Great Caesar

Brooklyn-based band Great Caesar are turning heads across the country after releasing a powerful music video this week.
The video for the band's newly released equality anthem "Don't Ask Me Why" is a portrayal of the agonizing struggle of three imagined couples who contend with hatred and abuse from friends and family unsupportive of their interracial or homosexual relationships. Its hopeful ending has inspired thousands of viewers to share the video with friends on social media.
Since premiering on Upworthy at the start of MLK day, the music video for "Don't Ask Me Why" has racked up more than 80,000 views on YouTube in less than 48 hours. Great Caesar trumpet player Tom Sikes tells us the message o the video is that "all people deserve to be able to love who they want to love" -- and that message has resonated with heavy-hitting viewers like Russell Simmons, Wyclef Jean and Arsenio Hall, who all shared the video on Twitter as a fitting tribute to King's legacy.
Sikes says supportive emails and tweets have poured in faster than the band's six members -- all of whom work full-time jobs -- can read them. Sikes and his band have built a modest following playing a unique brand of jazz-inspired rock to audiences at venues like Webster Hall, Mercury Lounge and the Knitting Factory in recent years, and they're not used to all of the newfound attention. - Aaron Flack

Does love really conquer all? How does love, for example, triumph over homophobia and racism? Great Caesar premiered its new music video for "Don't Ask Me Why" on Upworthy today, and the band gave us answers to those questions and more in a powerful new video.

The music video introduces the audience to three young couples. The first is a mixed race couple that falls in love in the segregated America of the mid-twentieth century. The other couples -- who are also dating outside of their races -- experience what it is like to navigate high school and home life while being gay.

"Don't Ask Me Why" is a beautiful testament to the power of love, but it is also a jarring reminder of the potential consequences of expressing that love. A group of white males beats the young black male with a baseball bat, the football player is harassed and beat by his teammates, and one young woman is kicked out of her home after revealing to her parents that she is in a relationship with another girl.

We won't spoil the ending for you, but we recommend that you grab some tissues. - Claire Biggs in Bullying Sucks, LGBTQ, Music

Any way we could make this mandatory viewing for everyone who thinks other people need their approval on who they fall in love with? - Adam Albright-Hanna