Monthly Archives: May 2007

"Right To Return": Tavis Gives A Week Of Tee Vee Time To Katrina

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

 

Congrats to Tavis Smiley and Jonathan Demme for doing the right thing. Necessary viewing this week.

KQED/Channel 9
CHANNEL 9 -San Francisco, San Jose (Bay Area) 1:00 am PBS
May 10, 2007
CONTACT: Joel Brokaw (310) 273-2060, Laurel Lambert (323) 953-5246

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“TAVIS SMILEY” ON PBS DEVOTES ONE WEEK OF PROGRAMMING TO JONATHAN DEMME’S STIRRING DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE ON POST-KATRINA NEW ORLEANS, AIRING NATIONWIDE ON PBS

Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme is joining forces with PBS’s Tavis Smiley to present a unique week-long series on post-Katrina New Orleans called “Right to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower 9th Ward.”

The series consists of “portrait” documentaries filmed in New Orleans over the course of 2006, leading into January of this year. The five short films chart the efforts of a disparate group of New Orleanians who braved unimaginable adversity after the floods of 2005 in an attempt to reclaim their homes, their neighborhoods – primarily in the Lower 9th Ward – and their shattered lives and livelihoods. The residents presented in the unfolding seasonal format include teachers, ministers, a retired chef, volunteer workers, the owner of the legendary “Mother-In-Law Lounge,” librarians, and workers from all walks of life.

“Right to Return” will air nightly for a week, beginning Monday, May 28th on the “Tavis Smiley” late-night PBS program – seen on over 200 PBS affiliates nationwide.

“This American story of lives lost, souls shattered and uncommon courage must be told, even though the waters have subsided,” stated Tavis Smiley. “I’m pleased and honored to have the opportunity alongside an iconic director and producer like Jonathan Demme to tell that story.”

“This is an extremely personal project for me,” stated Jonathan Demme. “We started filming four months after the floods. I felt drawn, as an American filmmaker, to contribute somehow to the audio-visual record of what these people were going through in their heroic efforts to jump start their lives in the face of this epic, tragic event. I wanted to be a part of getting these stories out, and I am so thrilled and proud to be doing so with Tavis Smiley.”

Demme added, “It’s really wonderful that Tavis Smiley is providing a window into the lives of these amazing people – the spirituality, courage, imagination, tenacity, and humor that fuels their commitment to restore their homes is truly inspiring and moving to me.”

Each night, Demme will join Smiley on location to set up the portraits and introduce the people featured in each episode. The main individuals profiled will have the opportunity at the end of each program to give an update on how their lives have changed since the floods that devastated their homes in the fall of 2005.

Norman Lear, who is a major sponsor of the Demme films, said of the PBS broadcast of “Tavis Smiley,” “The New Orleanians presented on the shows represent the best we as human beings are capable of.”

The segments feature original music scores by Barry Eastmond, Donald Harrison Jr., James McBride and Steve Elson. Additional music is provided by Algerian violinist Djamel Ben Yelles, Ernie K-Doe, and others.

Jonathan Demme won an Oscar as best director in the 1991 film “Silence of the Lambs,” and a Gotham award for his documentary “The Agronomist” in 2005. He has previously made several documentaries on Haiti as well as portrait films on Nelson Mandela and Robert Castle.

The full-length film version of “Right to Return,” produced by Demme with Daniel Wolff and Abdul Franklin, is expected to be released theatrically later this year.

“Tavis Smiley” on PBS is produced by the The Smiley Group Inc./TS Media Inc. in association with KCET/Hollywood. Underwriting for “Tavis Smiley” on PBS is provided by Toyota, Wal-Mart and PBS. Additional funding for “Right to Return” is provided by the Lear Family Foundation. For more information, visit http://www.pbs.org/tavissmiley .
http://www.tavistalks.com .

Directed by Jonathan Demme
Produced by Jonathan Demme, Daniel Wolff, and Abdul Franklin
Executive Producers
Neda Armian and Lisa Hepner
Tavis Smiley and Neal Kendall (for “Tavis Smiley” on PBS)
Original music by Barry Eastmond, Donald Harrison Jr., Steve Elson and James McBride
Additional music by Djamel Ben Yelles, Ernie K-Doe, Christian Scott, and The Young Guardians of the Flame
A Clinica Estetico Production

The Audiobiography of Askia Muhammad

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

 

Veteran multimedia journalist Askia Muhammad has done something extraordinary. Over the last few years, he’s somehow gotten Soundprint, the nation’s premier public radio documentary series, to “publish” his autobiography, an audio chapter at a time.

Together these programs form a well-told mosaic of a life, filled with sound and soul.

Congrats, Askia, on this great and significant accomplishment.

Kalamu Is Contributor To New Book On Katrina And Race

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

 

From Kalamu, by Kalamu (partially).

Dear Friends and Allies,

South End Press has just released a powerful new anthology of post-Katrina writing called “WHAT LIES BENEATH: Katrina, Race, and the State of The Nation.”

The book features a new piece I wrote about race, reconstruction, and community organizing in New Orleans post-Katrina, as well as several excellent contributions by an impressive and inspiring array of writers, poets, teachers and organizers.

I will be participating in two book release events in the next few weeks—one in New York City, and one in New Orleans. For those of you in one of those cities, I hope you’ll come out. See below for more details on the events, and on the book.

In solidarity,

Jordan

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WHAT LIES BENEATH:
Katrina, Race, and the State of The Nation
edited by the South End Press collective, afterword by Joy James

New York City Book Release Event
Thursday, May 24, 7:00PM
Discussion on Katrina, Race and Resistance, featuring Jordan Flaherty and Eric Tang. (see below for bios) Presentation will also include new video from New Orleans.
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington :: 212.777.6028
http://www.bluestockings.com/

New Orleans Book Release Event
Friday, June 8, 6:00PM
Panel and discussion, featuring contributing authors Kalamu Ya Salaam, Mayaba Liebenthal, and Jordan Flaherty.
Community Book Center
2523 Bayou Rd (near Broad and Esplanade) (504) 948-7323

“We who live below the water line have no choice. Our first priority is to survive. Our second priority is to struggle. Our ultimate responsibility is to win. Survive. Struggle. Win. This book is a record of these efforts.”

—Kalamu Ya Salaam, from the Introduction

More about the book:

With an eye toward community organizing and radical scholarship, this accessible anthology is both a people’s history and a collective vision for the future of New Orleans.

Contributors include: Kalamu Ya Salaam, Charmaine Neville, INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, Jordan Flaherty, Suheir Hammad, Common Ground, and Lewis Lapham.

“What Lies Beneath” rests on the premise that Hurricane Katrina mirrors with terrible poignancy the state of a nation—a damning and bitterly accurate portrait of everyday life in America. Despite a chorus of claims to the contrary, Hurricane Katrina was not an equal opportunity disaster. Its asymmetrical impact on people’s lives vis-a-vis their relative place within the matrix of oppression cannot be denied. If your life was hard before the hurricane, it was exponentially harder during and after the storm—and remains so up to this day. For those who suffer daily the existing, pervasive, and insidious social inequities that are the US reality, Katrina was not an anomaly. It was simply business as usual.

“‘What Lies Beneath’ will keep us thinking for a long time about what happened, why it happened, and provoke us to examine honestly the nature of the society in which we live.”
— Howard Zinn, author, “A People’s History of the United States”

“‘What Lies Beneath’ tells the real story of those abandoned to face Hurricane Katrina, and reveals the people’s uprising that provided shelter, aid, and comfort where there would be none.”
—Jeff Chang, author, “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop”

About the authors/presenters:

Mayaba Liebenthal is a Black feminist, anarchist, human rights advocate and community organizer committed to creating projects/institutions that support self-determined and sustainable community development.

Kalamu Ya Salaam is a poet, writer, editor, teacher, filmmaker, arts administrator and co-director of Students at the Center, an independent writing program that works within New Orleans public high schools.

Eric Tang was Associate Director at CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, serving as a community organizer in the refugee neighborhoods of the Bronx, New York. The author of numerous essays and articles on Southeast Asian refugee politics, community activism, and social movement theory, Tang teaches at the Worker Education Center of CUNY. Eric’s writing in ColorLines Magazine shared a journalism award from New America Media for best Katrina-related coverage in the Ethnic press.

Jordan Flaherty is a writer and community organizer based in New Orleans. He is an editor of Left Turn magazine and has written about politics and culture for The Village Voice, New York Press, Labor Notes, Radical Society, and in several books. Jordan’s articles from the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina have appeared in periodicals around the world, including Die Zeit in Germany, Clarin in Argentina, Juventude Rebelde in Cuba, Red Pepper in England, and many more. His writing in ColorLines magazine shared a journalism award from New America Media for best Katrina-related coverage in the Ethnic press.

For more information or to purchase a copy of “What Lies Beneath,” click here.

A portion of the proceeds from What Lies Beneath will be donated to The People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition.

Are YOU "America's Next Black Leader?"

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

 

In this media-saturated culture, is there anybody really surprised by this?  🙂 I wish I had posted this before the deadline had passed. At least folks can still participate in the dialogue.

From Playahata.com.

America’s Next Black Leader (The Reality Series):
Comin’ For that #1 Spot

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott

Ya’ll been eatin’ long enough now stop bein’ greedy/
Just keep it real partna, give to the needy/
Grips are touchin, don’t make me wait/
Mess around I’m gonna bite you and snatch the plate/

–“Stop Being Greedy,” -DMX

If you get a room full of Black folks together to talk about the condition of our community, you can bet that the hottest topic of the evening will be “what the
heck is wrong with Black leadership?” Many would probably argue that all Black leaders need to be but put on the unemployment line, quick fast and in a hurry. But at the end of the night, the question is, if all the high profile Black leaders packed up and moved to a small island in the South Pacific, then what? Who would take their places? Who you gonna call when you get fired from your job at Mickie Dee’s for jackin’ up a customer for callin’ you the “N” word because his fries were too greasy. Who you gonna call when lil Tyrone gets expelled from school for tellin’ Mrs. Horowitz that Columbus Day is a ***** lie and ole Abe Lincoln really didn’t free no ***** slaves!
After all the complaining, you can best believe that if you ask for volunteers to step up and solve the 99 problems facing every Brotha and Sista in America, you will hear a pin drop….

That is why we are starting the first youtube.com reality series “America’s Next Black Leader.” If you aren’t satisfied with the current condition of Black leadership then “you” have the opportunity to become
America’s next Black leader.
http://www.youtube.com/nextblackleader

Many of us truly believe that we need a regime change at the top. Real talk, how many more times do you really want to see “Count Coolout” show up to accept the apology of a racist bigot on behalf of 12 million angry Black folks. How many more conferences do we really want to see on C-SPAN with the same ole folks whinin’ about the same things that they were whinin’
about since before your mom’s was born?

At some point, the testimony that “I marched with Dr. King” stops being a badge of honor and becomes a strong indicator that you need to sit down somewhere.
Based on the condition of the Black community, our movement is sick but instead of the doctor suggesting that the heads of the movement retire, he just
prescribes some “Civil Rights Viagra” so they can keep marchin’, singin’ and prayin’ till the cows come home…

Don’t get me wrong, I am not disrespecting those of the Civil Rights era but they really don’t seem to be reachin’ this “Hip Hop Generation.” And since some of today’s hottest rappers are now knockin’ on 40’s door, if you ask a young Brotha about dissin’ the elders watch him say “I do respect the elders, …Jay Z’s my dawg!!!”

Times have changed and the idea of a multi millionaire rap artist in 2007, riding a round in a $1000,000 luxury jeep blasting “WE Shall Overcome, one day” just seems kind oxymoronic…

Although many hate to admit it, the NAACP has been in need of a drastic make over for decades. Excuse my language but that group has been a perfect candidate for “Pimp My Civil Rights Organization” for years…

And although the old guard Civil Rights leader’s always challenge the young folks with the cliche, “No one is going to hand you the mantle of leadership, you have to take it” you can believe that if you ever got
close enough to lay a finger on the scepter, they would be hollerin’ for security!

While age may be an issue, it is really about old ideas that need an update and just because a new face comes along, it does not mean that he/she will effectively deal with issues disproportionately affecting Black folks…Even Obama, with his message
of “one America inclusiveness” has yet to prove when it comes down to it, will he rep the Hamptons or tha hood , Harvard or Howard, high dollar estates or high
rise tenement buildings…

But the question remains, although you may be able to stand on your soapbox and complain about Black leaders, can you do any better? On the surface, being a Black leader seems to be a cool job. Look at the fringe benefits, wearing thousand dollar suits, riding around in stretch limos and rubbin’ elbows with the rich and famous. But leading Black people ain’t no picnic. Can you imagine having hundreds of angry Black folks blowin’ up your Blackberry, everyday, with their personal problems. Just think about that lady that sits next to you at work and her Monday morning drama. Now, multiply that by a thousand…Get the visual???

But if you feel that you are sharper than Sharpton, bring more action than Jackson and create more drama than Obama, this is what we need you to do…Go to
http://www.youtube.com/group/nextblackleader and upload a video of yourself explaining what you would do as America’s next Black leader. You can post a speech, rap, poem or better yet, a video of you actually doing things in the community which you
believe a real Black leader should do. People across the country will vote by “favoriting” who the next Black leader should be on youtube. The winner will be announced April 4, 2007, the anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Now, I know some of ya’ll are saying that you don’t have the time to upload videos and stuff , but if you could take time to upload that video of Tina tha Tacky Stripper for that new BET reality show “Hot Ghetto Mess,” then you should have no problem taking part in “America’s Next Black Leader.” But even if you can’t post a video, you can participate in the discussion section.

It’s 2007, Brothers and Sisters and we don’t need another “Hot Ghetto Mess,” we need Black leadership at its best.

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott represents the Messianic Afrikan Nation in Durham NC. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283.

For more info about “America’s Next Black Leader,” go to nextblackleader@yahoo.com .

Independent Audio/Video You Should Check Out (Eleventh In A Long-Running Series)

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

But first, a little text.

Hip-Hop and the Corporate Function of Colonization

Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.

Green Institute Communications Fellow

Having elsewhere looked at the function of mass media as primary mechanisms of the maintenance of colony, recent events have again emerged requiring further investigation into the function of corporate control over the cultural expression of colonized populations. Though not specific to hip-hop the example as explored through that most popular of cultural expressions may help to make more clear the imperative of organization and political struggle in 2007. Within the last few weeks alone we have seen recent decisions and trends evolve demonstrating the intent and need among those in power to further ensure that mass media will perform its primary (only?) function of manipulating popular consciousness for the purpose of manipulating behavior of the audience (victims). These developments can only be understood in the context of a continuing process of subjugation in which media play a primary role in suppressing dissent.

Click here for the entire article

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VOXUNION MEDIA
voxunion.com
FreeMix Radio
May 28, 2007

A special statement and call to action regarding the Copyright Royalty Board, copyright law and intellectual property rights as they relate to a lock down of our cultural expression and thought. The recent ruling of the Copyright Royalty Board threatens to further limit our ability to communicate freely. The decision has already caused VOXUNION MEDIA to cease our online archive of our Pacifica Network radio show here in Washington, DC, threatens to force into bankruptcy roughly 85% of all internet radio stations and continues to demonstrate the importance and necessity of FreeMix Radio: The Original Mixtape Radio Show. Click here to listen to our special report/announcement regarding this concern. Stream options and more available at voxunion.com.

VOXUNION MEDIA
voxunion.com
FreeMix Radio
May 10, 2007

We sat down with Dedrick Muhammad of the Institute for Policy Studies to talk about the Black/White Wealth Divide. Click here for this first of an on-going series where we look at the actual economic condition of African America and how this relates, is essential to, the political economy of the United States. Stream options and more available at voxunion.com.

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VOXUNION MEDIA
Jazz & Justice
WPFW 89.3 FM wpfw.org (live stream)

April 16, 2007

Today we discussed DC Emancipation Day and its international implications with our guests Rick and Michelle Tingling-Clemens. We also heard music from Gil Scott Heron, Jayne Cortez, DJ EuRok, NYOIL, Head-Roc, Eddie Kane, Freddie Hubbard and more. We also heard clips from Dr. James Turner of the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University. Here’s the first part, and here’s the second. Visit voxunion.com for the stream/download options and much more.

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VOXUNION MEDIA
Jazz & Justice
WPFW 89.3 FM Washington, DC
wpfw.org
Mondays 1-3p EST

This week was part 2 of our tribute to Malcolm X and part 1 of our two-week pledge drive.  We were joined in studio by Dr. Todd Burroughs as we paid homage to Malcolm and Mumia Abu-Jamal all the while spinning music from Wu-Tang Clan, Archie Shepp, Mos Def, Vijay Iyer, Nex Millen and more.  We also aired rarely heard audio from the documentary “Brother Minister” and speeches on Malcolm X and his image by Amiri Baraka and Dhoruba Bin-Wahad.  Download the show by clicking the links here and/or visit voxunion.com for stream options and much more. 

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VOXUNION MEDIA
Jazz & Justice
WPFW 89.3 FM Mondays 1-3p EST
wpfw.org

This week we conclude our portion of the pledge drive. Thank you all for your support. But we did this in style. Head-Roc joined the show to donate his Negrophobia album as a thank you gift and we chopped it up with his music and that of Archie Shepp, Killer Mike, Charles Mingus, Asheru, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and much more. We talked about the Black Power movement and mass media, Black “leadership,” DC’s underrepresented views of war protest, the music industry and more. Click to download parts 1 and 2and visit voxunion.com for stream/download options, show archives and much more.

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VOXUNION MEDIA
FreeMix Radio
March 21, 2007

The Hip-Hop Caucus Launches its Make Hip-Hop Not War Tour

Reverend Lennox Yearwood and the Hip-Hop Caucus was in DC this week to launch their “Make Hip-Hop Not War” tour.  FreeMix Radio was there and caught up with some of the artists involved, including Head-Roc, Hasan Salaam, DJ Chela, A Alikes, ReadNex Poetry Squad and Akir.  For more, visit hiphopcaucus.org. 

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VOXUNION MEDIA
Jazz & Justice
WPFW 89.3 FM Mondays 1-3p (EST)
wpfw.org

This week we completed our winter pledge drive by having a discussion of political organizing with Bill Fletcher.  We also played portions of an interview with Soffiyah Elijah and Claude Marks of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights who are currently working to free the eight former Black Panthers arrested in January on 35 year-old charges.  We also heard music from Head-Roc, Charles Mingus, Pharaoh Sanders, Amina and Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Mos Def and more.  To download the show, click here and here and visit voxunion.com for much more, including the latest from Roots Revolution. That show paid tribute to Burning Spear and honored Woman’s History Month by airing words from Angela Davis.

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VOXUNION MEDIA
FreeMix Radio: The Original Mixtape Radio Show (FM9)

FM9 is here! The mixtape as emancipatory journalism is hitting the streets but we do make an online version available for download here and at www.voxunion.com, where you can get both the stream and download options.

Track List/Liner Notes
1. Cartman declares a race war
2. Kidnap the President’s Wife – Shout to DJ Jaheye and Hello… My Name is Capitalism (the mixtape).
3. Wack Media Takeover – a mix from the Borough to Borough mixtape by DJs Al Dente and Cut Chemist
4. NIGGERS! and X-Clan’s Black Boot Stompin’ followed by part one of our East of the River interviews on the Iraq war and war protest in DC
5. That’s Life – Killer Mike
6. Claude Marks and Soffiyah Elijah of Center for the Defense of Human Rights (cdhrsupport.org) talk about the San Francisco 8 and the re-arrest of Black Panthers to suppress political dissent and rebellion
7. Classic – KRS-One and Rakim
8. Part two of the East of the River interviews and specifically the treatment of young Black people by the police in DC
9. Public Service Announcement remix – Omekongo and D’Mite
This is a dope go-go influenced remix of Jay-Z’s classic but with a very different content
10. V is for Vendetta – Everyone should see this film a nd understand the context of this track
11. Black Power and Media – Head-Roc and The Funkinest Journalist explain the historical relationship between mass media and Black struggle. This is a clip from “Jazz and Justice,” which airs on WPFW 89.3 FM every Monday from 1-3p and is archived at voxunion.com
12. L.A. – Murs – Murs is just nice.
13. Media “Reform” – comments from the National Conference on Media Reform and why Black and Latino people need to be more involved in the production of media and in media criticism. Voices include Oriana Bolden and Rosa Clemente.
14. I’m Him – NEW! – Wise Intelligent
15. Black World Imagery – more from Jazz and Justice this time with Michelle Stephens and Suzette Gardner during our tribute to Bob Marley talk about the construction of Black image.
16. Jesse Jackson is not the emperor of Black people! – Napolean’s Dynamite – Mos Def
17. Class and Black Women – part of an old FreeMix interview with Elaine Brown former head of the Black Panther Party.
18. Payola – Paul Porter of IndustryEars.com talks about the latest in payola
19. Mind is Free – NEW! – Hasan Salaam. More great music from this unheralded emcee.
20. Martha’s Table Teen Program – an interview with Tim Jones and his work with DC youth.
21. Who Shot Rudy? – Screwball gets in trouble for making a song that talks about a dream that Rudy Giuliani gets shot. You can shoot Black people, smack women, pimp, sell dope and all that but don’t get it twisted into thinking we are free. It was all a dream…
22. Modern Day Slavery – Joell Ortiz and Immortal Technique – We’re Young Lords!
23. Outro and contact information
24. Whites Win!

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Amos Wilson

James Turner

VOXUNION MEDIA
Jazz and Justice
March 26, 2007
WPFW 89.3 FM Mondays 1-3p EST

This week we heard from Drs. Amos Wilson and James Turner and 
community thoughts on yet another “nigger!” incident.  This plus music from legendary DC poet Face, Naima Jamal, new KRS-One, Gil Scott-Heron, The Coup and more.  Download the show here and here or visit voxunion.com for stream/download options and much more.

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Jazz and Justice
April 2, 2007
WPFW 89.3 FM Mondays 1-3p EST
wpfw.org

This week we were joined by Obi Egbuna of the Pan-African Liberation Organization and Head-Roc for a discussion of Zimbabwe and pan-Africanism. We also heard from Kwame Ture plus music from John Coltrane, Dead-Prez, Roy Ayers, Sonny Fortune, Bob Marley, The Coup and more. To download click here and here and visit voxunion.com for stream/download options and more.

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! Words, Beats and Life/Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture has launched its new website. Educators in need of a great hip-hop-based teaching tool and those looking to expand their own horizons will find this, the original hip-hop academic journal, to be a powerful resource.

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VOXUNION MEDIA
Jazz and Justice
WPFW 89.3 FM Washington, DC
Mondays 1-3p EST
Live Online wpfw.org

This week we celebrated the Spring Equinox (some call it “passover” or “easter”) and the birthday of Paul Robeson.  We heard music from John Coltrane, The Els featuring Asheru, Julius Hemphill, Oscar Peterson, KRS-One, Charles Earland, Common and Alice Coltrane.  The celebration included a look at the African origins of major Western religion by Charles Finch and Brother Tehuti.  All this plus the world premier of “Heru Walks,” a remix of Kanye’s original, by Kasba.  Download the show here and here and visit voxunion.com for the stream/download options and much more.

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VOXUNION MEDIA
Jazz & Justice
WPFW 89.3 FM wpfw.org (live stream)
April 16, 2007

Today we discussed DC Emancipation Day and its international implications with our guests Rick and Michelle Tingling-Clemens.  We also heard music from Gil Scott Heron, Jayne Cortez, DJ EuRok, NYOIL, Head-Roc, Eddie Kane, Freddie Hubbard and more.  We also heard clips from Dr. James Turner of the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University.  Download the clips here and here and visit voxunion.com for the stream/download options and much more.

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VOXUNION MEDIA
Jazz and Justice
WPFW 89.3FM Pacifica Radio Washington, DC
Mondays 1-3p EST (wpfw.org live stream)

This week Lisa Fager of Industry Ears and students from the University of Maryland joined the show to talk about their research monitoring commercial hip-hop radio.  We heard music from The Welfare Poets, Hugh Masekela, Abbey Lincoln, ReadNex, Fertile Ground, Immortal Technique, A Tribe Called Quest, Eric Dolphy and much more. 

We also heard from Dr. Greg Kimanthi Carr and portions of his remarks at this week’s conference of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilization (ASCAC).  Download the show here and here and visit voxunion.com for stream/download options plus much more.

So Here's What We Know (I Think) About "Smallville"'s Next Season……..

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

1) Lana’s not dead. She pulled a David Copperfield, and got into that vehicle that was passing by her car.

(Aside: Folks on the Web LOVE to hate Lana. But she’s too beautiful to hate. 🙂 )

2) Chloe will either be dead, alive or dead-but-a-permanent-part-of-Lois. And wouldn’t the third be crazy??? From the very beginning, some rabid “Smallville” fans have been theorizing that somehow Chloe would morph into Lois. Erica Durance joining the show killed that idea……until now. Hmmm……..  🙂 I love Chloe, but her essence transfer would be a “solution” to the problem of her on this show—taking up Lois’ historic space. And it would give this Lois a boost in the attributes and characteristics she needs to be a proper part of the Superman mythos.

3) Lionel’s not dead. Just knocked out.

4) Clark will find a way to kick Bizarro‘s ass, and he won’t put on a costume to do it.

 5) This was a strong ending to a weak season.

May 18th UPDATE: Understand that Chloe’s alive and will be on next season.

Says Al Gough, “Smallville”‘s executive producer, in this interview (which I didn’t read carefully enough yesterday): 

The idea that Chloe had a power was always something in the back of our minds, but we didn’t want it to be a cheap trick, we wanted the audience to be invested in the character and her relationship with Clark, and if we were going to do it, it was to deepen the character, which we think it does, and will allow us to keep exploring Chloe in season 7. You’ll see her power first manifest in the season finale.

 

Okay, there goes the theory. For now. 🙂

P.S. I guess it means NOBODY died after all. Oh, well, I would cry “gyp,” but it was an entertaining hour, so…….

A Few Words From Studs Terkel

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

Enjoyed Studs Terkel being interviewed today on “Democracy Now!” I’ve wanted to be the next coming of Studs for at least 15 years now. Happy 95th Birthday, Studs!

Wanted to post some excerpts I particularly enjoyed. So here they are.

I’m known as a poet of the tape recorder, right? The fact is I have no idea how the hell it works. I’m terrible, I’m a nut, mechanically. I can’t drive a car. I can’t ride a bike. I don’t know what “internet” means, or “website.” Google is an old-time comic strip — “Barney Google” — with his goo-goo-googly eyes.

 

And so, you see, I’m not up on all the current stuff. And people say, “Boy, on that tape recorder, you capture those people.” No, they capture themselves, because I am inept. That comes out quite clearly.

Sometimes I turn the wrong button down. And that person in the housing project, she sees it doesn’t work, and she reminds me of it. And as I say, “Oh, I goofed,” at that moment, she is my equal or better than my equal. In other words, I am not, whoever it is, [inaudible], “Today” or “60 Minutes” or Kathy, whoever she is. It’s me, a guy who’s in trouble, and she helps me out. And so, I’m playing this tape recorder for this woman, very poor, very pretty. I don’t know whether she’s white or black. In those days, the early public housing projects were all mixed. And these little kids running around want to hear their mama’s voice on this new machine. And so, I’m playing it back, and she’s hearing her voice for the first time in her life, and suddenly she says, “Oh, my god!” And I say, “What is it?” She said, “I never thought I felt that way before.” Well, that’s an astonishing moment for her and for me, one you might say are fellow travelers together. So that’s the exciting stuff. She discovers that she does have a voice, that she counts.

The key word, by the way, in all of these people is they must feel they “count.” Nick von Hoffman, the columnist, used to work for the organizer Saul Alinsky, and he said once people get in a group and that group thinks as they do, he feels he counts or she counts more than alone. And so, that’s what it’s about.

AMY GOODMAN: What do you want them to think of when someone says “Studs Terkel”?

STUDS TERKEL: I want them to think of somebody who remembers them, to be remembered, whether it be me or anyone else. They want Studs Terkel, maybe as somebody — I’m romanticizing myself now — somebody who gave me hope. One of my books is Hope Dies Last. Without hope, forget it. It’s hope and thought, and that can counting. That’s what it’s about. That’s what I hope I’m about.