Madonna Is Taking a Stand Against Gun Violence in Her Music Video for ‘God Control’

Madonna is using her platform to highlight the urgency that’s needed to deal with gun violence. In her latest music video, for her Madame X track “God Control,” the pop icon is sending a message that the world needs to “wake up” and make some real changes towards stricter gun control.

“Everybody knows the damn truth,” she tweeted, while sharing the new Jonas Åkerlund-helmed visual. “Its time to wake up.”

For Madonna, the issue isn’t just a national crisis; it’s a personal one. “I send my children to school with the same fear every mother in this era has,” she told People, referring to her six-year-old twins Estere and Stella, 13-year-old Mercy, 13-year-old David, 18-year-old Rocco and 22-year-old Lourdes. “As a mother, you feel protective and responsible for all of the children in the world. It’s really scary to me that the once-safe spaces where we gather, worship and learn are targets. Nobody’s safe. So of course, as a mother, I acutely feel the worry… Every time I go out to a public gathering, I think about it,” she says. “When my kids go to school, I think about it. It’s kind of crazy. Every time there is a gathering of any sort, there’s a possibility that this might happen. It’s a crazy state of mind to be living in. It seems like it’s some kind of futuristic action film, but it’s our reality.”

The intention behind the video, Madonna says, is so that “people see that no one is safe — not even themselves.” “I made this video because I want to draw attention to a crisis that needs to be addressed,” she explained. “To me, this is the biggest problem in America right now. I cannot take it anymore.”

As for the video, which contains graphic imagery of shootings, it ends with a distraught Madonna placing her hand over her head while tears stream down her face. Cut to the words “wake up” and the Dr. Angela Davis quote, “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”

“Wake up and insist on common-sense gun safety legislation,” Madonna tweeted after releasing the video. “Innocent lives depend on it. Join me in supporting the following organizations: @Everytown @AMarch4OurLives @GAGnoguns @sandyhook @HRC @TheTaskForce @TransEquality @NCADV @1Pulse4America @SUPGVNetwork @MPJInstitute.”