what makes a movement?

and how does a movement move?...

the left forum (artist formerly known as the socialist scholars' conference) takes place in nyc starting tomorrow...

left forum 2011
the new solidarity

march 18th - 20th

pace university

new york

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without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.

: lenin

we sayin' something like this—we saying that theory's cool, but theory with no practice ain't shit.

: fred hampton jr.

maraming salamat to sergio :)

we dont need no occupation

roger waters, of pink floyd, in the guardian:

In 1980, a song I wrote, Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, was banned by the government of South Africa because it was being used by black South African children to advocate their right to equal education. That apartheid government imposed a cultural blockade, so to speak, on certain songs, including mine.

Twenty-five years later, in 2005, Palestinian children participating in a West Bank festival used the song to protest against Israel's wall around the West Bank. They sang: "We don't need no occupation! We don't need no racist wall!"

...

Artists were right to refuse to play in South Africa's Sun City resort until apartheid fell and white people and black people enjoyed equal rights. And we are right to refuse to play in Israel until the day comes – and it surely will come – when the wall of occupation falls ...

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palestine will be free : maher zain

admittedly, islamic r&b is not my most favorite style. but what a beautifully animated video, no? and what beautiful sentiments. ¡¡palestina sera libré!!

prince was here

you can be the president
i’d rather be the pope

you can be the side effect
i’d rather be the dope


why don’t pop songs have lyrics like that anymore?

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prince was here a couple weeks ago, and left all this prince-dust floating around in his wake. i heard lots of gushing testimony about his shows (including a guest appearance by sheila e singing glamorous life?! wow). and then i was walking along broadway and this car drove up and stopped at the light, playing prince on the stereo oakland-style at high volume like a public service.

i wanna be your

the car drove off but this lady walking next to me took up right where he left off...

lover

was great. thanks, prince. thanks, prince fanáticas!

i grew up listening to prince, in part because my teenage cousin was super obsessed. i remember her car ceiling was full of tiny prince pins and her part of the bedroom wall she shared with her sister was full of half-naked prince pictures. at family weddings we would always bother the dj until he relented to play little red corvette. it was always the same. we would keep asking at regular intervals. he would finally play it, and the kids would run to take over the dance floor while the adults sat this one out waiting for the rancheras or whatever to resume.

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i could never take the place of your man : prince




i'm going leaving you with this, from his recent show at the oakland coliseum. can i just say this man is 52 years old?




thank you, amy :)

wow, nice work defaming the memory of sandino,

ortega.

on the anniversary of augusto sandino's death, daniel ortega, sinverguenza former revolutionary leader and current president of nicaragua, mentioned he has been talking a lot these days to his murderous lunatic friend, muammar gaddafi:

Daniel Ortega says he has telephoned Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to express his solidarity. Ortega says he has called several times this week because Gadhafi "is again waging a great battle" to defend the unity of his nation.

: washington post

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i actually didn't think it was possible for ortega to be any more of an asshole than he was already. i suppose i was wrong. i mean, he sold out the people of nicaragua a long time ago and hasn't looked back since, but still. how are you going to express solidarity with a dictator's massacre of democracy demonstrators? vete al infierno, señor ortega and take your friend with you.

since ortega decided to utter this mierda in a sandino commemoration, let me also take this moment to reclaim a bit of sandino's honorable legacy, which certainly belongs to the incredibly heroic popular forces in libya trying to bring down a tyrant, and not to that tyrant and his friends...

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nosotros iremos hacia el sol de la libertad o hacia la muerte

y si morimos, nuestra causa seguirá viviendo, otros nos seguirán

we will go towards the sun of freedom or until death

and if we die, our cause continues living, because others after us will follow

: augusto césar sandino

all power to the people! abajo gadafi!! ¡¡¡que viva que viva que viva libia!!!

imperialists ruin everything

an understatement, of course... but this is so yuck! a tiny spy drone in the form of a fake hummingbird...

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so, in honor of the chuparosas de verdad, and the anti-imperialists everywhere, here are some sweet lines from neruda’s oda al picaflor:

oh
mínimo
relámpago
viviente,
cuando se
sostiene
en el aire
tu
estructura
de polen,
pluma
o brasa,
te pregunto,
¿qué cosa eres,
en dónde
te originas?




**

and silvio’s version of colibrí y la flor. he explains in the introduction that this is the song his mother would sing as a lullaby, and he believes this is the song from which all his other songs come...




and for good measure here also is duo guardabarranco's colibrí...




¡a la chingada with mechanical counter-insurgency animals of any kind!

a la revolución en egipto... a valentine

dime si te causo una revolución,
dime si te hago cambiar tu canción,
dime si te hago suspirar,
dime si te haré volver a empezar...

**

querido pueblo egipcio:

we love you for reminding us of what millions of people & a burning desire for freedom and justice can do. we love you for your most beautiful victory against a most ugly u.s. client state regime. we love you because even though bringing down the dictator is not the same thing as dismantling the dictatorship, we know that you are just getting started!

تحيا مصر! ¡que viva egipto!

♥ ♥ ♥

**

friday was such the happiest day in recent memory, no? even all the way over here. i had a difficult time believing it was true at first, then all of a sudden there were all these text messages & emails, so many notes from friends & camarads who were 1. dancing or 2. in tears or 3. both. when i finally tore myself away from al-jazeera english (and live broadcasted scenes of the biggest street party ever in the history of the world), i set out for work in downtown oakland. i stopped downstairs in our building for some caffeine, and the palestinian owner greeted me, smiling, did you hear? he said an egyptian women had just come in and bought 12 dozen cookies for the entire floor of her office building to celebrate. a few minutes later my mom, who had emailed recently to say that the egyptians & their revolution were in her prayers, texted me: yay egyptians! god bless them!!!

for reals.

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love songs for the revolution...


#Jan25 Egypt : Omar Offendum, The Narcicyst, Freeway, Ayah, & Amir Sulaiman




‪Long Live Egypt ‬: Scarabeuz & Omima




The Sound of Freedom‬ : ‪Amir Eid & Hany Adel ‬




Egypt: Rise to Freedom : Basha Beats & Natacha Atlas‬




Back Down Mubarak : Master Mimz




Ezzai : Mohamed Mounir




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adelante, egipto & tunez!! let's go algeria, yemen, jordan!

adelante, compañer@s

go, egypt, go!!!!!!!!!!!!

hasta

la victoria

siempre

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protest tomorrow !!
saturday, january 29th : 12-3pm
market & montgomery : san francisco
solidarity now with the people of egypt & tunisia !!!!!