It was 1988.
They had been invited to El Salvador but not by the government. By the students.
Traveling hours and miles through many military blockades and repeated searches, they finally arrived at a small town where there was to be a concert supporting the resistance.
But the military had destroyed the stage.
Somehow the sound man was able to put things back together. So they took the stage and began to sing this song about El Salvador, for El Salvador.
At that moment a military helicopter slowly lowered to tree level. Looking up, they saw M80s pointed directly at them. They still sang.
Twenty-one years later in the basement of a church built for peace and freedom, they sang that same song. With the same passion, with the same commitment, with the same courage.
***
photo: Frank and Bev, with Chris in the back, at the Human Condition reunion, 10-17-09 in New York City
bevgrant.com
