Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use
Vol.
8 Issue 18…Dedicated to the Dialogue
on Race…May 6, 2005
Atlanta Vibe
By John Burl Smith
Dread worse
than Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Stormy Monday” blues struck fear in the hearts
of Atlanta faithfuls on Saturday
(4-30-05), as a torrential downpour drowned hope of a star-studded night with
Alicia Keys. Shrugging off
concerns of a rain out, defiant fans flooded the stands, as dark skies and a
light drizzle threatened to douse a candlelit dinner with wine at Chastain Park
in Atlanta. However, as the
curtain went up, Alicia Keys answered Peabo Bryson’s classic interrogative,
“Can You Stop the Rain?” In an
instant, the keyboard wizard transported Atlanta faithfuls back to the 1930s,
as they relived the Harlem Renaissance at the world famous Cotton Club.
Paying
tribute to the “crown prince of jitterbug,” Cab Calloway, Alicia rocked
“Hi-De-Ho” and “I’ll Put a Spell on You.”
Not a relic expressing her virtuosity paying homage to greats like Lena
Horne, Billie Holliday, Ethel Waters and Dorothy Dandridge, Alicia became a
natural extension of their timeless contribution to black music. Elevated on a spinning piano platform,
she torched several tearjerkers as the rain returned with her finale. The delighted crowd, standing in the
downpour, still cheered for more even after her encore.
Facing
the same fate across town, the First Annual Stone Mountain Poetry Festival was
rain-soaked. However, as determined as rock fans, intrepid spoken word lovers
provided their own sunshine, while filling indoor venues and continuing
festivities into the evening. The
highlight of the festival was the Slam, Spoken Word, Poetry, Hip Hop, Blues Jam
at the Art Station. This event
brought young poets like Yohannes Sharriff, Kemi Bennings, Aqyil Thomas and
Pamela Plummer together in a performance venue with elders like Felton Eaddy,
festival organizer, who has worked to build an education-based poetry vibe in
the region.
Braving
the elements on a stormy ride back to downtown Atlanta, Yohannes raced to the
Apache Café for a tribute to the legendry Last Poets. Produced by Jamel Wright,
this venue featured Atlanta Vibe poets performing a piece by The Last Poets and
one of their own creations to demonstrate continuity between poets today and
their elders. The grand finale brought
the masters themselves to the stage to do their own thing to the delight of a
jubilant capacity crowd.
Can
You Stop the Rain? The answer from die-hard Atlanta fans seemed to be, rain did
not matter. Whether indoors or
outside, like “a P-Funk Party,” we never stopped. More important than the party, however, artists like Alicia
Keys, Yohannes Sharriff, Felton Eaddy and The Last Poets and producers like
Jamel Wright recognize that black people have a glorious history, and to honor
our elders, we must carry them with us into the future. Even though “Into each life a little
rain must fall,” if we hold on to one another, “The sun’s gonna shine in our
back door someday!”
Babbling
According to print media circulation figures, fewer people pay to read
newspapers. Rather than the evening news, presidential news conferences or
24-hour news stations, more Americans prefer to watch re-runs or reality
television shows like "Desperate Housewives," "The
Sopranos," "Six-Feet Under" and "The Swan."
A sign of the times, Americans are tuning in to turn off as the news media
cease to provide useful information. When newsworthy events from a declining US
welfare to endless warfare are taking place, mainstream media babble on about
the Duluth, Georgia runaway bride or some such senseless rabble. These useless
stories are a waste of television broadcast time and newsprint. Blah on the
media for babbling!
Alarmed
By Yohannes Sharriff
Alarmed by the snooze, the countdown
has begun!
According to Mayan calendar, we should
be out around December 21st of 2012.
Some say I’m just a dreamer, but I
meditate to awaken myself
Ain’t seen sun in days and writing
ain’t the same
Formless as freedom, justice and equity
for all
My rebellion just a scribbled down version
of hope in a poem
Perfectly imperfect
Free! I’m as free as graffiti on the
wall making my way across concrete for pay
Today, dreaming of my last life reminded
of how everything she said was such poetry.
The softness of her hands and legs echo
laughter in my head.
How even good goes bad
How melancholy is sad and far from
happy
However, it’s a hell of a lot better than
what I was feeling yesterday.
I’ll send an SOS to the world, and
drown my heartache in the phrase.
Hope that someone gets my message staring
at a blank page
Now that I finally laid the last brick in
my fortress of solitude,
What does Superman have to say?
The human genome project, a euphemism
for eugenics
Just as Fox News is another way to say
666
Mafia on the move chopped and screwed in
a brand new old Neo Nazis worldwide prison camp.
No surprise the new pope is German.
Serving ignorant sermons
Pimps push political agendas from the
pulpit
Swapping out the word of God for
bullets and bullshit
Sending impoverished parishioners to
polls
To elect weapons of mass destruction
Construction of more nuclear power
plants
Deforestation, privatization of Third
World water
Manipulation of weather
Whatever ails, don’t bother to heal.
We got a pill for that!
Side effects are a mild rash and your
brain might slide out your ass
But, pharmaceutically enhanced
population sedated for the operation.
Kill the people! Save the buildings!
Enslave the survivors and make a
killing!
Spilling waste in the waterways
Relaxation of environmental regulations
Genetic alteration of vegetation
Contamination of the food chain
Genocide and gentrification
Like the case of the Rwandan priest
Who opened fire on his own congregation.
From across the street, Goree Island
and Auschwitz
The West Bank and the West End
It’s the devil within that is the most
dangerous
Your father, mother, lover becomes your
judge, jury and executioner.
Y’all, they got us marching to death’s
beat
For something to eat and a place to
sleep.
Break dance our spirits for a false
sense of security
Surgically removing the soul
And filling the hole with silicon
So, all you pathetic ugly ducklings,
get your swan on!
Here’s your chance.
Join the bandwagon
Carve up your body
And present a feast of low self-esteem.
The TV will slaughter your dreams and
fatten the sheep
Here it is! Right here! The
Beast!
Where we live and in what we eat!
The beast! It’s in every cent taken from our wages
It’s the fact that most of us are
waiting for a savior
In fact, heaven is at hand.
We trade it in for an SUV
Thirteen on the street and 17 per
gallon on the highway
Forty hours a week and we hide from
change.
All we know is where we stay
step outside the box not to learn,
but to confirm what we think we know.
Choked slow by ignorance
proprietary patents permit
multinational conglomerates,
like Monsanto, to sue farmers for
collecting seeds.
Just think!
If it weren’t for grocery stores and
fast food chains
how would you feed your family?
How many grow their own?
Whether it’s income or grilled onions
Our lives are under fire
Populations control by culling our
numbers.
Justin Holland (1819-1887)
Born to free parents in Norfolk, Virginia, Justin Holland displayed a talent
for music at an early age. His
father, Exum Holland, a farmer, could not afford to cultivate his son’s talent. After his parents’ death in 1833,
Holland moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where at age 14 he studied the guitar
under the tutelage of Senor Mariano Perez. His other instructors included William Schubert, a composer
and arranger, and Simon Knable, a member of Ned Kendall's Brass Band, who
taught Holland the theory and the art of arranging.
Holland
also studied the flute and played the piano. In 1841, Holland entered Oberlin College in Ohio to further
his study of music. His travels
following his two years of musical study included a trip to Mexico to improve
his language skills. Holland
returned to Ohio, married and settled in Cleveland (1845). To support his family, Holland taught
aspiring musicians the guitar, mandolin, piano and flute; he became Cleveland’s
first black professional.
From
1848-1854, Holland was an officer and member of the Council at Negro
Conventions, working alongside Frederick Douglass and other prominent black and
white abolitionists. A leader of
the Prince Hall Masons, Holland worked with the Underground Railroad and with a
group that attempted to found a colony in Central America for free people of
color.
Holland
seldom performed in public, yet he developed a national reputation for his work
as a composer and arranger. He is
generally recognized as the first black man to make an important contribution
to classical guitar. Holland
published 350 works for guitar. In
1876, he published Holland’s Method, which remains one of the best
methods for guitar instruction published in United States in the 19th century.
Justin
Holland, classical musician, composer, arranger and performer, died in
1887. (Sources: www.nationwide.net/~amaranth/guitar.htm, www.aaregistry.com and www.csun.edu)
Protest Nuclear Proliferation
On Monday, the United Nations convened talks in New York aimed at reviewing the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which is designed to stop the spread of
weapons, nuclear disarmament and to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Signed by 188 countries, the treaty entered into force in 1970. Signatories of
NPT agreed to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect
nuclear sites.
When NPT went into force, only the permanent members of the UN Security
Council- the US, Russia, UK, France and China - possessed nuclear weapons.
Today, these nuclear nations have been joined by India and Pakistan. It is
widely believed Israel, which refused to sign NPT, is also a nuclear power.
Certain to receive close attention during the month-long conference, North Korea
and Iran are suspected of possessing or being close to developing nuclear
weapons.
The vast majority of countries participating in the NPT conference hopes to
close loopholes in the treaty that the United States says Iran and North Korea
have exploited to pursue nuclear weapons. The US will no doubt come under heavy
criticism for ignoring Israel's nuclear weapons, for possessing more strategic
and tactical nuclear warheads than any other country, rejection of the nuclear
test ban treaty, withdrawal from the anti-ballistic missile treaty and actively
developing a new generation of nuclear armament.
To insure the NPT conference succeeds in its stated objective of reducing the
threat of nuclear annihilation, a coalition of anti-war and environmental groups
plan protests to coincide with the conference. In addition, US citizens are
being urged to petition their elected representatives for an end to efforts to
build more nuclear power plants and develop more advanced nuclear weapons and
end the war in Iraq. For more information about the various protests planned
and to sign a petition to abolish nuclear arms, visit www.unitedforpeace.org/ and www.abolitionnow.org
Disgruntled Says:
In the USA, the
second Sunday in May is Mothers' Day. Like most of these designated
"special occasions," it was ostensibly created to recognize the
endless sacrifices and contributions made by mothers in raising our nation's
young and providing the glue that binds families, the basic units of civil
society. In reality, it is far too commercial, doing more to fatten the pockets
of retailers selling trinkets, gadgets and gizmos than honoring mothers. This
Sunday, May 8, 2005, would truly be a wonderful day, if mothers and
mothers-to-be could awake to a culture of life in a world free from endless
warfare, curable diseases, malnutrition and the ever-present threat of nuclear
annihilation.
Disgruntled feels: Perplexed! During George W. Bush's
first term, Congress did not pass an energy bill. It was widely believed
companies like Enron ran the Vice President's task force, which drafted Bush's
energy plan. Recently, the House of Representatives passed the energy bill.
With a Republican majority and gas prices high, the Senate could pass a similar
measure, which includes funds to build more nuclear power plants. Nuclear
energy is not cheap; its waste carries a hefty price. Not only is it extremely
toxic, it has a half-life longer than anything man can imagine. The US cannot
safely dispose of its current nuclear waste. It is truly perplexing that the
nation's leaders would entertain the idea of producing more of this toxic
substance.
Disgruntled wants to know: First Lady Laura Bush is billed as the
quiet librarian-type; she is George W. Bush's anchor and secret weapon; he is a
known former drunk. In a departure from her well-crafted public persona, she
delivered a risqué monologue at the White House Correspondents' Dinner that
took jabs at George, who falls asleep by nine. While he snoozes, Lady Laura
watches "Desperate Housewives" or visits male strip joints. After
revealing her true self, one wonders, does the sanctimonious religious right
think Laura is a lady?
Iran in US
Cross Hairs
The
US is: "...a nation of 200 million used-car salesmen with all the money we
need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who
tries to make us uncomfortable." -Hunter S. Thompson
As US rhetoric over Iran's potential to create nuclear weapons escalates, let
us be honest about US intentions should war be deemed a viable option. First,
greed has played a role in every armed conflict; the war on terror is no
exception. The energy industry, an important player in the careers of high-ranking
officials throughout the Bush administration, has profited handsomely in the
war on terror. Epitomizing the link between the energy industry, government and
war profiteering, VP Dick Cheney, former Haliburton CEO, is fully vested in the
energy services giant's welfare.
Many Bush administration officials are associated with the Project for a New
American Century (PNAC), which is unabashed in its advocacy of US world
domination. To accomplish this objective, which is identified in papers
published by PNAC, the US must control the world's oil and gas reserves. The
Bush administration has wholeheartedly embraced or been co-opted by PNAC's
vision of US hegemony.
According to the Oil and Gas Journal, only Saudi Arabia has more oil than Iran,
which also possesses natural gas in great abundance. It has approximately 16%
of the world's total reserve of natural gas, only Russia has a larger supply.
While US energy companies salivate at the prospect of controlling Iran's vast energy
resources, countries such as India and Japan are inking deals with Iran's
government to develop its oil fields and natural gas reserves. Under Executive
Order 12959, US companies are prohibited from doing business with Iran, a
member of Bush's "axis of evil." Regime change appears to be the sole
option for altering this situation.
Second, exercising effective control over the world's energy reserves
necessitates control of the Persian Gulf region, where most of the known
reserve is located. Iran is strategically positioned. If provoked, it can
disrupt the flow of oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Indeed, Iran's
leadership, which is well aware that it is in the US cross hairs, has
threatened to close the strait, if the US or Israel attacks its nuclear sites,
a prospect that has received extensive media coverage.
Third, Iran has indicated it will cease to trade oil in dollars. Some observers
believe that Saddam Hussein's decision to sell oil in euros nailed the coffin
shut on his regime. Clearly, the war in Iraq, which occurred with neither a
congressional declaration nor United Nations approval, was not about enforcing
UN Security Council Resolutions or Iraq weapons of mass destruction. Should
Iran succeed in switching, it will doom the dollar as the world's reserve
currency. This prospect has gotten traction since the dollar began its
precipitous decline against the euro. For the US to maintain a dominant role,
oil must be sold in dollars.
Thus, Iran poses a threat and is in the US cross hairs, not because of its
nuclear capabilities, but because it controls so much oil and gas, is
strategically located in the Persian Gulf and can end the petrodollar reign. US
media seem poised to play the same role they played in the run up to the
invasion of Iraq -- downplay the role of energy, specifically oil and gas, and
disseminate Pentagon propaganda to make an attack on Iran seem a reasonable
option. And, with a country full of used car salesmen with guns, it just might
work again.
|| 2005
Issues || The
DISH ||