Monthly Archives: September, 2011

When the Foo Fighters were in town to play a show in Kansas City, Missouri, they decided to pay a visit to a Westboro Baptist Church protest and let their feelings known as to how they feel about them and their stances on homosexuality. They rented a flat-bed truck, set up amps, got into costume, and drove right up to the protest and played loud music and put on their little show. The protesters were obviously drowned out and flustered, some taking the time to check their text messages. Watch the video below:

In what would have been her 28th birthday, Amy Winehouse's family is using the day to launch the Amy Winehouse Foundation. On the website they say, "The Amy Winehouse Foundation is being set up in Amy’s memory to support charitable activities in both the UK and abroad that provide help, support or care for young people, especially those who are in need by reason of ill health, disability, financial disadvantage or addiction. ”

The website also says that until they get up and running, "Comic Relief in the UK and America Gives Back in the US have set up the Amy Winehouse Fund to receive donations in her name. ” Please donate generously to JTMP to help us spread music activist news and register voters, and these other organizations to help the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Thank you.

They plan to use proceeds to help launch and propel the organization with the release of "Body and Soul" a duet with Tony Bennet, the video of Amy and Tony performing together in the studio is below. Find out more at http://www.amywinehousefoundation.co.uk/ .

HONK! is putting on its 6th HONK! Festival in Boston on September 30th through October 3rd, a gathering of musicians that express themselves about various issues and causes they support. Brass, or horns, are strongly encouraged but one can also find drummers. Causes range from migrant labor to environmental issues. Participants often dress up in costume, and have props to voice their concerns for their cause. The line between performer and audience is very blurry, on purpose. 

"Honkers" are explained on their website: "Across the country and around the world, a new type of street band is emerging. Acoustic and mobile, borrowing repertoire and inspiration from a diverse set of folk music traditions – New Orleans second line brass bands, European Klezmer, Balkan and Romani music, Brazilian Afro Bloc and Frevo traditions, as well as the passion and spirit of Mardi Gras and Carnival– these “honkers” all share a commitment to several core principles. Metaphorically speaking, they honk their horns for the same reasons motorists honk theirs: to arouse fellow travelers, to warn of danger, to celebrate milestones, and to just plain have fun."

They march and play their music and honk their horns "because it’s the best way they know to protest a world of violence and oppression." and "to celebrate the causes and institutions they support: multicultural festivals, peace conferences, social forums, artists collectives, community gardens, children’s workshops, neighborhood fundraisers, block parties, relief benefits and homeless shelters."

For more information watch the video below, and check out the HonkFest.org Website. 

Tunisian rapper Hamada Ben Amor — known as "El General" 

MSNBC World Blog: How rap music fueled the Arab Springs uprisings

by Karl Bostic, NBC News

"A bazaar in Libya's rebel capital of Benghazi might not appear to be the most obvious place to find a would-be Jay-Z.

But 18-year-old Boge and many others like him are pushing the boundaries of freedom of expression across the Middle East. The rappers have even been credited with helping to spark the so-called Arab Spring uprisings that deposed three long-serving dictators and rocked several other regimes.

Boge, who says he learned English from rap, is following in the footsteps of his hip-hop heroes KRS-One, Nas and Ice Cube.

"Our families are dying but yeah we're still tough, Gadhafi is trying to assassinate us," he rhymes during an impromptu performance amid vendors selling flags, shirts and hats in revolutionary colors at a market in the eastern Libyan city where the revolt against Moammar Gadhafi began."
 

Read the rest of the MSNBC article here.....

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Chely Wright (left) and her partner and now wife, Lauren Blitzer

Country music star Chely Wright, who "came out" and revealed to her fans she was a lesbian in 2011, has wedded her partner Lauren Blitzer in Connecticut. Her career suffered as a result of her coming out, and she said in an interview with the LA Times that "[Fans] would rather you were a drug addict than be gay. They will forgive you if you beat your wife, lose your kids to state, get six divorces, make a sex tape, get labeled as a tramp — any and all of it is better than being gay."

She was also in North Carolina on September 13th to battle against proposed legislation that will ban gay marriage, teaming up with Equality North Carolina. The state legislature approved the measure by one vote (30-16) achieving the 3/5 needed, and the proposed amendment will be on the ballot in the May primary. Chely had said the North Carolina's proposed marriage amendment is “not about preserving the sanctity of marriage … Rather, this measure is about tearing down the sanctity of human dignity. It is that full humanity that God places in the gay and lesbian individual as he does us all. And it is the full humanity that he wants us to recognize and embrace rather [than] reject, condemn and demean."

Read more on Equality North Carolina's website, and here is a video statement by Ms. Wright in support of LGBT civil rights: