TV on the Radio ft. Dead Prez – Staring at the Sun (Hollertronix remix)
Bahr by Mashrou Leila, performed, recorded, and filmed in 360 on a raft in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
1-20-17
“History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate.”
Top Baker’s Dozen Albums of 2016…
These are the albums I liked the most in 2016… The year that was “the worst year ever until next year.”
(in no particular order)
A Trible Called Quest - We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
The Radio Department - Running Out of Love
_______________________________________________________
Honorable Mention…
Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
“What is the precise moment, in the life of a country, when tyranny takes hold? It rarely happens in an instant; it arrives like twilight, and, at first, the eyes adjust.”
Soccer can be an instrument for change, dialogue, and resistance against the kind of hatred that Trump and many of his supporters have voiced in the last year. Soccer can provide a community for those people who are fearful of a future under leaders like Trump, Le Pen, Farage, Petry, and Putin, here and around the world, and that community can be massive and beneficial to all of us, even those who seem to despise everything soccer stands for right now.
News as poetry/news as madness on this day in the year of our lord 2016…
Refuse to accept what’s going on as the new normal. Not now, not ever. In the months and years to come, decisions will be made that may strike you as perfectly sound, appointments announced that are inspired, and policies enacted you may even like. Friends and pundits will reach out to you and, invoking nuance, urge you to admit that there’s really nothing to fear, that things are more complex, that nothing is ever black or white. It’s a perfectly sound argument, of course, but it’s also dead wrong: This isn’t about policy or appointments or even about outcomes. This isn’t a political contest—it’s a moral crisis. …When the levers of power are seized by the small hands of hateful men, you work hard, you stand with those who are most vulnerable, and you don’t give up until it’s morning again. The rest is commentary.
With over 160 languages spoken and nearly half of our residents foreign born, Queens is the most ethnically diverse urban place on this planet. Our many people, languages, foods, cultures, and music make both this city and this country great.
That’s certainly not changing, but we do need to vocally stand together against all hate and bigotry, racism and sexism, and anti-immigrant sentiment that comes our way, both in the streets and online. Organize and educate.
So hug your momo man, tell your tamale and mango ladies they are valued, high five your halal cart and taco truck purveyors, and please consider donating and/or volunteering to the following Queens-based social justice organizations that will be absolutely essential in protecting the rights and ensuring the security of our community in the days ahead.
New Immigrant Community Empowerment
Arab American Family Support Center