May Term Long Memory Utah Phillips

Thanks

2011-05-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Where do I pickup my diploma?

Music Lives

2011-05-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

no matter what, music will always be around. the birds will never stop singing, the wind blowing through the slot canyons in southern utah will never stop howling, coyotes will always cry to the moon hoping they will be heard by another. everyone has the power to create music, whether it's tapping their fingertips on their desk in class or singing in the shower. you don't need to have the voice of arethra franklin for singing to make you happy, if only the birds with the prettiest songs sang, the forest would be silent. people have been making music since they first were put on earth, there is tons of music references in the bible.

1 Samuel 10:5

5 After that you shall come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying.

music is and always will be part of our lives, for escape, emotional outlet, and just for good old fun. if we didn't have music, our world would be sad and depressing, there would be no humming or whistling when we walk home alone. campfires would be accompanied by the crackle of the wood being burnt and the silence of the owls not hooting. protest chants would be more like protest statements because rhyme and meter have too much in common with music and people would begin to put melody to their chants. grandparents will teach their sons and daughters songs who will pass them along to their kids. there will always be songs that glorify a generation or a group, persuade people to change their thinking, and teach us valuable information. this is why bruce utah phillips was such a huge influence, he left a legacy of songs that will always be around and always be remembered.

Anarchy and Pacifism

2011-05-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

This course has made me ponder my ideology. Many of the people we have studied and met people who call themselves anarchist pacifists. I thought I would explore these ideas further. This essay in particular did a good job of breaking down and merging the two ideologies.

http://cust.idl.com.au/fold/teach/Quakers/Anarchy%20and%20Pacifism.html

It has inspired me to ponder a world where conflicts, especially between nations are not fought through violence. This country would be so much wiser if it were to adapt non violence policies. Instead of spending trillions on weapons, we could enrich so many lives through subsidized education, wilderness preservation and health care. I recently changed my facebook info ideology to anarchist pacifist. I'm not sure this constitutes a lifestyle change, but it does call for a new way of thinking.

Music Through Familys Leads to Music Through History

2011-05-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing that seems to stick with me this semester, it's that musical talents seem to start in the home. Their passed down through the generation, from family member to family member. I think that's part of what keeps old songs alive, learning them from our elders. I think this passing down of knowledge is what keeps "The Long Memory" alive.

I wanted to show an example of this kind of passing down of knowledge and talent. I grew up next door to Mary and Chappy which would be Muzzie Braun's parents and the grandparents of the band members of Reckless Kelly (who now have several hit country songs.) In fact, I remember the boys of Reckless Kelly stealing my clothes and toys and hanging them from an apple tree when I was about 5. If you ever listen to Sirius Radio, on one of the country stations every day around 4 Mary calls in to request to hear Reckless Kelly in support of her grandsons. Every year the Braun Brothers hold a reunion in Challis Idaho to bring together friends and family and play music for several days. This weekend long event is now arguably the only thing that keeps the Challis economy alive during these hard times. It attracts tourists from all over. I think this yearly reunion show, and family's passing of music through generations is a great example of how individuals can keep their long memory growing. Below is several clips of both generations playing music.

This one is definitely a protest song:

Remember

2011-05-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone - my teaching partner Bob, our guests and especially students - for such a rich and rewarding learning experience. Historians are all about memory, usually in the form of written documents that we assemble and interpret to tell stories. Here in this class, we explored all kinds of other ways to remember - songs, live and recorded, with and without accompaniment; verbal reminiscences in person, on DVD, on CD; photographs, drawings, cartoons. We used things from a single human voice to twelve people with microphones, amps and guitars to Skype and Youtube and everything in between. I feel especially good whenever I listen to Utah Phillips talk about "the long memory" and how "they don't teach this stuff in school" - well, sometimes they do. Maybe my form of activism is to help perpetuate and pass on memories that might otherwise get forgotten - a small part of Utah's oversized legacy.

Viva la Historia! Hasta la victoria siempre! Solidarity Forever! Take it easy, but take it!

Laying Down the Weapons of Privilege

2011-05-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

Tuesday's discussion on how to live in a society with these inequities helped me realize what Ammon Hennacy might have meant when he told Bruce that nonviolence meant laying down the weapons of privilege, not just abstaining from directly harming other people.

See, I feel that I live my lifestyle on the exploitation of others, present and future (past, too, but there's not much I can do for them). It's so obvious--I don't labor but I enjoy the product of other people's labor; my purchases wreck the environment in ways that affect poorer community's health and the viability of the future for everyone--but the poor disproportionately.

I can say it's not my fault, that it's the system, and that's true on a level. But I feel compelled to dedicate myself to righting those wrongs. I'm not there yet--don't know what I want to work toward and still developing the self-discipline--but I think meeting some of the people in this class has helped me realize it really is possible to try.

I grew up thinking that everyone felt the same way as I do but had good practical reasons for not taking action, so I shouldn't set out on such a path either, but since then I've realized that a lot of people do take action and that a lot of other people don't necessarily care very much. Oh, and that there are serious practical obstacles, but that's true for pretty much everything in life.

My father is virulently opposed to me prioritizing anything above my own economic success, and my mother is distressed by my lack of political apathy. It's good to know I'm not as absolutely insane as they think I am, or at least that I have company. It still seems bordering on absurd to imagine that I can or would really achieve something as momentous as "laying down the weapons of privilege," but it sounds like a fine ideal.

Current AFL & CIO Battle with Wisconsin Bill

2011-05-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

Looking through the Website that was suggested on the syllabus http://wisaflcio.typepad.com/ ----I found an article that was talking about an illegal bill that was passed by the governor Scott Walker and Senate Republicans in Wisconsin. This bill would essentially leave thousands of workers without rights and the union which protects them without power to aid their workers. As the article says, the bill is a "union stripping bill".

The interesting part of this bill is that the judge, MaryAnn Sumi , of the case says that there is "clear and convincing" evidence that the makers of the bill broke a law in order to get it passed. The law that was allegedly broken is called the "open meetings law". According to the article this entails that, "To pass a bill in a Joint Committee of Conference, 24 hours notice must be given to both Representatives and the public". The open meetings law is in place in order to make the public workers and populous in general aware of the government and its affairs. Apparently this law was not adhered to in the case of this bill. On June 6, the case will be handled by the Supreme Court. Hopefully the Supreme court hears the cries of workers, and protects their rights. But this looks like a fight to the finish that will require support from all factions of society, whether worker or owner.

According to the article,"This bill would not only have negative affects on public employees but on all of Wisconsin workers and the middle class".

What surprises me about this bill is that at our present age in society we still have such unjust bills being passed that are very detrimental to the rights of workers. This shows us the importance of voting for our politicians. We must take time to research the politicians for which we vote. WE decide the future with our vote. We indirectly vote for bigger measures with our vote for a politician.

The Wall

2011-05-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

Walls have a history in the long memory. The Wall of China, The Berlin Wall, Hadrian's Wall... and now the U.S. Mexican Boarder Wall. The book we received in class today entitled The American Wall, had a powerful essay written by Charles Bowden (who recently visited Westminster College a few months ago) and depicts both the hypocrisy and the ignorance that have made the wall its brain child. I was reminded of the dark era that was the Bush administration, and the first time I caught wind of the wall was when I got my news from comedy central.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/183084/june-21-2007/difference-makers---tim-donnelly

I recalled an interview with Bowden I had seen a couple of months ago, and I realized this greed and fear isn't just America vs. Mexico, it is a common 1st world vs. 3rd world. It frustrates me that there is still so much money being spent on militias rather than making an attempt to help our fellow human beings. Why is this world run on fear and hatred?

Pancho Villa

2011-05-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a song I found about Pancho Villa, it said the artist of the song was Billy Walker. I was not able a live version of it though by Billy Walker.

Pancho villa pancho villa the robinhood of mexico
Pancho villa pancho villa the robinhood of old mexico

He rode into town one evening the streets began too clear
The word was passed in whisper the bandit pancho villa's here
With his band of mighty outlaws many stories had been told
Did he fight for the rights of us or was it lust for gold
His rifles numbered forty his men gave a mighty shout
And the soldiers that we hated were all dead or criminal
And when the battle ended our town was in his hands
We realized that with men free bout pancho villa's outlaw band
Pancho villa pancho villa..

Then I looked out my window and I began to pray
As he smiled at my rosana across the street as she came my way
I knew my hand was trembling as I prepared to draw
And in my eyes could not believe the miracle I saw
He put down gold and silver and food for us to eat
Said I didn't come to harm you and our hearts fell at his feet
He told us to build a mission so grand and so strong so gay
So the people that he love would know pancho villa passed this way
Pancho villa pancho villa..

Waging Nonviolence

2011-05-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

I looked up "nonviolence" after today's class and found the blog wagingnonviolence.org, which reports on... nonviolence all around the world, including specific protests, history, and reflections on trends, like "Facebook's Role in Yemen's Uprising".

The latest post is on a planned June 17 protest in Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive or take public transportation. On this day, participating women will follow traffic rules--and drive around on daily errands. Some participants in a similar 1990 protest (who, it's implied, also broke laws against assembly) "lost their jobs, were forbidden to travel abroad, or were maligned in mosque sermons." Manal al Sharif, one of the organizers of the protest, is currently in jail.

For news closer to home, the blog's archives also have 580 posts tagged "United States".

Ocean View - One Day As A Lion

2011-05-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

One Day As A Lion is the blending music styles of major activist Zach de la Rocha and Mars Volta Drummer Jon Theodore. The band was named after a picture by Chicano photographer George Rodriguez. In the picture was taken of an art piece that was found on a wall in Boyle Heights in the 1970s. it reads "it's better to live one day as a lion then a thousand years as a lamb." We spoke about this in class and it's something to take a moment to think about. Is passive resistance better than violent resistance? below are the lyrics to one of their songs Ocean View.

Blood done been running down streets flood with beats

Pepper spray over cracked concrete

So vicious make a rich mans neck split

Underworld bout to wreck shit bet this

Banks closed stomachs churning

Lines and rows cops blastin out church windows

They heard word of two on a terror list

Hid in the pews just two city terrace kids

One held a piece just for peace of mind

The other was spittin poems blowin minds

On the picket line

Barricades lay cross made with bumpers and burning tires

And you could smell the exhaust

And you could hear the kids screaming don't

Play us, too close

You can have the mic or the heater but you can't hold both

And they were both...

Ocean of tears rise, rise a flame to tear them down

Ocean of past crimes now fill our hearts to tear them down

The water main's cut off panic hit the manor of the

Mayor who's soft

Word hit the streets that the cops got off

They shook to rhythm of heaters that burned

Like claps of thunder

You turn to look at vengeance returned that shatter control

After the whole shock of the news that a bomb hit the

Bridge at broadway

Gridlock full stop every exit way from Chavez to main

Downtown was the same

Every corner a flame with lines of people stripped of they clothes

Freeze hold up your ID's their houses burned as they watched

The colonel looked at his clock

And they were all...

Oceans of tears rise, rise a flame to tear them down

Ocean of past crimes now fill our hearts to tear them down

EZLN - Our Word is our Weapon

2011-05-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

Sub Comandante Marcos has written numerous amounts of articles and books about what the EZLN have been doing down in Mexico specifically where they are based in the southern region of Chiapas. Since 1994, they have declared war on Mexico and they continuously make their point heard to fight capitalistic governments. Above is a more or less a slideshow of pictures with Subcomandante reading a speech he had written to the citizens of Mexico know that he is there continuously trying to hold the liberation army together, add more support from the citizens, as well as stay strong in their fight to end Capatist governments and bring the power and money back to the workers of the country...

I think it's a really cool short speech that is just out to bring the people back to the cause. enjoy

About the IWW and Direct Action

2011-05-25T19:31:00.001-07:00

So I was looking for something for my last blog post, and I think I found the perfect video that could possibly sum up our entire lesson focus for the week in 5 minutes and 10 seconds, and who could anyone else be the better narrator than Utah Phillips himself? This video really helps wrap up everything we have been learning, (or at least as much as 5 minutes can do) with great pictures (a lot of familiar ones too) and captions. Hope y'all enjoy!

"Direct Action" by Utah Phillips

MGMT & ______

2011-05-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

When I was reading the IWW newspaper that Tony Roehrig & Mike Garcia--May 2011 issue of the IWW's newspaper Industrial Worker--gave to the class I found an article entitled Their Interests And Ours by Scott Nappalos that brought up an interesting point. Why do we need manangement in our businesses, colleges, and other forms of labor organization? Could we, as human beings, be rational enough to govern ourselves without the need of an outside overseer? This is the main question: Do we trust our fellow workers around us enough to not have any form of employee government? And if we do trust our fellow employee in their capability of self-government, then on what grounds--i.e. how can you verify that every employee has this benevolent capability?
In the article by Nappalos, he talks about how even health care professionals--nurses, doctors, etc.--are governed by a management body. He says the following about mangerical ideology: "Managerial organization is directed at solving the problem posed by workers unwilling and unable to conform to their engineered designs. At best, they offer us apologies for the health care system, but emphasize discipline, subservience and utilize heavy threats" ("Their Interests And Ours"). In the author's mind, Scott Nappalos, he is saying that the managerical system is set in place to keep workers in line with an organized form of doing things that the manager has created through rules, regulations, and other sorts of employee fences that they are not supposed to climb, but only respect. As Nappalos says, managers offer condolences, but at the same time they enforce strict discipline and expect the worker to follow their lead at all times.
What are we to think of the position of managers and managerical organizations? To define myself clearly here, when I speak of managerical organizations, I mean organizations that have a top down leadership format to their businesses--heirarchical organization. I'll ask once again is there a need for managers and managerical organizations, if their main duty is to make sure that we are following the rules of a corporation, etc.?
To ask this last question we must first ask ourselves if we don't need a managerical labor framework, then are we ourselves capable of governing ourselves? If we were left to roam free in the labor world, ungoverned, then could we have responsibility enough to avoid having the use for a managerical organization to oversee our actions toward other employees and the organization in general? On what grounds can we affirm this? It seems clear that the only way that we could show that all human beings are fit for self-government and responsibility, is to open their mind and see if we could check their, so to say, self-governability faculty. This is surely impossibly absurd to think possible.
We then have a ideological crossroad that we must face, and that is: Do we choose to have organizations without management bodies regulating them, or do we choose to have organizations built on the premise that the individual is rational enough to govern himself/herself? Which is more preferable to assume: 1) To assume that each individual is rational/responsible enough to govern their own employment conduct, or to assume that managerical bodies in organizations are necessary for a well ordered and profitable company? It appears that either route one chooses, there is an assumption to which one is bound. Maybe some people's belief that managerical bodies in our organizations are fundamentally necessary, shows an embedded distrust of 'the other' (person)--the same could be said about people who distrust organizations; maybe they don't trust organizations because they don't trust individuals running the organization. Surely not everyone dislikes their boss and the way he/she does business. Right? Maybe.
Either way it is apparent that depending one the system to which one adheres--to have managerical bodies or to have self-governing individuals, there is an assumption that one must be willing to make: individuals are capable of self-government or individuals are not capable of self-government and need managerical bodies to govern them.

Sands of Iwo Jima

2011-05-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

This was a song that I considers using as my in class song. Great song and i would definitely consider it folk music. Drive-by Truckers

IWW Cartoons

2011-05-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to see if I could find some Pro-IWW Propaganda and I found alot, here are some of the good ones.

2011-05-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

JOE HILL
As we come to the end of the course, we reach Joe Hill, a name often mentioned in class. For an overview, go (of course) to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill. (Be sure to look at the section "influences and tributes" to get a sense of the impact his case continues to have.)

Even people who don't know anything about the IWW or labor histiory may know his name because of a poem that was turned into a song: I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night. There are many versions. Here is one by Joan Baez who sings it regularly at her concerts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f2J4ceCikI&feature=related. Read some of the comments on this site; some are strongly anti-union and may give you a different sense of their role in America. (There is also a much longer song about Joe Hill done by Phil Ochs and re-recorded by Bill Bragg which you can find on youtube. Ochs was a major figure in the folk revival in the 1960s and wrote some amazing songs.)

Finally Bob Dylan, in Chronicles Volume One, says that he was deeply moved by the story of Joe Hill -- he includes a 3 page summary of the case in the book which he wrote and which is fairly accurate -- but didn't think it was a good song. He thought it was "preachy and one-dimensional... [In protest songs] you have to show people a side of themselves that they don't know is there. The song 'Joe Hill' doesn't even come close, but if there ever was someone who could inspire a song, it was him. Joe had the light in his eyes." Dylan says he thought about writing a song about Joe Hill. One version would have been titled "Scatter My Ashes Anyplace but Utah" and that line would have been the refrain. He thought about another version using the approach of "Long Black Veil" (a great song) and even thought that "'Long Black Veil' seemed like it could have been a song written by Joe Hill himself, his last one." In the end, Dylan didn't write a Joe Hill song -- but he is only 70 and there is still time.....

IWW Protest Songs

2011-05-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

I found a book called "Little Red Song Book" A good number of the songs are written by Joe Hill. The book contains many songs by tons of other artists. One of the songs by Joe Hill is "Joe Hill's Last Will"

Joe Hill's Last Will

 My will is easy to decide, For there is nothing to divide.
My kin don't need to fuss and moan–
"Moss does not cling to a rolling stone.
"My body? Ah, if I could choose,
 I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow
 My dust to where some
flower's grow.
Perhaps some fading flower then
                        Would come to life and bloom again.
                        This is my last and final will.
                        Good luck to all of you,  Joe Hill


.A Complete list of songs that are included in the song book is at
http://www.sacredchao.net/iww/index.shtml

2011-05-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

Christmas Time in Washington by Steve Earle

It's Christmastime in Washington
The Democrats rehearsed
Gettin' into gear for four more years
Things not gettin' worse
The Republicans drink whiskey neat
And thanked their lucky stars
They said, 'He cannot seek another term
They'll be no more FDRs'
I sat home in Tennessee
Staring at the screen
With an uneasy feeling in my chest
And I'm wonderin' what it means

Chorus:
So come back Woody Guthrie
Come back to us now
Tear your eyes from paradise
And rise again somehow
If you run into Jesus
Maybe he can help you out
Come back Woody Guthrie to us now

I followed in your footsteps once
Back in my travelin' days
Somewhere I failed to find your trail
Now I'm stumblin' through the haze
But there's killers on the highway now
And a man can't get around
So I sold my soul for wheels that roll
Now I'm stuck here in this town

There's foxes in the hen house
Cows out in the corn
The unions have been busted
Their proud red banners torn
To listen to the radio
You'd think that all was well
But you and me and Cisco know
It's going straight to hell

So come back, Emma Goldman
Rise up, old Joe Hill
The barracades are goin' up
They cannot break our will
Come back to us, Malcolm X
And Martin Luther King
We're marching into Selma
As the bells of freedom ring

Reaction: I decided to take a look at this song after it was mentioned in class. I think that Earle has a poetic way of recalling history. He valued "the long memory" of those past leaders who stood up for social justice. I was glad to hear the names of Woody Guthrie, Emma Goldman, Joe Hill, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King mentioned directly.

If I had chosen another Protest Song

2011-05-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

If I had chosen another protest song, I probably would have chose this song. I think protesting how society does religion nowadays is definitely worthy of protest. Then again, Miranda Lambert songs tend to protest a lot of society's rules and norms in my opinion. My favorite line is definitely

"Even though I hate to admit it
Sometimes I smoke cigarettes
Christian folks say I should quit it
I just smile and say “God bless”"

I think that line expresses how I often feel about the judgments "Christian" folks seem to cast upon people, and that smiling and just brushing it off and taking the higher road is probably closer to what God would want of us.

2011-05-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

Oxycontin Blues by Steve Earle

Well my daddy worked in the coal mine
‘Till the company shut it down
Then he sat around and drank hisself blind
‘Till we put him back underground
Now nothin’ grows on this mountain
And what’s a poor boy to do?
Except to wander these hills forgotten
With the oxycontin blues

Well I never cared much for whiskey
‘Cause it only made daddy mean
Wrapped a little bit tight they tell me
For the methamphetamine
Then my cousin come up from Knoxville
And he taught me a thing or two
Now I’m headed nowhere but downhill
With the oxycontin blues

Got a dollar bill in my pocket
Got a half a tank in my truck
I’m gonna go and pawn grandma’s locket
Hell, maybe it’ll change my luck
Ain’t nothin gonna be right no how
‘Cause I know I can’t ever lose
This devil that’s draggin’ me down
And the oxycontin blues

Reaction: Steve Earle's song Oxycontin Blues was mentioned in Tuesday's class so I wrote it down on my scratch paper and decided to look it up. My first thought after listening to the song was, "What is Oxycontin exactly?" Therefore, I searched the Internet and found that it is a drug used to relieve moderate to severe pain. After I knew that the entire song made sense. It is about a son who is experiencing a great amount of pain after his father's death due to alcoholism after a mine was closed.

Protest Songs

2011-05-24T23:13:00.001-07:00

Through the course of this class we have been trying to figure out whether or not the protest song is dead. Well, after all the songs that have been shared in class, my answer would be no, the protest song is not dead. The protest song will always live on until nobody has anything they want to fight for, and unfortunately I don't think in today's society, that time is going to come anytime soon. I wanted to add another of my favorite bands into the mix of activism and protest songs: Rise Against. Their name says it all, and here are just three songs of their numerous collection in rising against what they know is wrong.

Hero of War.

Lyrics: http://www.metrolyrics.com/hero-of-war-lyrics-rise-against.html

Prayer of the Refugee addresses the issues of cheap labor in oversees countries.

Lyrics: http://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/riseagainst/prayeroftherefugee.html

Re-education through Labor, This video shows some pretty alarming statistics and is rated as uncensored.

Lyrics: http://www.metrolyrics.com/reeducation-through-labor-lyrics-rise-against.html

Here is a page on some of their activism and if you scroll about half way down on the left is a running clock of how much the U.S. has spent on the war in Iraq.

http://www.riseagainst.com/activism/

Devendra Banheart "Heard Somebody Say"

2011-05-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

This protest song is simple, it doesn't have many lyrics, and it is reminiscent of John Lennon's Give Peace a Chance, using repetition for emphasis. Devendra Banheart is a devout hindu, and like the Beatles, he spent a couple of years in India developing his practice.
This is a war protest song sung from the point of view of a pacifist. It shows the lasting effects of war, that just because a war is declared over, doesn't mean that the pain and devastation of war is forgotten.

I heard somebody say
That the war ended today
But everyone knows its goin' still

Our motherlands and motherseas
Here's what we believe
It's simple
We don't want to kill

Oh, it's simple
We don't want to kill
Oh, it's simple
We don't want to kill
Oh, it's simple
We don't want to kill

Paul Warfield Tibbets

2011-05-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

After hearing Rosalie play the song about the first Atomic Bombing, i was curious to read more about the Pilot, Paul Tibbets, and I was curious if he felt any regrets. After reading the article it's clear he did not.

Hiroshima bomb pilot dies aged 92

Gen Tibbets (centre) always said he had no regrets

Tibbets on Hiroshima

The commander of the B-29 plane that dropped the first atomic bomb, on Hiroshima in Japan, has died.

Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr died at his home in Columbus, Ohio, aged 92.

The five-ton "Little Boy" bomb was dropped on the morning of 6 August 1945, killing about 140,000 Japanese, with many more dying later.

On the 60th anniversary of the bombing, the three surviving crew members of the Enola Gay - named after Tibbet's mother - said they had "no regrets".

'No headstone'

A friend of the retired brigadier-general told AP news agency that Paul Tibbets had died after a two-month decline in health.

Gen Tibbets had asked for no funeral nor headstone as he feared opponents of the bombing may use it as a place of protest, the friend, Gerry Newhouse, said.

The Hiroshima bomb killed about 140,000 Japanese

The bombing of Hiroshima marked the beginning of the end of the war in the Pacific.

Japan surrendered shortly after a second bomb was dropped, on Nagasaki, three days later.

On the 60th anniversary of Hiroshima, the surviving members of the Enola Gay crew - Gen Tibbets, Theodore J "Dutch" Van Kirk (the navigator) and Morris R Jeppson (weapon test officer) said: "The use of the atomic weapon was a necessary moment in history. We have no regrets".

Gen Tibbets said then: "Thousands of former soldiers and military family members have expressed a particularly touching and personal gratitude suggesting that they might not be alive today had it been necessary to resort to an invasion of the Japanese home islands to end the fighting."

Air show

Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr was born in Quincy, Illinois, in 1915 and spent most of his youth in Miami.

Paul Tibbets: Life in pictures

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1937 and led bombing operations in Europe before returning to test the Superfortress.

He retired from the forces in 1966.

In a 1975 interview he said: "I'm proud that I was able to start with nothing, plan it and have it work as perfectly as it did... I sleep clearly every night."

In 1976, Gen Tibbets was criticised for re-enacting the bombing at an air show in Texas.

A mushroom cloud was set off as he over flew in a B-29 Superfortress in a stunt that outraged Japan. Gen Tibbets said it was not meant as an insult but the US government formally apologised.

In 1995, Gen Tibbets denounced as a "damn big insult" a planned 50th anniversary exhibition of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian Institution that put the bombing in context of the suffering it caused.

He and veterans groups said too much attention was being paid to Japan's suffering and not enough to its military brutality.

Will We still be here tomorrow?

2011-05-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Harold Camping

On Tuesdays class it was mentioned how some religious groups think the world will end tomorrow. As I see my computer filled with such headlines today, I thought I would research a little bit about it and share my findings.

One religious figure, Father Jonathan Morris reported to Fox news and other news sources that the world will not end, but that the belief comes from one radical, Mr. Harold Camping. Morris says in his article:
"My bet is Mr. Harold Camping will be much better off on May 22 than his followers. Any man who can convince himself and others that he alone has figured out what Jesus said nobody ever will (“therefore keep watch, you do not know the day or the hour,” Matthew 25:13) surely has a great back-up plan up his sleeve, just in case."

I also found it interesting that not only does this guy know the day the world will end, but also the exact time the fun will begin, 6 pm. Though he does fail mention which time zone, so that gives him a few hours to be inaccurate and still be able to claim that he was right, if something were to happen.

Harold Camping's belief is that "a massive earthquake will hit New Zealand and from there continue around the world during the next 24 hours. He's going to watch this unfold on TV. At the end of this 24 hour period Harold Camping says believers will go to heaven and the rest will be left on earth to face final judgements before the earth is destroyed.

There will be no chance of salvation during this time.

Harold Camping views phenomena such as the major earthquakes in Haiti, Christchurch and Japan, along with killer tornadoes in America and social decay seen in the likes of the gay pride movement, as "grim reminders" that the end is near." (http://www.endoftheworld2012.net/haroldcamping.htm)

But, Camping also has said:
"May 21 2011 will be the first day of a five month period of God's judgement on earth, ending on October 21, 2011." (http://www.endoftheworld2012.net/haroldcamping.htm) So, it doesn't seem like the guy can quite get his story straight on how long it will last, must be that old age making him forget what he's already said, I mean, the poor man is 89 years old.

Somehow, I don't think the world will end tomorrow. And I don't feel that 50 years of Bible study qualifies anyone to say it will, because, in the end, it's not up to men to decide.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/20/2226274/christian-radio-group-warns-worlds.html

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2011/05/19/the-world-will-not-end-on-may-21st-but-don%E2%80%99t-believe-me/

http://www.familyradio.com/

Rage Against the Machine

2011-05-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest modern Protest bands is Rage Against the Machine. The band formed in 1991 and lasted as a huge hit all the way until 2000 when they released their last album Renegades. Their music consited entirely of songs meant to uprise a population to how the band was feeling about the Government's Administration and their corruption. Since the class has started I have listened to each of their CD's and I made sure to listen to the lyrics with in the songs. One song made me really think of the class as it pertained to Unions their necessity. Below are the Lyrics to "Maggie's Farm" a song popularized in the 60's by Bob Dylan but has a much longer history that included Earl Scruggs, and Lester Flat. The song talks about a man who is tired of his working conditions.

Maggie's Farm

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
No, I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
Well, I wake up in the morning
Fold my hands and pray for rain.
I got a head full of ideas
That are drivin' me insane
It's a shame
the way she makes me
scrub the floor
I ain't gonna work on, nah
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more
nah, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more
Well, he hands you a nickel
And he hands you a dime
And he asks you with a grin
If you're havin' a good time
Then he fines you every time you slam the door
I ain't gonna work for, nah
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more

I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more
Well, he puts his cigar
Out in your face just for kicks
His bedroom window
It is made out of bricks
The National Guard stands around his door
I ain't gonna work, nah
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law
And everybody says
Shes the brains behind pa
Shes sixty-eight, but she says shes twenty-four
I ain't gonna work for, nah
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
No, I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
Well I try my best
To be just like I am
But everybody wants you
To be just like them
They sing while they slave and just get bored
I ain't gonna work on, nah
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more

Poetry & Music

2011-05-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

the difference between poetry and music is minimal, music is poetry with instruments, and poetry, if being performed, uses vocal passion in order to portray emotion. what is happening to mainstream music today is a lack of poetry and an escalation in material wants. there are always going to be musicians out there that stand tall against the mainstream and make the music that they want to even if they aren't getting paid 1/4 what the mainstream musicians are. last year lil wayne made 20 million dollars despite being in jail most of the year. lil wayne's top selling song is "lollipop" and the lyrics go as follows:

"OK, little mama had a swag like mine
She even wear her hair down her back like mine
I make her feel right when it's wrong like lying
Man, she ain't never had a love like mine
And man I ain't never seen an ass like hers
And that pussy in my mouth had me loss for words
Told her back it up like erp erp
And I made that ass jump like jerk, jerk
And that's when she lick me like a lollipop (oh yeah I like that)
she lick me like a lollipop (I like that)
she lick me like a lollipop (I like that)
she lick me like a lollipop"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IH8tNQAzSs

sorry for the vulgar lyrics, but if you can see, there is little that could be considered poetry in these lyrics. all this song is is a demeaning song towards women accompanied by a not so catchy beat. this song received about 75.5 million views. does that mean that 75 and a half million people have lost all ability to comprehend conscious lyrics? unfortunately it's a possibility.

on the other hand there are musicians out there that want to make music that carries a message even if the big record producers won't sign them for million of dollars. one group that i would like to put out there for example are called the "Blue Scholars". they don't have a record deal, they don't make millions of dollars each year for selling out to the big record companies that just use you as a puppet, but instead they put themselves thousands of dollars in debt creating music that they want people to hear, one line from a song is "i wont rest until my stories have been told"and that's exactly what they do, they tell stories, whereas lil wayne talks about the mass amounts of money he makes and the women that he can get into bed with him.

november 30th, 1999 was considered the battle of seattle. the happenings of this day are told perfectly by rapper Geo from the blue scholars in the song "50K Deep".

November 30th, 1999
No sunshine

The body rock stopped, probably got caught by the cops
Nearby, somebody got shot
But parties don't stop and the parties don't care
It's a stick-up, it's why we got our hands in the air

Still demanding a share, refrigerators bare
'Cause they wanna see trade get free and not fair
But we are not blind, we are not there
We don't got time left to spare to not care

On the last day of November, swellin' in ranks
Went to chant down the mighty IMF and World Bank
A gathering of people in peaceful assembly
Onward to Westlake to disrupt the entry

Walk along steady, riot squad ready
To protect every last dignitary's ass
But this started when they herded us like cattle in a fence
Protesters gettin' restless without an exit

They threatened to arrest us, we pushed back and then
A hail of rubber bullets hit teens and old men
I admit, had to split when the first gas canisters hit
Felt it burn in my eyes, nose, and lips

They tried to blame it on the anarchists, garbage
I was there, I'll tell you right now the pigs started it
But they distort it in the news
Talkin' bout stompin' down Niketown wearing their shoes

But the body rock stopped, probably got caught by the cops
Nearby, somebody got shot
But the parties don't stop and the parties don't care
It's a stick-up, it's why we got our hands in the air

50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets
50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets
50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets
50,000 deep, 50,000 deep

Yeah, now, the body rock stopped, probably got caught by the cops
Nearby, somebody got shot
But parties don't stop in the south
So take your shoes off when you come into my house

I had to duck out 'cause I knew I stuck out in the crowd
After many years growin' up brown in this town
Now this is what democracy looks like
Not what you all had in mind for tonight

Mr. Mayor, shell-shocked for 5 days straight
Press conference, lookin' constipated and pale
Tossed a homie in jail, wasn't even protesting
Wrong place, wrong time, learned a quick lesson

But this is not a question what we did to deserve this
Rich kids went and got arrested on purpose
But was it worth it? My first inclination
Globalization is the root of the pain

Made the reason that they left and the reason that we came
Catch my breath, blood pulsates my brain
And they called it a riot?
Huh, I call it an uprising

And they call this a riot?
But nah, I call it a uprising
And they call this a riot? Nah man, fuck that
I'm a call it a uprising

50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets, yo
50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets, come on y'all
50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets, yeah
50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afgHqFOPDN0

this song has received 68 thousand views on youtube

this song is just as much a protest song as any other, but what people don't understand is that they are disregarding the music that is poetry and has a message and forces us to think, and people have been persuaded by the music that is catchy and that the radio forces us to listen to.

Anti-IWW propaganda

2011-05-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

This was a cool little video i found on Youtube. It was a clip taken from a cartoon called "Alice's Egg Plant" and it was created by Walt Disney. The odd thing I took from this was that there was a Black Cat in the clip and i thought immediately that it was part of the IWW seeing as the black cat was a symbol for the IWW but as you continue to watch the clip you realize he is against the chickens.

Dorothy Day

2011-05-20T11:22:00.001-07:00

Dorothy Day was the fiery mother of the Catholic Workers Movement. She was a pacifist, anarchist and civil rights leader. She especially cared for the poor, and questioned how so many people could be living in poverty. I thought she was a fascinating and inspiring part of Utah's influences, and I thought this video gave the name a face. She was beautiful, headstrong and an all around good human. She fought many of the social norms women faced back in her era, by being out on the street protesting, by being completely self sufficient from her father, and by questioning authority.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKiLCDaCAOU

Jean Ritchie

2011-05-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

Rosalie greatly admires Jean Ritchie, a folk singer born in 1922 who actually came from the oral tradition, learning songs from her family and at church in Kentucky (according to Wikipedia).

Here she is singing about Kentucky and the effects of mountaintop removal:

Poetry vs. music

2011-05-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

In class, Kate said that when she hears poems read, she feels like something's missing--the music. I usually feel a different lack--the text. The formatting, the arrangements of words and letters--and of course the punctuation.

For instance, look at this poem by E.E. Cummings:

why must itself up every of a park
anus stick some quote statue unquote to
prove that a hero equals any jerk
who was afraid to dare to answer "no"?
quote citizens unquote might otherwise
forget(to err is human;to forgive
divine)that if the quote state unquote says
"kill" killing is an act of christian love.
"Nothing" in 1944 AD
"can stand against the argument of mil
itary necessity"(generalissimo e)
and echo answers "there is no appeal
from reason"(freud)--you pays your money and
you doesn't take your choice. Ain't freedom grand

It impresses me on a visual level (the density of the text compared to a lot of the poet's other work hits me immediately) and communicates through patterns of punctuation and capitalization in ways that sound can't. I can't remember sound, so the written techniques can make more of a lasting impression on me. Actually, I often remember sound as static visual impressions of space, movement, color, and so on, so I perceive something like Emily Dickinson's dashes as rhythmic, as reflecting the way I experience a noisy punk song.

This leads me to something Kate and Rosalie both talked about: music as a universal language. The only problem is that the same type of music doesn't speak to everyone. The right sounds can speak to someone regardless of their language, but it's influenced by their cultural background and individual taste.

Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell

2011-05-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

"Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell is the protest song I shared in class. Mitchell's message of protecting the environment rings true with me because how we interact with our Earth today will affect everything in the future. I love the question, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got until its gone?"

SLAVERY IS NOT OVER.

2011-05-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite modern day protest songs.
The band that is performing the song, Radiohead, teamed up with an MTV affiliated organization called EXIT (End Exploitation And Traffiking) to make the video for this song.
Obviously the message is clear in the video. This isn't a black and white picket fenced world that we live in without any flaws. There are problems in the world. What can we do to aid the alleviation of them? Protesting is a start.
In this video are some poignant examples of modern day slavery, or as it has been called human trafficking. Trafficking can be in the form of forced labor, sex, etc. The point is that it exists.
For more information on trafficking and statistics visit the following site for a start in your education about this issue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking

Some of my favorite lines are during the chorus:
You are all I need
You are all I need
I'm in the middle of your picture
Lying in the reeds

Many companies that exploit their hired labor, or even force people to labor will not get away with it. The workers are, so to say, "Lying in the reeds". Waiting for that moment to tell their story to the world; keeping the 'long memory' alive. These people that are forced to labor or are exploited often make the products that we enjoy on a daily basis--they are in the middle on our picture--they make our picture.

Hope everyone thinks about the music and message.

ps. Here is an article talking about the video and the message behind it:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1586579/radiohead-put-spotlight-on-human-trafficking-with-all-i-need-video.jhtml

A Movement of our generation

2011-05-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

The class on the Catholic Workers Movement kept reminding me of a movement that I am actively involved in currently. It is a movement of love through the non-profit organization To Write Love On Her Arms. I call it a movement because, that is what they call it, and one of their slogans is "Live is the Movement." They are group working to help individuals suffering from depression, addiction, suicidal ideation, self-mutilation and other mental health issues to get the treatment they need, and to also know that no one is in the fight alone. They spread a message of hope, and also bring a sense of community to people who often feel that they don't fit in anywhere else.

"You were created to love and be loved. You were meant to live life in relationship with other people, to know and be known. You need to know that your story is important and that you're part of a bigger story. You need to know that your life matters." --TWLOHA official website

This movement started with a group of people working to help their friend get into treatment, and help her realize her story has common themes with many others. This occurred in Spring 2006, and I've been active with the group since August 2006. The group began selling t-shirts with the saying "To Write Love On Her Arms" to help raise money for their friend, Renee's, treatment. The first shirt to be worn publicly was worn on stage by Jon Foreman, the lead singer of Switchfoot. The movement erupted, and the word was quickly spread through Myspace, and then later through Facebook. I think that's what makes our generations movement different than any other generations. We have found a way to include everyone across the globe, social networking and the internet allow us to support those we may never have the chance to meet. It is common to see people write on their page cries of help saying anything from they just need a friend, to a detailed suicide plan often asking for someone to intervene before they reach the point of action. I personally have reached out and responded to several of these types of posts, and its amazing how just befriending someone and letting them cry to you online can impact their life.

They actively work to bring hope to people by posting inspirational blogs and quotes, speaking at concerts, schools, and holding events. They almost single-handedly stopped the government from changing laws involving the National Suicide Hotline, the new laws would have made the calls no longer confidential and required I.D. verification of all callers, which in turn would stop a lot of people from calling. They also have began UChapters on College Campuses to provide education about mental health and life problems and how to support each other (I think Westminster needs a UChapter.)

To Write Love On Her Arms also has their own way of keeping the long memory alive through their work. Often they post about historical events, or about historic figures lives and how they impact us or show that others have gotten through what many are feeling today. I also felt that their work relates to this class because the often talk about sharing our stories, and using music to do so. They love delivering their messages at concerts, because they know people will feel a stronger connection to the message there. They post a lot of songs that talk about difficulties and how they are over come. Though no one on their staff is a "musician" they share the music of others with the world so everyone can get the messages and gain hope.

To find out more or get involved, please visit: http://www.twloha.com/index.php

A Treasure From My Own History

2011-05-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

This week we have talked a great deal about the value folk music places on sharing and continuing stories from one generation to the next. I decided to unearth some of my own history. Therefore, I went to my grandparents house and talked to my Opa about growing up in rural Germany during the 1930's. Here are some of the stories he told me.

Harry Lauterbach

"We have been good friends and play together but one time we came into an argument and it was in a sand pile. He ruined my sand castle and I ruined his. And we started fighting and I grabbed his rear end and ripped a big hole in his pants that his bum looked out. Everyone laughed and he cried. Now he said, “I cannot go home this way” so he went with me to my mom who was a seamstress. And she had to fix his pants. But the friendship still exist."

Punishment By My Teacher

"This was the day before I took care of my goats and played and forgot to do my homework and in the morning before I leave the house I knew what to expect from my teacher to get a punishment to get a paddle on my rear end. So I went to my mom’s chair and got her pillow that she was always sitting on and put it in my pants. (Laughter). The school starts, everyone turned in their homework except my homework was empty. The teacher didn’t talk much he just sent me to the front row and I had to bend over the bench and had to hold still. And he whipped me four times. Usually I jump by the first time but this time it didn’t hurt. And the second time it didn’t hurt either. And the first time he felt my bum and felt the pillow. He made me pull the pants and get the pillow out and start over again. And the class is over, I cried. And that was the lesson of the week and that was on a Friday. So that is it. Sometime I didn’t tell my mom I was ashamed."

Osterhase

"When I walked with my mom. I was eight years old to Rudolstadt. And on the way home I was sick of walking and tired and my mom couldn’t carry me. It was raining a little bit. And oil spots had been seen on the street. And my mom told me that it is Easter time and the Easter Bunny has been here. Look around and you see all the colorful spot where the Easter Bunny peed. And every so often I could see a colorful sport. And my mind was so occupied with the Easter Bunny’s pee that I forgot that my legs couldn’t carry me anymore."

A song that has definitely gone through the "folk process"

2011-05-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

I was on youtube searching for folk videos because I don't have a wide selection on my itunes and found the catchy song "Hobo's Lullaby" that, I am pretty sure, we saw performed by Larry Hanks. To my surprise, or maybe not a surprise anymore, there were many variations of this song performed by all different types of singers. They ranged from Pete Seeger's to Bruce Springsteen to several Japanese artists. One thing that I kept noticing in all of the captions of the videos was that nobody really knew who wrote the song. (It's Goebel Reeves by the way.)

"Hobo's Lullaby" is a song that has definitely gone through what we have been discussing in class as the folk process. I hope you enjoy the different video versions of the song, and there are lots more on youtube.

A video and some pics from the tribute concert..

2011-05-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

Utah on Anarchy

2011-05-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

This is the same clip we heard in class but the version off one of Utah's albums with Ani Difranco, I like it this way a lot more.

Sacco and Vanzetti

2011-05-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

We did the reading on Tuesday about Lugi Galleani and how he influenced so many people. Two of those people were Sacco and Vanzetti. Woody Guthrie does a folk song about these two guys and its a very interesting song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNKg54bvObQ&feature=related
Joan Baez does a ballad about Sacco and Vanzetti and the lyrics come from the letter that Vanzetti wrote.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl3_5X_FLwI
These two men became very famous and many people wrote song about them for a long time. The song by Woody Guthrie is on his album that is all about these two guys and Pete Seeger is featured in one of the tracks, it is titled "Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti".

If I were the rain

2011-05-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Often when people age their voice looses clarity. Rosalie Sorrels seems to have escaped this course on her elegant path of aging. In class I was not expecting to be so touched by her performance. I might have gotten a bit teary when she sang Utah Phillip's song If I could be the rain. This was a song Rosalie was born to sing, and I could listen to it forever. It was one of those songs, that Kate McCloud explained as a song that could prevail through time. It was not a song Utah Phillips sang often, but it strongly influenced one of his greatest influences. I feel so honored to have heard her play it and I thought it should be apart of Utah's blogg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNs3U52eXrs&playnext=1&list=PLBAECF8D401104066

Heart of Song

2011-05-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the lyrics to my song that I played for ya'll today:

Verse 1
"Heart Of Song" by me (Duke Cruz)

I began the search when you were still crawlin'
I was a kneelin' when you were a bawlin'
With the chalk in my hand and immediacy
On my mind I began to draw conclusions of every kind

In my search for a heart of song

Verse 2
Walkin' Talkin' Mockin'
On unfinished foundations
Hushin' Shushin' Brushin'
You under the rug
You say what you want
I speak with restriction
If there is no relation
Boy you're livin' a fiction

Chorus
In my search for a
Heart of song sing to me
Heart of song you're exactly what I need
Heart of song happiness your beat
Heart of song I'll be ready when we meet

Verse 3
Cut me open and make the incision
But do so with the upmost care and precision
Through the static may you hear
And dark may you see
Truth is an ideal
Not an existin' entity

Verse 4
Walkin' down the street
With a different stride strollin'
Seein' clearly that the problem
Was everythin' I was knowin'
I laughed soo hard
And began speakin' true
The things that are good
Are not always good for you

Anarchy

2011-05-18T21:23:00.001-07:00

The more we talk about Anarchy and Anarchism I start to think more about what it means and what the point of it is. Having less or no government sounds nice at first, no taxes, no corruption, no police, no laws, however; as you think about it more that also means no fire department, no hospitals, no social services, no running water, etc. When I think of it that way it sounds much less appealing. I also think of the turn of the century when businesses ran everything and workers weren’t protected, wouldn’t that same situation take place without government? I can see how anarchy works on the small scale, in a community of like minded people, however when you get it in a large society I don’t see it working there are too many people in this world who take advantage of others. LTC Grossman the author of On Killing writes about his theory of wolves and sheepdog, this idea is that there are some people in society who are wolves or people who are out to take care of themselves at others expense. In a lawless society these wolves would prey on others creating inequality and death. I watch movies like Mel Gibson’s “Mad Max: Road Warrior” or Denzel Washington’s “The Book of Eli” and that’s what I imagine a world without government being like, definitely not appealing. The more I consider anarchy it just seems like wishful thinking that probably won’t work in the real world.

Galleani Today

2011-05-18T15:48:00.001-07:00

When I was reading about Galleani for last class period I was wondering how he got his start in the Anarchy. He spread his message all over the country and tried to convince people of his message which was Anarchist Communism. He did not however see this possible in his life time. He felt that this would be the task of the children. He did not spend that much time in the U.S. trying to accomplish this goal. He went back to Italy where he had a harder time when freedom of speech was not as much part of society as it was in the U.S.
Some say that he would have been more effective in the U.S. if he had assimilated better and been able to speak the language better. He had many followers who were devoted to violence and his ideas. He was inspired by Kropotkin philosophy, who again said that the future lay with our children and we should focus on them.

Declaration of Defense

2011-05-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

In our reading for today (5/17) by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn "The Free Speech Fight at Spokane" (1909), there is a comedic passage which in part explifies the frequent usage of the Declaration of Independence as grounds for denouncing the capitalist practices toward the worker: "Fellow worker Little was asked by the Judge what he was doing when arrested. He answered "reading the Declaration of Independence." "Thirty Days," said the Judge. The next fellow worker had been reading extracts from the Industrial Worker and it was thirty days for him. We are a "classy" paper ranked with the Declaration of Indepence as too incendiary for Spokane" (Flynn 79). In this passage Flynn describes a worker, Little, who was arrested for reading the Declaration of Independence. Whether Little was being literal or not is up to interpretation, but what is more apparent is that the Declaration of Indepence is used frequently as grounds for denouncing capitalist greed and unjust acts. It makes sense to denounce the capitalist on the grounds which he stands. That is, if strikes and protests are insufficient to change the practices of capitalist, then why not bring the Declaration of Independence into the picture to denounce the capitalist system on larger, and more powerful foundational principles on which the country is built--over and above the economic system of exploitation.
This reading inspired me to re-read the Declaration of Independence--the last time I read the declaration of independence was in the 4th grade. A passage that I found central to this document was the following: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed". This country was created for you and I--governments get their power from us. We have unalienable rights as human beings; one possible interpretation of 'unalienable' is that of which we cannot rid ourselves. We cannot give our gift life away, nor our liberty, nor our pursuit of aspirations that are of our own design--the implication of this being that no one else can take these things from us either because we ourselves cannot take these things from ourselves.
It is easy to see why the IWW and other labor organizations (miners, etc.) used the declaration of independence to justify their motives and incriminate capitalists--it is that ground on which the country is built. One of my wishes is that the readers of this post will revisit the Declaration of Independence (re-read it--it's only a few pages), and then think about their own ideas and also appreciate the Document that protects the rights that they enjoy; acknowledge shortcomings and achievements. What can we do to make our rights more respected? Vote for worthy politicians? Do research into contemporary disputes concerning our rights? What sort of human rights movements has the Declaration sparked? What is the vision of the human being as envisaged by the Declaration of Independence? Think about it.
In my opinion, the Declaration is dependent on the existence of human beings as a center of all judgement and legislation. Humans are rational beings. Beings that are capable of organizing. Beings capable of social living. Human beings in the Declaration are to respect unalienable rights in others and owe these same rights to themselves. The philosophical mission of the Declaration of Independence is to secure the primacy of the human being in all matters. The human being made the Declaration possible and also is the primary ground of justification of all the declaration's dictations.

"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."

2011-05-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

The Weathermen took control of Students for a Democratic Society and became a well known militant anarchist group of the United States. With main slogans such as, "bring the war home," this group of activists brought about "The Days of Rage" and violence in reaction to the Vietnam War. They wanted to bring about a violent overthrow of the government and were doing what "had to be done to prevent greater actions of violence."

We talked today in class how explosives are very unstable and dangerous and about an incident where someone blew up their own townhouse in creating a bomb. Well, this took place in Greenwich Village in New York and they were members of the Weathermen. Terry Goldman and Diana Oughton were two of the three killed by this incident, and the bomb was intended to detonate at a government ball where hundreds of people would be. This event created a reformation of the group's intentions and goals, which ultimately caused them to realize violence on the people is wrong and to go underground.

The Weather Underground was created, and they carried out several bombings in public places in defense of what was happening in the early 70s. These bombings were very successful in the sense that not one of them produced fatalities or injuries, but not in the sense to the radical revolution they were trying to create. Nobody was really paying attention to them, except the FBI. However, they bombed places between 1970 to 1975 such as the Capitol, Pentagon, National Guard, New York Police Department, Queens courthouse, Harvard Center for International Affairs, the State Department, and many other places of political significance. They even helped Timothy Leary escape successfully from prison to Algeria. Leaders of the Weather Underground included Bernadine Dohrn, Mark Rudd, David Gilbert, and Bill Ayers.

All of this information can be found in a documentary called "The Weather Underground" and can be found on Hulu at http://www.hulu.com/watch/118170/the-weather-underground. If you have an extra hour and a half, I would recommend watching it. The film portrays a time period of unrest and struggle to figure out what is right and wrong, and how far people think they need to go to overcome it.

If I Could be the Rain

2011-05-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here's Rosalie's 1967 version of Utah Phillips' song - almost as good as how she did it just for us in class today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNs3U52eXrs

Ford Econoline

2011-05-17T14:34:00.001-07:00

Rosalie Sorrels says she never owned a Ford Econoline, but that the line scanned well -- here's a song Nanci Griffith wrote, loosely based on Rosalie's "escape" from Salt Lake City.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OBSo3G8LCg

May Day 2011, Chicago

2011-05-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Check out the ceremonies for May Day in Chicago - a recreation of Haymarket, a speech by Lucy Parsons, labor songs, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiitdOiO6kA

Haywire Mack: "No one who can sing need ever go hungry."

2011-05-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

Harry Kirby McClintock aka "Haywire Mack" was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on October 8, 1882. He ran away from home at the young age of 14 to join the circus, and never stopped traveling after that. His love of railroading started at a young age and he instantly took to the tracks. He was a world traveler, being said to have traveled through Africa and working as a railroad switchman in Rhodesia. He also spent time in China, Australia, and the Philippines. One story about him says that Haywire Mack, dressed like Santa Claus in a cowboy suit with a guitar, liked to walk through the wards of Children's Hospital in San Francisco singing "Big Rock Candy Mountain." Haywire Mack also once worked as a civilian mule-train packer during the Spanish-American War supplying American troops with food and ammunition. Pretty much, you name an occupation, and he did it. He formed the Haywire Orchestra, one of the first cowboy bands in America. His legacy continues on today as his songs are still part of our culture in ways. The song "Big Rock Candy Mountain" was featured in the film O Brother Where Art Tho? (2000) and I remember also being taught a family-friendly version of the song in elementary school. Haywire Mack is also said to be the first person to publicly perform the song The Preacher and The Slave by Joe Hill.

I think knowing about people such as Haywire Mack is important for understanding our own roots and the past of our country. I think preserving our long memory requires knowing where our traditions, such as songs, came from. It was also interesting to me to know that Haywire Mack was a man who worked hard, had lots of life experiences, and sang from those experiences, not just his imagination. I have great respect for singers like him who have lived through many things, unlike many of the singers from today who make up songs they dream up and have never had to really struggle through anything in life. I'm glad we are learning about people such as him because it helps build the connection of Haywire Mack influencing Utah Phillips, who influenced other singers and so on and so forth. It shows me how our past really never goes away, and still helps shape today.

More About The Joads And Capitalist Greed

2011-05-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

During the Dust Bowl large farm owners distributed pamphlets targeting family sharecroppers’ yearning for land and financial stability by publicizing agricultural work in California. Throngs of homeless families took what little they had and headed to California. Tragically, once they reached the promise land of California their hopes were demolished as they experienced a competitive job market with minimum subsistence labor.

Nothing forced the capitalist to give the worker more money than is necessary to barely live. In other words, as long as the worker isn’t dying from starvation or exposure and is still able to work the capitalist can continue using the workers’ labor to make profits without paying more then the basic requirements to keep his labor power alive. It is easy to see the working class forced to live at the subsistence level throughout the Grapes of Wrath. When the Joads move into California they live in “Hovervilles” made up of hundreds of makeshift shelters. Even those who retain work end up struggling to survive. Steinbeck describes their living conditions, “The rag town lay close to water; and the houses were tents, and weed thatched enclosures, paper houses, a great junk pile” (234). The workers are forced to accept the minimum wage because if they complain they will end up without any work and no source of income. Therefore, they continue working all day, every day, in poor conditions, just to fill their empty stomachs.

Moreover, those who have a job are considered lucky by the industrial reserve army of the unemployed. In other words, those who had a job and had something were better off then those who didn’t have a job and had nothing. The industrial reserve army of the unemployed help maintain the wage at the subsistence level because if anyone complains about the low wage the capitalist can simply hire a different worker. In the end, the capitalist can take advantage of the working class because of the competition between the unemployed for work allows the capitalist to determine their own policy.

Unfortunately, the capitalist policy always tends to benefit the capitalist and not the average worker. Wages are paid for the “working day” or a period of production. If the capitalist keeps the workers’ wage at the subsistence level the capitalist can keep the surplus produced over the cost of the workers subsistence level. For an illustration, if it costs ten dollars to feed, clothe, and shelter a worker then that will be the amount the worker gets paid daily. Moreover, if the worker can make a profit of ten dollars in two hours out of the ten hour work day then the other eight hours of profit will go to the capitalist. Thus, ten dollars will go toward the subsistence wage of the worker and the forty dollars earned during the other eight hours of work will become the property of the capitalist. In short, the worker sells their labor power for a subsistence wage while the capitalist takes the remainder surplus labor and creates profits which further extend the capitalists’ overall capital. Thus, the capitalist increase their power and wealth while exploiting the working class. Steinbeck sums it up perfectly when he states, “He paid the men, and sold them food, and took the money back” (232).

I think that folk music describes the kind of distrust of government and corporations that the Joads family experienced when they moved to California. Much of folk music shares a message of rebellion towards institutions that don’t serve the people. Most importantly, I feel that folk music captures how poverty affects individuals on a personal level.

Steinbeck, John and Robert Demott. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Books, 2006

The American Legion

2011-05-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

In the reading by Ed Paulson he discussed the American Legion and their brutalization of Hobos, Bums, and Traps and I wanted to find out more about this. When I was a senior in high school I was selected to attend Boys State, I had no idea what it was and figured it would be a good thing to put on college applications and such. When I got there I was shocked to see how conservative it was the other kids there and the people who gave speeches throughout the week. Needless to say I didn't enjoy it, but I never really considered where they had come from and what they stood for. My research into them for this blog were not comforting, founded in the early 1900's they as a group for veterans after WWI it quickly became an extremely conservative organization. In 1923 the Legion Commander citied Italian Fascism as his model for combating the forces of the left. It went on to discuss the role the Legion had in strike breaking during the early 30's. It also said that chapters who supported unions or had a significant membership of unionists were expelled from the Legion. They were clearly not a group friendly to the working population. In 1952 the Legion called on congress to investigate the ACLU to determine if they were communists.

This is clearly an organization with no sympathy for workers or their struggles.

Different Types of Music

2011-05-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

i think it's a shame what music has become today. what we call "mainstream" should be called "brainless music for unintellectual's" because that is really what it is. mainstream hip hop and rap have received by far the worst reputation out of all other genres of music. people hear the hip hop that is being played on the radio and automatically hate the whole genre because what they are hearing is so horrible, but what they don't realize is the musicians on the radio have willingly sold their dignity, souls, and pride to big record producers. right now the top hip hop song on billboard's top 100 is "look at me now" by chris brown. one verse from the song goes as follows:

Lil n-gga bigger than gorilla
Cause I'm killing every n-gga that
Try to be on my sh-t
Better cuff your chick if you with her
I can get her
And she accidentally slip fall on my d-ck
Ooops, I said on my d-ck
I aint really mean to say on my d-ck
But since we talking about my d-ck
All of you haters say hi to it
I'm Done

quality lyrics, right? if you think so, i'm a little worried for you... but keep in mind that this is only one genre of hip hop. deborah robbins, larry hanks, and mark ross didn't enjoy the kingston trio because they were too catchy and weren't as concerned about getting a message across, well i don't like mainstream hip hop because of the same reason. the people in the music industry right now are selling themselves out so they can make the most money, while there are real musicians who are more concerned with making meaningful lyrics than making money. this is the first verse from an underground hip hop artist.

"Joe Metro" by blue scholars

I reach beneath the skin of the street with each step
Walkin' closer to my final destination of death
When I'm layin' to rest, I'm only savin' my breath
The Northwest fills the lungs, heals the pain in my chest

the first verse to this song alone is better than anything we will ever hear on the radio and it's unfortunate because they are the ones with the most talent and poetic lyrics. i also wrote this poem about my views on mainstream vs underground hip hop.

It’s a shame that hip-hop has become the pit stop

For shit slop and yet we still encourage thoughtless

Musicians by begging to know when their next track will drop

If people took a minute to listen to the words these mainstream rappers are rappin’

They’ll see that they’re being fed empty lines straight from the trash bin

The media has made it close to impossible for people to find lyrical musicians

That use poetry to vocally voice a view instead of bragging about their long list of sex positions

Poetry is a part of me, you can hear it in my heart, it beats

Steadily to the melody, carefully conducted chemistry

DJ plus MC times a remedy of lyrical quality is the perfect recipe

Nas, Biggy, Pac, J. Live, J 5, A Tribe Called Quest, Outkast, The Pharcyde

To a hip hop head they left a legacy as memorable as John Kennedy

Kanye West, Lil Wayne and 50 Cent all think they’re better then the rest

Because they make more money than Ron Artest

The songs making it to the radio stations are about money, hoes, fresh clothes,

Honey’s, Playboy Bunnies bending over and touchin’ their toes, cars with big rims and sold out shows, it’s scary that there is less praying going on in monasteries

Than these rappers have words in their vocabulary

Lyrics can change lives, inspire people to thrive

If we keep supporting musicians that push their dignity to the side,

While producers put a price on their pride

Then all we will ever have is a blind music industry with no eyes

Someday I hope to hear at least one line on the radio

That doesn’t have to do with rappers bitch to dick ratio

I love hip-hop and I’ll always be lyric bound

But until rappers start rapping their soul, I’ll represent the underground

The Long Tail

2011-05-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

As a class we have discussed the attitude towards being a folk musician and making a significant profit. Although there are a variety of opinions, I feel that there is a common stigma towards folk artists who lose their uniqueness while perusing wealth and fame. Fortunately it is increasingly easier to maintain one’s identity while making a profit through a shift in media entertainment.

In Chris Anderson’s article “The Long Tail” we learn how media entertainment not only focusing on the “hits” but also the “misses”. Furthermore, the problem with supplying only the “hits” is that most people deviate from the mainstream and crave alternatives to the redundant norms. Today’s online distribution and retail offer options to the hungry population. For example, Robbie Vann-Adib, the CEO of Ecast, supplies digital jukebox barroom players that offer more than 150,000 tracks. Every month thousand of people pay money to hear songs that no traditional jukebox has ever produced. By offering an enormous selection consumers support not only the music hits but also the obscure songs that quickly add up to an enormous new market. In other words, if there is a song available there is an audience that will purchase it.

Another example is Rhapsody a subscription-based streaming music service offers more than 535,000 tracks. Rhapsody’s demand cure has a huge appeal for top hits and tappers off with the less popular tracks. Surprisingly, once one looks below the top 40,000 tracks one will find that no matter how many tracks Rhapsody adds to its library, those songs will find listeners and create a demand of their own. In other words, Rhapsody has a long tail of everything one could ever hope for. There are old albums, live tracks, remixes, foreign band, obscure bands, unique labels, etc. Economically, “the long tail” is an opportunity to make a large profit from the variety. I particularly liked how Kevin Laws, venture capitalist and former music industry consultant phrased it, "The biggest money is in the smallest sales."

The most successful entertainment businesses are taking advantage of “the long tail”. Companies such as Netflix, Rhapsody, Google, eBay, Amazon are all continually discovering new markets and expanding on old ones. “The long tail” is the way of the future because it offers diversity, reversing the boring distribution limitations and focusing not only on the “hits” but also the “misses”. I think that folk artists can take advantage the long tail because individuals searching for folk music will not only discover popular folk artists but the obscure ones too.

*To read the full article: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html

Music

2011-05-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

One thing I really like about our guests was the varied instruments that they played for us. it was cool to see and hear the wide variety that they brought and it made the music that much better. Now days people have computers make music for them and it does not take as much skill to be a good musican when a computer can fix the sound for you and make it perfect or however you want it to be. I would like to see people move back to this ear where playing a instrument was part of being a good musican .

The King of the Hobos

2011-05-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Ben Reitman was known as two things. The king of the Hobos and the Hobo Doctor. Reitman was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Both of his parents were poor Russian immigrants. After his birth his parents and he moved to Chicago where he then grew up. Surprisingly enough at the age of just ten Reitman became a Hobo. This didn’t last long though because he later came back home. In 1900, he decided to enter college in Chicago training to be a physician He then completing his medical studies in 1904. While he worked as a physician in Chicago he chose to offer his medical services to hobos, prostitutes, the poor and other outcasts of capitalist society. In fact though it was illegal he performed many abortions at the time.

In 1908 Reitman met Emma Goldman his future lover. For eight years the two traveled with one another working to get a better lifestyle for all of the poor in the States. Their causes were Birth control, Free speech, worker’s rights and most importantly for all Hobos anarchism. During the two’s affair they were severly beaten and imprisoned for multiple reasons. Reitman was even branded with the I.W.W.s innitials.

Reitman and Goldman both believed heavily in free love and ultimately it ended their love affair as Reitman’s other lovers became pregnant. Goldman and Reitman ended their relationship after his release from one of his prison terms in 1917.

After their affair ended Reitman decided to head back to Chicago where he worked with a group who were for the Prevention of Venereal Diseases. He continued to have various love affairs and ultimately had four more children. Reitman died in Chicago at 63 years old.

The Many Faces of Tom Joad

2011-05-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

The Song "The Ghost of Tom Joad" was originally recorded by Bruce Springstein in 1995. The character of Tom Joad was originally taken from John Steinbeck's GRAPES OF WRATH, but Springstein was also influenced by Woody Guthrie's song "The Ballad of Tom Joad." When writing the song Springstein read Steinbeck's book, he watched the movie, and listened faithfully to Guthrie's song, along with other research he conducted on 1930's activism. The most direct quote to the Grapes of Wrath is

Now Tom said "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy

Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries

Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air

Look for me mom I'll be there

Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand Or a decent job or a helpin' hand

Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free

Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."

Since the original recording there have been others who have taken a chance to play the song including Trash Rap band Rage Against the Machine, Nickelback, Swedish band Junip, and English songwriter Martyn Joseph.

Below are links to all of the bands reditions of the Song

Rage Against the Machine

Bruce Springstein

Nickelback

Junip

Woody Guthrie's The Ballad of Tom Joad

Movies killed the original hobo.

2011-05-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

In class, we were trying to figure out when the hobo became such a fantastical lifestyle. Well, I have reached the conclusion it was mainly influenced by the 1930s films that were produced after the Great Depression. During the downtimes of America people have always escaped to the picture shows to see worlds that were greater than the outside one. Therefore, directors and producers created images of a false reality that the people could relat

e to but also enjoy and be happy in the situations they were in. This is more than likely the reason the lifestyle of the hobo life became romanticized and seemed so appealing, rather than a dirty dangerous life.

I found this one clip on youtube how they took the famous "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum again" and made it into a fun and happy song and an old picture show. Hope you like it!

The New America.

2011-05-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

So I just want apologize for my public speaking, for some reason I just get so nervous when presenting in front of class and just start rambling. So I thought I would clear up everything I was trying to say in a nice neat blog. Okay, so there is this band called Flobots. They are from Denver, Colorado and broke off the mainstream scene to create a movement of change in the youth of America. Their ultimate goal is to make a New America where no matter who you are, where you are from, how old you are, etc. you can make a difference and it can only be achieved together, which is what the song "Rise" is all about.

Lyrics: http://flobots.com/rise/

I mentioned that really all of their songs could be seen as protest songs because every single song faces issues from war, domestic violence, and corporate power to everything in between. The other song I really wanted to share with you guys is called "White Flag Warrior," and its main theme is that surrendering is a different option that could bring about change. Negotiations can be made, and compromise is possible if we just surrender our own selfish desires.

Lyrics: http://flobots.com/music/lyrics/white-flag-warrior/

I also wanted to point out that the band itself is diverse, and they like to use all different types of instruments and sounds to create their voice. From Mackenzie's viola to introductions of trumpets and of course Jamie and Stephen's raps, they create a really unique sound in every one of their songs. I thought it was funny when people said it was hard to understand the words of the song, but made me realize if you don't listen to them over and over again, it definitely can be difficult to hear the words, so I included links to the lyrics to the songs for you!

Here are some links to their nonprofits and where you can learn more info about this band.

http://americawillbe.org/

http://www.flobots.org/home/

http://www.fightwithtools.org/

http://flobots.com/

They even have a comic book! http://flobots.net/tales/

Chugging Away From the Usual Town of Thought

2011-05-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

After reading "Life and Adventures of A-No. 1" (1910) by Leon Livingstone, I just began to think of how exciting it would be to just ride a train across the country to some unknown destination. Livingstone left his home at age 11 (Franklin 652). I left my home at 18 to go to college, which was more of a formal/expected departure. I thought about how my life can be related to the train rides and adventures of Livingstone. The encounters with suspicious indians that want you to buy them alcohol, or riding a brakebeam on a train till the face is black, the adventure across seas to Germany on a vessel working as a coal-passer, stealing food, clothing, etc. in order to survive. Most lives don't resemble Livingstone's in experiences. But in feeling they are able to match the life of a dreaming hobo like Livingstone. That is, riding trains/living as a sovereign hobo is comparable to the seeping excitement that one feels when doing something adventurous or the incessant passion that one loves to engage in. The question is how oft we engage in experiences that make us feel like we're racing down a track at speeds that synchronize with the passionate/imaginative heart. Experiences that make you feel like you are flying through the atmostphere, experiences that catch the butterflys of your imagination in your body, experiences that make your cheeks hurt from smiling. We all need more of these moments in our lives. Experiences that chug us away from our usual town of thought. Livingstone calls the inner thirst for this adventure and exciting experiences "wanderlust": "... I landed in San Francisco. My parents were overjoyed to have me back safe and alive. As I had yet a few dollars left, and had lots of stories to relate they forgave me. For two weeks I stayed at home and enjoyed myself to the limit, then the wanderlust made me dissatisfied and restless, and, to appease my craving to roam, I took a trip to Victoria, British Columbia" (663). We all have the wanderlust iinside of us. It's that never-ending desire for adventure and excitement. That feeling that arrests the body and senses in totality. Bruce "Utah" Phillips as a fellow train rider, I would assume, has had this feeling of excitement and adventure. I don't know if he would recommend it to everyone, but I would count on him saying that we all should find this feeling of excitement and adventure and maximize it in our lives. I want to have stories to tell, and the stories that have the best plot lines are the ones that take us out of our rigorous routine, if only for a moment.
To close this post I have a poem that reminded me of the wanderlust/adventure/excitement as described by Livingstone. The following is short poem (further shortened by me) by William Wordsworth entitled "The Tables Turned" (1798):
Up! up! my friend, and clear your looks,
Why all this toil and trouble?
Up! up! my friend, and quit your books,
Or surely you'll grow double.

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife,
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music; on my life
There's more of wisdom in it.

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
And he is no mean preacher;
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.

Sweet is the lore which nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things;
--We murder to dissect.

Enough of science and art;
Close up these barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.

Is solidarity dead?

2011-05-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

Last night, I think it was Kyle Wulle who said that workers don't care about solidarity anymore. This morning, a friend sent me a link with a surprising counterexample--professional cheerleaders supporting a high school cheerleader who's had a run in with our rape culture:

"Cheer Her Rapist? Let's Make Noise Over This"

Hillaire was kicked off the cheerleading team for refusing to cheer, "Two, four, six-eight-10, come on [player] put it in"--for the man who raped her and walked because of "lack of evidence." Her family sued the school for kicking her off the team now now has to pay $45k for the "frivolous" suit.

Now several former NFL cheerleaders are standing up for her and calling on cheerleaders everywhere, at every level, current or former, to speak out for Hillaire and send the message that cheerleaders are more than objects for male gratification.

Water for Elephants

2011-05-13T10:34:00.001-07:00

During today's class, I kept thinking about a novel called Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Marketed as a light summer read and now in theaters as a romance staring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, the book defied my expectations: it's a gritty look at life on a Depression-era railroad circus. Romance is a plot element and an event in the main character's life, but the struggles that occupy center stage in the book involve simply trying to survive in this environment--don't fall off the train, get and then keep a job, don't get thrown off the train, and so on.

I thought about the book during "All Used Up" in class--one of Gruen's great strengths as a writer are her sympathetic, not white-washed portrayals of aging characters. Water for Elephants takes place in the recollections of an old man who's forgotten in a nursing home, and even in the main story, the protagonist tries to save an old man who's crippled from jake foot.

Another of the novel's characters travels the rails with his dog, Queenie. I wonder if Gruen had heard the song "Queen of the Rails."

The novel also tackles the myriad class, ethnic, and racial divisions and conflicts within the traveling circus and the broader culture of the time. Gruen blew me away with how sparsely and powerfully she could depict various social issues through historical detail and myth. It's not at all a sexy novel, so I'm not sure how it became a bestseller or a presumably sexy movie, but I'm not crying about it.

Of course the historical accounts we're reading for class are at least as fun as a contemporary novel, but it's interesting that all these themes still speak to a popular audience.

One Crazy Mother

2011-05-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

After we talked about about Mother Jones in class on Tuesday I was interested in finding out more about her. She was first refereed to as "Mother" in 1897 after addressing a railway union convention. " She was banished from more cities and held incommunicado in more state jails than any other union leader. She was charged with a capital offense by the military and was under house arrest for two weeks at one point until popular support got her freed. She was gone before Congress and testified on cases. She was definitely an outspoken person and did what she wanted.
Mother Jones was not just concerned with union issues but also child labor and was very active in trying to change laws that set wages and hours for children. She was a very passionate person and when she saw something wrong in labor class she went after it. To my surprise she did not have an FBI file (that I could find). Another I could not find was what her political beliefs were. Just wondering if anyone might know? I guessing she was not a huge fan of government.

http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/history/history/jones.cfm

The Mysterious B. Traven

2011-05-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

For years now people have wondered about the identity of one B. Traven, novelist, photographer, and journalist, who wrote several books about Mexico; he died in Mexico City in 1969. He seems to have been an anarchist, and his books nearly always express lots of sympathy and solidarity with working people. But nobody's sure if he was born in the US, like he claimed, or in Germany, for which there is quite a bit of evidence. Traven wrote "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," made into a classic John Huston film with Humphrey Bogart. He was also a favorite of Edward Abbey. But who the heck was he?

Photo source: http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/Encyclopedia/TravenPage1.htm

Jeff

2011-05-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

With significant help, I am now on the blog. I use my first blog to apologize: I did read all the reflective journal entries and did make comments on them but have not yet sent them to you. Maybe today?

Eddie Balchowsky and the Spanish Civil War

2011-05-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

I have a tendency to get songs stuck in my head, and doing this class means that they've been Utah Phillips' tunes lately. All weekend long it's been "Eddy's Song," to my ears one of Utah's best tunes. And a great story, too -- it's inspired by Ed Balchowsky, one of about 3,000 Americans who went to Spain to fight against Gen. Francisco Franco's fascists in the Spanish Civil War. The US, Great Britain and nearly all the rest of the world stayed neutral, while Italy and Germany came to the aid of the Francoists. Only the USSR effectively supported the Nationalists (the legally elected Spanish government); that communist presence further guaranteed no support from capitalist nations. Some people claim that this was where democratic forces could have, and should have, confronted the fascists before the world got plunged into global war.

To say the least, the experience changed Balchowsky's life. Listen to Utah tell the story, and the song on "Starlight on the Rails"- and there's also a fine version by Paul Rasmussen on "Long Gone." You can also check out the YouTube video and this link, where I swiped the photo of Balchowsky, and this one. Balchowsky also seems to have inspired Jimmy Buffett's "He Went to Paris."

Jeff

Rosalie Sorrels

2011-05-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

Rosalie Sorrels has been brought up in every class and seems to be a very important person so I decided to spend a little time doing a some research on her. I also thought this would be helpful for thinking of good exact questions to be able to ask her. First, I think it would be really interesting to hear about why she decided to record the album "Strangers In Another Country" which is a compilation of songs by Bruce "Utah" Phillips, and happened to be nominated for a Grammy Award. In my opinion, deciding to record a compilation of someone's work shows a lot of honor and respect for that individual, and shows she must have quite the admiration for Utah and his work. Rosalie was born June 24, 1933 (so she is almost 78) in Boise, ID. I think it would be great to hear about what it was like to be a female artist during that era since it seems to me most of the artists were men, and since it was definitely a time when women were still expected to be ordinary housewives. I also found that the University of California at Santa Cruz dedicated an archive to house her papers, including news clippings about war protests and civil rights marches. I would love to hear about her involvement in such protests and her perspective on if these helped solve anything, and what we can do today to change things that we do not agree with. My research of Rosalie Sorrels also made me really admire her. I found out that she has suffered through many tragic life events, including breast cancer and a brain aneurysm. Sorrels also said in an interview with the Idaho Statesmen "People create folk songs,because they need them in order to get along with life and the stuff it throws at you." I think it would be great to hear about how she used her life to write music, what inspired her songs, and I would like to ask what it was like to work on songs with Utah Phillips. I also would like to know what life on the road was like for a woman with 5 children. Obviously jumping on a freight train wasn't a viable option for her if her children were with her, making me curious how she traveled, and if her children tended to travel with her. Overall, I think she is a very strong woman who definitely makes a good role model and that I have a lot of respect for. For more information on Sorrels visit:

http://www.ncteamericancollection.org/litmap/sorrels_rosalie_id.htm

http://www.rosaliesorrels.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.welcome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNs3U52eXrs

For the Love of All

2011-05-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

I took an interest in Bruce Phillips work in politics. Like we have learned in class Bruce originally worked to be a senator after a few years of working with the Utah State Archives. Now as a candidate for senate he chose to take the platform of the Peace And Freedom Party. this was something i haven't seen ever. Growing up in this country i have come to the realization that having just two powerful parties that we get the majority if not all of our politicians from is wrong we need a multiparty government with a lot of different ideas in place that will be the thing that makes our country greater than it already is, but no we are either republicans or democrats, right or left, conservative or liberal. Maybe it is just me but i feel like there is something wrong with that.

Bruce was a rebel and joined a lesser party. I looked into too and made sure i understood all of their platform. These goals include.

Double the minimum wage, and index it to the cost of living.
Guarantee the right of all workers to organize and to strike; forbid striker replacement.
Socially useful jobs for all at union pay levels.
Equal pay for equal work, and for work of comparable worth.
A 30-hour workweek with no cut in weekly pay; longer paid vacations.
Guaranteed dignified income for those who cannot work.
A Universal Basic Income to alleviate poverty and homelessness.
Tax the income and assets of the rich to meet human needs.
International trade agreements must guarantee the protection of workers and the environment in all participating countries; abolish NAFTA, GATT and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
End homelessness; abolish vagrancy laws; provide decent affordable housing for all.
Social ownership and democratic control of industry, financial institutions, and natural resources.
The United States should take the initiative toward global disarmament by eliminating nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
Withdraw U. S. troops and weapons from other countries, and reallocate the resulting "peace dividend" for social benefit.
Abolish the CIA, NSA, AID and other agencies for interference in other countries' internal affairs.
Convert from a military to a peace-oriented economy, with jobs for displaced workers.
Self-determination for all nations and peoples of the world, including Puerto Rico and all U. S. territories.
Defend and extend liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.
End discrimination based on race, sex, age, sexual orientation, or disability.
Restore affirmative action, guarantee full education and employment rights for all.
Abolish the death penalty.
No prison labor for private profit.
Support the right of working people to keep and bear arms.
Democratic elections through proportional representation; full political, social and economic rights for resident non-citizens.
Honor treaties with Native American nations; recognize California's Native American nations. Defend and extend Native American rights and sovereignty.
Provide full free quality public education through university level. Teach the history of workers' struggles and labor's creation of society's wealth and progress.
Full rights for all immigrant workers. No human is illegal. Stop ICE raids. Stop jailing and deporting immigrants.
Restore and strengthen bilingual education.
Uncensored government funding for ordinary people to create and enjoy art.
Scientific and technological research to benefit ordinary people, not the capitalists.
Free high-quality health care for everyone, including birth control, abortion, pre-natal and childhood health care. No forced sterilizations.
Legalize marijuana, decriminalize drug use, and make substance abuse treatment freely available.
Give special attention to preventing epidemics of communicable diseases such as AIDS. Guarantee the rights of people living with AIDS.
Restore and protect air, water, land and ecosystems.
Promote conservation and develop solar and other renewable energy to replace nuclear power and fossil fuels.
End environmental racism: no toxic dumping in anyone's back yard.
Massive development of public transportation available free or at nominal fares.
Outlaw clear cutting and protect remaining old-growth forests.
Promote an environmentally sound agricultural system which meets human needs and protects farm workers' labor rights and standard of living.

It's an interesting platform extremely left, but ultimately all reads out to be good things. I just thought it was good that we could all see what the platform that Bruce ran on. Which brings me to my next point we should all be a part of The Rent is Too Damn High Party.

Let Me Hit You With a Little Sarah Pedinotti

2011-05-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

When we asked our two guests from Caffé Lena who we should look out for in the future of the folk music genre they had trouble coming to some artists we should be interested in fact they could really only send us to the head of the booking at the Caffé. Troubled as they were, they did tell us about one artist, Sarah Pedinotti. Sarah is a singer song-writer from Saratoga Springs, New York. I actually took an interest to this offering of information and watched some videos on Sarah. In my opinion she is actually an extremely good performer. A little different then i would regularly listen to but she has a good voice. She has both a solo career along with leading the band Railbird. I hope that you take a moment and listen to the song I posted below. Notice that it is actually being performed at Caffé Lena. i will also post a link to her band's site. Enjoy!

Sarah Pedinatti at Caffé Lena

Rail Bird Website

Traveling Musician

2011-05-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

There is a small coffee shop in my home town where traveling musicians play at during the summer, called the firebran and it probably liberally seats 30 people. I know the owner of the shop well and she often asks my ukulele band to open for these traveling musicians. Two summers ago we opened for this individual who refers to himself as 'Paleo,' which means the ancient one in greek. He was a super engaging performer and poet. I had a chance to talk to him after the show, and he told me that the previous year he had written a song every day for a year, and he gave me a copy of his song book, which is a treasure. His music has really influenced my own, and his cd "Death and Taxes" has been a contending soundtrack of my life. I thought I would share a link to his song book, and my favorite song, and possibly relevant to the conversation. This is "Three Stops to the Big Dream"

http://www.paleo.ws/songdiary/20061130.html

Repetition

2011-05-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last night, probably for the first time in about four years, I opened my copy of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans. Evans's photos and Agee's lyrical, impassioned, exhausting prose document the lives of several white sharecropper families in the South--in 1936.

The second passage I flipped to surprised me in its relation to our discussion in class of repetitive, menial work and its effect on the worker. Agee states that "This arduous physical work, to which a consciousness beyond that of the simplest child would be only a useless and painful encumbrance, is undertaken without choice or the thought of chance of choice" from generation to generation for nothing more than the bare necessities of life.

Interestingly, his word choice hints that he perhaps finds subsistence farming that produces no surplus more horrific than industrial work, or maybe more plausibly that he thinks working for a community is better than being exploited by a landlord:

I say here only: work as a means to other ends might have some favor in it, even which of itself dull and heartless work, in which one's strength was used for another man's benefit: but the ends of this work are absorbed entirely into the work itself, and in what little remains, nearly all is obliterated; nearly nothing is obtainable; nearly all is cruelly stained, in the tensions of physical need, and in the desperate tensions of the need of work which is not available.

(I recommend reading his text aloud.)

Of his own description of the brutal and futile work, he says

I have said this now three times. If I were capable, as I wish I were, I could say it once in such a way that it would be there in its complete awefulness. Yet knowing, too, how it is repeated upon each of them, in every day of their lives, so powerfully, so entirely that it is simply the natural air they breathe, I wonder whether it could ever be said enough times.

So he tries one more time:

The plain details of a task once represented, a stern enough effort in itself, how is it possibly to be made clear enough that this same set of leverages has been undertaken by this woman in nearly every day of the eleven or the twenty-five years since her marriage, and will be persisted in in nearly every day to come in all the rest of her life; and that it is only one among the many processes of wearying effort which make the shape of each one of her living days; how is it to be calculated, the number of times she has done these things, the number of times she is still to do them; how conceivably in words is it to be given as it is in actuality, the accumulated weight of these actions upon her; and what it has made of her body; and what it has made of her mind and of her heart and of her being.... and [her eyes] are to be multiplied, not losing the knowledge that each is a single, unrepeatable, holy individual, by the two billion human creatures who are alive upon the planet today... of whom the huge swarm and majority are made and acted upon as she is: and of all these individuals, contemplate, try to encompass, the one annihilating chord.

He wants people to feel, as "the iron anguish and guilt of your existence" that we can only make up for "what she has suffered at your hands, and for what you have gained at hers" by doing everything we can to make this injustice right.

Oh, and this is her (or one of her):

He wants you to meet those eyes.

I loved Agee's prose as a sixteen-year-old (it quickly became my absolute favorite book ever that I couldn't make it even nearly halfway through), and I still love it--but it strikes me as more melodramatic now. (One line I memorized when I first read it, that goes something like "lugubrious, almost surreptitious, he is making a statement he so misbelieves it is almost a question that expects no answer save the utter scorn and denial of silence" describes the first rooster to crow every morning.)

However, I am sure that repetitive hard, hopeless labor does wreck the body and the mind/heart/being--in everyone from a migrant farmer or slaughterhouse worker to a secretary with carpal tunnel. I guess there's two components in that: gruelingness of job and probability of social mobility. And how grueling a job is, as Agee points out, depends on many factors, including who's benefiting from it.

What do people think about Agee's emphasis on repetition, across one life and then multiplied across many lives, as a centrally horrifying component of labor? In the White reading, for example, there was an emphasis on the dangerousness of the jobs, the deaths and injuries that occurred. That's what I tend to think about when I think about bad working conditions: the physical conditions of the workplace, the risks involved, the lack of access to adequate food, shelter, and healthcare. The discussion in class and the passage above sparked my interest in the degrading impact of sheer repetition as a similarly serious problem.

Coffee Shops

2011-05-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

our discussion about cafe lena made me think about some of our coffee shops around salt lake that hold open mics. all over salt lake city there are coffee shops and small bars that hold open mics and poetry slam competitions. one of my favorite coffee shops that holds open mics every week is The Greenhouse Effect on 3300 south and 900 east in salt lake. every sunday people rush in the doors to sign up before the list gets filled. there are usually three rounds of performers depending on how much time some people take on stage. there is such a wide variety of people that show up at the open mic and the atmosphere is always upbeat and relaxed. it's a small coffee shop, but every sunday it is packed wall to wall inside all the way up to the stage. outside on the deck you'll find smokers and people practicing before they go up on stage. in the back parking lot you can often find pyro's playing with fire, juggling burning things, twirling flaming batons through the air. the open mic allows people to have a voice, not only a voice, but a voice to be heard by the people. there are so many talented artists whether it's poetry, guitar and singing, or story telling, that create something beautiful but never have the opportunity to share what they have created with people. open mics give people the chance to be heard, for a few minutes on the stage people listen to you, and they listen closely. if someone goes up on stage and is able to capture the eyes and ears of their audience then they can really get a message across to the people. there is such a wide variety of performers that walk up onto the stage; poets, guitar players/singers, a cappella singers, rappers, spoken word artists, writers reading excerpts from their novels, and so many more. the variety of music that is played there is awesome too, everything from bob dylan, the beatles, hendrix and zeppelin, to modest mouse and green day, and also songs people wrote themselves. coffee shops and open mics are breeding grounds for all sorts of activists; political, women's rights, workers rights, because this is a place where they can stand up and be heard. at the greenhouse effect, i have seen anarchists who have been to prison perform poems about bringing down our government. and the interesting thing is that people in the audience didn't disregard what he was saying just because they thought his views were radical, they listened to him and for a few moments while he was on stage became a part of him and what he believed in.

at the greenhouse effect, they have featured performers that are traveling the country play each sunday. i have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Utah Phillips would have played at the greenhouse effect. and he probably would have liked the atmosphere of the people so much that he would probably play there often.

The Power of Music

2011-05-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

I have been pondering how music has the ability to change individuals. I believe that music brings emotions, thoughts, and ideas to people that otherwise would be absent. Utah Phillips used music to convey a deeper message about social justice. Through music he was able to create a community of individuals that shared similar beliefs. Anyone could understand the music. It doesn’t discriminate between those who can read and those who can’t. Utah Phillip’s was able to affect people’s attitudes in a way that had lasting impacts as followers hummed and repeated the lyrics.

I enjoy composing piano pieces and have thought a great deal about the message I send to my audience. Although I don’t share words I can convey a mood through the melodic progression, dynamics, and technique. I have the ability to share a feeling of joy, danger, sadness, hope, tension, and excitement. Just like Utah Phillips I can send a deeper message to those who listen to my music. I think that is the beauty of music—it doesn’t matter whether it is folk, instrumental, rap, jazz, opera, or whatever genre. Music has the power to change people. It empowers people to feel and think things that would have never experienced on their own.

The New Item on my Bucket List

2011-05-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

Since I began driving at age 16 I have struggled to enjoy the method. I dislike the waste of gas, the rush hour traffic, and the valuable time squandered away while focusing on the road. As a result I have adopted different ways to get around.

It isn’t uncommon for me to ride my bike to and from Sandy and Salt Lake City. I greatly enjoy the scenic view of Salt Lake City along Wasatch Boulevard. One can see all the way from the Great Salt Lake to the Kennecott Copper Mine. By the time I reach my destination via bike I have had time to think about life and certainly obtained my daily dose of exercise.

The majority of my transportation occurs on the UTA bus system. I am proud to say that I have mastered the 220 UTA bus route. I know exactly what time, what bus, will be where. It takes approximately six minutes for me to walk from my house to the bus stop. Then I typically wait for two to five minutes, jump on my bus, and head to school while I work on homework, study for a test, or read a bit. I also enjoy watching people and have found the bus to be the perfect place to do so. Who is sitting next to who? What do they look like? What are they doing? Where could they be going? Such questions keep me entertained as the wheels on the bus go round and round.

I can only wonder the kinds of people I would encounter on a train! It had never dawned on me that riding the train is still an option for transportation. After looking on the internet I have learned that the California Zephyr runs between Oakland and Chicago and stops is Salt Lake City. If I were to leave today I could catch the train at 11:30 p.m. and embark on a 19 hour journey to Oakland, California for 97 dollars (includes return ticket).

Riding the train is something I plan on doing in the near future. I have recorded it on my extensive list of things I want to see, hear, smell, feel, and do. While my plans to swim in the Blue Grotto in Italy are still on hold, I truly hope travel via train within the next year.

Hole in the Wall

2011-05-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

Our discussion with the folks at Caffé Lena reminded me how many cool hole in the wall places there are and how they really make little communities of their own, they bring a diverse group of people together to eat, drink, and listen to music. It also reminded me of this small cafe on the north side of Chicago, the Heartland Cafe. I first visited this cafe at the age of 15 with my family, we were on our way the the beach on our bikes as we rode by. My mother called to us all to stop and check out this place that she had worked for a couple summers during college. Entering the cafe I realized it wasn't like most cafes I'd been to, it had a different feel. The posters on the wall, the books on the tables, and the knick nacks they were selling made it pretty clear that the folks who went here were pretty involved in a variety of activist groups. This really lent to the feeling of a community, this sense of community is no where to be seen at a chain cafe such as Star Bucks, and even at a place like Sugarhouse Coffee doesn't exist. It made me very aware of the distinct differences between places like Caffé Lena and mainstream coffee shops like Star Bucks.

Hush-ocracy or Progression with a capital P?

2011-05-05T20:02:00.001-07:00

My interest in this blog is to explore Bruce "Utah" Phillips' FBI file, and what I believe to be the implications of the existence of such a file for a 'democratic' country in his time.

In the Phillips' FBI file it says the following: "_____, University of Utah, announced that _____ and ______ who were present at the meeting, had been named by the SACB as communists. He [Presumably this is referring to Bruce Phillips] denounced the FBI and the witnesses who had testified against these two men. He suggested contacting various prominent individuals to get them to state that a person's private political beliefs are his own and no one else's business. _____ also said that if anyone asks whether or not the UPFP has any members who are communists, the answer is "Yes," but if anyone asks whether or not the UPFP is a communist front, the answer is "No," ______ suggested that the UPFP organize a Defense Committee on behalf of the two accused individuals" (FBI File pg. 23)
Whether or not the ____ in the last sentence is referring to Bruce Phillips is up for question, but it is apparent that he was going to attend the 'National Convention of the Peace and Freedom Party" at the University of Michigan on pg. 20. It is also apparent from him being supported in his plans to run for senator by the UPFP, that he was a central figure who would be noted making comments such as the following. Bruce Phillips is noted also on page 27 to be saying that he didn't agree with the communists "...causing rather than solve problems" (27).
From the following I am going to infer that Phillips was not associated with the communist cause, but that a few communists might have belonged to UPFP, of which Phillips was a part. The interesting part about Phillips' FBI file is not that it noted some protests and activities in which he was involved, it is that the whole 40 pages is dedicated to expounding a diatribe of Phillips' association with communists. He is a real "threat." He stands up for principles of truth, in which his convictions are not waning. He led marches. He stands against US involvement the Vietnam War. He even was a part of a demonstration opposed to vice president Hubert Humphrey. He was a thinking individual, an individual who cared about the wellfare of the laborer, soldier, and broadly conceived, the human.
The question to ask ourselves now is: "If Phillips was persecuted/tracked by the FBI for being associated with communists and more importantly for standing up for what he thought 'right', then what is this saying about the democracy that existed in his time (and presently)?" If someone cannot voice their opinion about an issue or state of affairs then how far have people really come since Socrates 470 B.C. (in Phillips' time and our own present time)? If we cannot discuss what we think in the public sector through protests, etc., then how democratic is our country really--are we a sort of hush-ocracy? In Phillips' time it is clear that open opinions were not openly discussed due to the harsh threat of accepting the Marxist/Communist rationale. If there is a place for open discussion of other viewpoints then it should be within our society, but in Phillips' time this was unacceptable. Communism was shunned. Human understanding/reason was shut down. Perplexed obedience was forced. Where are the people of in the democracy of Phillips' time? Where are the 'demos' (Latin meaning: people, citizenry)? In order for people to be present we need to hear the rationality of each individual who has questions. Not just hush them. Phillips lived in a time where opinions were oppressed and thinking individuals were hushed for fear of spreading the "red" (communist control). It is unfortunate that his message couldn't have been more widespread.
What can we say of our present time? Is opinion still being oppressed? How far has democracy come since Phillips' time? Progression is inevitable. Time happens. And the days pass. But what about progression with a capital P(rogression)--where we are actively engaging in society and the issues arising therein? Stand and don't shake. Cite the first amendment and move forward. Democracy is for the people, and that means that you have a crucial part that you cannot underestimate. Opinions are respected in the university and college, and I think that our society has ideologically shifted to a more opinion-inclusive (no assumptions of perfect inclusiveness need be had here) atmosphere. But we still have opposition to gay-rights, and the list here goes on. Thus, there is room for improvement concerning the openness of hearing another's rationale, and opinion. Step up. OPINions are like pins that we wear on our intellectual, and more importantly practical blazer that we wear EVERYWHERE. We should all collect these pins of opinions--this includes being open to others' opinions. Why else were we given a mind, or the ability to reason. Utah Phillips here would most likely encourage the development of mind. Catch a thought. Think about it.

Playing for change...

2011-05-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

I found this organization by chance two years ago while searching for new music on the internet, and this nonprofit creates music that is more than just lyrics and sounds. This music has a message, like all should. The organizers and muscians are people who have sought out to bring the world closer by something, like we are learning in class, that everyone can relate to and understand. After our first two classes, it has been made apparent that music connects everyone and shares something that is greater than ourselves. I believe the whole purpose behind Utah's performing was to connect all different types people to share a common goal: preserving and changing history. I hope you enjoy the tunes from this nonprofit organization; the videos are simply amazing at what they accomplish collaborating together. The songs may be familiar and ordinary, but the collaboration of voices is the thing that makes this movement extraordinary. All of the performers have never met each other and all are recorded separately across the globe.

"Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world." (http://playingforchange.com/journey/introduction)

They have many more videos on their website at http://playingforchange.com/

How I got here.

2011-05-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

I was turned on to Utah Phillips by friend Sage a couple of years ago. I didn't know anything about him, but I was a victim of his stories and rapturous simple plucking lines. I have always loved folk music, but until this class didn't really realize that it had purpose; to convey a message to the masses. I always thought it was just an indulgence of simplicity, something to transport you to a time, a place and a company unattached to civilization. To an extent I still believe thats true, but I missed how important accessibility was to folk music. Most folk tunes are just 2 or 3 chords, and even then none of them really require instrumentals. Here is one I tried out. C, F, G7 Los todos.

Is the Protest Song Dead?

2011-05-05T14:51:00.001-07:00

Bob shared this from the New York Times blog, asking about everyone's favorite "protest songs." Check it out.

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/is-the-protest-song-dead/

And a bunch of links to songs:
Billie Holliday Strange Fruit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs

Dylan folk version – Masters of War
http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/34277

Pearl Jam version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG443N7lo4Q

Phil Ochs I Ain’t Marching Any More
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5pgrKSwFJE

Phil Ochs What Are you Fighting For
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N93OCCBXGXc&feature=related

Bob Dylan With God on Our Side (Buuddy Miller video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF92JKKlfRM

Neil Young Ohio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7VxqAtgZF0

CSN&Y Please Come to Chicago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsKvj7KoRWg

Steve Earle Christmas Time in Washington
Baez intro to 1:26 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypA46HvfXjI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NASicF9yTI&feature=related

Green Day American Idiot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg7YjwZzNz0

Randy Newman Say a Few Words in Defense of our Country
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OldToIF5ZGs

Public Enemy Fight the Power
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PaoLy7PHwk

Bright Eyes When The President Talks to God
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-_HemCiFHs

John Lennon War is Over
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8jw-ifqwkM

Neil Young Lets Impeach the President
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3_cS_iQ-w0

Carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
Ain’t going to make it with Anyone Anyhow.

Trains

2011-05-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

While pondering what to write about in my first post for class, I kept coming back to the topic of trains. Everything we discussed about trains fascinated me. I think part of this fascination comes from growing up hearing my grandfather's stories about riding the rails. His favorite story to tell was about being a teenager and leaving Idaho to join his brother in California to go work in the fields. He left Idaho with 3 dimes to his name. The first dime had the misfortune of falling in a crack in a floorboard of the car he was riding in, he spent the remainder of his trip trying to pry out the dime, but never did succeed. I'm not sure what happened to the other two dimeys, but I always remember thinking how tough times must have been and how far we've come.

I also think part of my fascination with trains comes from living near some of the longest train tressels in North America. Driving by them always amazed me because of the amount of time and energy that had to go into building these.

Finally, I spent a lot of time outside of class thinking about what was said about how train transportation was more cost effective. So, I did a little bit of looking on the internet and found it is also now more eco-friendly than any other form of travel and that every freight car can hold approximately three semi loads of cargo. The most informative article I found can be found at: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=7&sqi=2&ved=0CHoQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Bjsessionid%3D697F3108EFF1201D9E6CBF5DF768C7BA%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.145.906%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&rct=j&q=cost%20of%20railroad%20transportation&ei=yyzCTYLBG6rbiAKO1qCeAw&usg=AFQjCNESYDae6ZsA0okbk6Ib-iKSHM4JkA&cad=rja

I think it would be interesting to learn and study more about the culture of those who hopped on trains and learn more about how using trains more could be improve our lives today.

Bum on the Rod

2011-05-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hearing Duncan talk about riding the trains around America reminded me of one of the tracks I really like from Utah/Ani Difranco's album "The Past Didn't Go Anyway", the track Bum on the Rod. I never really understood what it was talking about until our discussion. Th song also talks about the changes that have taken place, how the people who are riding the tracks aren't like they used to be.

Perpetual Issue or Managable Memory?

2011-05-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

In our first reading in "It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own" by Richard White he states the following concerning migrant laborers during the turn of the twentieth century (and presumably before the 20th century), "The IWW attracted the fierce loyalty of the migratory workers of the West who were in many ways the backbone of the western extractive economy...many were European immigrants...Between jobs, migratory workers were the men who rode the rails looking for work...these men were an alienated and potentially revolutionary segment of the western working class" (White 294).
What interests me in the following passage is that most of the migrants during the twentieth century that were at an economical disadvantage to the skilled-laborers were European--presently, the European migrants have been assimilated. Today the situation is the same for Mexican/Hispanic migrant laborers. They are frequently looking for work. Hungry. Leave their family just to simply make a living. Sacrificing their life for their life; making their bodies subject to unrelenting wrath of unskilled labor. How long will it take for Mexican Immigrants to be assimilated as the Europeans were during the beginning of the twentieth century? What bills have recently been passed? The Arizona Immigration bill (passed in April 2010), according to New York Times journalist Randal C. Archibold, "...would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally...Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status" ("Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration"; link: http://http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html).
The first question to put to our conscience is, "Are we okay with this?" The straight conscience will then answer back robustly retorting, "No, this is absolutely wrong to enact." Well then, we put to the conscience, "Is this just a question of relativity--that it is alright for Arizonians to feel this way and we can feel against it, but nobody is right or wrong?" Obviously this is a logical error in reasoning. Leaving the present discourse, I think this is a civil injustice. We cannot go up to every legal American and ask them if they have their legal residency papers to live in the United States. So why can police go up to any Hispanic and ask them for their papers--many of which have been assimilated and are actual legal citizens already? We cannot go around supposing every Hispanic to be an illegal immigrant. Imagine being a legal Hispanic and a police officer came up to you and your family on the way to dinner and made sure you have your legal residency papers? Not only is the person embarrassed because his family is sitting in the background while he shuffles through his wallet to no avail, he is also mainly targeted for his ethic origins. Cannot we rely on employers to make sure that they hire legal workers or atleast that they hire illegal workers only seasonally as the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 proposed? This seems to avert the problem of discrimination against the hispanics that the Arizona bill faces. Either way the Arizona immigration bill is at best discrimination, and at worst, a blatant example of present racial prejudices, racism.

We can see that migrant labor rights are still a problem presently as they were at the turn of the twentieth century as described in the quote at the beginning of this post. What is also apparent is that if these issues have not yet disappeared as a problem to be dealt with, then that means that Bruce "Utah" Phillips had to deal with these same haughtily heated issues in his own day (1935-2008).

What I became aware of in typing this entry is how these issues are important to us as human beings, citizens of the United States, and undergraduate college students. In the Arizona bill it is apparent that people have not learned from the civil rights movement, most importantly some of the legislators of our country who make these bills. Do human rights have to be contested/conceived outside of race again? Need the same issue of human rights be contested again in the case of immigrants; be perpetual or continuous? Or can we manage/keep our "Long Memory" intact as Bruce Phillips suggested, and know intuitively and logically that immigrants are people deserving of our respect. I think that we are able to keep our memory of these issues exercised, and that means that we must be educated. We are being educated now, but how will you choose to live this education? Bruce Phillips lived his priciples in life, as his son Duncan said. May we all be brave enough to see our educated consciousness bring life to the principles that we learn--bring the truth of what we learn to life in the world. Vote. Attend a Protest. Pay attention to legislators and the things for which they stand. These are ways to keep the "Long Memory" intact. Our acts according to our principles concerning the protest of unjust immigration policy, health care, foreign policy, etc. are objective reminders of the power of one, of all.

We're still dying over segregated bathrooms

2011-05-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of class, someone (I think it was Bob) mentioned that kids today find it hard to believe in the intensity of the civil rights movement, where people were killed for using the "white" bathroom.

But it's easy for me to believe. Less than two weeks ago, news hit that Chrissy Lee Polis was beaten for several minutes then lay convulsing on the ground before police showed up. A bystander took video of the incident and posted it on Facebook, claiming the violence was justified because she was anatomically male and tried to enter a women's bathroom in women's clothes. She survived, but other women are murdered for being trans at a bewildering rate; I can't keep up with the headlines.

Very few people believe that gender segregation is an issue: the segregated bathrooms are supposedly keeping us safe and moral. Remember the "unisex bathroom" hysteria over the Equal Rights Amendment?

Sex segregation in homeless shelters and other services, plus forced identification of one's legal sex in other contexts like education and sometimes even bus passes bites into transgendered people's access to these services. This spring in Salt Lake City a woman was humiliated and forced to scrub off her make-up at the ~~DMV~~ Department of Public Safety Driver License Division [Edit 4:09 5/4/2011] because the driver's license she was renewing had an 'M' on it. But those issues are off almost everyone's radar; the invisibility of an ideology often reflects its strength.

My best friend is a working class transgendered woman who lives back east. I am genderqueer, and while I don't face my MTF sisters' daily fear of violence, I do face daily awareness of a society that harshly and almost universally rejects an important part of my experience and imposes an alien identity upon me. We will not be free until we win a violent struggle in a society that currently can't comprehend or empathize with us.

Sometimes I feel guilty for being so emotionally invested in an issue that seems much smaller-scale than, say, the oppression of the working-class, exploitation of poor countries, climate change, or factory-farming. Yet how many more people would transgress gender lines if they weren't patrolled by vigilantes and overseen by psychiatric gatekeepers? How many people suffer from misplaced ideas of masculinity and femininity; how much is lost when "boys" are separated from "girls"--and by someone else's choice?

But all of that aside, it's a fight I can't choose not to fight, for all I might rather pick another battle.

(Is this too off-topic? I prepared another post about how my father helped bust a union as a warehouse manager who worked directly with the laborers who were trying to unionize; he'd listen to "Which Side Are You On?" every day as he drove into work. The post wasn't working out, though, so I went with this instead.)

Utah Phillips is a funny storyteller : )

2011-05-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

I signed up for this class because I thought I would be awesome and was excited to learn more about folk music, hobo culture, and activism. I really had no idea who Utah Phillips is, or at least I thought I didn't, until I was talking on the phone with my dad after class today. I told him about my May term classes and mentioned Utah's name, and my dad says, "he was that storyteller right?" My dad is from upstate New York and apparently he got some of his best stories he told to my sister and I, from none other than Utah. One of my favorites was the hilarious "Moose Turd Pie," and I thought I would share with y'all how I first got acquainted with him.

I know Mr. Phillips is more than just a storyteller, and I am even more excited to hear about his life.

-Clara Jane

2011-05-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

Thank you for inviting me into your class room. What a great time, it was nice to meet everyone and share stories with you all. I am thinking, It seems to me that when I do this sort of thing with small groups of people that may or may not who my father was, that I need to figure out a way to make the whole experience more of an interactive affair. What do you think? Do any of you have any suggestions? Normally I sit on a stage with an audience that generally knew my father and do what I do. The class room environment is a whole new ball game that I'm eager to refine. So please feel free to post your thoughts and suggestions.

Duncan

The Women's Movement

2011-05-03T15:22:00.001-07:00

So, we (Bob, Duncan, Dave and I) were talking after class about Utah's comments to Amy Goodman about the women's movement being the most important development of the 20th century (or something like that). I wondered what you all made of that. Do you agree?

Jeff

Salutatory

2011-04-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the blog for "The Long Memory: Utah Phillips," a May term class at Westminster College. The class is based around the music, spoken word and activism of the late, great Bruce "U. Utah" Phillips.

This course was created by Bob Seltzer and Jeff Nichols in close partnership with Duncan Phillips, Bruce's son. Here we'll share our class-related thoughts, links to music and readings, and the students' weekly postings.