Tag: justice

FEB 1, 2012 - A group of 10 socially-conscious artists inside Syria are using art to help Syrians cope with the violent and hard struggle they are going through in trying to secure a democratic government and push for more freedoms, and they call for President Assad to step down. They use puppets and humor, and videos on the Internet, which allows them a little anonymity to avoid detection and arrest by Assad's security forces. Watch a video of one of the puppet shows below, and there is a great story with awesome pictures over at MSNBC.com here.

JAN 26, 2012 - Occupy London, a group of musicians in support of Occupy, such as Ani DiFranco, Billy Bragg, Tom Morello, Tao Seeger, Sam Duckworth and more, are poised to release their first album "Folk The Banks", and on their own record label called "Occupation Records". Digital release will be in February, and proceeds will go to help the Occupy movement across the globe. Four further albums will be released, and Adam Jung, spokesperson for Occupy Records said, "“From Motown Records providing the soundtrack for the civil rights movement, to the music of Billy Bragg inspiring striking miners, artists and the industry have historically provided fuel for social change."

Watch a video below from Occupy London, and read more on MusicWeek.com here.

JAN 25, 2012 - Over 80 musicians spanning music styles and genres as well as age, have all come together to honor 50 years of Bob Dylan and his musical activism, and have teamed up with Amnesty International in an album called "Chimes of Freedom". Musicians include everyone from Miley Cyrus to Patti Smith, and from Joe Perry to Ziggy Marley.

Amnesty International says the album is dedicated to "people worldwide who are unjustly imprisoned or threatened for the peaceful expression of their beliefs." Check out a track from the album below, and read more at the Amnesty International website here. 

JAN 25, 2012 - Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, and 16 other musicians from Omaha are all urging the state lawmakers to not pass a proposal that would ban Omaha and other communities from passing any anti-discrimination ordinances or laws. Mynabirds singer and songwriter Laura Berhenn who organized the group of musicians told Paul Hammel of the Omaha World-Herald, “Don't keep selling Omaha as another fly-over Midwestern city, We have a lot of progressive people here who are welcoming. ” Some of the musical groups involved are Azure Ray, The Faint, Honeybee and Hers, the Conduits and more.

The letter in part said:

"Dear Senators,

We are musicians who have chosen to live in the Omaha community. Our work has had national and international media attention, and when we tour around the country and around the world, we want to be proud to say that we’ve come from Omaha, Nebraska. It’s extremely important to us that the policies of our community reflect our values.

We want to continue to be proud of our community and keep our creative class and entrepreneurial spirit strong.  Please don’t let LB 912 move forward and let the state of Nebraska block the City of Omaha’s attempt to do the right thing and create equal opportunity for everyone."

Read the whole letter at VoiceOmaha.org.
(Photo credit: Owen Prior/Wiki)

JAN 23, 2012 - Occupy This Album, an album to be released this spring to help support the movement, has a growing list of musicians. Third Eye Blind, Willie Nelson and Jackson Browne were a few of the artists signing up early on, and now the list has grown to over 40 bands and musicians. JTMP was at Occupy DC and caught the band Junkyard Empire, and posted videos of the activist band's performance on our YouTube Channel HERE. They will be one of the bands contributing to the album; along with Tom Morello, the Guthrie Family, Yoko Ono, Lucinda Williams, Immortal Technique, Crosby/Nash and more. Check out the full list here.