On January 1, 2021 the EZLN, or Zapatistas, transmitted their Declaration for Life that informed the world they are sending a delegation Europe. August 13, 2021 is the quincentenary of the Cortez's invasion of Tenochtitlan and they are commemorating that day in Madrid, Spain.  

El 1o. de Enero de 2021 el EZLN, ó las Zapatistas, transmitió su Declaración por La Vida para informar al mundo que están mandando una delegación a Europa. El 13 de Agosto de 2021 es el quinto centenario de la invasión de Tenochtitlán por Cortéz y van a conmemorar este día en Madrid, España. 

On arrival, the EZLN they renamed the continent  "Slumil K'ajxemk'op" which means "Rebel Land" or, "Land that doesn’t yield, that doesn’t fail." As they travel throughout the land they are uniting with many communities, cooperatives, and activist groups to join in the different and yet common struggle.

Al llegar, el EZLN renombraron al continente como "Slumil K'ajxemk'op", que significa "Tierra Insumisa". Los Zapatistas están viajando por esta tierra y se están reuniendo con muchas comunidades, cooperativas, y con grupos activistas para unirse en las distintas luchas compartidas. 

Words Written: Zapatistas (http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/2021/01/01/primera-parte-una-declaracion-por-la-vida/)
Words Spoken: M. Heriv & Varun Aiyer.
Music Performed & Produced: Max Ferency.

Declaration for Life

Zapatistas: Declaration For Life / Una Declaración por La Vida

Recorded in Baltimore on North Ave and Pennsylvania Ave on April 28, 2015 during the Freddie Gray community clean-up/protest/gathering after the night of looting. The work was create to both educate the wider public on what some people there thought and to inspire continued constructive action.

For more from Max Ferency, visit www.maxferency.org or find me on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, or Ello.

Sign-up for our mailing list (http://eepurl.com/bv9dSb) to learn about new music and the upcoming podcast about the music and how it's made.

How Baltimore Protests

VOICES
+ A student drops out of high school in Baltimore City.
+ The activists of the Democracia Real Ya movement in Spain demand change to the economic system that created a national crisis.
+ Manoubia Bouazizi tells the story of how her son, Mohamed Bouazizi, sparked the Arab Spring by setting himself on fire in Tunisia after his vender cart was confiscated by local officials.

CREDITS
Voice Actors (by order of entrance)
Student's Story: Max Ferency;
Democracia Real Ya:: Hania Luna;
Manoubia Bouazizi: Cori Dioquino;
President Ben Ali: Braddock Hargett;

Student's Story Text
Fictional story by Max Ferency loosely based on a real student in Baltimore City.

Democracia Real Ya Source Texts
www.democraciarealya.es/quienes-somos/
www.democraciarealya.es/manifiesto-comun/
www.democraciarealya.es/manifiesto-co…esto-english/

Bouazizi Source Texts
content.time.com/time/specials/pa…_2102239,00.html
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRwGrEKce…Kcer8&app=desktop

Ben Ali Source Text
http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/tunisia/ben_ali_speech_10012011.htm

Music
Music written and performed by Max Ferency. 

GEAR
MXL 890, MXL V88, Moog MF Drive, Sano Zon-Rio Accordion, Roland RD-300sx, Focusrite Scarlet 2i4, Logic X Pro 

Dignity Before Bread (Parts 1-3)

Interlude

+ A student drops out of high school in Baltimore City.
+ The activists of the Democracia Real Ya movement in Spain demand change to the economic system that created a national crisis.
+ Manoubia Bouazizi tells the story of how her son, Mohamed Bouazizi, sparked the Arab Spring by setting himself on fire in Tunisia after his vender cart was confiscated by local officials.

CREDITS
VOICE ACTORS
Student's Story: Max Ferency;
Democracia Real Ya:: Hania Luna;
Manoubia Bouazizi: Cori Dioquino;
President Ben Ali: Braddock Hargett;

STUDENT'S STORY
Fictional story by Max Ferency loosely based on a real student in Baltimore City.

DEMOCRACIA REAL YA TEXTS
Who We Are: www.democraciarealya.es/quienes-somos/
Manifesto (en Español): www.democraciarealya.es/manifiesto-comun/
Manifesto (in English): www.democraciarealya.es/manifiesto-comun/manifesto-english/

BOUAZIZI TEXTS
Time Magazine Interview: content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_2102138_2102239,00.html
Tunisia Live Interview: youtu.be/fRwGrEKcer8

BEN ALI Text
Ben Ali's Last Speech as President: www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/tunisia/ben_ali_speech_10012011.htm

MUSIC
Music written and performed by Max Ferency. 

Dignity Before Bread: Part 1

+ A student drops out of high school in Baltimore City.
+ The activists of the Democracia Real Ya movement in Spain demand change to the economic system that created a national crisis.
+ Manoubia Bouazizi tells the story of how her son, Mohamed Bouazizi, sparked the Arab Spring by setting himself on fire in Tunisia after his vender cart was confiscated by local officials.

CREDITS
VOICE ACTORS
Student's Story: Max Ferency;
Democracia Real Ya:: Hania Luna;
Manoubia Bouazizi: Cori Dioquino;
President Ben Ali: Braddock Hargett;

STUDENT'S STORY
Fictional story by Max Ferency loosely based on a real student in Baltimore City.

DEMOCRACIA REAL YA TEXTS
Who We Are: www.democraciarealya.es/quienes-somos/
Manifesto (en Español): www.democraciarealya.es/manifiesto-comun/
Manifesto (in English): www.democraciarealya.es/manifiesto-co…esto-english/

BOUAZIZI TEXTS
Time Magazine Interview: content.time.com/time/specials/pa…_2102239,00.html
Tunisia Live Interview: youtu.be/fRwGrEKcer8

BEN ALI Text
Ben Ali's Last Speech as President: www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/tunisia…eech_10012011.htm

MUSIC
Music written and performed by Max Ferency.

Dignity Before Bread: Part 2

Dignity Before Bread: Part 3

A storm soundscape created in conjunction with Michael Owen's New Life art show. The soundscape is created using field records of rain, city streets, water, percussion instruments, metal, and gun shots among other things. It can be played on a seamless 30 minute loop.

StormScape

A StormScape

An art gallery soundscape I created for the Alleys & Intersections exhibition on October 22, 2017. It is a collage of interviews with the resident artists and sounds of them working. The artist were: Mia Hernandez (digital media), Italo Duarte De Dea (mural), Gerilyn Lackey (mixed media), and Jae Jin (song).

Alleys & Intersections Soundscape

Killer Mike's words after death of George Floyd inspired me. Sadly, this cycle has been going on for a long time and so the words of Ella Baker and Martin Luther King are also just as relevant today as they were 50+ years ago.

If you feel moved by this music...
...share this with a friend to start a conversation
...educate yourself more (Michelle Alexander's reading list: www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/opinion/george-floyd-protests-race.html)
...listen to perspectives other than your own
...empathize with others' pain
...protest in the street (while safely wearing a COVID-19 mask)
...talk with your friends
...call your representatives
...create your own artistic works
...organize in your own community
...connect this movement with others that fight for life and dignity
...vote for the least worse candidates (e.g. the ones that are more likely to respond positively to protests' demands)
...donate to help the movement & the protesters:
- www.nlg.org/massdefenseprogram/
- www.colorofchange.org
- secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019
- www.afrorack.org
credits

Riot

Riot (feat. Killer Mike, Ella Baker, Martin Luther King)

Recorded in Baltimore on North Ave and Pennsylvania Ave on April 28, 2015 during the Freddie Gray community clean-up/protest/gathering after the night of looting.

For more from Max Ferency, visit www.maxferency.org or find me on Twitter, Bandcamp, or YouTube,

Dignity

This is part of the ongoing SamirVive multimedia project extending solidarity with the community of activist and journalist Samir Flores and the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) in demand of justice for our dead, disappeared, and imprisoned.  

The music weaves together Samir’s own words from his last interview about defending his community along with an explanation of the meaning of the Dia de los Muertos alter and a community member’s explanation of what his death means to them. 

Thank you to M. Heriv for the image. Thank you to those who provided their voice for the spoken word as well as the audio from "PAPANTLA Altares Vive Ninín 2013" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=97&v=5WeKQzAkBMA) and "Samir Flores a un año de su asesinato" (http://vimeo.com/393599725).

SamirVive

In order to be a good musician, one must listen to and appreciate many different types of music.  
In order to be a good citizen, one must listen to and appreciate many life experiences from different people.  
These are my efforts to be a good citizen-musician.

Max Ferency

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