Tag: justice

OCT 20, 2011 - Local DC area activist musicians Pat Humphries and Sandy O, known as Emma's Revolution, recently wrote a song in support of Occupy Wall Street and the other movements that have sprung up in thousands of cities across America. The song is called "Occupy the USA", and you can check out the song in a video below, performing at a anti-Tar Sands rally in Washington DC on October 7, 2011.

Photo credit: Time

Oct 20, 2011 - Stephen Said, activist musician who is both of Iraqi and Austrian descent, grew up in Appalachia with blue grass and classical music from an early age, has come out in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In a Time Arts article he talks about how growing up around his father's ethnic heritage music influenced him from an early age and compelled him to have peace with himself and work for peace with his art. Recently has led crowds reciting a beautiful Arabic poem called, "Aheb Aisht Al Hirya", which translated into English would be, "I Love the Life of Freedom". The lyrics were written by the great Egyptian poet-laureate Ahmed Shawki, with music by the legendary singer composer Mohammed Abdel Whab written back in the 1930s. In a Examiner article he said about the song, "It's an anthem to global unity and equality that I learned from my father. Commenting on the Arab Spring and the youth uprising throughout the Middle East he said, "This is our moment - the moment when each of us must summon our highest, most poetic selves to courageously step into the brilliance of the next world, a world already in the making."

Said has made the MP3 available for use "by all those who are non-violently working to build the international movement for a more just society." You can download and check out the song at: http://stephansaid.com/audio/aheb-aisht-al-huriyah.mp3

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JTMP has been attending the TBAD 2011 Conference, and one of the events was a poetry slam performance by someone from “Youth Speaks”, an organization that “places young people in control of their intellectual and artistic development.” They are driven by the belief that “literacy is a need, not a want, and that literacy comes in various forms.” They want young people to find, nurture, and use their spoken voice performance to be creators of social change.

The performance consisted of 2 poems, both speaking out about young people, education, students, and funding for music and arts in education. The artist, Jamaal Hall, electrified the crowd with his awesome performance. For more information you can check out the Youth Speaks website. Watch the performance below.

Hacktivists Anonymous and TeaMp0isoN have released a song and video they hope will impact the music charts and bring attention to Occupy Wall Street and the overall "Anonymous movement". This  digital activist project, a collaboration between TeaMp0isoN and lyricist Jinn, will donate the proceeds to the East Africa Crisis Appeal. A video was released on YouTube (watch below) and the song on iTunes.

"Remember to like & favourite the video, so it can be featured in the music section on youtube," TeaMp0isoN encouraged its Twitter followers. "Once this hits the charts, radio stations will by law have to play it," the project's manifesto stated. "If they censor the song we will attack the music industry and censor them instead."

Their Manifesto also reads:

"Long have activists and revolutionaries turned to a song to get their message out. Anonymous and TeaMp0isoN have collaborated together to continue this tradition. We are going to take youtube and iTunes by storm and flood the song into the world around us, with proceeds going to charities that are actively striving to change it. Once this hits the charts, radio stations will by law, have to play it. Will they thwart the law to continue making sheep out of the people?

If they censor the song we will attack the music industry and censor them instead."

LYRICIST JINN - #OpCensorThis (OFFICIAL NET VIDEO)

Sting appeared on Morning Joe to talk about his upcoming 60th birthday party this Saturday (October 1st) and a benefit concert he will be playing to help the Robin Hood Foundation, an organization that in Sting's words does "...fantastic work." (see video below) He added, "They really help underprivileged people in the city, people who lack the basic wherewithal to live, and I think that's a great thing to do."

Sting also talked about how throughout his career he spoke out about the issues he cares about, and made the case for others to speak out saying, "I've always demanded citizen's rights, but you also have to have citizen's responsibilities, and as a citizen of the world if you have a platform to say something useful, then you should use that." Sting has supported many causes over the years, from rain forest preservation, famine and sustainability.

Sting also spoke about Lady Gaga and her activism, and admired how she spoke out saying, "I love the things she says, I love the messages she gives to her audience, very positive messages. I think that is needed. From my point of view, I like people who can speak up and say, 'this is wrong, you should change this', and she's one of those people. She's very outspoken and intelligent."

JTMP blogged earlier how Robin Hood has already teamed up with the Black Eyed Peas for a benefit concert in New York's Central Park, which will be this Friday, September 30th. Sting's concert will be this Saturday, October 1st, and will be held at the Beacon Theatre. For more information check out the Robin Hood website here. Watch the Sting interview below: