Monthly Archives: September, 2011

Entertainers Ashanti, Jennifer Lopez and Ne-Yo, along with other celebrities such as Ron Howard and Denzel Washington, appear in a PSA asking for support of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, showing how young people, especially minorities, need places to go such as music schools and libraries. Ron Howard directed the PSA, which launches the "Great Futures Start Here" campaign, and you can watch it below. 

Check out the Press Release here.

JTMP reminds you to register to vote, get educated, and VOTE. Vote in the primaries and the general elections. Vote local, and vote at the federal level. You can register to vote ONLINE right here on the JTMP website!

To get smart about your voting, check out Project Vote Smart!

Rap-musician and activist Lupe Fiasco tweeted (click here to read tweet and see pic) to let his fans know he was donating 50 tents for Occupy Wall Street, in a show of solidarity with the movement. One of the "sponsors" of the event is Adbusters.org, and on their website it states, "The time has come to deploy this emerging stratagem against the greatest corrupter of our democracy: Wall Street, the financial Gomorrah of America." In addition, Lupe Fiasco also wrote a poem. (click "Read More" below to read poem)

On August 18, 2001, rock bands Maroon 5 and Train played a benefit concert in Indianapolis, Indiana for the victims of the tragedy at the state fair last month. The concert was originally scheduled to play at the fair, but the event was rescheduled and moved to Conseco Fieldhouse, and they agreed to donate their performance fees, and profits from concession sales. Fans in the audience could help donate via a text message on their cell phones. Train guitarist Jimmy Stafford said, "Everybody wins. We can help the families, we can still perform, and the fans still get to see a show."

More than $500,000 for the victims and their families was raised, and you can see some pictures of the event at IndyStar.com.

Also, Sara Bareilles donated the proceeds from ticket sales from one of her recent shows to the victims and their families, read more here. Please help us spread music activist news and register voters by donating to JTMP here, and to help out the Indiana State Fair Victim Fund, go here.

We blogged about this the other night, and now a full version of the whole event staged by the Foo Fighters to drown out the Westboro Baptist Church clowns from a flatbed truck is out.

In a statement the Foo Fighters said, "On Aug. 30th, 2011 Westboro Baptist Church called for a picket of the Foo Fighters show in Kansas City. We had a little something up our sleeve. God Bless America."