Bloggers Unite For Human Rights: Get Up, Stand Up

Today, the social networking site BlogCatalog asks its members to participate in a blogosphere-wide event called Bloggers Unite for Human Rights.

Never one to refuse a blog challenge, especially one with a goal of building social awareness, I'll toss my conscious thoughts into the mix. I'm a bit out of practice with prosaic posts, so forgive me in advance for what may prove a long-winded and meandering screed.

This blog began its life as a device for me to use the act of writing to make sense of the varied cultural stimuli regularly cascading down on me. As I came to realize that others out there in the ether were doing a much better job of critically analyzing contemporary art, media and world events, I switched my focus to more personal writing, poetry and then drawing.

Reverting back to my blog's origins in order to serve today's cause, there are two streams of images haunting my mind as I type this. The first is the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. A local hangout, the Heartland Café, recently hosted an amazing touring exhibit entitled "The Children of Darfur" that features the work of renowned photographer Ron Haviv. It's impossible not to be moved by these revealing shots of the harrowed but defiant faces of West Darfur's youth as they go about their daily lives.

Unfortunately, I can't find any information on the web that indicates where this is headed next. I did find an older article detailing the show's opening at the UN headquarters: UNICEF launches photo exhibition dedicated to children of Darfur . And this one about its stop in New Orleans this past April: Amnesty International Brings 'The Children of Darfur' Photo Tour to New Orleans.

To keep apprised of all the latest developments regarding Darfur, be sure to regularly visit my friend Cooper's blog Darfur: An Unforgivable Hell on Earth. It's a great place for information and concrete ways to help solve the crisis, through both charitable assistance and political activism.

The second inconvenient monster gnawing at my conscience right now is the film When the Levees Broke, Spike Lee's amazing documentary about Hurricane Katrina. This is a must see for anyone who has fallen back into the complacency of believing, a few scant years removed from that disaster, that humanitarian crises can't happen here in the land of plenty. I see no evidence that we as a nation have done anything to redress the criminal neglect of the poor and disenfranchised left floating for days on those fetid floodwaters. Nor have we made any attempt to ensure that it never happens again.

And that brings me to the final point of this human-rights themed ramble: Building awareness is great, but it's only the first step in the journey toward real change. A planet full of aware individuals won't solve the many and persistent problems facing humanity. Awareness needs to be combined with political will and grass-roots organizing. After we inform ourselves, we need to share that information and collectively act on it. That's how social movements are born.

Another past feature of this blog was the posting of favorite song lyrics. Fully embracing the spectrum of its former being, I leave you with the video and words from a great Reggae call to action.



Get up, stand up
(Bob Marley / Peter Tosh)

Get up, stand up!
Stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up!
Don't give up the fight!

Preacher man, don't tell me,
Heaven is under the earth.
I know you don't know
What life is really worth.
It's not all that glitters is gold;
Half the story has never been told:
So now you see the light
Stand up for your rights

Get up, stand up!
Stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up!
Don't give up the fight!

Most people think,
Great God will come from the sky,
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high.
But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,
You stand up for your rights

Get up, stand up!
Stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up!
Don't give up the fight! (Life is your right!)
Get up, stand up! (So we can't give up the fight!)
Stand up for your rights! (Lord, lord!)
Get up, stand up! (Keep on struggling on!)
Don't give up the fight! (yeah!)

We sick an tired of the bs games -
Dyin' 'n goin' to heaven in-a Jesus name
We know when we understand:
Almighty God is a living man.
You can fool some people sometimes,
But you cant fool all the people all the time.
So now we see the light (what you gonna do? ),
We gonna stand up for our rights! (yeah, yeah, yeah!)

So you better:
Get up, stand up!
Stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up!
Don't give up the fight!

Favorite Song of the Day: You Can't Blame the Youth

Sometimes a song just pops in my head, and I can't always explain why (maybe a phrase overheard at a café, or an image from a film, or a headline from a newspaper, ...). When it happens, I like to try to put it in some kind of context. After all, my friend Terry Feingold says there are no coincidences.

Today's ditty comes from Bob Marley's Talkin' Blues album and attacks a conceit that many modern folks — locally, nationally, and abroad — like to adopt: blaming the victims. Often it's an idea propagated by those in charge in order to redirect potentially accusatory glances from their direction. It's a tactic with a surprising degree of success, considering the illogic of blaming those out-of-power for things perpetuated by the upholders of the status quo.

In the case of our youth, it's easy for we "grown ups" (with much growing up still to do) to fall back on the easy feelings of blame and resentment because of their propensity to "rebel" against that which came before and embrace all things new. But it's those very traits that lead to innovation and progress, albeit with attendant misteps and misgivings. What usually holds them (and us) back are the hang-ups and habits that they've inherited from the generations that came before.

So, before you yell at a kid hanging out on the street with nothing better to do, try to find a productive place for him or her to go.

You Can't Blame The Youth by Peter Tosh

You can't blame the youth
You can't fool the youth
You can't blame the youths of today
You can't fool the youth

You teaching youths to learn in school
That the cow jump over moon
You teaching youths to learn in school
That the dish run away with spoon

So You can't blame the youths of today
You can't fool the youths
You can't blame the youth

None at all
You can't fool the youth

You teach the youths about Christopher Columbus
And you said he was a very great man
You teach the youths about Marco Polo
And you said he was a very great man
You teach the youth about the pirate Hawkins
And you said he was a very great man
You teach the youth about the pirate Morgan

And you said he was a very great man

So you can't blame the youth

When they don't learn

You can't fool the youths
You can't blame the youths of today
You can't fool the youths

When every Christmas come
You buy the youth a pretty toy gun
When every Christmas come around
You buy the youth a fancy toy gun

So you can't blame the youth

When they get bad
You can't fool the youth

You can't blame the youths of today
You can't fool the youth

Favorite Song of the Day: Redemption Song

On May 11, 1981 Raggae great Bob Marley's body succumbed to cancer. Twenty-six years later, his spirit still endures through his music.

Redemption Song (Uprising - 1979) is one of his most spiritual efforts, and it's always been one of my favorite Marley tunes. The powerful vocal yearns for freedom, and the overcoming of limitations physical, mental and spiritual. Listening to it is the best way I can commemorate Bob Marley's exceptional but too short life.

Redemption Song by Bob Marley

Old pirates, yes, they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom
'Cause all I ever have
Redemption songs
Redemption songs

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
'Cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look
Some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfil the book

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom
'Cause all I ever have
Redemption songs
Redemption songs
Redemption songs

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our mind
Have no fear for atomic energy
'Cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look
Yes, some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfill the book

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom
'Cause all I ever had
Redemption songs
All I ever had
Redemption songs
These songs of freedom
Songs of freedom