Tag: justice

MAR 23, 2012 - UPDATE: JTMP earlier reported on the anti-gay band Junkyard Prophet that put on a a hate-filled attack on the LBGT community at a high school and shocking the students who were unable to leave. (Watch the video below). The principal of Dunkerton High School facing heavy pressure resigned his position, but tried to assert he was leaving the position anyway for a superintendents position. Yeah right. A promotion for him? Turns out the band has spouted their hate at the school several times before.

Junkyard Prophet is part of this hate "ministry" called "You Can Run But You Cannot Hide" where they set up tables and pass out flyers filled with hateful attacks on the LBGT community, and they even vowed to return to Dunkertown, Iowa after getting all the heat following their tirade at the school back on March 8. The Dunkerton Community Hall board of directors denied them access, and the superintendent says they will NOT be performing at the school. "It won't be here" said school superintendent Jim Stanton. They ended up meeting Dunkerton parents at a church and tried to "explain themselves".

Bradlee Dean, founder of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, clearly lays out their anti-gay, anti-equality stance on the ministry's website: "...we cannot accept the proposal that homosexuality is either private or moral." They also ridiculously assert that the gay community "is nothing but a political opportunity to the liberals".

MAR 22, 2012 - Hailing from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, musician activist Tokyo Rosenthal brings a rich southern country sound and terrific songwriting to speak for the common working man. His latest song "What Did I Used to Be?" speaks about the plight of many today: unemployment, credit card debt, etc. He told us he wants it to be an, "Anthem for job loss, outsourcing, and desperation." He also said, "It's a song that captures the frustrations and shattered illusions of workers all over the globe. Outsourcing, reinvention, natural resources, and desperation..."   (photo credit: Tokyo Rosenthal/Facebook)

Tokyo adds, "It didn't take much to inspire me to write this song. All you have to do is turn on TV and the stories are all there. These are tough times and hopefully the tune and the video capture some of the frustration and misery that's all over the world. If it gets people to stop, think, and react, then I'll be happy. I don't expect to change things with a song, just stir things up a bit and document our present history." Check out his great song and video below, and connect on the Web and Facebook.

MAR 22, 2012 - There is more praise for Bruce Springsteen's new album "Wrecking Ball", this time by Leonard Pitts Jr. on NationalMemo.com, saying that Bruce "captures the state of America". He goes on to say that Bruce is "one of the elder statesmen of American popular music," and with the songs on the new album "delivers what might fairly be called a State of the Union Address. And if that sounds grandiose for a rock album, so be it. But know that, for all the manicured eloquence of the constitutionally mandated report President Obama delivered in January, the new Bruce Springsteen album, "Wrecking Ball," captures more raw emotional truth about the state of the American Dream than any politician ever could."

Read more on NationalMemo.com here.

MAR 21 - Guitarist Joe Walsh from the James Gang and Eagles fame has put out a new solo track, his first one in 20 years. The new song "Analog Man" wonders if in this digital age we might be disconnected from one another, and asks is it all real? Joe also longs for the day of reel-to-reel analog tape and vinyl records, and worries that we might have become slaves to our electronic appliances, and wonders if our new HiDef TVs with fiber optic cable are raising our kids. The album, titled "Analog Man' will be out June 5, listen to the track and read a review over at UltimateClassicRock.com.   (photo credit Alexander Visual/Flickr)

MARCH 20, 2012 – Just outside of Jerusalem is the Madaa Silwan Creative Center. “Madaa” means “horizon” in Arabic, and was founded by Jawad Siyam, who remains the center’s spirit and director. The community built the learning center so young Arabic kids could escape the daily politics and violence, and serve as a refuge for young Arabic kids. At the center they find a quiet library with thousands of books for children, and a computer room where kids who don’t have a computer at home can surf the Internet. There are always learning activities going on. Part of the center is the Silwan Village Music School, where young kids who once had no place to go and no instruments, now have pianos, guitars, violins, cellos, choir and more, depending on which day you come. In an interview for Hareetz.com Ahmad Qareen, a resident of Silwan said, “Until 2007, the children here didn’t have anything. We, some of the neighborhood residents, therefore decided to set up a cultural center. We rented this apartment, and first of all, we opened the music school. At first, 15 children sat on the floor of the small apartment without any musical instruments. Today, we already have 100 students, and there is also a drama club, a mosaics school, a creative writing class, and a summer day camp. There was also a soccer team, until the field was destroyed. And there are courses in English, math and sewing for women.”

The mission of Madaa is to promote non-violence, promote dialogue and empower the community by providing recreational activities, like music, for the youth of Silwan. Qareen added, “First of all, in the children: We can feel a change in them. They have learned to keep the place nice, to behave politely and to keep quiet; they have learned the importance of sticking to a timetable, and also that there is something called the rights of the child. We established the place for them, so they won’t go doing bad things, [like] smoking, and to keep them away from violence.” To read more check out an article on Hareetz.com, and check out the Madda Silwan Creative Center’s website here.