It's time to choose

I think that more than ever, this is a time to look back to brother J.C. Crawford's speech which opened the MC5's show at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit on the Zenta New Year, in 1968. That was a time of serious political unrest that was expressed heavily in the culture of the times. Now, however, is a much more serious situation. Everything that got better (possibly because of all the late '60s activism) is now getting worse again. It will only continue unless you stand up and vote. Let your voice be heard! It's time to testify!

"Brothers and sisters! I wanna see a sea of hands out there. Let me see a sea of hands. I want everybody to kick up some noise. I wanna hear a little revolution. Brothers and sisters, the time has come for each and every one of you to decide whether you are gonna be the problem, or whether you are gonna be the solution. You must choose, brothers, you must choose. It takes five seconds, five seconds of decision. Five seconds to realize that it's time to move. It's time to get down with it. Brothers, it's time to testify, and I want to know are you ready to testify? Are you ready?"

Brother Crawford was just giving an emphatic and emotional introduction to the most important band in Detroit at the time. He was expressing the power of the MC5 in speech. Words like those aren't taken lightly, though. Sounding like a Southern Baptist preacher, he gets his point across. It isn't just about the music or the band or 1968. It is time for a revolution. Vote!