Posted by rflacks on:
Now that we've heard the president's state of the union, we turn to troubadours voices to help fill the silences in his text while adding poetry to some matters he discussed. Honor these troubadours by listening to their songs tonight.
culture of protest thurs 1/27/11 6-7pm pst kcsb 91.9fm www.kcsb.org
Posted by rflacks on:
The president's state of the union address is scheduled for Tuesday. On this week;s show we offer a collage of songs that speak to the question. It's my experience over the years that our troubadours raise issues and feelings that the president;s speech might well evade. Join us...
culture of protest thurs 1/20/10 6-7pm kcsb 91.9fm www.kcsb.org
Posted by rflacks on:
Tonight's program takes note of the conjunction of MLK birthday and the horrors in Arizona. We'll make use of songs that help reflect on this convergence, as well as some of Dr. King's voice. We'll add the voices of the just departed Deborah Friedman, the legendary composer of new Jewish ritual song and Aretha Franklin, gravely ill.
culture of protest thurs 1/13/11 6-7pm pdt kcsb 91.9fm www.kcsb.org
Posted by rflacks on:
Many of the events of 2010 were captured in song. On this week's culture of protest we'll listen to a. rich sampling of these. Catastrophe was much in evidence: in Haiti, in the gulf, in the mines. Songs about immigrant rights, don't ask/don/'t tell, tea parties. Some cultural heroes passed and we'll hear their voices: Abbey Lincoln, Tuli Kupferberg, Bob Potter. And there were songs urging us, against the odds, to keep hope alive.
culture of protest thurs 1.6.11 6-7pm pst kcsb 91.9fm www.kcsb.org
Dick Flacks here...sociology professor emeritus at UCSB. Budget cuts mean that I can't continue my annual course on political sociology. Maybe a blog will be a space for me to continue to ruminate and pontificate. And maybe (as a veteran teacher on these matters) I can offer some ways of thinking about what's happening nationally and locally that will be useful, as we struggle to make sense of the tortured complexities of these times.
I've been a leftwing activist for more than 50 years. What we've been struggling for all these years is full democracy--to increase the opportunities for people to have real voice in the decisions that affect them. Step by step over these years we've made some gain...but it is a long march, and one that never ends. The big barrier to democracy in our society is the concentrated power of corporations. At the same time, democracy is undermined by the felt powerlessness of people in their daily lives--the persistent belief that our problems are only our own personal concern. It's a strong cultural theme--such individualism--constantlly reinforced by mass media and everyday circumstance. But the current big crisis of the economy maybe makes it more possible for more people to understand that we've got to have social reform and economic reform. So my writing here is aimed at helping us figure out what to think and act on that so that we can hope for new democratic possibilities. WE'll be talking about the local and the national.
The blog name comes from an old labor union hymn:
Step by step the longest march can be won. Many stones can form an arch...singly none. And by union what we will can be accomplished still. Drops of water turn a mill, singly none, singly none.
For 27 years I've had a weekly radio show on KCSB (91.9 fm. www.kcsb.org) It's called the Culture of Protest. It's comes from my fascination with music and social movements. I collect 'political' and 'protest' music and that's what we play each week (Thursdays 6-7 pm). So sometimes here we'll share and talk about that.
I'm worried about one thing about the blogosphere. And that's the way that some people use the blog comment space for anonymous nastiness. I'm sick of the kind of political blather that assaults the motives of others, and sees dark conspiracy behind every thing one doesn't like. This kind of stuff is helping to poison the political atmosphere. So I'm going to strive for a civil tone to whatever interaction may happen on this blogsite.
