Tag: civil rights

July 8, 2012 - Hip-hop artist Frank Ocean came out last week and announced he is either bi-sexual or gay (I am unsure) saying his "first true love was a man", and has not faced a feared backlash and uproar from the hip-hop world and fans. This was seen as a bold and risky move, some saying it would jeopardize his young career in the ultra-macho world of hip-hop. There were death threats and hate speech directed towards him on Twitter by some people which was to be expected, but mostly the uproar has not been there; maybe signaling a shift in attitudes towards homosexuality in the hip-hop world. Read more about it on NYTimes.com here.  (Photo credit: Sweisscheese/Wiki)

MAY 25, 2012 - We came upon this nugget from one of the greatest American folk legends, Woody Guthrie. The "Dust Bowl Troubadour" was also one of the first musician activists speaking out about labor conditions for migrant workers. Listen to an early radio broadcast with Woody and friends singing, "All You Fascists 'Bound to Lose". (photo credit: Al Aumuller/Wiki)

MAY 24, 2012 - JTMP has been a participant in the State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program for 3 years now, where citizens from around the world involved in the arts get to come to America and visit to learn about the role of arts in the US. This year we had visitors that came from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia to see how Justice Through Music Project uses art to raise awareness on issues, and to bring about social change. This year's contingent had musicians, playwrights, and people involved in art production. We gave them a presentation and showed them many of our musical art videos that deal with politics and issues, while we spoke about how we operate and produce our art videos. We then showed them how we use this art on our website and YouTube channel to raise awareness on an issue to help bring about positive social change.

The program also hopes to spur and support cross-cultural dialogue, and we experienced a great debate and discussion with the group. We even had one person ask us if the US government interfered with our free speech, which of course we explained as long as its peaceful and  legal, a free society must have the free flow of thoughts and ideas, and no restrictions on expressions of art. We even had a great discussion on the role of the US interfering or getting involved in foreign countries, which there were many different opinions, but that was good. We showed them how a free society respects different opinions and solves things peacefully. We talked about how JTMP thinks the best way to bring about peace and social change in a country is for those citizens to be educated and informed, and have a free flow of opinions and dialogue, and be free to set up peaceful democracies. We explained how we feel art plays a big role in democracies, as they are the canaries in the coal mine, and can speak out about issues in unique way and sometimes see or sense problems such as civil rights issues in society before others do.

We chatted after our presentation, and answered many questions, as they were all curious about life in America, our freedoms, and how art plays a role. All of them come from emerging democracies, and most were from the Arab Spring countries setting up democracies for the first time and holding their first free elections, such as Egypt did today. We took photos, and even had the Tunisian guitarist play a few jazz riffs, and promised to stay in touch and continue to network using the Internet and work together on our shared social, political, and cultural goals.

For more information on the US State Department's International Visitor Leadership program, go to: http://exchanges.state.gov/ivlp/

MAY 15, 2012 - In an interview with CNN, Jay-Z has come out and praised Obama for coming out in support of gay marriage saying, "it was the right thing to do." He added, "I've always thought it as something that was still holding the country back. What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love. That's their business. It's no different than discriminating against blacks. It's discrimination pure and simple." Watch the interview below.

APR 25, 2012 - Musician activists performed at Earth Day 2012 on the National Mall here in DC last Sunday to promote a green and sustainable lifestyle. The Chad Hollister Band was there and had DC legend tenor sax player Ron Holloway blowin' sax for them. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dave Mason brought his guitar and great songs, along with Cheap Trick who played a few of their classics for the sparse but dedicated activists who braved the rain calling for better treatment of Mother Earth. JTMP asks our supporters to try and "Mobilize The Earth" and do one green act today. One can switch out and incandescent light bulb with an LED or a CFL, we can walk to the store today and bring a cloth bag. We all can do small things to try and be as green as possible.

Check out the music videos over on JTMP Green!