DON'T LET IT HAPPEN HERE

One day they came and they took the communists and I said nothing because I was not a communist.

Then one day they came and they took the people of the Jewish faith and I said nothing because I had no faith left.

One day they came and they took the unionists and I said nothing because I was not a unionist.

One day they burned the Catholic churches and I said nothing because I was born a Protestant.

Then one day they came and they took me, and I could say nothing because I was as guilty as they were for not speaking out and saying that all men have a right to freedom, on any land.

I was as guilty of genocide as you. All of you. For you know when a man is free, and when to set him free from his slavery.

"Don't Let It Happen Here" – Charles Mingus – Music Written for Monterey, 1965, Not Heard...Played in its Entirety, at UCLA
Narration adapted by Charles Mingus from Martin Niemöller's "First They Came..."