Mrs. Claus

If you seek peace.

All sounds come from mangled samples of Reagan's Berlin Wall Speech.

Tear Down This Wall (Reagan 1987)

video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBYI_Q5n8tz/

Malcolm X is considered a Black supremacist, a Muslim, a Communist, and according to an informant spying on him, also a man of “high moral character.” It shouldn’t shock you to find X became a divisive figure, but to truly understand him requires some reflection on the many layers of systemic racism he combated as an individual and activist (that sadly still impact us today).

At the time of this speech (less than 60 years ago), Blacks couldn’t vote, they couldn’t dine or shop in White businesses, they couldn’t even live near White neighborhoods. X is often dismissed for supporting Segregation (and he did for much of his life), but to use that position to discredit him is akin to joining his oppressors. Brown vs Board (1954) destroyed Black school systems—ironically the only systems (however grossly underfunded) which cared about Black students. Black schools were dissolved into White ones. White school systems were more comfortable with White board members, White teachers, and White students. It shouldn’t be hard to see what X found a problem with. Today, only 2% of teachers are Black, and redlining (the systematic White Flight response to desegregation) has led to another terribly unequal and segregated educational system. 

X is often dismissed for condoning violence (though he never committed one violent act as an activist). X was more than justifiably angry with the reality of Blacks getting roughed up, arrested, and even lynched by Police and White mobs who never faced any consequences. Would you have turned the other cheek? X once said “it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.” We called him the villain.

Compared to X, Dr. King was a hero for White America. But even then, a poll taken shortly after MLK’s Dream speech (1963; still before any meaningful reforms) found 74% of Whites thought “Negros were moving too fast.” To the FBI, MLK was “the most dangerous man in America” before his assassination. Some think of Civil Rights as our “past,” but do you really believe systemic issues of this magnitude are not still with us today?
#blackhistory #musiceducation #racisminamerica #keepgoing

On Police Brutality (Malcolm X 1962)

It was 1964, and despite years of protest, Black Americans had little real reform to show for it. It had been nearly ten years since the Montgomery Bus Boycotts were sparked by Rosa Parks, and eventually led by Dr. King. Now, White Liberals were beginning to tire of the continuous energy necessary for political reform (and just imagine how sick and tired the rest of White America was of any more attention to Civil Rights).

Hansberry’s speech is aimed at re-energizing political support and energy from White Liberals—the few White Americans that would even pretend (and often just pretend) to listen to issues related to injustice and inequality. She explains the depth, creativity, and persistence of Black Americans in their fight against political and economic injustice. She explains the layers of desperation felt by many Black Americans who longer know how to respond to the neglect and ignorance shared by most of the United States. She pleads for White Americans to stop being American Liberals and to start being American Radicals—to stop asking for change, and to actually help sacrifice for it.

During the speech, Hansberry was fighting far more than White resistance, she was also battling cancer. She literally left her sickbed for the goal of fostering meaningful discussion between White and Black Americans. Two days later Hansberry, frustrated, wrote in in her diary that “Negros are so angry and White people are so confused and sensitive to criticism.” She even doubted her own energy needed to sustain the movement and planned to move to the South to give her more opportunities to combat racial inequality. Unfortunately she would never get the chance—she died of cancer only 6 months later at the age of 34.

I often wonder how one could think there wasn’t still systemic racism in this country, but then to an extent I have to realize I’m a part of the problem. As a history teacher, I had never heard of Hansberry, nor have I properly taught the depth of her message (which was shared by many Civil Rights activists of her time, but too often deflected and dismissed as “extremism” by mainstream America). In fact, in some ways we are conditioned not to teach it, because it’s too “uncomfortable” to talk about—and it is truly hard not feel ashamed by this part of our history. It is the very core of systemic oppression that we have to me more mindful to rectify. Healing this level of injustice will not be quick nor easy, but it is important we commit to supporting and furthering the fight for meaningful reforms for as long as it takes. It starts with education, and I promise to do better on my end.

Black Revolutions; White Backlash (Lorraine Hansberry, 1964)

She's after one thing and one thing only...Palmetto Groove.

Palmetto Groove

#TOTD

Will's Mix

Sure let me bleed, take everything you need.
For Glory and God, you're a fraud.
You're a disease, you got my on my knees.
You only care for your own cause.

Columbian Exchange

In the ruins of the psychedelic music revolution of the 1960s, two local ne'er-do-wells cling on to a lifestyle of smoking spliffs, sporting tie-dye, bumping Europe '72, and looking good doing nothing at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury.  Although initially just scrapping for leftovers and a place to crash for the night, these drifters end up finding a love that shrapnels into a climax of psychedelic guitar riffs and crunchy bass - a much needed distraction from an unforgiving city suffering from cultural dementia.

Corner Folk

Travel the oceanside with good company and new perspectives with these
slacker surf, coastal americana vibes.

Toads

A mixed media collaboration inspired by Monica Curiel. Check her out!
www.instagram.com/monicacuriel.art

Original poem and speech by Angela Aguirre.

Also featuring some interactive art from No Fun Studio
https://www.instagram.com/no.fun.studio

Chingona Fire (Mixed Media Collaboration w/ Monica Curiel)

"We are not beat-makers of history." -MLK jr.

www.instagram.com/drumdogdillionaire
https://sptfy.com/drumdogdill
https://soundcloud.com/doglava
www.instagram.com/doglava/
www.facebook.com/doglava/

On Police Brutality (Malcolm X 1962)

Drumdog Dillionaire

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