Feed on POSTS
#7: “Logistically Speaking”
Logistically speaking,
this campaign ad was vetted
by, like, an entire campaign staff,
right?
Interns,
organizers, managers, and
fundraisers.
Logistically speaking,
they all
stood or sat there
and absorbed these
thirty seconds,
right?
Logistically speaking,
right.
#6: “Y-O-U-N-G”
Girls
die
y-o-u-n-g.
Pop
star
neon energy.
Tribal
ethnic
profitability.
I’ve danced my face off to MIA, but there’s just something about the lyric “live fast, die young/bad girls do it well” juxtaposed against the imagery of Middle Eastern women that does not sit well with me. Sadly, the revolution will not be on YouTube.
My friend Tommy has got a thing going on. It’s an art thing, with music and peace and cosmic vibe-a-tude. His project is being featured at kickstarter.com/projects/1111967869/the-peace-speaker, and alls he wants to do is to send totally rad vibrations by trucking along a gigantic 12″ peace speaker to remote locations and host a concert for all- fauna, foliage and folks. It’s called the 2012 Anti-Apocalypse Tour and its reminding us that keeping our heads in the clouds can sometimes be magical.
When I was a kid, I hated history class because I felt like all the people (mostly men, mostly white) we learned about were nothing like me. I’m a quasi-radical now, but I can’t imagine who I would be if I would had known about Grace Lee Boggs when I was a kid. I’ve just donated a few days worth of lunch money to help fund this awesome documentary about an American revolutionary who is someone I can aspire to be.
indiegogo.com/AmericanRevolutionary
American Revolutionary – Indiegogo Pitch from American Revolutionary on Vimeo.
“New Orleans East is home to the most-dense ethnically Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. The BP oil spill hit them hard. Majora Carter meets with fisherfolk, youth and community organizers to learn about how the community has rallied to support their fisherfolk.”
I was completely enthralled with this Promise Land story about the effects of the BP spill on the Viet-American population in New Orleans. I was unaware that such a large population of Viet immigrants had settled there and this story about a community, and how their community organizers, are working to rebuild and continue on with their lives and livelihoods was another reminder that surviving can be a challenge and living is overcoming that challenge.
Well, no one has every accused me of being timely and there’s a reason for it.
Around a year ago, some huffy puffy congressman yelled “You lie!” at our president as he gave a speech about the national healthcare bill. Totally uncool. There were some awesome “oh no you di’n't faces from Pelosi, but my friend Gus and I thought the best part was this (excerpted from HuffPo), which are also the words to the song:
“Shame on you!” shouted someone from the Democratic side. “Throw him out!” shouted someone else. First Lady Michelle Obama, seated behind and above Wilson, seemed to mouth a drawn-out “damn” at the scene unfolding before her.
I just love imagining Mrs. Obama doing that daaaayuuuummmmmmm. So Gus wrote a song about it, and I helped sing it. And I made a video, that I just found again as I’m cleaning off my hard drive.
HuffPo story: Joe Wilson Apologizes For Shouting “You Lie!” At Obama
Just another brief update to let ya’ll know that I’m still around, but reluctant to blog for a few reasons. I imagine that I might start writing regularly in this space again sometime deep into next year. Instead, I’ve been twittering like a twit, so if you need a fix of my Adoyzieisms in 140 characters or less, that’s the place to go. I’ve also embraced Facebook, for better or worse, where my youngest brother clicks “Like” when my status updates indicate that I’m having a bad period day.
Before the year is over, I’ll be sure to post a bullet-list of some of the stuff that’s happened since I’ve been home. It’ll be a good six months worth of rollercoasterness. Pull that safety belt tight.
In the meantime, here’s a video of my fitful sleepiness in Chittagong, Bangladesh:
Of the many awesome things I got to do with my students, I had the opportunity to teach a capacity building class about blogging. My students were fantastic and seized this new platform for getting their voices heard on the vast wilderness of the internet.
I just know that I’ll watch this video months from now, seeing them speak about how they found a medium have express their ideas, thoughts and opinions, and how it will make my heart ache with missing them and their evolution. At the very least, we’ll have the internet and if I’m lucky they’ll update me on their progress through these fiber optic wires. I will be able to witness their transformation from afar, much like you have done through my blog.
For more info: auwstudentblogs.wordpress.com/
