roqueras ♥ public education

today, march 4th, thousands of students (k-university), parents, teachers, & workers are striking and convening in defense of public education in california and throughout the u.s. students at 9 universities in south africa are striking today as well. we will join them all, in our hearts & in the streets, to fight for what should belong to all of us.



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a change is gonna come : sam cooke



The story is that Sam Cooke wrote this after he was arrested after challenging a hotel that denied him a room in Louisiana because he was black. From the first cords, this song fills me with a deep longing......longing for justice, for change, for victoria. It reminds me to be patient and calm, since material changes will not happen overnight.

There've been times that I've thought
I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

: la pachuquita

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me gustan los estudiantes : daniel viglietti (original, violeta parra)



this song, written by violeta parra, came out of the unidad popular movement in chile in which a wave of workers, students, left intellectuals, and professionals swept socialist salvador allende to the presidency in 1970. the protests at uc & elsewhere in california in the past few months have given, i think, a glimpse of some beautiful potential in our movement here. during the fall and winter 09 protests i saw students + janitors+ professors + lab techicians + clerical staff all standing together, united in their demands. and now they are joined by so many other sectors in cities and towns all over. just a beginning, yes, but a good one. long live popular unity!

: diabólica

sam cooke + muhammad ali

it's been a very sam cooke kind of week. sometimes you just need a sweet voice like that singing in your ear, no?

i recently came across this video...

the gang's all here : sam cooke & muhammad ali



from peter guralnick's sam cooke bio:

sam cooke first met cassius clay in 1960, before the boxer changed his name to muhammad ali. he was impressed by clay's burgeoning interest in islam, while the boxer in turn was a fan of his music. at clay's fight with sonny liston in miami on 25 february 1964, cooke was in the audience, just a few seats away from malcolm x. clay won after liston refused to answer the bell for the seventh round, and then interrupted a tv interview in the ring when he spotted cooke, shouting: "this is the world's greatest rock'n'roll singer!"

and this one, i believe, i first saw posted on hossam's 3arabawy. i think it's easily the best recorded version of this song...

blowin' in the wind : sam cooke



ps: ever seen sam cooke cha-cha with jackie wilson? terribly cute.