Tag: civil rights

DEC 11, 2013 Music played a big role in helping free Madiba and bring down apartheid, and CNN has a nice article up today about his impact on music and pop culture. They mention Steven Van Zandt's song "Sun City" protesting apartheid, where he brought together Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, George Clinton, Run DMC, Miles Davis, Jackson Browne and many more to make the song and video singing, "I ain't gonna play Sun City" urging a boycott of South Africa by all musicians until apartheid was gone. (watch below) Paul Simon released "Graceland" with South African musicians such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo also speaking out against apartheid. The Apollo Theater in Harlem that has had so many great musicians come through it paid tribute to Madiba by displaying on it's marquee sign, "He Changed Our World". 

The Nation has a post up of the Top 10 Songs About Nelson Mandela. Watch Steven Van Zandt's "Sun City" below.

DEC 9, 2013 - JTMP joins the world in celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela, a man who brought civil and voting rights to millions. A man who lived a life of grace and non-violence in spite of the arrests, beatings and the jailings he received because of his activism. He truly moved the whole world, and will be remembered for generations to come. I drove by his statue in front of the South African embassy here in DC the other night, and traffic had to move to one lane for all the people wanting to drop off flowers and stop by and pay their respects. Cars were not honking at each other, and would calmly take turns being nice to each other. To have that effect on DC drivers is nothing short of miraculous. Nelson Mandela has that effect on almost anybody, anywhere. To remind us to live in quiet peace and dignity. We join all who will be mourning and paying respects to this world leader all this week. Vice President Joe Biden released a statement on Nelson Mandela's death on behalf of the White House, along with President Obama; who just left with the First Lady for South Africa to attend the memorial service scheduled tomorrow. South Africa braces for a huge gathering of world leaders to pay last respects for this great man, which will be a massive security and logistical undertaking. (photo: Mandela voting in 1994 elections - credit: Paul Weinberg/CC)

DEC 3, 2013 - USA Today has an article out today about how the French government has charged Bob Dylan with the crime of "incitement to hatred" because Bob somewhat "compared Croatians to Nazis", and lumped them all together with the evil of the Confederacy slavery, KKK and the Nazis in a 2012 Rolling Stone interview. This is what Bob said, you be the judge:

"Blacks know that some whites didn't want to give up slavery -- that if they had their way, they would still be under the yoke, and they can't pretend they don't know that. If you got a slave master or Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that. That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood." 

A Croatian group in France caught wind of the it eventually and filed a complaint against Dylan in French court. Bridgette Bardot has also faced many charges of "inciting hatred" in France for speaking her mind, and even though half my ancestry comes from France, I feel this goes too far and infringes on free speech. I am sure we will not see Bob in jail anytime soon though. Just like Bardot, Dylan will just be fined heavily. Bob has millions like Bardot and he will just pay the fine and move on. Comments? Start a conversation on our JTMP Facebook Page!  (photo credit: Bob Dylan/CC)

NOV 27, 2013 - Phil Ochs, one of the most legendary activist musicians from the 1960s, is being honored and remembered by his sister Sonny and a New England band tour of several great musicians such as Greg Greenway, David Roth, Pat Wictor, Zoe Lewis and Sharon Katz. They play Phil's classic folk songs and anti-war ballads such as "I Ain't Marching Anymore" and "Is There Anybody Here?" in several locations throughout New England. Activism played a huge role in Phil's life, and he was very strong in his convictions and used the folk music scene of the 1960s to express his views through his music. Read about his amazing life and unfortunate fall with depression on his Wikipedia page, and watch him sing his anti-war folk song classic "I Ain't Marching Anymore" below. Read a great article on the tour and Phil's life, as well as an interview with Phil's sister Sonny on CapeCodOnline.com. (photo credit: Chip Berlet/CC)

NOV 26, 2013 - I found this small clip of a skit by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood at the CMA Awards poking fun of the rollout of the Affordable Health Care Act, or the "AHCA" as I like to call it. Many folks call it "Obamacare", but the two poked fun of the horrendous rollout of the website part of the health care exchanges to the tune of an old George Strait song. Maybe if the Teabagger Republican governors would have cooperated more with the federal government on the exchanges, and worked for their constituents instead of a political party (a small one I might add), then maybe the rollout would have been smoother. Watch for the reaction of Taylor Swift, who is a big President Obama supporter. Lets hope they get it all fixed in the next few weeks, and get the federal exchanges humming as well as the state exchanges, where enrollment is surging.  Those are the states where the governor cooperated and didn't suffer from OHDS: Obama Hatred Derangement Syndrome. The website is actually handling a fair clip of people, and will get better. If you do not have health insurance either thorough Medicaid or your employment, many will find they will be covered by Medicaid, qualify for subsidies to help pay for it, or find a cheap health insurance plan through the exchanges for as little as $20 a month. You may need it one day. Visit HealthCare.gov today to see your options.