For Ken Saro-Wiwa
Have you heard about the latest Action?
It is really gaining traction,
wow…. Just imagine,
What we can and will do!!!
Years after,
the (November 10, 1995) hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa,
and 8 others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop),
Shell Oil – you know you messed up, the environment, in the Niger Delta,
How could it have happened?
To Ken (a poet and a playright), and your friends, …
we will keep the candle lit for all of you today: November 10,
And every other day of the year, because your hanging was an outrage
- it put Shell on the world stage,
And we just won’t go away, we will demand justice, for you Ken,
and for the environment!!!
Did I mention my new studio space?
Did I mention my new studio space? It is nearly complete!!!
And when it is done there will be room for you….
with a view, of the park and the garden…
Can you imagine all this, the excitement is building,
If ever so slowly. (Patience is a virtue).
Not to give too much away … I think it will be called…
The “Glasslight and Art Studio”
There will be more than enough space in this studio –
- for freedom of expression!!!
My hope is that Ai Weiwei will be free to visit,
In China his studio was bulldozed.
I hope Mohammed Ibn al-Dheeb, the Qatari poet detained
and facing trial for “inciting to overthrow the ruling system”
will also be free to stop by for a reading…
When you stop in this new studio,
there will be messages of hope to send to 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai,
who was shot by Taliban, as she campaigned for the
rights of young women to an education in Pakistan’s Swat Valley
This will be a space where there is light…
it will not have to fight its way in…
There will be sharing, rejoicing and creativity will flourish,
Thanks to you who love freedom.
Will it have wings…
Will it have wings…
We sat around the table fretting about the state of the world,
The executions in China and Texas, and Iran.
People forced off their land, denied a fair trial,
and Pussy Riot in jail??? (Putin you have to end this)
And then the new people who showed up – said: this just can’t continue….
You have to be kidding, why are we sitting around????
We talked the plans over and there were even some who said:
“Will it have wings”
Then the streets were full, we were all waving signs.
All of the pessimists and the optimists … it was almost -
Unbelievable.
No more stolen sisters we said:
end the deportations, the disappearances, the torture….
And in those moments when the candles were lit, for:
Freedom, liberty and equality!!!
They (we) knew who our friends were and are,
And the cold, and the wind did not matter: Aung San Suu Kyi is free!!!
The idea had wings, we just(ice) knew,
Freedom, liberty and equality!!!
Are a happening thing, and everyone who showed up was not –
Too cool to care!!! For – Freedom, justice and equality.
When I have time to paint a picture of freedom
When I have time to paint a picture of freedom…
You – my friends will be there… with your:
- candles, messages of hope, your inspiration.
I will make time and everyone will be celebrating.
You and you (you know who you are)
You are the ones who struggle for liberation.
We have held on to each other,
as we walked, all across the land,
We have said good night, good bye, but …
We have left holding hands…
As we dance, drum and sing…
And we prance, strum and bring…
Our voices to the struggle for justice.
Yours and mine: we will be heard.
You are my friends, we dance, drum and sing…
We confuse, bemuse and we celebrate….
You do all of this and yet when the day is done…
We look forward together to the next day…
And the rising sun.
Arlo Guthrie concert a highlight of our summer….
Every year a highlight of our summer is the annual Regina Folk Festival and this year was no exception. My favourite was the Sunday evening performance by Arlo Guthrie and his family – I can’t claim to have been to all of the Regina Folk Festival concerts over the years however of the ones I have been at, this was clearly one of the most memorable.
At the concert Arlo said: ‘my dad and mom had dreams of creating a large family that could travel around singing and entertaining everyone with real songs about real things. We’re not only celebrating “Woody 100″ we’re living the dream of the family they never had a chance to realize. For us this is more than just another series of gigs. This is the culmination of generations working and playing that brings together a reunion of spirit, age and youth. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.’
Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter and folk musician whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children’s songs, balldads and improvised works. Woody Guthrie’s music has been performed by many well known artists, however the chance to hear his son Arlo and his family perform his, was incredibly special.
The concert included amazing performances by members of the Guthrie family (in addition to and with Arlo); it was a beautiful evening in Regina for the concert and everyone in the crowd clearly enjoyed their music.
The Regina Folk Festival happens thanks to the dedication of some very talented people and lots of volunteers and all of them are to be congratulated for staging such a successful event.
Here are a few photos from the concert:
The Gift of Fused Glass
I mentioned recently I am excited to have the opportunity to work with fused glass – this is a gift….
‘Beautiful Trouble’ – co-edited by Andrew Boyd and Dave Oswald Mitchell is an exciting new book / toolbox full of ideas for everyone working for social and economic change.
Andrew Boyd is an author, humorist and veteran of creative campaigns for social change. Dave Oswald Mitchell is a writer, editor and researcher ‘camped out at the intersection of the economic and ecological crisis.’ Dave was editor of Briarpatch Magazine from 2005 to 2010. They assembled an impressive design team and have actually gone well beyond publishing another book – there is also a related website (http://beautifultrouble.org/) that promises to host a ‘growing array of additional modules, resources, profiles, debates and much more.’
The format for the book, with a diverse collection of contributions by activists involved in a wide range of political, environmental and human rights movements is very user friendly. Every chapter is organized into five categories: tactics, principles, theories, case studies and practitioners.
As soon as I got my copy I found myself surfing through the book discovering new ideas and also being inspired by serious yet typically good-humored content.
