Tag: music

FEB 15, 2012 - A young girl, Avalanna Routh, who has been battling an aggressive and rare form of cancer known as ATRT got a "dream date" with Justin Bieber. The young musician has been recently getting more involved with activism and speaking out about issues such as working with PETA to promote animal lovers to adopt pets from shelters, to raising awareness and funds for clean water for developing nations. The family put up a Facebook Page hoping to get the two together, and with help from the non-profit  The Jimmy Fund that has been supporting the fight against cancer since 1948, and a local news report featuring young Avalanna that Justin Bieber was watching, the encounter came to fruition. Watch a Today video report about the event below.

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FEB 13, 2012 - Bruce Springsteen, long known for his activism, opened up with a song at the Grammy Awards Show last night called, "We Take Care of Our Own", a new song from his upcoming album, "Wrecking Ball". He was met with a standing ovation and cheers, and chants of "Bruuuce!". The song has lines such as, "From the shotgun shack to the Superdome, We yelled help but the cavalry stayed home", and "Where's the promise, from sea to shining sea, We take care of our own". Many are taking this song to be a statement on the government's response to Katrina, jobs being outsourced, and the American dream being threatened by recent actions such as attacks on unions and teachers and government entitlement programs. There is another version of the video Bruce released, which contains images of working people, a group Bruce has long supported and fought for over the years. Watch Bruce singing "We Take Care of Our Own" when he opened up the Grammys last night, and then a black & white "studio version" below.
(Photo credit: Thomas Uhlemann/Wiki)

CORRECTION: Willie Nelson is NOT part of the lawsuit filed against Monsanto. We apologize for any confusion.

FEB 13, 2012 - 300,000 activists who support small family farms and a healthy and fair food system, sued food giant Monsanto in Federal Court in Manhattan on January 31, 2012. Musician activist Willie Nelson and his Occupy The Food System which consists of many small groups such as Food Democracy Now are not part of the suit but have voiced their support and rallied in support outside the federal courthouses for the farmers who are filing the suit. The suit seeks to protect the harassment and threatening manner agribusiness giant Monsanto has exhibited, with threatening to go after any small farms that contain any trace of what they claim to be their property, genetically modified seeds. All the activists are also fighting against Monsanto's spraying of "Roundup herbicides", which harm the soil, water and the farms around them. Willie states that the corporate takeover of small farms by large corporations has "led to the loss of millions of family farmers, destruction of our soil, pollution of our water and health epidemics of epic obesity and diabetes". Read more about the lawsuit on NationofChange.org here, and check out Occupy The Food System Facebook Page here.

Also, an ad aired on the Grammy's last night of Willie Nelson performing the haunting Coldplay classic, "The Scientists" (watch below) to help The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, an organization that is "Dedicated to creating a sustainable, healthful and equitable future". You can purchase the song on iTunes here, where proceeds will benefit the foundation and help them in their work to protect small family farms. Check out their website here.

FEB 6, 2012 - Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers and Mike Mills, bassist from the recently defunct REM, have written a song and put out a video in protest to a massive 94,000 square foot complex that includes a WalMart in the heart of downtown Athens, Georgia. The song is called, "After It's Gone", and is a group of local musicians put together by Hood and called the Downtown 13.

The video refers people to the ProtectDowntowAthens.com website, where it says they are a group of concerned citizens that formed "to discuss our concerns with Selig’s proposed development of the A&D property. We were concerned with the design, the lack of interaction with local initiatives and the impact a development of this scale would have on the city we love. We were also frustrated by the lack of accurate information and meaningful dialogue."

For more information on this issue, check out www.ProtectDowntownAthens.com, and check out the video below.
(Photo credit: SaveRivers/Wiki)

FEB 6, 2012 - Occupy Palm Beach has been a model for Occupy movements for other cities. The government has granted them access to land, and even water and electricity, and everything has been peaceful and a model for free speech rights. However, the city of Palm Beach is asking for funds to pay for the electricity, water, and upkeep of the encampment. So the folks at Occupy Palm Beach are planning a benefit concert to raise funds. It is titled, "Benefit for the 99%", tentatively scheduled for the weekend of February 25.

On the Broward Palm Beach NewTimes Blog, Alex Rendon says "They are asking for a "little help from friends." So if you are a musician in tune with the 99 percent who would like to get down with the cause and/or are a performing artist in other media, including poets, dancers, and acrobats, you're also welcome. Contact occupypbc @ gmail.com to get involved." Read the full NewTimes Blog here.