Tag: protests

WATCH: Robert Finley, “I Can Feel Your Pain”

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Artist: Robert Finley
Hometown: Bernice, Louisiana
Song: “I Can Feel Your Pain”
Album: Sharecropper’s Son
Label: Easy Eye Sound

Editor’s Note: Read our BGS interview with Robert Finley.

In Their Words: “‘I Can Feel Your Pain’ relates really to what is going on today. From people losing loved ones to the pandemic, all the marches going on, people being slaughtered by the police. Even if you don’t really know about the situation from a personal perspective you feel sympathy for that person who had to go through those things and this song is for them.” — Robert Finley

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

Stand Up, Speak Out, Be Heard (Op-ed)

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The election of Donald Trump seemed to me, at first, like an aberration. There were many moments during his campaign when I thought he’d surely disqualified himself. And the more ridiculous and offensive he proved himself to be, the more confident I became that the man had absolutely no chance of winning. I see now, after having been proven wrong, that my confidence had spilled over into a kind of arrogance. There was, I admit, a hint of self-righteous complacency hidden within my distaste for candidate Trump. I followed the headlines with a certain glee, relishing all the ways in which Trump seemed to be sabotaging, not only himself, but the whole Republican party. And while I still believe that he deserved to lose and that his presidency will prove a major American mistake, I see more clearly now that his election was not only plausible but possibly inevitable … the result of a long, slow corrosion of our culture — not an aberration, but a culmination — and that I’m just as guilty of perpetuating it as anyone else.

In a society that seems fixated on images, on wealth and celebrity and instant stimulation, why should I be surprised that our president is a wealthy celebrity with an undeniably entertaining style, but no actual political or governmental experience? For those of us who didn’t drink the Trump Kool-Aid, it’s hard to resist the urge to point fingers, to blame this group or that group for their ignorance or gullibility. But, as informed as I consider myself to be, I’m writing now to admit that I could have done more. And, while I was busy passively relishing Hillary Clinton’s seemingly insurmountable lead, there were others in my peer group who’d already made up their minds not to vote, either out of bitterness for Bernie’s dubious defeat in the primary, or out of some more sinister cynicism that led them to believe that the election’s outcome wouldn’t change much in a government already irredeemably corrupt. These are all understandable sentiments. But they’re also excuses. At the heart of each viewpoint is an ingrained passivity, the result of a particular — but not entirely different — ignorance that has something to do with a failure to appreciate the delicacy of our democracy.

It often — if not always — takes a shock to rattle us from our complacency. It’s possible that Trump has proven, or will prove to be, the arbiter of this shock, the jolt that forces us to wake up and see more clearly that we have a choice, that democracy, however imperfect, still exists, and is in fact an instrument of the average citizen. That said, perhaps we should all take a minute to appreciate that Trump’s election has given people on both sides something we’ve all badly needed: a reason to get involved, to confront our ignorance or our arrogance, and admit to ourselves and to each other that we could all do more. If our democracy fails, it will be because we failed — failed to care enough to pay attention, to take action, and, most of all, to collaborate. It’s easy now to feel powerless, but as the Women’s March proved, we are not alone.

This, in the end, will prove crucial. Do we continue down the path of least resistance or do we learn from our mistakes? Will we be able to look past party lines, gender, sexuality, race, and class in order to return our partisanship to its proper context, which is not, after all, winning for winning’s sake. Rather, the context of our partisanship is much larger: It ought to fall somewhere among or within our commitment to generosity and humility.

By capturing footage of that march and putting it to our rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son,” we in River Whyless hope to both emphasize and celebrate the power of active political engagement, to relate CCR’s original moment, back in 1969, to this moment, as a way to emphasize its significance. It’s time for everyone — on the left and the right — to stand up and demand from our government the things we all deserve. We don’t all agree on who deserves what and why, but we do agree that we all deserve to be heard. — Alex McWalters, River Whyless

Photo credit: Mobilus In Mobili via Foter.com / CC BY-SA

The BGS Guide to Surviving 2017

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Well, it’s here: 2017 has arrived, and with it comes a host of concerns about the impending inauguration of Donald Trump. If you’re looking for ways to fight the good fight when Trump takes office, look no further. We’ve compiled a number of resources for protecting and supporting the communities and resources that will be in danger come January 20.

Get Involved

There are many orginzations working on behalf of marginalized groups that you can support with your money and/or your time. Here are a few of our favorites.

ACLU

Campaign Zero

The Center for Reproductive Rights

EMILY’s List

NAACP

National Immigration Law Center

Planned Parenthood

Southern Poverty Law Center

The Trevor Project

Union of Concerned Scientists

Contact Your Legislators

USA.gov provides access to contact information for federal, state, and local elected officials. Call, email, and write letters to voice your feelings about issues that concern you. If you aren’t sure where a given official stands on a certain issue, sites like On the Issues provide information on voting records for legislators at every level. Note: Congressional staffers are on record saying that phone calls are the most effective form of opinion-stating. So be sure to call your legislators’ local, state, and/or national office.

Check Your Facts

Between fake news sites and Trump’s Twitter feed, it isn’t always easy to find the truth about a given issue. You can’t afford to believe everything you hear, and the following tools can help you discern fact from fiction.

Hoaxy — Hoaxy is a new online tool that allows users to see how false claims spread across the Internet. 

Poynter — The Poynter Institute, among its other efforts, keeps media accountable for incorrectly reported stories. Their fact-checking page boasts a number of resources, including a newsletter titled “The Week in Fact-Checking.”

FactCheck.org — This project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center mines speeches, television appearances, interviews, and more to prove (or disprove) the claims of elected officials.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

There are a number of businesses that supported Trump’s candidacy through donations, campaigning, or both. Boycott those businesses. While there is not one comprehensive list of pro-Trump businesses, the DJT Resistance site has a solid collection. If you want even more, a quick Google search (ex: searching “New Balance Trump” brings up this New York Times story) should typically do the trick. 

Pound the Pavement

Engaging with your community is a great way to effect positive change, and that engagement can take many forms: volunteering, protesting, having conversations. If you aren’t sure how to get involved, the Indivisible Guide is a great starting point for anyone hoping to make real-world change.

Stay Informed

Find reliable media outlets and trustworthy writers, then pay attention to the work they’re doing. (And, when in doubt, refer back to Poynter for tips on exactly where to find such resources.) Keep in mind, too, that it’s not always major news hubs like CNN or the New York Times providing the best coverage — one of the most powerful calls to action written since the election came from Teen Vogue‘s Lauren Duca. Go so far as to find independent sources you trust — like Democracy Now!, The Nation, and others — and donate or subscribe to help keep them in business. We’re going to need them.

Photo credit: Nathan Keirn

Neil Young, ‘My New Robot’

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Anyone ask for an Amazon Echo for Christmas this year? A Google Home for Chanukah? Some sort of talking toddler gadget that demands more batteries than the brain cells it burns? There was a time — long ago, maybe — where toys required imagination to walk around the room, and we opened a paper to find the movie section, not asked a speaker-like thing on the counter what time Rogue One is playing at the local theater. It's the age of automation, where Siri is a friend, friends are just on Facebook, and time — despite all these convincers that are supposed to help us reclaim it — never seems to allow us to spend any with our actual human, real-life friends.

"My life has been so lucky, the package is arrived," sings Neil Young on "My New Robot," off his Peace Trail LP. "I got my new robot, from Amazon dot com." The song starts as Young tends to do — with analog harmonica — and ends with computer chatter a la Radiohead's "Fitter Happier": There's a love story somewhere, but perhaps more with an object than a person. The line, these days, is surely thin. Peace Trail, written primarily in reaction to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, is full of seething political rage. But "My New Robot," the last song of the collection, is almost silly in Young standards — it's about misguided attention, the emptiness of a programmable world, and a generation who no longer knows how to use their hands for anything but swiping and clicking. Before you "power on" this holiday, think twice about letting a computer dictate your own wishes. With 37 albums down, Young's advice is worth heeding. Real mothers are just as good as motherboards, afterall.

UPDATED: A Call to Action from the Indigo Girls #NoDAPL (Op-ed)

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As many of you know, there is a critical battle being fought right now in Standing Rock, North Dakota, between Native Americans, their allies who want to protect sacred land and water, and a huge corporation that wants to build an oil pipeline that threatens the Missouri River with leaks and devastating consequences. The name of the company building the pipeline is Energy Transfer Partners, and its CEO is a man named Kelcy Warren.

Kelcy Warren also happens to be a passionate music lover who owns a festival (Cherokee Creek Music Festival) and a record label (Music Road Records) that, among other things, released a Jackson Browne tribute record. Indigo Girls have played the festival and had a song on the tribute record. When we participated in those events, we had no idea about Kelcy Warren’s connection to big oil and its imminent threat to the Standing Rock Sioux. Now we know.

When this connection was brought to our attention, Amy and I wrote a letter to Mr. Warren, voicing our protest over his company’s pipeline (DAPL), and several other artists who had performed at his festival signed the letter in solidarity. We are simply saying that building this pipeline is the wrong thing to do, and its disregard for Native land, water, and rights is in direct conflict with our philosophy as artists and people who care about Indigenous peoples and the environment.

Amy and I, under the guidance of Honor the Earth, have recently been to Standing Rock to play a concert and stand in solidarity with the protectors (not protesters!) there. They are brave, outnumbered by abusive law enforcement, and suffering unfathomable racism, yet they remain firmly committed to opposing this pipeline — not just for themselves, but for all of us.

We wrote to Mr. Warren, asking him to reconsider and stop the pipeline.

Will you join us?

To Email, Call, or Message
Cherokee Creek Music Festival: [email protected] — 214.981.0700 — Facebook
Music Road Records: [email protected] — 512.444.0226 — Facebook

For more information, please visit Honor the Earth.

In gratitude and solidarity with Standing Rock,
Amy Ray and Emily Saliers — Indigo Girls

October 26, 2016

Mr. Kelcy Warren
c/o Cherokee Creek Music Festival
4160 West FM 501
Cherokee, TX 76832

Dear Mr. Warren,

We have played your Cherokee Music Festival and found it to be a compelling gathering of artists and a noble pursuit to help children’s charity organizations across the country. Many of us who have played your festival have invested time and energy into the fight for human rights and environmental justice. For some of us, this mission is the moving force and spiritual foundation of our larger community of musicians, and one of the inspirations to play such rich gatherings as the Cherokee Music Festival. But sadly, we realize that the bucolic setting of your festival and the image it projects is in direct conflict with the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline — a project your company, Energy Transfer Partners, is responsible for spearheading. This pipeline violates the Standing Rock Sioux Nation's treaty rights, endangers the vital Missouri River, and continues the trajectory of genocide against Native Peoples.

Many of us have also participated in projects affiliated with Music Road Records, another company of yours. While this company does a lot to promote incredible music that comes from the roots of our country, many of us, as artists, take offense and are mystified by how someone with such a deep passion for organic and traditional music can own a company that is so blatantly tearing at the heart of the fabric of our American community. The American tradition of music that is so diverse and rich depends on the respect for human rights and that includes environmental justice for Native Peoples that contribute to the great tapestry of this land.

In order to stay true to our music and respect the Native Nations that are united against the Dakota Access Pipeline, we will no longer play your festival or participate in Music Road Records recordings. We implore you to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and to reconsider your company’s pursuits with regards to the environment and the communities that depend on its well-being.

We stand with Standing Rock, the Standing Rock Sioux, their friends, and allies in protecting their sacred land and water by stopping the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and all pipelines that threaten massive ecosystems.

UPDATE

Editor's note: Kelcy Warren responded to the letter by trotting out the usual tone deaf oil industry tropes which are handily rebutted with phrases like "There's a difference between treaty territory and reservation land," "Electricity never polluted anyone's drinking water,"  "It's not hard to imagine why 250 years of broken agreements might lead a Native tribe to be skeptical of negotiating with white men," "Oil barron and environmental steward are, in fact, mutually exclusive titles to hold," and so on. Nevertheless, in the spirit of fairness, we present his letter in full:

 

Lede image: Water Protectors prayerfully march across the desecrated sacred sites to stop DAPL construction. Photo by Rob Wilson Photography.