(http://gas2.org/2016/03/10/teenagers-sue-us-government-over-climate-change/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-gas2+%28Gas+2.0%29)
". . . 21 children are suing the US government in federal court, claiming it has breached its obligations to them under the Constitution to protect their civil rights. Specifically, they allege lack of government action on climate change is an infringement of their rights to life, liberty, and equal protection under the law. . . According to The Guardian, Julia Olson, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs told the press after the hearings, “What we have is not just a failure to act. The government is doing everything to fuel this problem.” She pointed to the permitting of oil and gas drilling and the export of fossil fuels, including the recently approved Jordan Cove Liquefied Natural Gas terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon, which the complaint says “enhances the cumulative danger” caused by the government’s actions. . ."
My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
(from http://www.jazzwax.com/2009/05/charles-mingus-fables-of-faubus.html)
Why the lyrics (to Charles Mingus' Fables of Faubus) weren't recorded the first time around on Mingus Ah Um isn't clear. Most likely the omission came at the behest of Columbia executives, who at the time didn't want to overly inflame the label's Southern markets. Writes Gene Santoro in Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus:
"[The group recorded] Fables of Faubus, but Columbia, Mingus said, wouldn't let them record the lyrics."
When Mingus wrote the song in late 1957, the Little Rock standoff had been the most shocking and dramatic episode in the Civil Rights Movement. The event marked the first time that Southern racism was exposed on network television, and the news story unfolded slowly in September 1957. The sight of armed National Guard soldiers preventing nine students from attending a public school and the federal government's slow reaction was harrowing. The month-long televised drama deeply affected jazz musicians and people throughout the country who had heard about unjust conditions in the South but had never seen them in action.
Ultimately, the Justice Department sought and was granted an injunction against Faubus' order, and the governor had to withdraw National Guard troops. But the move offered little protection for the students or assurance that the community wouldn't riot or bar them from the school. So on September 24th—20 days after the incident's start—President Eisenhower finally federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent the army's 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock enforce integration and safeguard the African-American students.
- See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2009/05/charles-mingus-fables-of-faubus.html#sthash.wzbbqq8Y.dpuf
OHO's
"Ocean City Ditty," the
CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if
you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)
My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
(from Straight No Chaser; The Life and Genius of Thelonious Monk by Leslie Gourse)
". . . He was cool with me. We'd talk about a lot of things. He would always have interesting kinds of ways of being very succinct and candid about his insights. One time someone made a comment to us-during the civil rights days, and things were pretty touchy, black power and all. I had a big Afro and dashikis. We were very conscious of this whole movement. This white guy said something about "you boys" this and "you boys" that to me. I turned to Thelonious and said, "I'm tired of these motherfuckers calling us boys. They don't have to go through all that. We're men." Thelonious said to me, "Ain't no drag, Larry, because everybody wants to be young." I said, "Okay, I'll think on that one." So he could really turn things into nothing with a few words. And there I was, upset, with my fist up in the air about respect. It was interesting. . . "
“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the
stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must
rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and
act anew.”
-Abraham Lincoln
Adam Serwer recently summarized conservative objections to the nomination of Tom Perez (to the office of Labor Secretary):
"Since Perez took the helm, (as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division) the division has blocked partisan voting schemes, cracked down on police brutality, protected gay and lesbian students from harassment, sued anti-immigrant Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio for racial profiling, stood up against Islamophobia, and forced the two largest fair-housing settlements in history from banks that discriminated against minority homeowners."
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AMBIENCE & WINE
. . . THE HELP . . . and thought about a lot of things. . . including
MINGUS!!!
(from http://www.jazzwax.com/2009/05/charles-mingus-fables-of-faubus.html)
Up until May 1959, no jazz composition recorded by Charles Mingus had
been ascontroversial or as
politically charged asFables
of Faubus. The song, first recorded 50 years ago this month on Mingus
Ah Um, was meant to be a condemnation of Arkansas governor Orval
Faubus. In 1957 Faubus had ordered the state's National Guard to prevent
the integration of Little Rock Central High School by nine
African-American teenagers. With the reissue of Mingus Ah Um
by Sony Legacy yesterday (along with Mingus Dynasty), I am
struck yet again by the boldness of Fables of Faubus' breathy,
lumbering indignation. [Photo of Charles Mingus in 1959 by Lee
Friedlander]
Along with Sonny Rollins' Freedom Suite in
1958, Mingus' composition courageously raised the ante among jazz
artists, insisting they become creative agitators for change rather than
just concerned bystanders. Interestingly, Louis Armstrong played a
role. I spoke to Nat Hentoff and Sue Mingus yesterday about the
significance of Fables of Faubus and the Civil Rights Movement.
More from them in a moment.
Contrary to most fans' impressions,
Mingus wasn't a political protester, per se. He was first and foremost a
composer who was vocal from the bandstand about all things unfair and
unjust—from noisy ice in glasses to Jim Crow. As Mingus told Brian
Priestley in Mingus: A Critical Biography:
"I just write tunes and
put political titles on them. Fables of Faubus was different,
though—I wrote that because I wanted to."
More than a year after Mingus
Ah Um, Mingus recorded the Original Fables of
Faubus onCharles Mingus
Presents Charles Mingus (Candid Records), this time with a brazen
set of lyrics. The words were talk-sung by Mingus and shouted by drummer
Dannie Richmond and other band members, who function as a Greek chorus
ferociously condemning racism and racists.
Why the song's lyrics
weren't recorded the first time around on Mingus Ah Um isn't
clear. Most likely the omission came at the behest of Columbia
executives, who at the time didn't want to overly inflame the label's
Southern markets. Writes Gene Santoro in Myself When I Am Real: The
Life and Music of Charles Mingus:
"[The group recorded] Fables of Faubus,
but Columbia, Mingus said, wouldn't let them record the lyrics."
When
Mingus wrote the song in late 1957, the Little Rock standoff had been
the most shocking and dramatic episode to take place in the Civil
Rights Movement. The event marked the first time that Southern racism
was exposed on network television, and the news story unfolded slowly in
September 1957. The sight of armed National Guard soldiers preventing
nine students from attending a public school and the federal
government's slow reaction was harrowing. The month-long televised drama
deeply affected jazz musicians and people throughout the country who
had heard about unjust conditions in the South but had never seen them
in action.
Ultimately, the Justice Department sought and was
granted an injunction against Faubus' order, and the governor had to withdraw National
Guard troops. But the move offered little protection for the students or
assurance that the community wouldn't riot or bar them from the school.
So on September 24th—20 days after the incident's start—President
Eisenhower finally federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent the
army's 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock enforce integration and
safeguard the African-American students.
To gain insight into
Mingus' strident recording of Original Fables of Faubus in
1960, I spoke briefly yesterday with Nat Hentoff, who produced the
Candid session:
"The
Little Rock standoff in 1957 had been extraordinary. The Supreme Court's
decision three years earlier [Brown v. Board of Education] had made
integration possible. The decision was unanimous and had been signed
individually by each justice. Never before had that happened. Little
Rock was an attempt to put the decision to test.
"During the Little Rock
standoff, President Eisenhower dragged his feet, which angered Louis
Armstrong. Louis made uncharacteristically heated comments about
Eisenhower during a newspaper interview that belied his cheery
disposition. I'm sure his unrestrained public statement partly motivated
Mingus to write Fables of Faubus. Louis simply said what many
in the jazz community were thinking and feeling at the time.
"I remember the recording
session. I think I sent out for sandwiches and that's about it [laughs].
You didn't have to manage a Mingus session. The lyrics? They didn't
seem controversial to me. They were as natural as sunlight.
"The
one thing about [Candid owner] Archie Bleyer is I never knew what he
thought about any of the recordings we made. He never interfered and he
stood by his word. I had total freedom, and I approached the Mingus date
with that frame of mind.". . . .
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Download
your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray
Jozwiak
. . .DOES NOT bar religion from the public square and from government in general. Under the First Amendment, the resulting separation of Church and State puts restrictions on government but does not put restrictions on religion. . ."
(reaction to a recent blog by Howard Bess. See bottom) The good Reverend seems to hit it on the head on a regular basis. He says that the current crop of republican presidential candidates, as well as the media 'reporting' on them, all miss the boat on their interpretation of the First Amendment. He would like to know how the religion of the candidates informs their views and intentions with regard to the following issues. "As president, would the candidate pursue the teachings of his religion?"
WAR AND PEACE - religions generally favor a path toward peace
POPULATION CONTROL, BIRTH CONTROL, AND ABORTION SERVICES - how long will the earth be able to sustain the needs of this huge (and growing) population so highly encouraged by their right to life 'philosophy'?
FULL RIGHTS FOR GAY, LESBIAN, TRANSGENDERED AND BISEXUAL PERSONS - many/most organized religions do not favor these just and necessary rights
PRESERVATION OF THE INTEGRITY OF THE WORLD’S ENVIRONMENT - what will the candidate do when scientific knowledge directly confronts the teachings of his religion?
PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION - parochial schools have been known to practice discrimination
PROVISION FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE LESS FORTUNATE - entitlements and being 'thy brother's keeper'
The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is HYPERLINK "mailto:hdbss@mtaonline.net" hdbss@mtaonline.net
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING HIM!
What do YOU think? http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
Download your very own copy of ANOTHER SHOT by Ray Jozwiak
. . . says James Rado's lyrics from EASY TO BE HARD from the musical HAIR. These lyrics occurred upon hearing a portion of a BBC radio program where Hank Thomas, one of the original Freedom Riders talk about the horrible things he and others experienced in the pre-civlil rights south. Below is from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/13533144. Read about Hank's experiences. I don't think you can help but be moved.
"Fifty years after the so-called Freedom Riders risked their lives trying to break the practice of segregating people on the US public transport system, the veteran activists have reunited to inspire a new generation.
"We changed American history," says Bob Filner, now a California congressman. "And we should do the same thing today."
Just across the road from Filner is the old Greyhound station where he and hundreds of other Freedom Riders were arrested in the summer of 1961.
This week, many of them have come back to Jackson, Mississippi to mark the anniversary of their remarkable journey - desegregating buses, lunch counters and restrooms all the way from Washington to New Orleans.
But in the bars and meeting rooms, discussions move swiftly from the achievements of yesterday, to the problems of today.
"I don't care whether the issue is healthcare or housing or the environment, we should be applying non-violent, direct action to these struggles," says Filner. . ."
download your very own copy of ANOTHER SHOT by Ray Jozwiak
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