Regardless of your thoughts about Michael Jackson’s legacy in light of the accusations of sexual abuse and assault with underage children, it appears his music is still striking a chord with a generation that is finding themselves surrounded by racism and violence, seemingly on a daily basis. And one of Jackson’s music videos is being re-edited to reflect the modern times by the original director, Spike Lee.
Over the weekend, Spike Lee released a new version of his music video for Jackson’s song, “They Don’t Care About Us.” The new version of the video keeps a lot of the performance from the now-deceased pop icon but replaces some of the other footage with new video of protests and BLM events that have popped up due to the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Jacob Blake, among others.
“Great protest songs can’t get old, stale or non-relevant because the struggle still continues. That’s why THEY DON’T REALLY CARE ABOUT US is the anthem during this chaotic, pandemic world we are all living in,” Lee said in a statement via Rolling Stone.
Originally, the song had two other videos when it was released back in 1996. The first video featured scenes from Brazil, showing the lives of the impoverished in that country. That was followed by another video of the song with footage of inmates in prison, along with video of altercations between Black people and police, as well as footage from political protests.
READ MORE: Spike Lee Thinks The “Defund The Police” Movement Needs “Better Terminology”
Spike Lee, as you might imagine, has been one of the most outspoken filmmakers when it comes to racism and the current political situation in America. Not only has he created films that have tried to shine a light on Black culture and what the communities go through regarding police and racism, in general, but he’s also been one of the most vocal critics of President Trump and the current administration.
You can watch the new version of the video below, as well as the two previously released clips.