It wasn’t really a surprise that Trump used the power of executive order to give the go ahead to the controversial and dunderheaded Dakota Access pipeline. It was all but given that he would somehow jumpstart the project. But #NoDAPL activists absorbed the shock and vowed to fight harder. That includes musician Jarina de Marco, who gathered a group of fellow artists to appear in the video for her song “Release the Hounds (Standing With Standing Rock.)”
In an artist’s statement de Marco writes, “Though the Obama Administration had a victory with DAPL last year, what we feared with DAPL and the Keystone Access Pipeline has come true with the current Administration. The disregard of Native Americans and our environment is FRIGHTFUL. More than ever, we need to get the message across that we will not back down. ‘Release The Hounds’ is a call to action, and a statement of resilience, inspired by those still fighting at Standing Rock.”
The artists in the clip include Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson, Laura Gomez (OITNB), Michael Raymond-James (True Blood), Esthero, Cree Summer (A Different World), Jeff Parise (General Hospital), Jackie Cruz (OITNB), Casey Harris ( X Embasador), Nate Donmoyer (Passion Pit), Curly Vasquez ( Buzzfeed, Pero Like), and Trevant Hardson (Pharcyde).
All funds and proceeds from the song and video will go to Stand With Standing Rock to help lower the cost of legal fees, supplies, and anything else the Water Protectors need to continue the fight.
Top photo courtesy Jarina de Marco.
