document

El-P

Document Date: June 7, 2007

Rapper El-P Addresses Torture and Abuse in Latest Video

A New York City native, El-P has been a hero of the independent music scene for more than a decade. In a post-9/11 world, his lyrics illuminate many of the ongoing concerns we as Americans confront daily. In his newest album, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, El-P addresses — along with many social issues — the erosion of civil liberties by the Bush administration.

In this podcast he talks with ACLU attorney Ben Wizner about torture and arbitrary detention at Guantánamo and the implications of the Military Commissions Act on “The Great Writ,” Habeas Corpus.

Watch the music video to “Smithereens” on YouTube:

TAKE ACTION
> Sign a petition to close Guantánamo and End Indefinite Detention Without Charges
> Urge your Senators to Fix the Military Commissions Act and Restore Habeas Corpus

El-P’s album, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead

LEARN MORE
> FBI Inquiry Details Abuses Reported by Agents at Guantánamo (1/3/2007)
> Blog: ACLU Attorneys Blog from the Guantánamo Military Tribunals
> Multimedia: Five Years at Guantánamo

El-P talks with ACLU attorney Ben Wizner.
podcast | streaming

El-P does not consider himself an activist, but rather an artist and an individual with a responsibility to speak out on some egregious abuses of power post 9/11, including the treatment of detainees at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib and the loss of habeas corpus. With El-P’s self-portrayal of the tortured, his new music video for “Smithereens”, says what so many without a voice cannot.

To learn more about El-P and his music, visit www.definitivejux.net.

Read more about El-P in the New York Times >>

Watch the video >>

Every month, you'll receive regular roundups of the most important civil rights and civil liberties developments. Remember: a well-informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.