(NEW YORK, NY) / GLOBE NEWSWIRE -- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) rocked New York City's Town Hall on October 24, 2022 with their 20th Annual Sing Out For Freedom benefit concert. The event was co-hosted by the hilarious Busy Philipps and Sarah Jones. The evening featured performances and appearances by singer/songwriter Desmond Child (Bon Jovi, Katy Perry, Aerosmith), Academy Award nominee Siedah Garrett (Michael Jackson, Dreamgirls), and a special performance by Rock N’ Roll Hall of Famer, National Book Award-winning author, poet, and music icon Patti Smith, who was also one of the evenings honorees.
Tom Hanks made a surprise appearance to present an award to honoree, Padma Lakshmi (Taste the Nation, Top Chef, and Tomatoes for Neela), Emmy-nominated food expert, television host, executive producer and The New York Times best-selling author; The 20th Anniversary event also honored singer, composer, and musician Shaina Taub; and music icon Patti Smith.
The benefit concert was established to shine a light on social injustices and civil rights issues through an unforgettable, curated night, featuring song, spoken word, and other performing arts. Other performers and presenters of the evening included comedian Alex Edelman (Just For Us), 2022 Tony-Nominee Shoshana Bean, comedian Roy Wood Jr. (The Daily Show with Trevor Noah), Tony-nominated actor Ato Blankson-Wood (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Slave Play), performer and founder of Broadway For Racial Justice Brandon Michael Nase, Kayla Davion (TINA: The Tina Turner Musical), singer and co-founder of the Sing Out For Freedom concert Liana Stampur, actor/writer/advocate Maybe Burke, actor Tomás Matos (Fire Island), and America’s Got Talent choir sensation Sing Harlem.
The evening also featured special performances from the cast of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony winning Broadway Musical, A Strange Loop, Roundabout Theatre Company’s current Broadway revival of 1776, and the cast of Broadway's Moulin Rouge.
This year's show reflected on the past 20 years of historic wins for the ACLU and NYCLU and strategized for the road ahead.
Sing Out For Freedom, was co-founded by Liana Stampur and Erich Bergen along with NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the work of the NYCLU and the ACLU to promote and protect civil rights and liberties in New York and across the country.
The 20th Annual Sing Out for Freedom benefit concert was produced by Erich Bergen, Michael J. Moritz Jr. and Ari Conte, with Direction by Erich Bergen.
The New York Civil Liberties Union is one of the nation’s foremost defenders of civil liberties and civil rights. Founded in 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, the NYCLU is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization with nine offices, including seven regional offices and 155,000 members across the state. We work to ensure that the core values and principles of equality, liberty and due process are more fully and consistently realized in the lives of all New Yorkers. In pursuit of these principles we fight for the dignity of all people, with particular attention to the pervasive and persistent harms of racism.
PHOTOS BY Dan Bassini
