Tag: Justice Through Music

R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn was arrested, along with Professor Cornell West and 17 others, as he marched from Occupy DC Freedom Plaza to the Supreme Court steps. It is unlawful to protest on the Supreme Court steps, so after being warned 3 times the police moved in and arrested them. The next morning the judge set them all free, and Raheem said even though he was shocked at the prison system and he described it as, "modern day slavery", said the guards were all supportive and treated them well.

Read a great article about the whole event on MTV.com.

Oct 18, 2011 - The Post and Courier out of Charleston, South Carolina has an interesting article out today about Lucinda Wiliams show last night, saying that towards the end of her show she called the Occupy Wall Street movement the most "earnest" thing she has seen since the antiwar movement in the 1960s. She and her band then played "For What It's Worth", the Stephen Stills classic anti-war protest song of the 1960s and a song picked up by some in the Occupy movement. Read the article here.

Here is a HD video of her performing "For What Its Worth" at a Richmond, Virginia show back on July 26, 2011.

Oct 17, 2011 - Israeli-born violinist prodigy, Miri Ben-Ari, who received a violin from Isaac Stern at age 12, performed with the POEM-CEES at the dedication ceremony for the new Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was an original composition, and the POEM-CEES, a nationally-known hip-hop and spoken word group get into the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a time of activism without cell phones, Facebook, and Tweets.

HBO Documentary Covering the Musical Activist's Life "Sing Your Song" Debuts Tonight

Oct 17, 2011 - Harry Belafonte, a long time musical activist, will be featured in a HBO documentary debuting tonight called "Sing Your Song". His musical career has spanned decades and paralleled the civil rights movement, and he always spoke out and worked against social injustice in the world. In a recent Reuters interview, he commented on the Occupy Wall Street protesters saying, "I'm very encouraged by what young people are doing, and I think that the examples that we set with our own lives in the past have been a good measure for young people to begin to evaluate their own lives."

Harry Belafonte was a ground breaker and crossed over the segregated lines to become a star in 1956 with Calypso, and he was the first artist ever to sell over a million copies of a record. His activism caused him to be blacklisted and harassed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and the CIA and FBI spied on him.

Some of the causes he has fought for over the years has been equality, civil rights, human dignity, and voting rights. In 1985 launched "We Are The World" to help fight famine in Africa. He constantly speaks out politically, and is not afraid at all to speak out against wars, Presidents, and more. When asked if he feared criticism from his remarks he said, "Bring it on. Dissent is central to any democracy."

To read more about the documentary go the HBO website or click here.

Oct 16, 2011 - Musicians and stars, such as The Edge, Bono, Usher and more gathered in Hollywood to celebrate 10 years of the Clinton Foundation making a difference in the world. Kenny Chesney, Lady Gaga, K'Naan, and Juanes also performed to celebrate the former President's 65th birthday. Watch moments from the show, including a nervous moment for President Clinton when Lady Gaga channeled Marilyn Monroe. 

President Clinton started his foundation "with the mission to alleviate poverty, improve global health, strengthen economies, and protect the environment, by fostering partnerships among governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and private citizens — leveraging their expertise, resources, and passions — to turn good intentions into measurable results." To find out more about the Clinton Foundation, click here.

To watch replay clips from the show click here, or watch the video below.