A tearful Madonna delivered an emotion-filled speech on the Paris attacks, saying: “They want to shut us up. They want to silence us. And we won’t let them.”
Madonna took to Facebook, declaring “Tonight’s show was difficult,” shortly after an emotional show in Stockholm in the wake of the Paris attacks.
While other artists like Foo Fighters and U2 decided to cancel or postpone their European shows, Madonna decided to carry on with Saturday night concert in Stockholm, Sweden, in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, giving a moving tearful speech about Friday’s massacre in the French capital city.
A tearful Madonna told the audience: “They want to shut us up. They want to silence us. And we won’t let them.”
“I need to take this moment to acknowledge the tragedy, the tragic killings, assassinations, and the senseless endings of precious life that occurred last night in Paris,” she began. “It’s disturbed me all day, and it’s been really hard, actually, to get through the show because in many ways I feel torn. Like, why am I up here dancing and having fun when people are crying over the loss of their loved ones?”
“However, that is exactly what these people want to do. They want to shut us up, they want to silence us, and we won’t let them. We will never let them because there is power in unity, and I do believe that as much chaos and pain and senseless violence and terrorism that occurs around this world, not just in Paris; as much as that does occur, there is still goodness in this world. We are here to prove it,” she added.
She continued her six-minute speech, adding: “There are people who have no respect for human life, and there are people that do atrocious, degrading and unforgivable things to human beings. But we will never, ever, ever change this world that we live in if we do not change ourselves. If we do not change the way we treat one another on a daily basis. The way we change the world is not to elect another president, not to kill a hundred more people. The way we change the world is that we change the way we treat one another on a daily basis, in the simplest ways. We must start treating every human being with dignity and respect, and this is the only thing that will change the world.”
Madonna asked for a moment of silence for the victims and their families, telling the emotional crowd: “Here’s what I know how to do, and I hope that you will join me and that we will all sing this prayer together.”
A tear-stained Madonna completed the show by performing “Like a Prayer.”
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