Tag: justice

FEB 27, 2012 - Kevin McGuire, a Taylor Swift fan, doesn't get to have Taylor Swift as his prom date, he'll have to settle for a date with Taylor at the next American Country Music Awards show. Kevin is fighting cancer for a second time, and his sister Victoria launched a Facebook campaign to get Taylor to go to the prom with Kevin. Taylor saw the campaign and responded on her Facebook page with a message. So far, 117k+ have "Liked" it:

Here is a local news report interviewing Kevin about the whole thing:

FEB 27, 2012 - Willie Nelson, along with author and Rainforest Action Network board member Anna Lappe, recently wrote an Op Ed and in it they laid out their reasons for why we have to occupy our food system. This is all part of Willie's campaign "Occupy the Food System" which we have been blogging about a lot recently. OTFS is an coalition of over 90 organizations and Occupy groups from around the world fighting uber-large corporate agri-businesses such as Monsanto who they feel are destroying our food system and making us unhealthy. They write, “Corporate control of our food system has led to the loss of millions of family farmers, the destruction of soil fertility, the pollution of our water, and health epidemics including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even certain forms of cancer. More and more, the choices that determine the food on our shelves are made by corporations concerned less with protecting our health, our environment, or our jobs than with profit margins and executive bonuses.” You can read the entire HuffPo Op Ed here.

Today they launch a campaign to occupy unused, vacant bank-owned lots and start community gardens and set up small seed exchanges in front of the Stock Exchange. They want to fight for “labeling products on grocery store shelves that contain genetically engineered ingredients" and build "community alliances to support locally owned grocery stores and resist Walmart megastores; and fighting back against industrial giants Monsanto and Cargill.” To take part and learn more, check out the Rainforest Action Network's website here.
 

(Photo credit: pussy-riot.livejournal.com)

FEB 27, 2012 - Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist punk musical activist band who stages illegal concerts and protests, often from rooftops, protesting issues such as women's rights in Russia and most recently the policies and re-election campaign of Prime Minister Putin. Wearing skimpy outfits even in cold weather and stylish balaclavas, they release Internet videos of their illegal concerts in public places. Recently they managed to stage a concert in strictly guarded Red Square, and were arrested. After being held for 5 hours, they were fined 500 rubles (about $17 US) and released. On their website they say, “We Believe That the Soviet Union's Aggressive Imperial Politics are Similar in many Ways to Putin's course. The way the State treats its Citizens hasn't changed much since the times of the USSR; there is still paternalist supervision and police control over people.” They add, “Some of us are anarchists, leftist Have some Liberal Positions. We would like horizontal political activity, self-organization and the capability to be aware of oneself as an equal participant in civil politics, to understand one's rights and fight for them to develop. Russian Society lacks tolerance and lenience.”

If you have Google Chrome, you can use the translator to check out their site here, where you can see pics of them staging one of their public protest concerts at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral which ruffled a lot of feathers. Check out one of their videos below.

FEB 22, 2012 - President Barack Obama hosted a blues concert at the White House last night with BB King, Mick Jagger, Buddy Guy and more, and at the end when he was telling everyone goodnight, Buddy Guy told the President, "We were trying to get you to help us sing! Because I heard you singing Al Green, so you done started something, you gotta keep it up now!" Then Mick Jagger offered his mike to Obama. The crowd chanted, "Sing! sing!"

President Obama was hesitant at first, but ended up singing a few lines of the blues classic "Sweet Home Chicago", and just like the Al Green song he sang awhile back, he nailed it. Watch the performance below. The show will air on PBS on February 27, find and check your local PBS listings here.

FEB 21, 2012 - Music has always been a part of activism and social change, and the Occupy movement is no exception. Recently, many activist bands have kicked out the jams at Occupy locations often to raise funds, and the word everyone is using is Roccupy! Just do a search for "Roccupy" on the Internet, and a myriad of local Roccupy groups and events come up from small towns and big cities across America. There are also tons of Roccupy Facebook Pages popping up, so check to see if there is a local chapter of Roccupy near you. For those of you living in the Virginia Beach area, there will be a Roccupy Virginia Beach benefit concert this Saturday, February 25, 2012 to help the activists out there Occupying Virginia Beach, read more here. Many Occupy musicians have even Roccupied public locations such as a Taco Bell (watch below).