“We Will Abolish ICE”: The New Protest Songbook
How federal brutality in Minneapolis unleashed a new wave of protest music — from Springsteen to the streets
The deadly federal occupation of Minneapolis is leaving a cultural mark on America — with an upwelling of new protest music. The artists range from stadium acts to TikTok troubadours to the protesters themselves. They are producing songs that celebrate solidarity, perseverance, and bravery, even in the face of bloodshed.
The emergence of this new songbook is, in some respects, a surprise. When Trump came back to power last year, many musicians appeared reticent to engage in overtly political songwriting. My brilliant colleague Meredith Blake marked that troubling silence in a piece headlined: “Where is the great anti-Trump protest song?”
But the brutal street slayings of the poet and mother Renee Good and of the Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis — amid the broader, violent abuses of ICE and the Border Patrol — have altered the moral and artistic calculus.
Below, we survey artists who are denouncing the Trump regime and the presence of its roving paramilitary gangs on the streets of the Twin Cities — and wherever the fear of mass deportation hangs heaviest.
Billy Bragg
“City of Heroes”
A fixture of protest music since the 1990s, Bragg brings a deep sense of history to his new song for Minneapolis. “City of Heroes” plays off the World War II-era poem, “First They Came” — written by a regretful witness of Nazi violence, who stood back as vulnerable groups were rounded up, only to find that, when the jackboots came for him, “there was no one left to speak out.”
Above jangly acoustic guitar chords, Bragg celebrates the sharp contrast created by the “heroes” of Minneapolis who “learn the lessons of history” — standing up for the first targets of fascist violence, instead of opting for “silence” or “complicity.”
When they came for the refugees
I got in their face
When they came for the five-year-olds
I got in their face
Bruce Springsteen
“Streets of Minneapolis”
Days after the slaying of Pretti, the Boss released the raw, angry “Streets of Minneapolis,” saluting the resistance of the city’s residents who “fought fire and ICE... ‘Neath an occupier’s boots.” The song takes aim at Trump’s authoritarian deputies Stephen Miller and Krisi Noem by name, and it became a viral hit, topping the iTunes charts in 19 countries.
The music video features footage of Border Patrol henchman Greg Bovino gassing city residents, as well as the terrified face of 5-year-old Liam Roberts in his bunny hat. Springsteen belts out the names of the Minneapolis martyrs, Pretti and Good, and praises the city for its solidarity with “the stranger in our midst.”
It’s our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies
U2
“American Obituary”
No surprise that the “Sunday Bloody Sunday” rockers would weigh in on political violence in the United States. But quite different from Bragg and Springsteen’s spare tributes, U2 crafted something more energetic and anthemic with “American Obituary.”
The track pays tribute to “Renee Good, born to die free,” but also summons courage, with the repetition of a new rock mantra: “The power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power.”
The worst can’t kill what’s best in us
But they can try
America will rise
Against the people of the lie
Jesse Welles
“Join ICE”
Welles has leveraged his platform on TikTok to revive a tradition of American folk music last in vogue in the 1970s. Singing straight to camera with his gravely voice, beat up guitar, and a cutting humor evident in his lyrics, Welles comes across like a latter-day John Prine.
Welles has released two songs that cut to the moral rot of Trump’s deportation machine. “Join ICE” is a darkly ironic tune, seeking to “recruit” new agents to ICE by highlighting the agency’s rock-bottom employment standards and eagerness to give police-rejects a gun. The song can frequently be heard at street protests and earned Welles an appearance on The Late Show.
We can sneak around town
Hunt workin’ folks down
I hear they got a great benefit plan
“Good vs. ICE”
After the senseless homicide of Good in her car, Welles released “Good vs. ICE.” The song imagines a conversation between an ICE agent and a friend (”How’s work?”
“Well, they got us shooting women now”) before Welles insists: “You probably don’t need to shoot someone in the face, to do the thing that you’re calling a job.”
I’ve had more dangerous encounters at gas station counters
And the Walmart parking lot
But the smaller the man the quicker the plan
Goes to “Somebody’s getting shot”
Street Protest Music
In addition to the contributions of professional musicians, protesters themselves are writing simple songs that have featured prominently at ICE Out demonstrations. (Here is a literal songbook of such music.)
Annie Schlaefer / Singing Resistance
“It’s OK to Change Your Mind”
Written by a Minnesota community song-leader named Annie Schlaefer, “It’s OK to Change Your Mind” leads with humanity rather than mockery — calling on ICE agents to defect, letting them know they are welcome on the other side of America’s moral divide. Protesters across the country have sung the catchy, gospel-style tune during demonstrations in front of hotels housing federal agents.
In late February, at a benefit concert for Minneapolis, Brandi Carlile invited Schlaefer and her “Singing Resistance” song group on stage to lead a sing-along of “It’s OK” with a crowd of 12,000 at the Target Center. In those numbers, the music seemed transformed into a more general, joyous call to all MAGA Americans, inviting them to have a change of heart.
It’s OK to change your mind
Show us your courage
Leave this behind
Lu Aya / The Peace Poets
“This Is for Our Neighbors”
Written by activist Lu Aya, a member of a spoken word collective known as The Peace Poets, “This Is for Our Neighbors” touts the solidarity of citizen protesters with undocumented community members who are terrified by roving federal agents demanding papers and snatching people off the streets. It has become a fixture of protests, and even church services, throughout the Twin Cities and beyond.
This is for our people who are locked inside,
Together, we will, Abolish ICE.
Tim Dickinson is the senior political writer for The Contrarian
Songs of resistance have been used during the civil rights era, during efforts to unionize coal workers in Kentucky and West Virginia (I re-watched the marvelous documentary "Harlan County USA" yesterday; learn about and listen to Hazel Dickens for more.), during the anti-Vietnam War protests, and now.
Look for a Singing Resistance group near you and join in. A variety of musical talents is welcome. Many of the songs are call-backs, which are easy to follow, and when they do them in rounds or triples, the sound is simply marvelous. Sing out!
Terrific article about terrific artists writing terrific protest songs. It's about time to get loud against the fascist regime and fascist party. I love all of the songs, but the U2 song naming Miller and Noem stands out. Thank you, Tim. I am so glad you joined The Contrarian.