Tag: justice

AUG 26, 2013 - JTMP has been wroking hard with Americans Against Fracking, Energy-Reality.org and others to fight Fracking, and this gave us a chance to check out the great new book "Energy" this weekend put out by the Post Carbon Institute and Watershed Media; and we are impressed by this coffee-table tome. The pictures are breathtaking and stunning, and the format and content of the book is top-notch and keeps you engaged and enraged; yet the writers do take the time to point towards a better future for us and the Earth when it comes to our energy needs. READ MORE ON JTMP GREEN HERE.

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 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)

(Photo: company thugs - 1912 - credit: Charleston Gazette)

August 18, 2013 - Watching one of my favorite shows "Diggers" last night, I was reminded of the actual battles for worker's rights, including guns and all, that took place in this country at the turn of the century. With the Republicans lately attacking unions and eroding worker's rights, I thought I would blog about a hidden history of the United States; something you don't find in any textbooks. They never taught me this when I went to public school. 

In our Industrial Age in the 1800s coal miners were horribly exploited even to the point of "company scrip", where workers would get tokens for pay, and be forced to buy only from the company store. Misery and death ruled their lives; from poor working conditions, long hours, death and disease from "black lung", and very low pay while Robber Barons lived in the lap of luxury. Around 1910 the workers had had enough, and started to form unions demanding better pay and better working conditions. Coal companies responded by firing union-sympathizing workers, blacklisting them, evicting from their homes, and even hiring armed thugs who would beat, intimidate and even murder workers trying to organize. The coal companies would bribe government officials to arrest union-sympathizers on flimsy charges and to hire these squads of well-armed thugs.

In West Virginia in 1912, after enduring this brutality for too long, and fired up by Mary Harris "Mother Jones", miners started fighting back. They formed unions and started strikes such as "The Paint Creek-Cabin Creek" strikes. This led to many armed confrontations such as "The Battle of Blair Mountain" where over 10,000 striking coal miners attempting to rescue three workers from a jail and armed with only "squirrel guns" (small caliber), marched to the jail and faced high-caliber rifles and machine guns manned by government agent thugs. When all was said and done, 30 were dead on the coal company thug side, and over 100 coal miners died. 985 miners were indicted for murder, but acquitted by sympathetic jurors. The coal companies won in the short term, it wasn't until the 1930s under FDR's New Deal until workers would get the right to form unions and unions expanded to steel workers and beyond. Now we have Republicans trying to erode all those rights workers have actually fought for. Of course JTMP does NOT suggest or condone violence in any way, but JTMP does urge our supporters to work peacefully through the ballot box and other ways to protect and secure those rights all those men died for back then. We urge you to make sure you constantly tell your lawmakers in the state and federal level that you want them to protect worker's rights, protect unions, and stand up to Republican thugs trying to enact this stupid, "Right to Work" insanity.  (photo credit: Blair Mountain Reenactment Society)

August 15, 2013 - MTV has announced their nominees for the 2013 VMA Awards for the "Best Videos With A Social Message" for the VMA Awards which will be aired on August 25 at 9 PM EST. The nominees include Beyonce for her video "I Was Here" in honor of World Humanitarian Day, to Snoop and his daughter Cori B. for their video "No Guns Allowed" calling for an end to gun violence. The issues tackled and addressed by these videos are wide ranging, from same-sex marriage to the environment. Below is my choice for the award, Miguel's "Candles in the Sun". Read more on the MTV VMA website here.