Music, minds & movement for peace
By
Usavior
Published Mar 16, 2005 2:14 PM
“Men and women of all ages and races have
come together to say in one voice, that we want Troops Out Now and
forever, not only from the war in Iraq, but from future wars that
will oppress the poor.”
So say the artists and activists
who lent their voices to the phenomenal Troops Out Now CD project.
The
CD’s release was timed to coincide with the March 19 Troops Out Now demon
stration, which will start in Harlem, and proceed down Fifth Avenue to Central
Park. This “soundtrack for the movement” sports an impressive roster
of musicians: Nana Soul, Spiritchild, Fifth Column, Sparlha Swa, Pam Parker
& Jobari, Latisha Divine, Kahlil Khan, Goldie Braun and Rochester’s
Raging Grannies, as well as veteran activists like Larry Holmes, Sara Flounders,
Teresa Gutierrez, Nellie Hester-Bailey, Brenda Stokely, Julie Fry, Charlotte
Kates, Erik-Anders Nilsson, Narciso Castillo, Seth Tobocman (who was responsible
for the cover art) and last but certainly not least Mumia
Abu-Jamal.
“We wanted to take music to a new level,” says Nana
Soul, spokesperson for Artists and Activists United for Peace and a recording
artist on Black Waxx Records. “ It’s time to re-politicize
art…[trying to achieve and maintain freedom]… there’s nothing
else I’d rather sing about.”
The CD took three weeks to
produce which is unheard of “unless you have a level of commitment from
everyone so profound that everything just flows,” says Shawna Glover of
Black Waxx Records and Artists and Activists United for Peace. “In the
music industry you can’t get anything done without eighteen signatures.
But for this project, we took care of business—fast.”
Though
grassroots in sentiment, the presentation is anything but. The CD project
showcases some of the hottest music and arrangements in professional music
today. “The movement just kicked it up a notch,” says Bob Law of the
famed radio show Night Talk. “Now we’ve got to get this music on the
radio. Mainstream media is not allowing these voices to be heard, and this music
is ten times better than anything they’re playing today.”
The
Troops Out Now CD Project is educational as well as entertaining, containing
statistics on the cost of this war in money and lives, the wars’ origins,
and the lies surrounding it.
Visit www.blackwaxx.com or
www.troopsoutnow.org. for more information or to get the CD.
Tylon
“Usavior” Washington is the producer of the Troops Out Now CD
Project.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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