music

MAR 23, 2012 - UPDATE: JTMP earlier reported on the anti-gay band Junkyard Prophet that put on a a hate-filled attack on the LBGT community at a high school and shocking the students who were unable to leave. (Watch the video below). The principal of Dunkerton High School facing heavy pressure resigned his position, but tried to assert he was leaving the position anyway for a superintendents position. Yeah right. A promotion for him? Turns out the band has spouted their hate at the school several times before.

Junkyard Prophet is part of this hate "ministry" called "You Can Run But You Cannot Hide" where they set up tables and pass out flyers filled with hateful attacks on the LBGT community, and they even vowed to return to Dunkertown, Iowa after getting all the heat following their tirade at the school back on March 8. The Dunkerton Community Hall board of directors denied them access, and the superintendent says they will NOT be performing at the school. "It won't be here" said school superintendent Jim Stanton. They ended up meeting Dunkerton parents at a church and tried to "explain themselves".

Bradlee Dean, founder of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, clearly lays out their anti-gay, anti-equality stance on the ministry's website: "...we cannot accept the proposal that homosexuality is either private or moral." They also ridiculously assert that the gay community "is nothing but a political opportunity to the liberals".

MAR 23 - Activist musician Chadwick Stokes uses his music and activism to help change the world. Hailing from the west coast, Stokes helped start a project called Calling All Crows, which helps out the community such as weeding a public garden, painting a half-way house, or helping out a women's shelter. Recently he met Troy Davis' sister while Troy was awaiting execution, and wrote a song "All My Possessions" after befriending him. He led a protest all the way up to the night of the execution, and vows to continue fighting against executions. Currently he is working with Amnesty International and State Radio through Calling All Crows to try and stop the execution of Reggie Clemons in Missouri. To join the campaign head over to CallingAllCrows.com.

One of the campaigns they are doing is called "Alternative Break Tours", where they urge musicians and especially their fans to go by foot, bike, bus or train to help out in a hands-on activism effort by being involved in a community service project in their area. It's a great way to start out in activism, so check out the Calling All Crow's Alternative Break Tour page.

Listen to "All My Possessions" below, and check out a great article with an interview of Stokes over at HermosaBeach.Patch.com.

MAR 22, 2012 - Hailing from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, musician activist Tokyo Rosenthal brings a rich southern country sound and terrific songwriting to speak for the common working man. His latest song "What Did I Used to Be?" speaks about the plight of many today: unemployment, credit card debt, etc. He told us he wants it to be an, "Anthem for job loss, outsourcing, and desperation." He also said, "It's a song that captures the frustrations and shattered illusions of workers all over the globe. Outsourcing, reinvention, natural resources, and desperation..."   (photo credit: Tokyo Rosenthal/Facebook)

Tokyo adds, "It didn't take much to inspire me to write this song. All you have to do is turn on TV and the stories are all there. These are tough times and hopefully the tune and the video capture some of the frustration and misery that's all over the world. If it gets people to stop, think, and react, then I'll be happy. I don't expect to change things with a song, just stir things up a bit and document our present history." Check out his great song and video below, and connect on the Web and Facebook.

MAR 22, 2012 - There is more praise for Bruce Springsteen's new album "Wrecking Ball", this time by Leonard Pitts Jr. on NationalMemo.com, saying that Bruce "captures the state of America". He goes on to say that Bruce is "one of the elder statesmen of American popular music," and with the songs on the new album "delivers what might fairly be called a State of the Union Address. And if that sounds grandiose for a rock album, so be it. But know that, for all the manicured eloquence of the constitutionally mandated report President Obama delivered in January, the new Bruce Springsteen album, "Wrecking Ball," captures more raw emotional truth about the state of the American Dream than any politician ever could."

Read more on NationalMemo.com here.

MARCH 20, 2012 – Just outside of Jerusalem is the Madaa Silwan Creative Center. “Madaa” means “horizon” in Arabic, and was founded by Jawad Siyam, who remains the center’s spirit and director. The community built the learning center so young Arabic kids could escape the daily politics and violence, and serve as a refuge for young Arabic kids. At the center they find a quiet library with thousands of books for children, and a computer room where kids who don’t have a computer at home can surf the Internet. There are always learning activities going on. Part of the center is the Silwan Village Music School, where young kids who once had no place to go and no instruments, now have pianos, guitars, violins, cellos, choir and more, depending on which day you come. In an interview for Hareetz.com Ahmad Qareen, a resident of Silwan said, “Until 2007, the children here didn’t have anything. We, some of the neighborhood residents, therefore decided to set up a cultural center. We rented this apartment, and first of all, we opened the music school. At first, 15 children sat on the floor of the small apartment without any musical instruments. Today, we already have 100 students, and there is also a drama club, a mosaics school, a creative writing class, and a summer day camp. There was also a soccer team, until the field was destroyed. And there are courses in English, math and sewing for women.”

The mission of Madaa is to promote non-violence, promote dialogue and empower the community by providing recreational activities, like music, for the youth of Silwan. Qareen added, “First of all, in the children: We can feel a change in them. They have learned to keep the place nice, to behave politely and to keep quiet; they have learned the importance of sticking to a timetable, and also that there is something called the rights of the child. We established the place for them, so they won’t go doing bad things, [like] smoking, and to keep them away from violence.” To read more check out an article on Hareetz.com, and check out the Madda Silwan Creative Center’s website here.

MAR 15, 2012 - A British organization, GIG (Go Inspire Go), hopes to “create a global platform to see and share inspirational stories and experiences”. This collaboration ‘"Uses Social Networking to Inspire Social Change" and they want people to "Use Their Powers -- Resources, Talents and Network -- to Help Others.”  They do this by making videos of  “inspirational, character-driven stories, about ‘regular people’ who do small acts that ripple out to BIG changes.”

Watch GIG’s new video below, with founder of GIG Toan Lam "having tea" and chatting with British musician Natalie Pryce, who created a safe place for young people to gather, be SAFE, and play music. She also speaks about her activism and giving back to the community. Check out GoInspireGo on the web here, and Twitter @GoInspireGo.

MAR 15, 2012 - Musician Miley Cyrus Tweeted a pic the other day about science, stardust, and the scientific part of the origin of life, and angered her Christian Twitter followers. The Tweeted pic had a quote from Canadian-American theoretical physicist Professor Lawrence Krauss that said, "...forget Jesus. Stars died so you can live." (see Tweet and full quote below) After angering many of her religious and Christian followers, she responded with the famous Einstein quote, "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind". 

Miley Cyrus continues to be brave and take a stand for equality and tolerance by ReTweeting NOH8 Campaign Tweets, and now she takes a stand for science and facts, and didn't back down when attacked for her beliefs and free thought by religious extremists.

MAR 12, 2012 - Punk music activist band Anti-Flag, who have been interviewed and featured on the Justice Through Music's website and "Rock Your Rights" DVDs over the years, has teamed up with Amnesty International and released a powerful new music video called "This is the New Sound" speaking out against the NDAA, or National Defense Authorization Act. The act gives the President power to detain and hold American citizens indefinitely without a charge or a trial.

The song is from their upcoming album "The General Strike" to be released on March 20th. Anti-Flag has been one of the most political musical activist bands ever, with lyrics such as "You gotta Die for Your Government, That's shit!". Drummer Pat Thetic is an outspoken critic of the use of depleted uranium by US, UK, Israeli and other militaries in their bullets. They have teamed up and supported PETA, Greenpeace, and Democracy Now! and numerous causes over the years.

If you want to learn more check out  Wiki and to sign a petition against the NDAA there is one at Petition2Congress, and Change.org. Watch the new video "This is the New Sound" from Anti-Flag below:

Conservative hate-talk show host Rush Limbaugh who has been under fire recently for his 3-day anti-women hate-filled diatribe attack on activist Sandra Fluke, has been ordered by another musical artist to stop playing their music. Last week it was Peter Gabriel and the Canadian trio Rush, and now when Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine heard that Limbaugh had played their 1999 song "Sleep Now in the Fire" he tweeted and told Limbaugh to stop using their music:

Rage Against The Machine is one of the biggest activist bands ever, with lyrics that are not afraid to be in-your-face political, with songs such as, "Killing in the Name" and "Sleep Now in the Fire". Tom Morello of course has his alter-ego "The Nightwatchman" who has been heavily involved with the Occupy Movement. Watch the Michael Moore directed video of "Sleep Now in the Fire" below.  (Photo credit: Penner/Flickr)

MAR 12, 2012 - An extreme Christian "rock band" who call themselves the "Junkyard Prophets" put on a hate-filled show at a Dunkertown High School in Iowa attacking the LBGT community, and preaching to the teen girls they need to be "submissive". Some of the hate speech was that "gay men will die by the age of 42", and that "gay men molest an average of 117 kids before they get caught". 

The band, which hails from Minnesota, was supposed to bring a message of non-violent solutions to bullying in school, and about making good choices, but instead showed pictures of aborted fetuses and then separated the men and women into different groups for the band's "sermons". The boys were shown pictures of rock musicians, such as Elvis Presley, who "died of drug overdoses".  The girl teens were told to "save themselves for their husbands", and that they should "assume a submissive role in the household". Many teens were not able to leave the room, and later called their parents very upset at the incident.

The school superintendent Jim Stanton later said the band doesn't represent the beliefs of the school, and the district is trying to get the $1,500 back from the Junkyard Prophets that they were paid for their appearance. Read more on LacrosseTribune.com. And the Junkyard Prophet's website is here.