Foreclosures are spiking. Mortgages are underwater. Families are still recovering from the recession. And the guys responsible for it are making record profits.
Settlement after settlement, Jamie Dimon and his Wall Street cronies have sweet-talked prosecutors into no-criminal prosecution settlements for reckless market manipulation. And millions of Americans are left sitting out in the cold while the bad guys get away with it, while the media looks the other way.
The music video parody of Rihanna’s “Diamonds,” “Shine Bright, Jamie Dimon” is a critique of JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and the $13 billion settlement with the Department of Justice over the bank’s role in the 2008 financial collapse. Coming out the same day as Dimon’s viral Christmas card, the video provides a marked contrast to Dimon’s view of himself.
The video is from American Family Voices, a group founded in 2000 to be a strong voice for middle class and working class families on economic, health care, and consumer issues.
"This video is our answer to those politicians, regulators, and prosecutors who think the Wall Street masters of the universe should be coddled", said Mike Lux, President of AFV. "Instead of treating them with kid gloves and kindness, the arrogance of Jamie Dimon should be poked, parodied, and prosecuted."
The producer, lyricist, singer, and star of the video is AFV's Creative Director Lauren Windsor, who noted, "The $13 billion settlement with Chase by the Department of Justice is not a win for the people-- it is a pittance compared to the penalty the banks deserve to pay for their role in crashing the economy, and much of it will in fact, be shouldered by taxpayers. My driving motivation in creating this video was to express outrage at the utter failure of the government to hold the finance industry accountable for what is clearly criminal behavior."
Lux concluded by noting that the video was done in the spirit of the Christmas story. "Jesus' mother Mary, shortly before he was born, said that her son's birth would mean 'He has used the power of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly. He has filled the starving with good things, and sent the rich away empty.' In this season of Christmas, it is time to pull Jamie Dimon and the other princes of Wall Street from their thrones, and break up the Too Big To Fail or Jail banks. Our present to Dimon today as he sends out his holiday card is to remind him that even the wealthy and powerful will someday need to shed their arrogance."
AFV is also launching a new online petition to break up the big banks. Click here to view and sign the petition.
