profile examples of what happens to people when they cross Trump.

It is not even enough for Springsteen to speak out at a concert abroad — not when Trump has threatened him with repercussions the minute he sets foot on American soil again.

These entertainers are icons to hundreds of millions of people around the world. Only by harnessing their celebrity together and using their influence to force others to join them can they shed light on Trump’s assault against the First Amendment.

Perhaps they think that if they keep their heads down now and stay silent, they can ride this moment out. That is a profound misunderstanding of who Donald Trump is. He will scapegoat one or all of them to send a message to far less powerful people about the cost of crossing him.

Be the Geldof of your time, Oprah. Organize an event so viral that even the president of the United States will not be able to come for you. Sound the alarm on what is happening in a country that used to be a safe harbor for those seeking the freedom of expression that has made you so successful. Make it clear that you and your famous friends will use your platforms to bring attention to the trampling of the constitution at the hands of a small man who knows nothing about democracy and wants no part of it.

Megawatt celebrities like you fought for Africa forty years ago. You need to fight for the United States now.