Chicago, IL – It was a chilly Saturday in March. It was late morning, yet many were headed to the movie theater. Not to see the typical movie, but a live stream by the Metropolitan Opera (the Met) of Beethoven’s Fidelio. The Met has been live streaming some of their productions since December 30, 2006. What motivated them to live stream? Perhaps to reach new audiences? More revenues?

Except for a very few scattered areas, the working class in the United States rarely if ever listens to opera. It could rightfully be said that this an understatement of epic proportions. There are many reasons: the cost for a live performance ticket is extraordinarily, world class opera companies only exist in a few U.S. cities, other forms of quality entertainment have grabbed workers’ attention, and the list goes on.

On top of this, privatization and cuts to public education mean fewer and fewer working class students are offered orchestra or come into contact with opera in any serious way. Many will go a lifetime without seeing a performance, something that may not occur to those headed to the Beethoven live stream.

Is the Met using live stream to reach out to workers? I got my answer quickly as an ad for Rolex, proud sponsors of the Met, crossed the screen. A quick Google search revealed that the lowest-priced Rolex watch will cost a worker over $6000 and that they can pay up to $70,000 for a pricier model.

The ad followed by a speech by Met General Manager Peter Gleb. Gleb made an impassioned plea to continue to support the Ukraine, clearly meaning military funding and NATO expansion. He likened the expression of freedom in the Beethoven opera that we were about to see to the funding of a proxy war in Europe.

There were calls to come to a live performance in New York as well as calls to donate to the Met. There was no mention of Gleb’s $1.3 million annual salary.

But enough of all that. Gleb was correct about one thing; the opera the audience was about to see was about freedom and had a lot to offer any audience. Fidelio is Beethoven’s only opera. He was a prolific composer of symphonies, concertos, string quartets, ballet and much more, totaling 722 works. He is correctly seen as one of the masters bridging classical and romantic periods in music.

Why only one opera? Clearly, he struggled with it, taking almost ten years to bring it to its final version as he was losing his ability to hear. From the first to the final version, Beethoven cut much of the repetition as well as eliminating entire songs. He also restructured the opera, changing keys to make to make the repression as well as the actual struggle for freedom more prominent. Interestingly, Fidelio is one of the early operas that have some dialogue without music. Despite Beethoven’s struggles with his sole opera, it turned out to be a masterpiece.

In another change to the final version, Beethoven cut the size of the orchestra, which the Met put under the baton of conductor Susanna Mälkki. Mälkki is one of the few women to conduct such a prestigious orchestra.

Lise Davidsen plays the lead of Leonore, who disguises herself as a young man (Fidelio) to help free her husband Florestan from prison. Florestan is wrongfully convicted because he told the truth to the people in the face of tyranny. This opera is a story about true love as well as the struggle for freedom.

Working with Davidsen, the entire opera company, union members of the American Guild of Musical Artists, are all world class performers. Their acting and singing performances bring the emotion that opera is famous for providing audiences. For Davidsen, this is all the more spectacular as this was her last performance before taking family leave. She is pregnant with twins.

Even the Intermission is a treat. Besides live interviews, the Met shows the backstage working of the stagehands, who are union members of IATSE Local 1. The large number of workers quickly moving equipment and scenery before the start of ACT II is a ballet in itself.

Finally, a word about Beethoven and his politics. According to Wilhelm Liebknecht, Karl Marx called Beethoven one of the masters, and narrowly avoided a London pub brawl in the process. Apparently, an English drinker thought the British were superior in music.

As for Beethoven, we must realize that he was a composer and not a politician. Still, despite having to depend on aristocrats for work, he was a strong supporter of the relatively recent French Revolution and its struggle against feudal tyranny.

Richard Berg is the past president of Teamsters Local 743. He currently sits on the board of the Uri-Eichen Gallery and is the host of the Fight Back! Radio podcast.

#ChicagoIL #IL #Culture #Music #ClassicalMusic #Opera #Beethoven

Grand Rapids, MI – On December 7, 30 people gathered at Scorpion Hearts Club, a coffee shop near downtown Grand Rapids, to listen and sing along to folk and bluegrass performed by Carsten Forester and the Grand Industrial String Band.

Hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and the Grand Rapids chapter of the Industrial Workers of The World (IWW), the event honored music from the labor movement.

The five-piece band which includes Carsten Forester on mandolin, Ben Kolk on guitar, Keala Venema on fiddle, Kyle Pitcher on upright bass, and Hannah Meixner on banjo played songs such as Dirty Old Town by Ewan MacColl, Union Man by Blue Highway, and the traditional fiddle tune Squirrel Hunters.

“My goal with The Grand Industrial String Band is to bring together various types of working-class music in a way that moves people towards a greater sense of solidarity,” Carsten Forester replied when asked what his goals are for the group moving forward. “I would say my biggest inspiration in that regard is Hazel Dickens, who is well regarded both as a bluegrass trailblazer and a working-class feminist icon.”

Earlier in the day, the anti-war group Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids protested outside the entrance of General Dynamics Land Systems, a war profiteer directly complicit in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Afterwards, folks from Palestine Solidary Grand Rapids, FRSO, IWW, the Grand Rapids Tenants Union, and the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist Political Repression all converged at the show to unwind. Trade unionists from IATSE Local 26, the Grand Rapids Educators Association, and American Federation of Musicians Local 56 were also in attendance.

Rather than having a standard merch table, FRSO sold copies of the Communist Manifesto, as well J. Sykes’ The Revolutionary Science of Marxism Leninism, alongside the Political Program of FRSO to interested showgoers.

Tom Burke, the president of IATSE 26, sees a lot of shows at his job, and he and ranked the performance among the top three he’d seen that year, listing it alongside Hozier and Billy Strings. “What’s not to like about a room full of movement builders and revolutionaries singing along to an American string band?” adding it was “a real hootenanny!”

The quintet played for just under two hours. Towards the end of the performance, the crowd stood up and sang along to Solidarity Forever, originally written by Ralph Chaplin. Afterwards, the band played They’ll Never Keep Us Down by Hazel Dickens. “We always finish our sets with [that] anthem of working class resistance,” Carsten Forester stated. “I have always found that song to be particularly powerful when you have just been singing about how bad the conditions people have faced and continue to face. We are committed to making music that brings joy, hope and solidarity, while also fearlessly facing the reality that we live in and the history we have inherited.”

In January, Carsten Forester begins his elected term to the executive board of American Federation of Musicians Local 56; a big win for working musicians in West Michigan.

#GrandRapidsMI #MI #Culture #Music #Labor #AFM #IATSE

Los Angeles, CA – On March 31, 1995, 23-year-old Chicana icon Selena Quintanilla was murdered by her employee Yolanda Saldivar. 25 years later, on December 4, 2020, Selena: The Series premiered on Netflix. Selena is indisputably one of the most important and influential Chicanas in the past 100 years. Executive producer for the series was eldest Quintanilla daughter Suzette; it was co-produced by Chicana Christian Serratos, who stars as Selena in the series.

A father’s dream

Selena’s parents Marcella and Abraham Quintanilla met around 1961 in Yakima, Washington and, after giving birth to their first child AB Quintanilla, moved to Lake Jackson, Texas. The series portrays the heavy-handed role of Abraham Quintanilla and his own aspirations of leading a life dedicated to music. Beginning with teaching son AB how to play guitar, and after hearing Selena sing (at the age of eight), Quintanilla would also teach his daughter Suzette how to play drums. They would start a band named Southern Pearl and would play inside of the Quintanilla restaurant PapaGayo’s.

After the U.S. economic depression of 1983, the Quintanilla’s lost their restaurant. Forced to move, they took refuge at one of Quintanilla’s brother’s homes in Corpus Christi, Texas. The series delves deeper into Abraham Quintanilla’s own struggle between joining the working class or pursuing his love of music. In the series, Henry Quintanilla (Abraham’s brother) tells him about an available truck-driving position. Abraham’s response is, “I’ll drive a truck, as long as it doesn’t interfere with band practice.”

Countless examples throughout the series shine a light on the fact that Abraham Quintanilla loves music and was going to pursue a career in music at all cost. Unable to find success with his own band Los Dinos, he turned his attention to his own children and in particular AB Quintanilla, who he groomed to be the Selena y Los Dinos songwriter, and to daughter Selena who led the band.

Many opinions have been cast against the series and its focus on Abraham and AB Quintanilla. The truth is much of part one of Selena: The Series follows the young life of Selena, between ages eight and 20. Selena was just a child, under the direction of her parents, her older brother AB, and older sister Suzette. Killed at age 23, Selena would never be given the opportunity to gain control over her own career.

The Chicano Question

Despite the word “Chicano” never being used in the series, it was the context of her life. Selena’s career was galvanized when the Quintanilla’s discovered the best market for them was a Chicano, Mexican, Central American, and Spanish-speaking audience. First was with Tejano music – exclusively Chicano, this genre was invented in Texas – then by taking their music to Matamoros, México, when Selena was only 16 years old.

Having only really sung in Spanish but realizing she would have to speak the language conversationally, Selena embarked on a mission to become more fluent. As most Chicanos are also faced with a similar question in their lives, the series attempts to draw this connection. Chicanos do not just originate from Mexican Americans; they can also be of various other roots, like Central American.

A brief nod to Chicana Linda Ronstadt’s mariachi album is made when they are all in a car and from the speakers Ronstadt is heard singing Tú, Sólo Tú. Selena would cover the song in 1995 and it would be the first Spanish song release after her death.

The first-ever Chicana musician signed onto the EMI record label, the brand was challenged with trying to market a Tejano musician like Selena. They slashed her band’s name and portrayed her as a “worldly” musician, of an ambiguous nature. Racism and tokenism ensued and a scene in the series shone a light on this during the record label’s listening party. Capitalism always has a difficult time monetizing off Chicanos, but at the bare minimum they recognize Chicanismo sells.

Chicanas Christian Serratos and Madison Taylor Baez

One of the most cringeworthy critiques observed from people regarding Selena: The Series is that Serratos looks nothing like Selena. In an interview, Suzette Quintanilla said, “I felt really bad for Christian because not only would she have to portray Selena, but she would also have to portray J-Lo as Selena.” Abraham Quintanilla in the same interview said that people protested at their Corpus Christi office when Jennifer Lopez was cast to play as Selena, only two years after Selena was murdered. “They were upset that we cast a Puerto Rican to play Selena,” said Quintanilla.

Madison Taylor Baez is a Chicana from Los Angeles and in interviews, she admits she did not know who Selena was. Baez said her parents found the casting call for the film and jumped on it. As soon as they found out Baez had gotten the part, they immersed her in Selena history. “I identify a lot with Selena because I too am Latina, and I too had to learn Spanish, and I too would love to be a singer,” said Baez in an interview.

But no one is publicly bashing Baez for her portrayal as young Selena. The brunt of the criticisms has been on Serratos. Serratos is half Italian and half Chicana, a Pasadena, California native, and uses her mother’s Chicano last name as opposed to her father’s Italian one.

Important for Aztlan, important to the world

It's true, no one will ever look or be just like Selena. No one will ever sound like Selena. And no one will ever be able to come close to the significance Selena had for little Chicanitas like myself who grew up wanting to sing, dance, and look just like her. Selena continues to be one of the biggest role models for Latinas and people around the world.

Honoring her Chicana roots, but also always giving a shout-out to the Black Belt South, no one else has been able to effortlessly do as Selena did. An example of this is portrayed in the series when Selena kept wanting to do covers of Jody Watley’s songs. Selena’s last concert was in San Antonio and she opened her show with a disco medley. The songs were I Will Survive, Funkytown, Last Dance, The Hustle and On the Radio- songs originally performed by Black musicians. During her final concert, Selena would also be accompanied by Black, male backup singers.

I also have shared in singing to Selena songs with Black people who were from Texas. If you are from Texas, no matter who you are, you have heard of Selena at least once.

2020 was a significant year for Chicanos. From the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Chicano Moratorium, the 25th year after Selena’s death, to the release of this series. A whole new generation of Selena fans will come of this, and many of whom will be Baez’s age. I recently gave birth to my own Chicanita who will grow up in the Chicano nation of Aztlan. She too, will grow up listening to Selena and dancing to her songs. Maybe the 50th year after Selena’s passing will mean another Selena movie or series. Another project will pull at all of the heartstrings and make all of our hearts once again go Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.

#LosAngelesCA #PeoplesStruggles #Movies #Music #Selena

Here are some of the great songs of 2020. Some give voice to a specific struggle, while others tackle more general themes.While it may not have seemed like it at the time, looking back it becomes clear how much powerful content was created in the heat of the struggles of 2020.

You can also play these songs as a playlist on YouTube or Spotify.

(Content warning: some of these songs contain profane language and disturbing themes)

Janelle Monáe – Turntables

Jeezy (featuring Tamika Mallory) – Oh Lord

David Rovics – As I Watch Minneapolis Burn

Bob Mould – American Crisis

María Isa – Como Duele

Noname – Song 33

Anderson .Paak – Lockdown

Bambu featuring Ricky G, Kiwi & Ruby Ibarra – Dittybop

Lil Baby – The Bigger Picture

Kabaka Pyramid – Babylon Fallin

Soulside – This Ship

Rebel Diaz & Tef Poe – Fiyah to the Fascists

Alice Bag – No Gifts for Nazis

The Muslims – Punch a Nazi

MDC – No Trump No KKK No Fascist USA

Ana Tijoux – Antifa Dance

Resistance Revival Chorus with Rhiannon Giddens – All You Fascists Are Bound to Lose

Black Thought – Thought vs Everybody

Lonnie Oceans & Xtina Beni – Warfare

Coriky – Last Thing

Billy Bragg – Can't Be There Today

Tré Burt with Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell & Sunny War – Under the Devil's Knee

Des Demonas – The South Will Never Rise Again

Vic Mensa – Bethlehem / SC Freestyle

Black Thought – State Prisoner

Beyonce – Black Parade

Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion – WAP

Run The Jewels with Zach De La Rocha and Pharrell Williams – JU$T

Public Enemy – State of the Union

Jasiri X – Rob Jeff Bezo$

A Tribe Called Red ft. Boogey the Beat and Northern Voice – Land Back

Downtown Boys – L’Internacionale

Brick – Fake Names

Anti-Flag – A Dying Plea, Vol. 2

GMAC Cash – Tired

Lil B – I Am George Floyd

Vivir Quintana – Canción Sin Miedo

Las Cafeteras – Long Time Coming

Chicano Batman – Manuel’s Story

Ana Tijoux – Rebelión de Octubre

Dax – Black Lives Matter

Demi Lovato – Commander in Chief

H.E.R. – I Can’t Breathe

Alicia Keys – Perfect Way to Die

Bambu – Signing Off

#UnitedStates #PeoplesStruggles #Music #YearInReview #protestMusic

Here are my favorite political songs of 2019. Some give voice to a specific struggle, while others tackle more general themes.

I’m sure I missed out on some good ones – add more in the comments.

(Content warning: some of these songs contain profane language and disturbing themes)

93 PUNX, Vic Mensa – Camp America

David Rovics – So This is What It’s Like

Ana Tijoux – #Cacerolazo

Un Violador en Tu Camino – Mujeres en Chile

GmacCash – On Strike

Rebel Diaz – Fight for Chicago (Chicago Teacher Pt. 2)

Klassy – Power Trip (featuring Ruby Ibarra)

Residente, iLe & Bad Bunny – Afilando los Cuchillos

Orgullo Indio ¡Evo Morales NO renuncia! – Daniel Devita

Agent of Change – Stand With Bolivia

Algiers – Dispossession

Brother Ali – Father Figures

Lizzo – Juice

Ruby Ibarra & The Balikbayans – Someday

Bambu – Off the Wall

Blessed the MC – MeriKKKa

NoName – Song 32

The 1865 – Buckshot

The 1865 – John Brown’s Gat

The Muslims – Fuck the Cistem

Olmeca – Define

Inti-Illimani, El Pueblo Unido (Plaza Ñuñoa, jueves 24 de octubre de 2019)

Punto Negro – Ricky Renuncia

The Coathangers – Hey Buddy

Queen Zee – Sissy Fists

Ani Cordero – Pa' Poder Vivir (featuring Macha Colón y Renee Goust)

Emicida featuring Ibeyi – Libre

Instituto Mexicano de Sonido featuring Joe Crepúsculo – Cruzando el río

#UnitedStates #PeoplesStruggles #Music #protestMusic

Here are my top 20 or so songs (in no particular order) that emerged in the context of the first year of Trump-era injustices. Add your favorite political songs from 2017 in the comments here.

(Note: some of these songs contain profane language)

Marcel Cartier – Resist Trump

Marcel Cartier – Red Flag Revival

Las Cafeteras – If I Was President

Hooray for the Riff Raff – Rican Beach

A Tribe Called Red (feat. Leonard Sumner, Shad, Northern Voice) – How I Feel

The Hamilton Mixtape – Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)

David Rovics – Today in Charlottesville

David Rovics – Text Message of the Apocalypse

Dessa – Fire Drills

(song inspired by the #metoo movement)

Downtown Boys – A Wall

Logic – America (featuring Black Thought, Chuck D, Big Lenbo, No I.D.)

Prophets of Rage – Unfuck the World

Run the Jewels – 2100 (featuring BOOTS)

Joey Bada$$ – Land of the Free

Alice Bag – White Justice

(Song about racist government repression against the 1970 Chicano Moratorium)

Brother Ali – Before They Called You White

Vic Mensa – We Could Be Free

Lin Manuel Miranda – Almost Like Praying (featuring Artists for Puerto Rico)

(written in the aftermath of the devastation of Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria)

Rebel Diaz – Viva Fidel

LessThree – Love Me I’m a Liberal (updated for Trump)

(cover of Phil Ochs song from 1966)

Talib Kweli – All of Us (featuring Yummy Bingham & Jay Electronica)

#SaintPaulMN #Music #protestMusic

Armstrong and his bandmates, drummer Tre Cool and bassist Mike Dirnt, also used the event as a moment to condemn political corruption. Armstrong, an outspoken critic of the corrupt American political system since the 1990s, took aim at Donald Trump and his militarism. “Fuck Donald Trump and his threats of war!” Armstrong screamed as the band started the opening chords of American Idiot a song originally targeted at George W. Bush.

Their newest album was inspired by the Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality movement. According to Armstrong, he began writing the album after joining a New York City Black Lives Matter protest after the events of Ferguson unfolded. In reference to President Trump’s despicable response to the violence in Charlottesville and the rise of racist violence, Armstrong said, “If the president won’t say anything about it, then I will. Fuck racism and all those Nazis! They can crawl back into their holes and stay there!”

Green Day pleased the crowd with a set-list that included songs ranging from their earliest album (Kerplunk!) to their newest (Revolution Radio). As per tradition, they made sure to include the audience at every moment of the concert, including calling for volunteers at different points in the show to go on stage to rock with the band. One of those was a fan who came from the Dominican Republic that got called on stage to sing Longview, with the band and then stagedive into the crowd.

The band puts all their energy into each of their performances, and this one in South Florida was no exception. It truly was a beautiful (if not hot) night, not just because of the amazing pyrotechnics and light shows, but because it was clear that Green Day is happiest when they are running around on stage performing and engaging with their fans. The band (and the crowd) did not stop rocking and rolling until the show was over.

As the band played their protest song Holiday, Armstrong shouted: “Repeat after me: No to racism! No to sexism! No to homophobia! And no fucking Nazis!” To which he got 20,000 booming responses.

#WestPalmBeachFlorida #Music #Antifascism #DonaldTrump #GreenDay #Holiday #AmericanIdiot

Like many hated right wing politicians before him,Trump's presidential campaign inspired a lot of music expressing outrage against his reactionary politics and actions. Here are some songs that took on Trump during his campaign.

(Note: some of these songs contain profane language)

YG – FDT(F#ck Donald Trump) Part 2

Monoloco with Sauce – Chinga Tu Madre Presidente Donald Trump

Ryan Harvey with Ani DiFranco & Tom Morello – Old Man Trump

This is a remake of an old Woodie Guthrie song about Donald Trump’s father!

Kyle Craft – Before the Wall

Death Cab for Cutie – Million Dollar Loan

One of the most powerful struggles this year has been the struggle led by Indigenous peoples to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Here are some songs inspired by that struggle.

A Tribe Called Red – Black Snakes

Tall Paul – #BadDAPL

Listen on SoundCloud

Angie Citlali – Water is Life (Standing Rock)

Listen on SoundCloud

Several revolutionary musicians put out new records in 2016 that speak to today’s political struggles and to the need for a new society. Here are a few.

Bambu – The Party Worker (full album)

Run the Jewels 3 (full album)

Zach de la Rocha – Digging for Windows

Downtown Boys – Full Communism (full album)

Here are several other songs from this year with echoes of different political movements. Several are directly inspired by the ongoing movement against police crimes and the Black liberation movement. Others are inspired by other movements. Some are well known, others lesser known.

Taina Asili – Freedom (featuring Michael Reyes)

Rev. Sekou & the Holy Ghost – The Revolution Has Come

Beyonce – Formation

Rodrigo Stars and King Capa – Ella

A Tribe Called Quest – We The People

Common (with Stevie Wonder) – Black America Again

Swet Shop Boys – T5

G.L.O.S.S. – Trans Day of Revenge

Drive By Truckers – What it Means

This year Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro passed away. There are countless songs inspired by the Cuban revolution and Fidel. Here's a song that David Rovics put out right after Fidel passed away that captures much of Fidel’s legacy.

David Rovics – Commandante Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz

Prince – Baltimore

In 2016 several important cultural figures passed away. One who stood up for peace and against injustice was Prince. Though this song was written in 2015, not 2016, it is one of his most recent songs with an explicitly political message.

#UnitedStates #Music

“His songs were musical arguments to live free.” -Boots Riley

Minneapolis, MN – In a massive outpouring, thousands of people gathered at First Avenue nightclub April 21 after news spread that Prince was found dead at his home, Paisley Park, that morning. First Avenue was made famous by Prince as he rose to fame. A cathartic gathering on the street outside First Avenue was hastily pulled together, and the club changed their plans for the weekend to host three all-night Prince dance parties. Twin Cities radio stations played little but Prince. People gathered outside Prince’s home, the famed Paisley Park in Minneapolis suburb Chanhassen. Showings of his movie ‘Purple Rain’ are scheduled for everywhere from his old middle school building in South Minneapolis to the Mall of America to Target Field this week. These outpourings were mirrored around the country as people came together to remember the music and life of a person who had so deeply touched people since he burst out of Minneapolis obscurity into superstardom in the early 1980s.

Prince was made by Minneapolis and made Minneapolis. His raw and magnetic talent was legendary. It’s difficult to think of another artist who can match his combination of incredible musicianship, vocal power, performance abilities and showmanship, and deeply honest border-pushing personal, sexual and political content.

From his 1979 debut to the present, he literally put Minnesota on the musical map, defining a new genre-defiant ‘Minneapolis sound’ and pushing forward a range of other musicians and artists, particularly many women, along with him.

But Prince wasn’t just famous for his sound. His early music exudes sexuality and gender-bending from every pore. Prince arose as a kind of negation of the rising cultural conservatism and macho jingoism of Ronald Reagan’s 1980s.

For young people coming of age in the midst of Reagan’s cultural conservatism and the homophobia and sex-phobia that accompanied the rise of AIDS, Prince somehow broke into popular culture and helped lead a generation away from the cultural conservative backlash to a sex-positive, gender fluid, thoughtful, and funky place. Prince smashed through the macho expectations of what a man should be, instead flaunting sexuality and gender playfulness and ambiguity. Within corporate-controlled conformist mass culture he was one of the few artists that provided solace and space for a generation of young queer people to become comfortable with who they were.

While some talk about Prince as being racially ambiguous, making analogy to his gender-bending, this isn’t accurate. He always embraced being Black, and explicitly embraced and supported the Black freedom struggle. Just one recent example is the song “Baltimore” he wrote after Baltimore police murdered Freddie Gray, calling out the police murders of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray that helped give impetus to the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

Throughout his career Prince wrote several songs with explicitly political themes, though political themes were often more background than foreground in his music. It’s become clearer in the days since Prince died that he was more involved behind the scenes supporting activist projects than most people realized. Alicia Garza of Black Lives Matter and Van Jones both spoke publicly for the first time of Prince’s behind-the-scenes involvement with supporting Black activist projects, quietly making sure movements like Black Lives Matter and other projects had the resources they needed. Prince fervently insisted on not receiving any credit for the support he gave to the movement, so most people are just now learning of this for the first time.

While Prince is known for anthems that never fail to fill the dance floor like “Let’s Go Crazy”, “1999” and “Kiss”, he was always more than a dance-hit maker. Even some of his biggest hits also dealt with darker and more philosophical themes than most pop music.

Prince’s years-long struggle with Warner Brothers over control of his music was infamous. Rather than give up control of his artistic creations to an exploitative multinational corporation or continue to churn out hits to make more money for them, Prince instead embarked on a years-long battle against them. He refused to record any more music under the name Prince, infamously renaming himself to an unpronounceable symbol, and waging a very public battle and even controversially making the analogy of artists’ exploitation by music corporations to slavery. Prince emerged victorious from this battle, regaining control over his art and never looking back.

His fight against Warner Brothers was fueled by his deep belief in artistic integrity, but was also informed by a strong belief in working people having control over the fruits of their labor that was also shown in his membership of over 40 years in two unions, the Twin Cities Musicians Local 30-73 of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) and SAG-AFTRA. In taking on the exploitative music industry giants, he paved the way for musicians and artists that don’t have his power and fame to win more rights and better treatment in the music industry.

Minneapolis and the world will continue to mourn Prince’s passing for some time to come. He has left behind an unparalleled legacy of musical integrity and innovation, along with path-breaking contributions to challenging patriarchal culture and the gender binary, standing up for artists’ rights and control against the corporate music industry, and standing with the Black freedom struggle.

#MinneapolisMN #Remembrances #Music #Prince

Pete Seeger was more than a folk musician. He dedicated his life to ending oppression and exploitation. When the going got tough, Seeger appeared to lift people’s spirits and strengthen their resolve.

Seeger joined the Young Communist League in 1936 at the age of 17. He advocated and sang for the U.S. to join the fight against Hitler once the Soviet Union was invaded. He joined the Communist Party in 1942, the same year he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he continued singing for the troops. The next year he recorded Songs of the Lincoln Battalion in honor of the American revolutionaries who fought fascism in Spain before World War II. After the army, Seeger helped create People’s Songs, an organization that promoted music and songs about workers and the people’s struggles.

In the face of McCarthyism and Cold War political repression, Seeger refused to back down. He was blacklisted from performing with the hugely popular Weavers on radio and television. With the Hollywood Ten already convicted and imprisoned for refusing to testify and being ruled in contempt of Congress, Seeger took a principled stand at the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings. He was eventually convicted of contempt in 1961 and sentenced to ten years, but the sentence was later overturned on appeal in 1962.

During the African-American Civil Rights movement, Seeger played an important role reaching white audiences, thus changing hearts and minds. He also appeared at countless rallies against the U.S. war in Vietnam and visited Vietnam with his family in 1972, before the final defeat of the U.S. and its puppets.

From If I Had a Hammer to Where Have All the Flowers Gone? to Turn! Turn! Turn! Pete Seeger is remembered today and for years to come.

In Seeger’s words, “A good song reminds us what we’re fighting for.”

#GrandRapidsMI #Culture #Remembrances #Music #PeteSeeger #folkMusic

Detroit, MI – The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the Detroit music duo Insane Clown Posse (ICP), filed a federal lawsuit Jan. 8 on behalf of Juggalos, or fans of ICP, saying their constitutional rights to expression and association were violated when the U.S. government wrongly and arbitrarily classified the entire fan base as a “hybrid” criminal gang. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four Juggalos and the two members of ICP.

In 2011, Juggalos were officially identified as a “hybrid gang” by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), when the fan group was included in the DOJ’s third National Gang Threat Assessment. As a result of this unjust designation, “individual Juggalos are suffering improper investigations, detentions and other denials of their personal rights at the hands of government officials” or denied employment, according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The lawsuit asks a judge to order the DOJ to remove the Juggalos from the government’s list of gangs so that the fans of ICP will no longer be unconstitutionally and unjustifiably singled out as targets for scrutiny and harassment by law enforcement authorities throughout the country. The lawsuit goes on to assert that the DOJ’s classification of the Juggalos as a gang is unconstitutionally vague and violates the Juggalos’ constitutional rights to association and speech.

In 2012, attorneys representing Insane Clown Posse and their record label, Psychopathic Records, filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI to obtain records the federal government used to justify officially designating Juggalos as a criminal gang. When those documents were finally released, they contained nothing that would warrant labeling all Juggalos as a criminal gang.

#DetroitMI #Music #FBI #ACLU #PoliticalRepression #InsaneClownPosse #Juggalos

Chicago, IL – Over 200 people danced and chanted, “Viva, viva, Palestina!” the night of Nov. 24 for the Hip Hop Defends Free Speech! Benefit. The fundraising show featured performers such as BBU, Scheme and I’Naru, an all woman group playing traditional, Puerto Rican Bomba music. The event was organized by Rebel Diaz portoluz, and the Chicago Committee Against Political Repression. It included remarks by Hatem Abudayyeh, one of the 14 people raided by the FBI and subpoenaed by the Grand Jury. Over $3,500 was raised for the defense fund.

#Chicago #ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Music #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #RebelDiaz

El concierto se organizó por educadores Chicanos de East, Northeast Collaborative for Excellence in Education para recaudar fondos para becas a los jóvenes Chicanos de las secundarias locales. Nuestra juventud se encuentra con altos números pérdidas en la secundaria y grandes pérdidas de estudiantes que no entran o terminan el colegio. Fue por eso que este concierto tuvo un doble propósito, el de apoyar la educación para nuestros jóvenes y el de demostrar nuestra gran música Chicana. El concierto se tituló Honorando Nuestro Pasado y Uniéndose al Futuro.

La música Chicana en el Este de Los Angeles tiene una larga y historia única que se señala en los libros Barrio Rhythms y Land of a Thousand Dances. Hoy nuevos grupos continúan promoviendo nuestra música Chicana combinando sonidos tradicionales con sonidos urbanos nuevos. Estos sonidos promueven nuestra cultura Chicana que es única.

Nuestra cultura Chicana es parte de la fundación que nos hace la nación de Aztlan. Nuestra cultura única y música fue desarrollado hace muchos años en el sur oeste, conocido como el Southwest. En conjunto con nuestro lenguaje común, historia, economía y estado mental somos una nación en el sur oeste de los estados unidos. Nuestra cultura y libertad real y democracia serán logradas cuando nosotros como nación ganemos nuestra auto-determinación. Auto-determinación para la nación Chicana de Aztlan. Si quieres organizar hacia la auto-determinación, llama a nuestro centro comunitario Centro CSO 323-221-4000.

#LosÁngelesCA #LosAngelesCA #News #Music #ChicanoLatino #LosLobos #Quetzal #ELASaborFactory

The whole Chicano community was represented, with both the young and the old enjoying the original Chicano sounds. There was a true feeling of solidarity and pride in our culture. The night was a time and place where we could temporarily be free of the racism and the stress we face in the city – a city with its problems of drugs, bad education, police abuse and bad living conditions. That night we could all proudly say we are Chicano this is our music and we are proud of it y que! The concert also included Quetzal and ELA Sabor Factory, who later jammed with Los Lobos.

The concert was put on by Chicano educators to raise money for scholarships for Chicano youth in our local high schools. Our youth face high push-out rates from high school and even higher at the college level. So this event had a dual purpose – to support education for our youth and to showcase our great Chicano musicians.

Chicano music from East L.A. has a long history highlighted in the books “Barrio Rhythms” and “Land of a Thousand Dances.” Today, new bands continue to promote our unique Chicano music combining traditional sounds with the new urban sounds. They promote our unique Chicano culture.

Our Chicano culture is part of the foundation of what makes us the nation of Aztlan. Our unique culture and music was developed over many years in the Southwest. Along with our common language, history, economy and state of mind we are a nation in the Southwest U.S. Our culture and real freedom and democracy will only be achieved when we as a nation win self-determination.

Self-determination for the Chicano Nation of Aztlan! If you want to organize for self-determination, call our community center at Centro CSO (323) 221-4000.

#LosAngelesCA #News #Music #ChicanoLatino #LosLobos #Quetzal #ELASaborFactory

Chorus:

A contract is what we need

Stop stalling and give it to us UIC

(2 x)

For whom may need to know

We’re not taking no more

Of actions like before

Now we at your door

Picket signs are up

For not respecting us

Now we had enough

And Techs are just fed up

Now we all up on Taylor Street (Lor Street)

Singing loud and stomping our feet (our feet)

We want a contract UIC (IC)

And R-E-S-P-E-C-T

And now we singing — (Chorus)

I saw some Techs walking down the hall

Looking very pleased I said “what’s up with ya”

They said we finally getting the chance to organize

So UIC we’re no longer scared of ya

Saving money cause of the way Techs work it

But steady working like we working for a circus

You can’t deny that we do a good service

Because is shows that we do a good service

And now we singing — (Chorus)

We make a lot of noise (NOW)

When you start neglecting us (NOW)

All that we asking from you guys (NOW)

Is start showing Techs some love (NOW)

Last year we didn’t get no increases (NOW)

That just taking it too far (NOW)

You need to start respecting employees (NOW)

And appreciate who we are

And now we singing — (Chorus)

#ChicagoIL #News #SEIULocal73 #Music #UICMedicalCenter #TechnicalWorkersBargainingUnit #laborSong

Junkyard Empire is a band from the Twin Cities that started out in 2006. They are a band with revolutionary music and revolutionary politics. Their lyrics and their music make you want to listen carefully and inspire you to want to take action.

Junkyard Empire’s two biggest musical influences are jazz and hip hop, but there is more there than that. Their CD, Reclaiming Freedom has a number of excellent songs, including Rock the Empire. Their soon to be released album Wretched promises to draw even more attention to the group.

In December, Fight Back! interviewed Junkyard Empire. Here are some excerpts from that interview.

Fight Back!: Junkyard Empire performed at the No Peace for the Warmakers anti-war protest on Sept. 4 at the Republican National Convention. While you were playing, riot police surged into the crowd to arrest people and the riot police started to surround the stage from behind. At the march after you played, almost 400 people were arrested after the crowd was repeatedly tear gassed. Tell us what that was like for you as a band to play in a situation like that? How did it feel to be part of the movement against the RNC? Do some of the lines in your song Alternative Energy refer to that protest?

Christopher Cox (trombone/keyboard/electronics): Playing that protest was by far the most perfect and memorable situation I have ever been involved with as a musician and just a man. To say that it was surreal when the riot cops came charging in on their horses, yelling through bull horns threatening tear gas would be the understatement of the year, for sure. I have a really photographic memory of the very moment when the horses began to close in on some protesters, along with a bunch of bike cops and so on. Making the decision to not only keep playing, but to actually honestly improvise directly off of the energy of that historical moment was deeply satisfying. I mean, even though it was a potentially very dangerous situation – a situation which actually could be made worse by us playing a song with the lyric “let lose your chains you deranged masochists,” I felt that I had a duty to keep raising my voice artistically during that moment, as long as I was being given that absolutely extraordinary chance. It was very empowering as a band, and as individuals, and it made all of our hard work feel so justified.

As for Alternative Energy, I think Brian [Brihanu] wrote those lyrics with the imagination of what a show like that might be like. That day, he got to see just how accurate his imagination was. Perhaps Brian will speak on that.

Brian [Brihanu] (vocals/raps): The feeling was surreal. It was a major adrenaline rush to have the power of the masses standing up for their rights against a massive police force who was there to make sure that our voices were not heard. The Alternative Energy lyrics were written before that show. They are based on previous experiences I have had at protests and demonstrations where the police were there to suppress the citizens and oppose our right to dissent to the injustice we see on a daily basis. The lyrics are also based upon a vision that we have about the kind of movement, energy, and demonstrations that we would eventually like to see at all of out shows… and in all facets of life when people see injustice.

Bryan Berry (guitar): I feel that performance and the whole week in particular gave me a tangible experience of the injustices that occur on a daily basis within the United States. As a middle-class white male, I am not often subjugated to police brutality and racial profiling in our society, but during the RNC all of the protesters were targeted as one group regardless of race, class or gender (that I witnessed at least) for what became a blatant exercise of a totalitarian police exploitation of power.

Graham O’Brien (drums): Playing at that rally during the RNC was truly a highlight of my career both as a drummer and a citizen. It was one of those rare moments when what you are doing aligns perfectly with what you believed, and our voices – everyone at the rally, including Junkyard Empire – were being heard. That was the first time I have been able to literally use music as a real-time protest. For a moment I thought, “Should we keep playing? What should we do? Are we going to get arrested? For playing music?” Then those anxieties turned into fuel for the next five minutes or so of the extended ending of our song, Wretched, which was perfect because that song is about people snapping out of it and making some noise in the face of authority.

Dan Choma (bass): I second Chris in saying that show was a particularly spiritual moment for the band. There was a moment as it was really hitting the fan my heart raced, I started to take pictures in between notes, and I wasn’t quite sure whether or not the police were going to start tear gassing everyone. Reality and musicality seemed for a few moments to be the exact same thing, which is especially frightening when the musicality I’m speaking of has to do with riots, chaos, unrest and the oncoming threat of violence.

Fight Back!: The name of your band and your song Rock the Empire both imply that the U.S. is an empire, or imperialist. That's almost a forbidden idea in the mainstream media. How have people reacted to that and to your political approach in general?

Brihanu: It’s not very hard to see that the U.S. is the most recent empire and that our goal is to use the earth and its people for our selfish needs. The U.S. has just been smarter about it than previous empires. We don’t say “We are conquering your land!” instead we say “We are bringing you democracy in the form of free-market capitalism.” If other nations resist our offer to steal their resources in the name of democracy, then we invent reasons to go to war – communism, terrorism, WMDs – and take their resources anyway. Anyone who thinks that the U.S. is not imperialistic is operating on a naïve assumption.

I think most people agree with our positions because we back it up with facts and also organize through our music. We don’t just say “The world sucks”, we ask “What are you going to do to help us change it?” We engage with people, we work with organizations and we back up everything we say with actions.

Berry: My perspective is this: Many Americans are in deep denial of U.S. economic and nationalist imperialisms. Rock the Empire speaks of this, but I feel that Manifest Destiny is really Junkyard’s response to these reactions. [ Manifest Destiny is one of their new songs, which will be released soon.]

Fight Back!: On your band's blog, you've written passionately against the Wall Street bailout and also on other important political topics. What are your thoughts on the relationship between music (and arts and culture more generally) and movements for social and political change?

Brihanu: Music is about life. Not all music needs to have a social commentary or be political, but that is the direction we are deciding to focus on. Due to mainstream media’s refusal to play music dealing with social change, you see a watered down idea of what popular music is supposed to be – i.e. stereotypical, misogynistic, materialistic, catchy hooks. Music should have more depth to it. There are a lot of talented artists that write political music; there needs to be a balance in the messages that are heard and the types of music that get broadcast to the masses.

Cox: I think music has always been, and will continue to be, an indispensable piece to the development of any successful social movement, whether the people and the politicians realize it or not. Music, with or without lyrics, has a way of motivating people’s minds at the molecular level, way deep inside. I mean, it was no damn accident that that Joan Baez was at that protest on the Capital Mall in 1968, nor should it have been a surprise that her voice changed the world, as a result of influencing the vibe there that day. Well, I could go on for days and days about the times in history when musicians, be they Woodie Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Richie Havens or any of today’s protest artists, have taken a bold stand in utilizing their artistic platform to propagate information that the government and all its institutions have failed to release to the voting public. We are all about that. On our business cards it says, “music for the revolution.” People can look at that in the typical American cynical way and laugh or they can take us seriously. They should take us seriously.

Berry: I feel it is the responsibility of artists to speak out about the social and political atrocities of their time. I think anyone that is given a stage and the voice to do so, needs to represent their culture with honesty and integrity – politicians included.

Choma: Musicians, whether we admit it or not, are always going to be some of the first people to understand the first waves of what politics are doing to society. For whatever reason, In America, we view music as expendable. Look how we’ve stripped the arts out of our schools, look how we have cut back on funding towards arts, look how jazz musicians have traditionally done better overseas than they have at home. This means that when shit hits the fan economically, the first folks that feel the knife are the artists. Bryan, our guitar player, recent wrote a wonderful blog about how the minority of society have a better understanding of how to create a level society namely because they know everything that is wrong with it. As musicians, we fall into this same category economically because when it hits the fan, unlike a banker, we feel the heat immediately.

O’Brien: When a band or other artist proclaims to stand for something – a social cause or specific political issue – it’s a great way to engage other people in the community for not only the enjoyment of our art but for actions that are going to help our fans once they go home and continue with their lives. That being said, we are a band when the day is done, and our first and primary function is to captivate people with honest, strong music. Once that has been accomplished we can connect with listeners on our messages.

Fight Back!: Your new record is called Rise of the Wretched. Tell us about that record. Where does the title come from? How can people hear it and buy it?

Brihanu: The title comes from the song Wretched, where we talk about the masses of people that are oppressed and sleepwalking through life. It is a call to unify and organize so that we can stop being slaves and start living life. The inspiration for the word “wretched” comes from Franz Fanon’s book The Wretched of the Earth, which is a political commentary on revolution.

Cox: From my perspective, Rise of the Wretched, as a phrase, speaks volumes, easily interpreted by those of us who are poor and struggling in this modern world of overt materialistic capitalism; of favoring the rich over the poor; the beautiful over the ordinary; the skinny over the fat, and so on. But to be more specific, there is an increasingly tiny, moneyed minority that basically runs this entire country necessarily at the expense of the so-called ‘people.’ The only way the powers that be in America can continue to operate the way they do now, is if they simply see the rest of us as stupid, dirty, unimportant, serfs to be utilized in the quest of the wealthy to get wealthier. We are “the wretched,” but what they don’t know is that we will inherit the earth, because imperialistic and fascistic folks always fail to prepare for when the people are fed up enough to take back what they built. This album is basically a call to arms, in that it urges the wretched to come together; to rise up and take back what we all collectively built.

Choma: You can buy our music online through our myspace. We also have a blog that we update regularly with our thoughts on what is going on in the music scene, the political arena and how society is changing. The two websites you should have on rapid fire on your Google machine are:

www.myspace.com/junkyardempire

www.junkyardempire.blogspot.com

Choma: Also, if you live in the Twin Cities area or are lucky enough that we will be touring through your town, check out our shows. We all have a strong love for improvisation, so each show will be different and cool in its own way. The other advantage is that we allow you to name your price on our records if you come to our shows. So yeah, come to our shows, you won’t be disappointed.

#TwinCitiesMN #Interview #ProtestRNC2008 #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #Music #Interviews #JunkyardEmpire