Proceeds from New Song to Help AmVets After NFL Rejection

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2018
CONTACT
Greg Stielstra
greg.stielstra@gmail.com
615-812-3821
Franklin, TN
​


Nashville songwriter to donate proceeds from new song to AmVets
to help compensate for the NFL’s rejection of its Super Bowl ad

Greg Stielstra announced today that he will donate proceeds from sales of his song I Stand to the AmVets national headquarters. Donations will include all revenue generated by sales through iTunes between January 29 and February 28, 2018.

Stielstra wrote and produced the song hoping it would help resolve NFL anthem protests, but saw an opportunity to help servicemen and women when the NFL rejected the fundraising ad AmVets planned to run in the Super Bowl program.

“I had other plans for the song, but called an audible. I thought it was unfair of the NFL to allow its players to kneel for the anthem, but reject the AmVets ad politely asking people to #PleaseStand,” Stielstra said, “Especially when that ad was designed to raise funds for vets.  I thought, maybe my song could help AmVets spread its message encouraging folks to stand while also raising a little money for their organization too.”

Sung by Michael Lusk and featuring a who’s who of Nashville studio musicians, the song pays tribute to military veterans in the first verse and civil rights pioneers in the second verse while making the point that standing for the anthem honors everyone who sacrificed for American values like equality, liberty and justice for all. 

Listen to I Stand on SoundCloud
Watch the I Stand lyric video on YouTube
Buy I Stand on iTunes
Learn more at the I Stand website


Greg Stielstra is a patriotic American, Green Bay Packers fan, marketing guy, author, songwriter and Nashville’s worst guitarist. He and his family live in Franklin, TN.



Popular posts from this blog

The I Stand Super Bowl Challenge

The Super Bowl is the largest spectacle of the year. 100+ million people around the world will be watching. NBC said it will televise any players that disrespect the anthem. Will players use the platform to celebrate their commitment to American values of equality, liberty and justice for all by standing for the anthem? Will they honor both military veterans and civil rights pioneers by placing their hand over their heart? Or, will they continue to divide our nation and alienate their fans by refusing to stand? I'd like to know. So let's ask. Super Bowl participants will be decided in the conference championship games January 21st. Once we know who's playing, I'd like fans to tweet every player on both teams with a message like this. "When you stand for the anthem you honor military vets AND civil rights pioneers while calling all Americans to the values of equality and justice.  Will you stand for the anthem Super Bowl Sunday? If you will, tweet #IStand....
Read more

Ways You Can Help

Image
Do More Than Stand. Take Steps. Do you wish NFL players stood for the national anthem?  Are you sad that their protest makes it seem patriotism and social justice are at odds when they're not?  Wish you could do something about it?  You can. Here are ways you can promote I Stand and its message. 1. Share the I Stand lyric video on your social media.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh9tUn1Q-2U 2.  Like and then SHARE the I Stand Song Facebook page. 3. Send an email to your contacts telling them about I Stand.  Invite them to visit the website at  https://istandsong.blogspot.com/ to hear the song, watch the music video and learn more. 4. Buy a copy of the song, give it to your local high school and suggest they play it during pregame warm ups before sporting events as a reminder to stand when the anthem is played. It's available on iTunes.  http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1332181131?ls=1&app=itunes 5. Share the link to b...
Read more

IF THE NFL WANTS RACIAL HARMONY, IT SHOULD SING ONE ANTHEM

Image
The National Football League’s decision to play a “Black National Anthem” before its first regular season game is a mistake that will worsen the racial tensions it seeks to relieve. Playing two anthems reinforces the idea that people with darker skin are different from “the rest of us.” So different, in fact, that “they” need “their own” anthem. Will the NFL introduce separate drinking fountains next? The league’s plan resurrects Jim Crow, a racial caste system that civil rights leaders fought and died to end and which the Supreme Court finally corrected with the reminder that “annoyances, some petty and some substantial, almost inevitably accompany segregation.” Worse yet, an unintended consequence of a “Black National Anthem” is that it hands a convenient argument to racists. If race justifies accommodation, then it can be used to justify discrimination as well. YOU CAN'T UNITE BY DIVIDING In 1968, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, a third-grade teacher...
Read more