Tag: free speech

SEP 12, 2013 - A new play called "Woody Sez", portraying the music and activism of the legendary activist-musician Woody Guthrie, is being put on by the Cleveland Play House. It is directed by Nick Corley and David M. Lutken, and features all his great songs such as "This Land is Your Land", "The Ballad of Tom Joad", and "Bound For Glory" to name just a few. To read a review on the production, as well as an interview with the director Nick Corley and more information about the show, check out News-Herald.com here.

SEP 30, 2013 - Matt Sorum, who used to drum for Guns N' Roses and now drums for Velvet Revolver with Slash, Dave and Duff, joined the protest against the horrible annual dolphin hunt in a the remote Japanese village Taiji recently. Matt is a great musical activist that also played the "Giving 2010" benefit concert for Musicares, but also went all the way around the world to physically join the protest against the unspeakable and despicable dolphin hunt that occurs in this small village every year. This horrific event was captured in the moving and Oscar-winning  film "The Cove", and Matt shared the TakePart.com article about it on his website where David Kirby described it best by writing, "a six-month orgy of mass terror, suffering, kidnapping and bloodshed and slaughter inflicted upon hapless pods of whales and dolphins unlucky enough to swim near the coast of Japan's Kuman-nada Sea." The protest had participants holding iPads depicting the horrible footage of the bloody "flash-mob" killings. Read more on Matt Sorum's website here.  (photo credit: Lincoln O'Barry/TakePart.com)

AUG 24, 2013 - Activist-musician Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame has written an open letter to fellow musicians asking them to stand with him and boycott Israel for the Apartheid-type treatment of Palestinians living in the West Bank. Their lives are totally disrupted as a result of Israel's illegal and hostile takeover of native lands for their "settlements". In the letter Waters touches on a lot of subjects. He mentions the Trayvon Martin shooting and how he applauds Stevie Wonder for taking a stand against Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law and his call to boycott Florida. Waters explains how for the past 8 years he has been part of BDS, or Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, "a non-violent movement to oppose Israel's occupation of the West Bank and violations of international law and Palestinian human rights". He has pronounced they have found Israel guilty, "independently, by international human rights organizations, UN officials, and the International Court of Justice, of serious breach of International law."

Roger Waters states the obvious, that our governments and the United Nations are unable or unwilling to act, so "it falls to civil society and conscientious citizens of the world, to dust off our consciences, shoulder our responsibilities, and act." Read the whole letter on ElectronicIntifada.com here. What do you think? Leave a comment or start a conversation on our Justice Through Music Facebook Page.  (photo credit: Takver/CC)

AUG 24, 2013 - Linda Ronstadt opened up publicly that she has been fighting Parkinson's disease for over 8 years, and it has taken away her ability to sing. Linda Ronstadt was a huge icon in the 1970s as a solo vocal performer selling tons of albums and tickets. About 8 years ago she noticed trembling in her hands, and then it eventually affected her vocal chords. She finally saw a neurologist who diagnose her with Parkinson's disease, and she was shocked. I remember rockin' out to Linda's albums as a teenager, cranking up her version of "When Will I Be Loved" and other great songs. JTMP wishes her good health and long life. You can read the interview on AARP.com here.  (photo credit: Carl Lender/CC)

AUG 22, 2012 - Responding to the hateful Westboro Baptist Church rally at her Lincoln, Nebraska concert back on August 18, 2013, popular artist Ke$ha sent her dancers to perform fabulous dance moves and love to counter the hate from WBC. Unfortunately, WBC had their awful parody of Ke$ha's song, "We R Who We R" in the background where they changed the lyrics. Listen to the real Ke$ha song here. Sienna Stylish on YouTube posted this video of the event below. What do you think? Leave a comment or start a conversation on our Justice Through Music Facebook Page.  (photo credit: Becky Sullivan/CC)