Posted by rflacks on:
This week--a bit of a tribute to Paul Simon, who recently performed here and has a brand new compilation of his self-chosen best songs. We'll sample material from that (called "Songwriter") focusing of course on the 'political'...and we'll continue to our new tradition of offering the latest songs from the #occupation as the new movement continues to roll.
culture of protest thurs 10.27.11 6-7pm pdt kcsb 91.9fm www.kcsb.org
Posted by rflacks on:
This week's broadcast pays tribute to the great radio creator, Norman Corwin, who died this week at age 101. We'll hear one of his most memorable pieces, heard by tens of millions as WWII neared its end. We pay tribute too to Harry Belafonte, subject of a new HBO doc and a new memoir--one of the most politically and socially conscious performers of the 20th century. And we will continue our effort to bring you songs from the #occupy movement because they help connect to what's happening locally and globally--and because of all the press declarations that the movement has no songs! culture of protest thurs 10/20/11 6-7 pm pdt kcsb 91.9fm www.kcsb.org
Posted by rflacks on:
This week's radio program will be a conversation with Rand Clark, recently returned from Israel and the West Bank. He has committed himself to challenging some prevailing understandings of the situation there, and wants to talk about some largely unnoticed matters:
1. The continuous occurrence of Palestinian dispossession, from 1948 until the present
2. The growth and success of nonviolent resistance, particularly the inclusion of Israelis and Internationals in actions
3. The myth of Israel being "Jewish and democratic" versus the reality of pervasive discrimination of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship
Rand Clark is a longtime Santa Barbara resident with a long history of involvement with progressive political organizations. He is past Board President of the Fund forSanta Barbara and has worked nationally with ACORN, among other organizations.The father of two adult children, Rand works for a software company andcommutes by bicycle from his Westside home to Goleta. He is active on the Israel/Palestine issue because of his strong commitment to justice, fairness and equality. As an American Jew, he feels drawn to theIsrael-Palestine issue because US money funds Israel and the Occupation, and because Israel claims to act in the name of all Jewish people.
YOU NOW CAN HEAR THIS INTERVIEW HERE!! AS MANY HAVE REQUESTED:
Posted by rflacks on:
Songs about class struggle and wall street, about the 1% and the 99%, about banksters and taxing the rich are in the air and on the internets -=- a souindtrack for the building mass movement 'occupying' (creatiing a democratic public space). We'll hear a sampling this week on the radio--old songs and new, by troubadours known and unknown. Try not to miss this musical window into the rising.
culture of protest thurs 10/6/11 6-7pm pdt 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.
