Daiana Feuer on July 3rd, 2018

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This year’s Independence Day feels weird, with the country ever more divided about what America means and who does or doesn’t belong. Here’s a reminder that we’re all in this together courtesy of Guatamalan-born Gaby Moreno and legendary musician-arranger-composer-producer-songwriter Van Dyke Parks, who arranged this recording of “The Immigrants,” originally written by Trinidadian Calypso artist David Rudder twenty years ago in response to the New York police attack on Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. The song still resonates in its description of the harsh treatment of immigrants while also celebrating their contributions to our culture and the “American dream” that founded this nation.

“I am a Guatemalan immigrant,” says Moreno. “This country welcomed me 18 years ago. It breaks my heart to see the events taking place at the border right now. We all deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and to be received into this country with more love and empathy.”

“‘The Immigrants’ has a political punch,” adds Parks, “while also being joyful and underscoring how our culture is refreshed by immigrants like Gaby, and how those who arrive here can really redefine, and help build America. As Phil Ochs observed ‘In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.'”

Proceeds from song sales will be donated to non-profit The Central American Resource Center of California (CARECEN). “The Immigrants” also appears on a collaborative album the duo will release this fall.

||| Watch: “The Immigrants”