Feb 15, 2003

LOS ANGELES – The United Farm Workers (UFW) of America AFL-CIO are calling on all of their supporters to contact President Bush and protest his “preemptive war on Iraq.”

Governing through fear

For the second time since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the Bush administration issued an “Orange” alert – the second highest level for homeland security. The first time was on the anniversary of the terrorist attack. Nothing happened. Thank goodness.

Corp steals health care for 95,000

Steelworkers in the NW corner of Indiana feel like they are participating in a real life soap opera. The way the plot goes is first a company declares bankruptcy. Then they close the plant or are bought up. Workers lose their jobs and the retirees take it in the neck. Their pensions are reduced and they lose their health care.

George Bush’s State of the Union speech was the public kickoff of his taxpayer-funded public relations campaign to convince an increasingly skeptical public that all is well – or will be if we just put our faith in him and believe.

The movement against a war on Iraq is at an unprecedented moment: never before has stopping a U.S. war before it starts even seemed a possibility. I am painfully aware that tomorrow or the day after, the war could start, and this writing may be moot. But such a broad movement against the war has emerged, that the power to stop it before it starts does exist. If we succeed in stopping it, I believe we will accomplish more than keeping bullets from flying or bombs from dropping.

In February every year, Black History Month is celebrated across the nation. Or perhaps it would be more truthful to say it is celebrated in places across the nation. Every year I am amazed at the number of communities who opt out of this opportunity to learn some of their history, which has been neglected and forgotten because they feel it doesn’t concern them, it only matters to African Americans. The truth is that Black history is every American’s history, and the sooner we recognize that, the sooner we will begin to understand that African Americans have made significant contributions to the building of this nation and have every right to be here and to enjoy the same rights and privileges as other Americans.

It is a sign of the times that we are so focused on stopping George W. Bush’s rush to war in Iraq that most of us didn’t even know that seven astronauts were in space until the Shuttle Columbia’s tragic end. The media reports the space program on the back pages nowadays until disaster strikes. But every warmongering phrase of the Commander in Chief appears on page one.

NEW YORK – Joe’s Pub plays host on Saturday, March 1, to a unique event celebrating the protest-song tradition through performances of songs drawn from the definitive source, The Vietnam Songbook. The evening will feature performances by artists who experienced the ’60s anti-war movement including legendary protest/blues singer Barbara Dane, Tuli Kupferberg (Fugs), activist singer/songwriter Bev Grant, noted Vietnam vets/musicians Watermelon Slim and Joe Bangert, and younger musicians such as Thurston Moore, Jenni Muldaur, Barry Reynolds, Jim O’Rourke, Stephan Smith, Dean Wareham. David Licht, Lenny Kaye and Curtis Eller.

NEW YORK – British superstar Robbie Williams, revolutionary rap group Public Enemy and 2003 Grammy nominees Vanessa Carlton and The Flaming Lips will perform live Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m., when Rock the Vote and MTV present the 10th Annual Rock the Vote Awards at the Roseland Ballroom here.

I recently unearthed a copy of a folk song – from 1959 – by the very memorable Malvina Reynolds. I had lost track of it, but Pete Seeger very kindly found it and sent me a copy. It is most relevant now. Despite the technical advances in warfare that may make the reference to shovels obsolete, perhaps, the sentiment is alive and well and thriving!