Videos:
Carmen Tafolla at 100 TPC SATX
Roberto Vargas at 100 TPC SATX
The Valenzuela Brothers at 100 TPC SATX
Anastacio Palomo with The Jazz Poets
Poetry: The Blues, the Whites, and the Reds (the Red, White, and Blue)
by, Eric Murillo During this nations early days the cotton gins increased the amount that slaves could produce many times more And my sister is treated like a whore; touch her breasts to see if she can produce For that master, for that money
Nearby they marching with shackles, somber like the start of a funeral march Death comes to some during that long walk
In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase expanded American freedom for white men And slavery creates more wealth that surely is a sin
Stolen lands and slavery are the source of our great prosperity Yea the blues were born in this great land Where humankind failed to recognize its own humanity The racial divide did not afford certain people the wealth of Henry Ford We got a history you see, that we bury in flags and brilliant Fourth of July skies
Pickin’ cotton Livin on that ol’ plantation Where the Southern gentleman played god
Yea this is the land of the blues, the whites and the reds
How does a child understand slavery? When at the end of the whip is another being
Elegance and manners, proper Southern behavior While outside with the light of the moon they work like machines
Political power comes from great wealth And George Washington was just one in a line of slave holders to sit in the White House Insure your slaves and head to Wall Street Lords of the loom and lords of the lash Built this country of blues, whites, and reds
Where the red human is killed in genocidal blues, lusting for gold kinda blues, and it’s a cancer
And the white man grows stronger with each and every lash of the black back And the expansion of the right to own property Universal rights, equality, liberty, and justice for all
But in 2011 in this country Troy Anthony Davis had none In 2012 Manuel Diaz This year, Trayvon Martin had none Every day, our sisters have none…
The land of the blues The Whites And the Reds
Where not long ago ships arrived on magnificent shores Bearing strange fruit indeed Cuz on rotten ships arrive rotten men Lusting for wealth beyond humanity Full of the insanity That civilized this great country With guns and disease And a male dominated society
Freedom bells ring loud And the Declaration of Independence stands proud Independence without freedom if you ain’t the right kind
Wage labor arrives in great droves, hungry, thirsty, and tired Where they stratify to satisfy the thirst of savage souls You see, the white human being of a certain status was marginalized, exploited, and told to fight with me Nothing gained cuz we’re neighbors in poor ghettos, striking out at each other like desperate mice in this trapdoor game with nothing to gain
The Mexican war was about expansion of slavery In a land where Morelos and Guerrero had proudly shed the chains of that dreadful practice But the land was worth much and in need of a new master The compromise of 1850 sure smells a lot like SB1070
Gather up them slaves Gather up them Mexicans
Round em up string em up Along this trail of American ideals On ancient trees that speak the truth And whisper silent blues To the workers in the fields Toiling under dehumanizing conditions Just like Juanita and her familia today
The Supreme Court justice proved justice was a farce in Dred Scott vs. Sandford Held captive to a US Army captain He offered to pay for his families’ freedom, when denied he tried to use the system Instead the court said that his skin was a sin and he was nothing more than property Shameful stain on liberty
It was because the wealth and grandeur of a folk was deemed more important
And that freedom that was born here Still gives me the blues As Wall Street still sells humans And we celebrate their wealth And their liberty to live above humanity
In this land of the blues, the whites and the reds. ******************************************************************************** United we sit and watch tv raised to believe everything we see and take it to heart
We are a nation oppressed by corporate intent One nation partitioned under God’s borderless tent Responding to mass produced conventional wisdom Terrified the terrorists will blow us to kingdom come. With mass hysteria befitting our conditioned attitudes Well endowed politicians hypnotize with false platitudes.
I did not learn this By listening to the worldwide news All the reporters reporting the same agenda All the underwriters undermining personal security All the commentary leading to one universally understood conclusions: That’s the way it is: love it or leave it. The two party system is anchored in concrete devised by our forefathers to make us feel equal while securing the power in the vested elite. Two parties, one oligarchy, that’s the America we know and trust God help us if the grid goes bust. Our democracy functions best without “radical” influences Stay tuned to the news and its coordinated confluences.
Before you exclaim, “Say it ain’t so, Joe!” my name is Gary and you really should know today’s poem is sponsored by Monsanto. The following things, we want you to know, are given: Nuclear power is dangerous, but technology will make it safe. Eventually. Most likely. Oil rules, and the only acceptable ethanol comes from corn. Low taxes make a great country – everyone should hate paying taxes. The United States is the most powerful country on earth. Threaten us and we will scorch everything you are worth. But you and I, we know better. United we sit and feel superior Reading “the truth” in our feng-shued interiors. We buy organic, cage-free food from local farmers. We raise healthy kids, supplementing education with arts, wisdom and care. We speak up. We vote. We wear natural fabrics, bike and recycle. We appreciate wise and reasonable pundits delivered by chosen media. We read. We create art. We express an optimistic aura of fairess and stuff.
We do not want to believe that it’s too late. We lean in. We speak, write and accept responsibility for our opinion enough to actively advocate.
Some are willing to stand before pipeline bulldozers, backed by many thoughtful pray-ers.
We arrest the environmental degradation by preserving green space and observing best practices.
As our children become adults we marvel at their clear willingness to face the challenge. Some of us are pure. Some of us.
United we sit watching lit screens, each peering into a machine to engage faraway friends through pixelated images bounced off satellites 10,000 feet in the air, blithely unaware of those closest to us.
United we sit and watch tv. by Gary Whitford (2013) ************************************************************************************** With God on Our Side – Bob Dylan (with additional lyrics by Don Mathis marked by*) by Don Mathis
Oh my name it is nothin’ My age it means less The country I come from Is called the Midwest I’s taught and brought up there The laws to abide And the land that I live in Has God on its side.
Oh the history books tell it They tell it so well The cavalries charged The Indians fell The cavalries charged The Indians died Oh the country was young With God on its side.
The Spanish-American War had its day And the Civil War too Was soon laid away And the names of the heroes I’s made to memorize With guns on their hands And God on their side.
The First World War, boys It came and it went The reason for fighting I never did get But I learned to accept it Accept it with pride For you don’t count the dead When God’s on your side.
When the Second World War Came to an end We forgave the Germans And then we were friends Though they murdered six million In the ovens they fried The Germans now too Have God on their side.
In the nineteen-sixties came the Vietnam War Can somebody tell me what we’re fightin’ for? So many young men died So many mothers cried Now I ask the question Was God on our side?
I’ve learned to hate Russians All through my whole life If another war comes It’s them we must fight To hate them and fear them To run and to hide And accept it all bravely With God on my side. * Things are different today in this new century. It’s so hard to figure who is our enemy. Can’t trust our lawmakers. You know they have lied while the media tells us that God’s on our side. * From this Midwestern boy to the Mid-Eastern son, it all seem so simple to distrust the Muslim. The truth is so slippery and facts, they will slide. But one thing’s for certain. His God’s on his side. But now we got weapons Of the chemical dust If fire them we’re forced to Then fire them we must One push of the button And a shot the world wide And you never ask questions When God’s on your side.
In a many dark hour I’ve been thinkin’ about this That Jesus Christ Was betrayed by a kiss But I can’t think for you You’ll have to decide Whether Judas Iscariot Had God on his side.
So now as I’m leavin’ I’m weary as Hell The confusion I’m feelin’ Ain’t no tongue can tell The words fill my head And fall to the floor If God’s on our side He’ll stop the next war. ************************************************************************************** WAR OF ROAD SIGN WORDS by Catherine A. Lee
A section of Route 90 runs through the fertile Jordan River Valley where citizens of Israel cross Palestine heading south or north.
To educate the future, and commemorate a favorite fallen leader’s legacy, in 2005 Israeli Knesset legally renamed this freeway “Gandi’s Road.” This Tourist Minister in 2001 had been retaliation killed by gunmen of the PLO.
In Kibbutz school, one night the youth named Rehavam Ze’evi, shaved his head and went to dinner dressed in just a towel. The prankster’s nickname, Gandi, stuck.
But no, this Gandi namesake is not a peaceful man. Rather he, a Zionist, claimed 180,000 Palestinians, one-fifth the native population, lived illegally in Israel, “a cancer” that should be removed one way — “the same way you get rid of lice” — or another — making Arab lives so miserable they’d volunteer to leave.
These road signs point a route in words to war that surely sticks it to the Jordan Valley’s oldest ethnic residents, and world opinion ever clueless to this hate-filled joke.
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Organizer: Viktoria Valenzuela
Contact: queenviktory@yahoo.com