Michel Franti has written a new song and released a video in response to the decision by the Staten Island grand jury not to move forward with formal charges against New York City Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo following the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Franti tells Relix:

“Same As It Ever Was (Start Today)” is an emotional response to the grief, anger and utter bewilderment I felt after the Grand Jury elected not to indict any of the police officers after the killing of Eric Garner. Like many Americans I was in a state of disbelief and this song and video was the way I channeled those feelings.

I wrote the song on December 6th in Miami when the news of the Garner case was rolling out. Flew to LA on the 8th to record the strings and Agape Church choir, mixed and mastered the song, shot half the video In LA, flew to SF to shoot the rest, stayed up 2 nights in a row editing the video and got it up as soon as we could.

My intention for the song was to give voice to feelings that many of us are going through right now and to offer a starting place for friends, family, school classes and workplaces to have dialog about the issues surrounding police killing of unarmed African American men, police/community relations, the justice system and where we all go in the future.

The song is not an indictment against all police officers or departments. I have friends, fans and family members who are honest, fair, hardworking people who do a job everyday that’s much more difficult than mine, where quick decisions are made that affect people life, death and freedoms.