There's a lot of stuff rolling around in this old head of mine. Hopefully you'll be able to understand and relate. Sometimes...you just have to get some things off your chest. And sometimes, you just have to sing outloud to a song that's been stuck in your head all day -- and dance around the room with your creaky arthritic knees. Be proud of those aches, gray hairs and laughlines....we earned every one of them.
"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." --- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Murray Hill Hotel; From Park Avenue and 40th Street. Nov. 19, 1935 -- by the incredible Berenice Abbott
Diane Arbus - 1966
The powerful Queen....Nina Simone
Dear, sweet Ari. Miss you, chica x0x0
Rest well, dear Poly x0x0 (photo by Falcon Stuart)
Don't forget to pause the playlist player if you want to watch the vid:
We lost another powerful warrior on Monday. Poly Styrene quietly passed on to higher ground. I'd like to think Ari Up and a bunch of other great old punks were there to meet her at the door and welcome her to the greatest punk party in the universe. Here's to you Poly, sweet Marianne. Our world will always be missing your Day-Glo energy. You inspired me in that early wave of punk in the 70's and helped me realize that all of us little brown and black girls could be righteous punk rockers -- and not stick-thin disco tarts in sparkly tube tops and hip-huggers. I was so proud of you. Love you, sister x0x0x
Smiley day by the river - photo by Falcon Stuart
That cool dress and the goggles at the Roxy - photo by Falcon Stuart
That classic helmet and goggles - photo by Falcon Stuart
Pic for Generation Indigo's March 2011 release - photo by Fabrizio Rainone
If you've never heard of Bill Hicks or miss him as much as I do, take some time and watch the vids posted on YouTube. He was an absolute treasure in the same league as George Carlin and Lenny Bruce. Spot-on political and philosophical opinions. I can't help but imagine what he'd think of the insane days we're trudging through right now. Can you imagine the way he'd shred the tea party madness?? We need him more than ever.
Every day is Earth Day...period. Vandana Shiva and Van Jones are incredible activists and treasures of our times. Their words echo the wisdom of indigenous people and other concerned people of conscience around the world witnessing the insanity, disrespect and selfish irresponsibility being perpetuated by polluting corporations and nuclear energy proponents. Stay aware. Get involved. This affects every single one of us -- particularly those of you creating babies and nurturing families with little kids. What kind of world are we leaving the next generations? Never stop teaching kids how connected they are to the diverse spectrum of humanity and the condition of the natural environment in the world around them.
Click for great segments from the Earth Day episode of Democracy Now from this past week:
WRONG. Have you been learning about the Koch (pronounced "Coke") brothers and the mega-millions they've funneled into tea party candidates and right wing republican pockets?? It's important to keep an eye on them and the politicians they're backing and the affect they're having on the crumbling labor movement in states like Wisconsin. It's chilling.
Click for some food for thought and inspiration to learn more:
Sometimes I feel like climbing the tallest building and shrieking about this shit til my voice goes hoarse....and then, still, shrieking some more. It's beyond comprehension that we exist in an age where rape survivors (both women and men) still face scrutiny and doubt when they dare to step up and report their assault. It's inexcusable.
When I think of Bradley Manning and the hell he has been enduring, I can't help but think of Daniel Ellsberg and the many other so-called whistleblowers who dared to step up in the face of corruption to reveal the truth. What has been happening to him is torture and political imprisonment, pure and simple. Click for updates on his case and ways to give your support: http://www.bradleymanning.org/
Last month I did a post about my dear friend and teacher, Chris Drew, who is a phenomenal artist, activist, humanitarian and creative mind. He's been battling hard against the Chicago Police Department and an absurd charge of felony eavesdropping for having had a small tape recorder recording in his pocket during the time of his arrest while he was attempting to sell screenprinted patches of art for a $1.00 in downtown Chicago holiday crowds. Chris has never been one to turn away from a challenge and he's now facing a bigger battle. He's been recently diagnosed with lung cancer, but he's got his armor strapped-on and ready for battle. Let's all keep sending him every atom of healing energy and all the vibes of strength we can to help him fight. Below the YouTube vid of a recent news interview he gave about the case, there are a couple of links where you can reach him to express your support and good words.
When I first posted about her, deep in my heart I hoped that she was only a runaway or temporarily estranged from her family. This news is truly heartbreaking. Her mother is so humble, but there really is a gross imbalance in the way missing women and girls of color receive a consistent lack of media attention compared with missing white women and little girls.
Kind of makes sense with her being a republican from Orange County. It's still a tiring, blistering outrage. Sometimes...I wish I could close my eyes...and open them to a much more diverse and balanced future where people are long past playing sandbox games and all-out raging deadly battles over race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, gender, class and so many more polarizing, divisive issues. Then again...once we get past all of that stuff, maybe humans will still find us-versus-them sorts of games to play and divide the "strange" with the "familiar". Like maybe in a 100 years or so, people will, instead, be arguing over who has the coolest toothpaste and which car flies the farthest -- will our dreams of futuristic George Jetson cars ever come true?? Kind of hoped we would've had them by the year 2000...anyhoo. Maybe it will be over cola flavors and soda pop. I'm so tired of this shit. Right about now, I'd take the old "cola wars" any day over this racist hate. When does it end??
I've had this song in my head for the past couple weeks. LOVE, LOVE, LOVED The Mo-dettes. These gals really were among the great punk bands who fell under the radar of what was going on in the 70's and 80's waves.
It's okay...go ahead and give yourself permission to skank and pogo around your pad -- or dare to do a shimmy on the subway platform. Life is too short. Take a break for the next 3 or 4 minutes and have fun with this song.
Never forget...Hope has 2 daughters....anger and courage.
Angela Davis has been doing some incredible work and activism around prison issues for a very long time. There's so much that needs to be done and awareness awakened. It's like a bathtub with a million holes and a faucet that just won't stop gushing water. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about these videos and other lectures she has done about the broken prison system. It's beyond insane watching all the bullshit we've been seeing with the pissing contests and sandbox games in Washington over the budget.Once again, there are elephants in the middle of the room, but our politicians won't go near them. The smell keeps getting more and more foul...and more and more lives are being crushed and forgotten. So many people could truly be helped and (re)habilitated. And millions upon millions of dollars could be saved and poured into crucial programs and the fractured deficit.
Here are 2 links to a speech she did on the corruption and inhumanity in the prison industrial complex for Emory University at Dr. King's church back in 2009 as part of their Women's History Month celebration (there's a part one and part two). She also (in her usual brilliance) reminds everyone about the vital contributions spearheaded by women in the civil rights movementand the critical connection to the labor movement. It really wasn't all about the guys in their sharp suits and ties.
Today's the 3rd Saturday in April.Happy Record Store Day. If you're not totally buried under a mountain of laundry and other work you need to tackle, take a little time out today and visit a local independent record store in your town (if you're still lucky to have one). And if you can't quite make it outside...try streaming this great documentary on NetFlix. It's a sweet love song to a legendary indie record store and a great reminder to appreciate the shops that are still hanging on across the nation (and the world). This especially goes out to all of you iTunes/mp3 obsessed kids out there who have never set foot in a record store in your young lives or have only ever known big box stores, Virgin megastores, Tower records, etc. There's a whole record store culture that is sadly being lost. I could write a novel about it...and maybe one day I will. If it weren't for the awesome shop owners and workers at my favorite record stores back in Chicago and NYC during the 70's and early 80's, I might not have fallen as deeply in love with punk, garage, jazz, classical, no-wave, noise and so much more amazing, incredible music and art. And it wasn't all about dusty records -- those shops gave so many of us platforms to distribute our punk zines, indie label music and inspired radical and progressive thought and activism. Those shops helped connect and inform us crazy punks and other subculture/counterculture types in the eras before the internet. Absolutely priceless.
Any San Francisco, Berkeley and Hollywood folks out here in California, how about we pile as many people as we can inside our local Amoeba, Rasputin and other smaller shops, too??? On your mark...get ready...GO!!
This one is for my dear, brilliant friend, Duke. He's living in France and heard this BBC radio program about Bronzeville -- ever heard of it?? It's a legendary area on Chicago's south side. I've always thought of it like Harlem in NYC. It blossomed under the shadow of the "Great Migration" where many African-Americans moved north to escape lynchings, jim crow and the extreme racism and lack of opportunities festering in southern states like Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and elsewhere during the 1900's throughout the 40's and 50's. This link is to the first episode...and the second episode is scheduled for next Wednesday (4/20). It looks like they don't leave the programs archived for very long, so listen while you can!
They were somebody's daughter... somebody's mother... somebody's sister... somebody's friend... they existed... they had hopes and dreams... They weresomebody.
For all of the Natalees, Chandras and JonBenets...
we also have these girls and women, too. And so many, many, many more.
