Tag: Jtmp

Oct 17, 2011 - Israeli-born violinist prodigy, Miri Ben-Ari, who received a violin from Isaac Stern at age 12, performed with the POEM-CEES at the dedication ceremony for the new Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was an original composition, and the POEM-CEES, a nationally-known hip-hop and spoken word group get into the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a time of activism without cell phones, Facebook, and Tweets.

HBO Documentary Covering the Musical Activist's Life "Sing Your Song" Debuts Tonight

Oct 17, 2011 - Harry Belafonte, a long time musical activist, will be featured in a HBO documentary debuting tonight called "Sing Your Song". His musical career has spanned decades and paralleled the civil rights movement, and he always spoke out and worked against social injustice in the world. In a recent Reuters interview, he commented on the Occupy Wall Street protesters saying, "I'm very encouraged by what young people are doing, and I think that the examples that we set with our own lives in the past have been a good measure for young people to begin to evaluate their own lives."

Harry Belafonte was a ground breaker and crossed over the segregated lines to become a star in 1956 with Calypso, and he was the first artist ever to sell over a million copies of a record. His activism caused him to be blacklisted and harassed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and the CIA and FBI spied on him.

Some of the causes he has fought for over the years has been equality, civil rights, human dignity, and voting rights. In 1985 launched "We Are The World" to help fight famine in Africa. He constantly speaks out politically, and is not afraid at all to speak out against wars, Presidents, and more. When asked if he feared criticism from his remarks he said, "Bring it on. Dissent is central to any democracy."

To read more about the documentary go the HBO website or click here.

Oct 16, 2011 - Musicians and stars, such as The Edge, Bono, Usher and more gathered in Hollywood to celebrate 10 years of the Clinton Foundation making a difference in the world. Kenny Chesney, Lady Gaga, K'Naan, and Juanes also performed to celebrate the former President's 65th birthday. Watch moments from the show, including a nervous moment for President Clinton when Lady Gaga channeled Marilyn Monroe. 

President Clinton started his foundation "with the mission to alleviate poverty, improve global health, strengthen economies, and protect the environment, by fostering partnerships among governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and private citizens — leveraging their expertise, resources, and passions — to turn good intentions into measurable results." To find out more about the Clinton Foundation, click here.

To watch replay clips from the show click here, or watch the video below.

Musician activist NealF has made a music video called "F**k The Fed" that points out how the Federal Reserve is NOT a government institution like most people think, but actually a group of private banks that have been given the right by our government to print money, loan it to us, and then we pay them back with interest. This is more of the socialize the losses and privatize the gains mentality that angers so many Occupy Wall Street protesters. Watch his great video below.

Tom Morello, probably the top music activist today, has announced he will perform at Occupy Wall Street today (October 12) at noon. He will perform as "The Nightwatchman" and he told Rolling Stone, "The Nightwatchman will Occupy Wall Street tomorrow at noon, adding one more voice to the growing chorus of millions demanding economic justice at home and around the globe. And I'll be playing some songs. Likely in the rain."

Tom has been an outspoken advocate against corporate greed and the attack on working Americans and has played recently at Occupy LA. JTMP will post any videos as soon as they are posted.