Daily Archives: March 18, 2022

Dr. Richard Kurin

Ambassador at Large, Smithsonian Institution

Seeing the images of Ukrainians sheltered in Kyivs subway and singing their national anthem and folk songs through the perilous night, watching a harried mother comfort her frightened child with a lullaby, and hearing the mournful prayer for Ukraine by New Yorks Chorus Dumka that opened Saturday Night Live speaks to the role music plays in our social life. In times of strife, music gives people courage and comfort, helps us mourn and lament lossand offers us hope for the future.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the brutality inflicted upon its people and society jars our current sensibilities. It seems like a throwback to a mindset we thought well behind uslong overcome by changes beginning in the mid-1980s, leading to the independence movements that swept throughout eastern Europe and resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Thinking back to those times, a poignant program in 1990organized by the Smithsonians Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage with Soviet and Ukrainian colleagues in Kyivtoday takes on added resonance.

Our program grew from the reformist agenda of Mikhail Gorbachev, who led the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s. Gorbachev introduced policies of perestroikathe restructuring of their anemic economy and glasnost, or openness to communication and interactiondomestically and internationally. His ministers reached out to the Smithsonian Institution to develop cooperative cultural initiatives. As a result, folk artists from numerous regions of the Soviet Union came to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to perform at the 1988 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and recordings from Melodiya Records were used for the first new release from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, following the institutions acquisition of the Folkways collection.

Reciprocally, the Smithsonian organized a diverse group of community-based folk artists to participate in a Moscow festival later that summer, as well as subsequent meetings in Washington, Moscow and Kyiv to plan ongoing research and public programs.

In May 1990, we traveled to Ukraine to participate in the second International Folklore Festival and a scholarly symposium on folklore in the contemporary world. Our musical contingent consisted of Alison Krauss and her Union Station band, Tejano legend Santiago Jimmy Jimenez Jr. y su conjunto Jessie Castillo, Philadelphia tap dancer LaVaughn Robinson, New Orleanss Young Tuxedo Brass Band, and a group of Native Hawaiian hula dancers and chanters from Halau O Kekuhi. Scholars included Mark Slobin, Margarita Mazo, Bill Knoll, Richard Dauenhauerand Ruth Thomasian who studied a broad diversity of cultural traditions found in the Soviet Union. National Council for the Traditional Arts director Joe Wilson, the Centers deputy director Rich Kennedy, sound engineer Pete Reiniger, translator Stu Detmerand I rounded out the group.

Like our visit to Moscow two years earlier, we sought to represent American culture not as some unitary, choreographed and top-down product, but rather as a diversity of traditions dynamically and creatively carried forward by community-based cultural exemplars. Our viewthat folklife and culture belonged to the people and was an exercise of their expressive freedomwas in basic contrast with just about all Soviet officials and most, but not all, of their scholarly colleagues. The Soviets saw culture as something controlled and organized by the state, where groups and performances of fictionalized communities were to be costumed and scripted to present themes advancing government interests.

We battled philosophically over these ideas for several years, and that came to a head in Ukraines capital city.

Our group arrived in Kyiv just four years after the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. Ukrainians were worried about contamination of their food, water, air and even leaves on the trees. We were put in a downtown hotel and given a tight schedule over which we had no input. Staff and scholars were instructed to eat separately from artists, but we dined together.

The American scholars came prepared to give substantive presentations, to discuss and debate ideas. Instead, the symposium was a staid, uninspired affair, with no attempt to grapple with the relationship between cultural expression and social, economic and political issuesthen a hot topic around the planet. Some of our Russian and Ukrainian colleagues told us not to be so upset or surprised, as that was often the case. Authorities simply did not want real discussion, and we just needed to go along with that.

We found the same Soviet orchestration of the festival. It offered an opening parade of national and Soviet republic delegations through Kyivs main thoroughfare.

With the Young Tuxedo Brass Band leading our group blasting out second-line jazz, we were well-received on the streets by Kyiv residents. But when we entered the stadium, we were met with blaring music, grandiose and formulaic speeches, and bizarrely irrelevant performances. We were props in a spectacle broadcast to huge Soviet television audiences.

The organizers banned the display of flagsas they were afraid the Ukrainians and three Baltic delegations would show their national rather than communist flags. At the time, all were pursuing their own independence from the Soviet Union and indeed subtly using their folkloric costumes and song selections to express that effort. Not so subtly, their flags defiantly came out.

In the days that followed, our American group was directed to offerabbreviated performances on stages in out-of-the-way places, with no context and no real audiences. The organizers werent interested in what bluegrass or conjunto had to say, or what tap or jazz revealed about African American culture or hula illustrated about the Native Hawaiian experience. They didnt seem to care whether Ukrainian audiences were exposed to traditions largely unknown to them, or whether anyone learned anything from, or was inspired by, performances, or got an inkling about the lives of the artists. It seemed clear that our presence was being used to legitimize the authority and grandeur of the Soviet state.

After a few frustrating days in Kyiv, we were bussed several hours south to the small town of Kaniv on the shores of the Dnieper River. There, as we stopped for a break in the center of town, our ministerial minder said we would then be driven to a retreat ten miles further out of town to perform for other folklore groups from Finland, Latvia and Ukraine.

This seemed silly to us. We were in the center of a town. There were people all around us. Why not just perform thereto local people rather than to other festival performers?

So the Young Tuxedos took out their instruments and started playing on a street corner. Alison Krauss and Alison Brown then picked up their instruments and started playing and singing. Santiagos conjunto duo followed. We attracted a big crowd. People were surprised but obviously pleasedthey had never seen or heard anything like it. We talked briefly about who we were and passed out materials we had translated with information about the traditions and artists. This was our version of glasnost.

We went on to the retreat where the Hawaiians led by Nalani and Pualani Kanakaole gave a truly magical, stunning performance. Then Alison Krauss and Union Station got everyone dancing to an energetic bluegrass tune. The Ukrainians, Finns, Latvians and Americans all joined together, bringing their various dance movements into joyous rhythm. The effervescent moment gave us hope that music could indeed bridge cultural differences.

Back in Kyiv, our approach continued. We explained that we wanted to perform for and be among the people. The Soviet organizers said they understood, but the next day they sent us to perform at an indoor hall in the midst of a coin show where the numismatists were engaged in their own activities. We were dispirited, but then Big Al Carson from New Orleans pointed to tall apartment buildings across the way and rallied us: Lets march through the projects, he proposed.

The Young Tuxedos started playing and led the way as our group followed. People from the apartments looked out their windows and came out onto their balconies, somewhat bewildered. Detmer, our translator, yelled over and over, Privyethey, listen up! Here are the Americans! Hundreds came out. People cheered and clapped. They tossed us flowers. Some even tossed money. It was a wonderful, direct engagement with local Ukrainians, and we were showered with appreciation.

This anti-performance set our tone. Instead of going to silly festival venues, the Young Tuxedo musicians set up their instruments on the sidewalk in front of the hotel and started an impromptu set with Union Station. Passersby stopped for conjunto music and more jazz. LeVaughn and Stu handed out programs; Jimmy signed autographs. Crowds grew, spilling over Kyivs main boulevard and sometimes stopping traffic on Khreshchatyk Street.

Ukrainians, young and old, intrigued and curious, gathered, moved to the music, asked questions, and sought conversations. This became our modus operandi: holding concerts on the sidewalk steps away from the citys central square.

The next day we visited the Leninska Kuznya Shipyard. Managers wanted us to perform in a small social hall for a select group. We did, but then took our performances out onto the factory floor, doing hula among the heavy machinery, belting out New Orleans tunes along the assembly line, again to surprised but appreciative workers.

The experience for us in Kyiv, in the Ukraine, with local people and with Soviet officials and festival organizers, was instructive. We felt the heavy hand of distant, passionless Soviet-style state control.

But we found the space to exercise our artistic freedom, to sing our songs, not for some aggrandizement of the state, but for engagement with locals. And that engagement was rewarded with smiles and applause, with people joining in dances, and enjoying our obvious display of freedom. Indeed, freedom was in the airthe Berlin Wall had fallen just months before; the Ukrainians were to declare their independence months later; the Baltics, which had been waging their Singing Revolution, reclaimed their nationhood. By the end of 1991, the Soviet Union was no more.

Now, some three decades later, many in Ukraine and around the world worry about that freedom and independence, declared as it was on Kyivs central city squareadjacent to where we performed our hotel sidewalk concerts. The people of Ukraine, their culture, and their freedom to express and exercise it have become a target of warand bombs are now falling on that very spot.

We can only hope for the day when people will be able, once again, to take out their instruments and freely sing on the streets of Kyiv.

The musicians in the American group enjoyed amazing careers. Santiago Jimenez Jr. was awarded a National Medal of the Arts.Alison Krauss, who as an individual artist and with Union Station and others has won 27 Grammy Awards. Alison Brown also earned a solo Grammy and other awards. LaVaughn Robinson and the Kanakaole sisters, Nalani and Pualani, were designated National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment for the Arts. The Young Tuxedo Brass Band has performed numerous times over the decades at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as well as venues ranging from hometown New Orleans to the White House.

We asked performers and other staff about their memories of their trip.

Nalani KanakaoleArtistic director, Kumu Halau O Kekuhi

The visit to Ukraine is on my top five experiences as a performerjust as high as going to Halemaumau to make offerings. I guess in Kyiv our group was eclectic. Trying to fit the bass, let alone three Hawaiians into the tiny European elevator was fun. We were put with the Latvians, Estoniansand Lithuanians. It was like the Soviets did not want to deal with us.The Cubanos had better treatment. Our big performance was ninety miles outside Kyiv, close to Poland. We were told it was a major trail crossingI imagined of the Marco Polo varietyand we had little audience.We played for the unseen, but the feeling was overwhelming, like there were thousands. That was a best, as its like in the hula the gods came to view it.

The whole Moscow-Kyiv experience was such an education in ornate perceived imagery. They were still waiting in line at the stores even for soap. Where I saw any kind of hope would have been at their Orthodox churches, I guess because there were older women who maintained the church and grounds who were friendly, vocal. But they were like the face of the community.

Pualani KanaheleDirector, Edith Kanakaole Foundation

While going to one of the towns to perform, we were stopped by an official looking group of people as we entered a bridge. There was a greeting protocol which was very impressive. A gentleman gave a speech. A young lady held a loaf of freshly baked bread with rock salt on it, on top of a beautiful long cloth that looked like freshly woven linen, which is made from flax. I wondered at the significance of the fresh bread, the rock salt and the beautifully designed cloth. Im sure it was explained but I didnt understand.We have cultural protocols here in Hawaii, so I wondered about the different things being offered.

At a street fair, I bought one of those cloths they used in the protocol. I still have it and am proud of it. I was thrilled that the material was handmade linen, and the design is beautiful.

Ruth ThomasianFounder and president, Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archive

The Smithsonian and the USSR Ministry of Culture planned meetings of American and Soviet folklife scholars. These scholars would set standards for a cooperative exchange study of cultures that exist in both the Soviet Union and the United States. I was wondering how that concept would be played out in the Soviet Union, where the government made every effort to erase ethnic identity. I was even amazed that the Soviets allowed Ukrainians to hold their folk festival. Actually, that was one of the highlights of the tripbeing able to meet and greet the people out in the open: the little kids mimicking the dancers, old ladies with hands full of flowers to present to us, and folks asking musicians and dancers to autograph their programs.

Mark SlobinEthnomusicologist, professor emeritus, Wesleyan University

I would just like to add a personal epilogue that involves the legendary songwriter and entertainer Tom Lehrer, of all people. Tom used to teach the winter quarter at University of California-Santa Cruz, training a novice class in how to put on a musical. My wife was on the faculty there, and we used to run into Tom and chat. I told him about our trip and mentioned Richard Kurins cheeky response to our Soviet handler, Liudmilla. She was always in a nervous state and trying to manage us, unsuccessfully, and Richard kept saying, Lighten up, Liudmilla. Tom said that would make a great song. He grabbed a yellow pad and scribbled a text, humming a tune to go with it. What an addition to the Lehrer repertoire.

Alas, when we moved back East from Santa Cruz, that piece of paper got lost, and when I asked Tom later for the tune, he didnt remember it. So, it goes into the annals of lost legends. But the trip stays bright and clear in my mind, and Im so glad I took the home movie footage that can anchor the official story of the expedition.

Rich KennedyFormer deputy director, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

I have some vivid memories of looking for food for the performers. This was in 1990, just before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. There were empty shelves everywhere.I remember looking down from my hotel window on Kyivs main square full of peopleprotestors?Independencewas soon to come.

Pete ReinigerFormer technical director and sound production supervisor, Smithsonian

In a performance at a hall which was hosting a coin collection exhibition, I needed to access a control booth where the built-in sound system was located. The house technician arrived and took me up to the booth which had only small projection windows to see and hear through, but we prevailed. When we arrived at the booth, the young technician asked me to share a beer with him. I remarked that it was 11:30 a.m. and pretty early for me to drink a beer, but soon realized that it would be a mistake to not engage in this social encounter and risk offending him on many levels.

After splitting the beer in two glasses, he proceeded to tell me that there were two things he wanted me to understand. First, Chernobyl was radioactive, but Kyiv was not. I said I understood, hoping it was true. And second, he was Ukrainian, not Russian. I confirmed that I understood that as well. Obviously, he exemplified tremendous national pride and resentment toward the Russians at that pre-independence time. I was glad I made the decision to share the beer. Certainly my most vivid memory.

A version of this article was previously published in the online magazine of the Smithsonian's Center for Folkllife and Cultural Heritage.

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The Music and Freedom We Experienced on the Streets of Kyiv - Smithsonian Magazine

On the evening of March 14 a journalist named Marina Ovsiannikova interrupted the main Russian TV newscast by holding up a sign opposing the war in Ukraine.

"No to war. Do not believe the propaganda. Here you are being lied to," read the poster she held up for a few seconds behind the presenter's back before the live feed was cut.

The scene went viral on social media and was reported on television stations around the world.

Ovsiannikova instantly became one of the faces of domestic resistance against an autocratic regime that uses lies and repression to keep its population in ignorance about what is happening in Ukraine.

The journalist knew the risks she was running. She did not care.

Her gesture may seem ridiculously small. But, in fact, it was an act of courage that has universal significance.

Ovsiannikova publicly testified that there is no truth without a commitment to freedom or without taking risks.

There is no authentically human life without personal involvement, without giving of oneself when fundamental values are threatened.

A few words hastily brandished on a television screen will not be enough to end the war. But they can elicit the will to act, which has remained buried or repressed until now.

They can restore confidence so that people can commit themselves, in turn, to the resistance to barbarism.

They can stimulate the courage of men and women who need to know that they are not alone in carrying the dream of a world of justice and peace, of truth and freedom.

As Pope Francis likes to repeat, "We are not saved alone."

Deep down, this is what Marina Ovsiannikova's few, hastily written words also tell us.

They are words that invite us to risk our own freedom with and for others.

Dominique Greiner is a senior editor at La Croix, as well as a moral theologian and Assumptionist priest.

Read the rest here:

The courage and risk of freedom - La Croix International

American freedom is slipping away.

To save it from completely vanishing under the obsessed Democratic Party, anti-woke entrepreneur, philanthropist, and national political leader Harrison Rogers is staging the Freedom Fight Night pay-per-view (PPV) on Sat., March 19, 2022 inside Miami Airport Convention Center in Miami, Florida.

Thats where former UFC light heavyweight champions Quinton Jackson and Tito Ortiz will lead two teams of freedom fighters into battle. Early bird buyers can order the live stream for just $12.95 on CloutHub. In addition, tickets starting at $100 are available at the same link, along with select VIP packages up to $50,000.

Hey, freedom aint cheap!

That may explain why the newly-created Freedom Key Society (FKS) will release 100 Freedom Fight Night NFTs at $1,000 per key, though to be honest, if youre in Miami and have $1,000 to burn you may want to consider the $1,000 Beef Case at Papi Steak, which could generate far more street cred for your next Instagram flex.

As for the actual fights, heres what viewers (and attendees) have in store:

155 lbs.: Alejandro Pato Martinez vs. Piankhi Zimmerman (13-4-1)155 lbs.: Ivey Nixon (5-2) vs. Arthur Walcott-Ceesay (4-3)135 lbs.: Montseratt Rendon (3-0) vs. Claudia Zamora (3-2)145 lbs.: Demetri Miller (2-1) vs. Timothy Cuamba (3-1)155 lbs.: Shaheen Santana (6-2) vs. Usman Bisultanov (6-4)135 lbs.: Amun Cosme (3-0) vs. David Dzasokhov (2-0)185 lbs.: Luis Hernandez (2-0) vs. Luis Conde Navarro (2-2)205 lbs.: Dan Spohn (18-8-1) vs. Evan Need (11-8)

Fighters on the left are Team Rampage, fighters on the right are Team Ortiz.

Now were fighting back, literally, starting our own Freedom Fight Night for the first time ever, where we not only gain insight on the current political landscape, but the current political figures who can speak on it firsthand, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir said. You also get to watch two incredible MMA teams go for the first Freedom Championship Belt.

Mir is a supporting spokesperson and like Jackson and Ortiz, will not be competing.

All proceeds from this event will go to support initiatives in the fight against mandates and to defend our freedoms in the 2022 elections, Mir continued. When we fight together, there isnt a force in the world that could take our freedoms away from us. UFC legends are joining Americas conservative leaders for the first ever Freedom Fight Night. Were literally going to fight to make sure Americas freedoms are never seized again.

The Freedom Key Society is not a charity or political action committee (PAC) but rather a private entity that will not be restricted within the government controls or regulations. Rogers insists FKS will not be for profit and will arrange quarterly meetings for transparency on income, expenses, and investments.

No doubt the Democrats are shaking in their boots.

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Freedom Fight Night: Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz go head-to-head to save America from inept White House - MMA Mania

A defiant young woman imprisoned in a perspex cube no longer wants to be called Antigone. Darren Murphys new adaptation of the Greek tragedy seems similarly ambivalent about its origins, as if unsure whether to shrug off the original entirely. In his reduced version, subtitled after Sophocles, the city of Thebes has been ravaged by a dangerous virus. During this state of emergency, Xntigone (Eloise Stevenson) has joined a resistance movement against her uncle Creons government. About to proclaim Freedom Day, Creon (Michael James Ford) promises to release her if she denounces her dead brother as a traitor.

Emma Jordans sleek production for Belfasts Prime Cut and the Mac has a futuristic edge, with Ciaran Bagnalls design suggesting an art gallery where seductive technology enables new forms of surveillance and control. In an intense confrontation between uncle and niece, each accuses the other of weaponising the virus. Bristling with references to culture wars, including plans to destroy statues of dead statesmen, intergenerational conflict is the central theme here, powerfully portrayed. Xntigones disgust at Creons cynicism is expressed in Stevensons physical revulsion, while Fords tone is smoothly supercilious, mocking her new playground name.

Amid the focus on political spin, the central drama of conscience drifts far out of sight through over complication. Issues are piled on, from biological warfare to corruption, with the Oedipus family backstory adding layers of murkiness. Threatening to release a lethal new strain of the virus, Xntigone says: Sometimes you need to destroy the world because the world is broken. It is a nihilistic credo, bleakly shifting the moral balance of the plays arguments, so that the only choices left are between different degrees of destructiveness.

Read more here:

Xntigone review culture wars rage before Freedom Day in Thebes - The Guardian

When making governmental decisions for all Idahoans, our legislators should be able to trust that the information shared by any lobbying group or institution is based in fact, and buttressed by substantive, credible evidence. Opinions are fine, but they should be portrayed as such, and not conflated to appear as fact.

As educators, we feel that citing legitimate sources is fundamental to providing quality research for busy legislators as they debate and develop policies that affect the entire state. And when we find that is not happening, we feel it is imperative that Idahoans know.

In its paper titled, Critical Social Justice in Idaho K-12 Education, the Idaho Freedom Foundation has failed miserably in providing factual information. In fact, their research methodology is so shoddy, it wouldnt pass the basic research requirements of an eighth grade English class.

In sticking with the IFFs tradition of grading legislators, weve done the same for the IFF and their Research team.

Using Primary Sources Correctly: Grade F

Websites such as Buzz Feed and Kootenai County GOP are not primary sources. Buzz Feed being better known for celebrity gossip, and GOP op-eds are not a research source.

Using Vetted Named Sources: Grade F

IFF is utilizing Unnamed sources in allegations about school districts and other public entities. When making allegations, such as they have, it is imperative to provide proven examples and sources transparently and appropriately.

For Example:

Whistle-blower teachers in Blaine County shared the training materials with Parents Defending Education, revealing that the training includes implicit bias, microaggressions.

Using Credited Data: Grade F

Using data required and collected by the federal government to attack school districts as part of a slanted and biased agenda.

For Example:

Nampa School District collects highly sensitive and extremely personal data on childrens lives (including race, ethnicity, income level, discipline records, grades, test scores, disabilities, mental health, medical history, counseling records.)

Using Independent Sources: Grade F

Citing a lobbying group as an independent source to further their incendiary rhetoric.

For Example:

Districts across Idaho, including West Ada, Pocatello-Chubbuck, and Coeur dAlene, teach kids that parents are roadblocks to their goals, white children are privileged, and they should protest for antiracist political causes such as Black Lives Matter. (Utah Parents United 2021).

In another example they cite their own Vice President as a source. Meridian Middle School pressures teachers to judge students by the color of their skin. (Hurst 2021) This is quoted from IFF Vice President Dustin Hursts personal tweet.

Using Bullying Tactics to Sway Decisions: Grade A

The IFF researchers do get an A for deliberately choosing inflammatory, hyperbolic rhetoric while making unfounded accusations.

For Example:

Progressive advocacy groups have succeeded in establishing a statewide framework to ensure children from cradle to college are inundated with radical gender ideology. However, these progressive triumphs are still not enough for sexual revolutionists. (Not true, not verified, but plenty fanciful)

Sometimes school districts quietly adopt APP curriculum, sometimes they quietly allow alternative sex education advocacy groups into the schools to offer programs. There is no transparency, so it is impossible to know what any individual school district is doing. (Nonsensical, untrue, unsupported by factual evidence or research.)

Citing Sources and Bibliography Grade D

Formatting their sources in footnotes or end notes so they can be easily accessed and readily cross checked, rather than having to transfer to another site, which does not help with transparency.

Overall Grade: F

For poor research techniques, cherry picking information, citing opinion-based web sites as credible sources, misleading legislators and others with inflammatory rhetoric, multiple prevarications, demonizing anyone not slavishly adhering to their radical viewpoints, engaging in childish name calling, pushing to overturn sections of the Idaho and U.S. Constitutions to support their personal agenda, and seeking and accepting public federal tax dollars (which they publicly eschew) to support theiranti-public education and anti-government views.

It is clear that the IFF and their researchers cannot be trusted as a credible source that legislators can rely upon to receive fact-based, substantive information. It is also clear that the legislature should not give credence to any reports or information that the IFF provides them when making decisions that affect all Idahoans.

All legislative decisions should be formulated based on what is best for constituents and not on behalf of a radical lobbying group that only cares about advancing its own distorted agenda.

Excerpt from:

The Idaho Freedom Foundation has failed to provide factual information - Idaho EdNews

Pristina 17-18 March 2022: The joint European Union and Council of Europe action on Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media (JUFREX) in co-operation with Academy of Justice organised a two- day roundtable with judges, prosecutors, and lawyers on Freedom of Expression: defamation and protection of reputation and safety of journalists.

Detailed presentations on European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) jurisprudence and various domestic court decisions elaborated by a combination of local and international experts fostered in-depth discussions among all participants.

Strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP) lawsuits, the role of media (self)regulatory authorities in relation to the protection of reputation, the ECtHR standards for the protection of journalists and the domestic legal framework and judicial cases of violence against journalists were comprehensively discussed.

A specific case study on the application of international standards in the field of freedom of expression was also presented and argued during the second day of the event.

This event is conducted in the framework of the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II, a co-operation initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of a Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process, where relevant.

Find more about JUFREX: https://bit.ly/2QtZrT6

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Roundtable with judges and prosecutors Freedom of Expression: defamation and protection of reputation and safety of journalists - Council of Europe

What do you do when no one will listen to you? Nowadays, if you try to make a controversial point online, and Big Tech says that you are trying to spread misinformation and deletes you article and your accounts, taking to the streets is the only option you have left. Here are some peaceful protests that have worked throughout history.

In early 1800s India, British rulers made it illegal for Indians to produce their own salt, as well as heavily taxed the imported salt from England. There were many attempts to overturn the tax and break up the English monopoly on the vital mineral, but it was Mahatma Gandhi who led the first movement that gained any sort of traction.

In March, 1930, Gandhi and his followers made a 240-mile trek to the Indian coast and when they got there, they all reached down and gathered up their own salt. In typical tyrant fashion, over 60,000 people, including Gandhi, were arrested and put in jail.

The trek was handled non-violently and there were no reports of mostly harmless riots with pictures of the city burning in the background. As the world looked on, the sympathies of the world started supporting the people of India instead of the British.

Just a few decades before, in 1913, the U.S. Womens Suffrage movement held the first large political march on Washington for political purposes. Just before Wilsons inauguration, between 5,000 and 10,000 thousand women gathered together to pressure the government to allow women to participate in politics and to be treated as citizens of the U.S. They were trying to prove that you can be beautiful and smart and deserved the ability to vote.

It was a cold winter in 1913, and rumors of the beds being extra cold in the D.C. area were going around.

50 years later, Martin Luther King Jr., a follower of Gandhi and a lot of his beliefs, Had a Dream. He held the 1963 March on Washington where over 200,000 demonstrators gathered peacefully around the Lincoln Memorial; all he asked, was to follow the science that all men (and women) were created equal.

Here we are today in 2022, with our brothers and sisters in the north (Canadians) have the stereotypical identity of being polite the meme of a violent protest in Canada is a middle-aged man holding a sign that states, in no uncertain terms, Im a little Upset or I am so angry; I MADE A SIGN! So it was in amazement, in the middle of January, that a large protest took place that involved thousands of people on both sides of the border.

The protest was a reaction to Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus vaccine mandates for truckers traveling into the country from the United States no vaccine, no entry. Estimates at the time expected as many as 32,000 of the 160,000 cross-country truck drivers would have been affected by the mandate.

It didnt matter if you have already had COVID and had natural antibodies in your system; If you didnt show your papers you were not getting back into your own country. If you chose to remain unvaccinated, you would have to stay in a hotel room for two weeks to prove you were clean. Most truckers do not have the ability to make a living by sitting on their tushes for that long every time they cross the border.

Hence, the Freedom Convoy 2022 Tamara Lich and Benjamin Dichter, who were not long-haul truckers, came up with the idea of a convoy of trucks as a peaceful protest that would travel across Canada and head to Ottawa to get rid of the vaccine mandates and the (vaccine) passports, Dichter said. That passport, thats the really concerning one.

Long haul truckers on both sides of the border started to join the movement. Lots of other people also showed up with their cars, pickups, and family vans. Most all of the main entrances between the U.S. and Canada ended up with hundreds and thousands of participants. They formed long lines going into the country, or going into the Capitol in Ottawa, and in some cases, they just parked. And now for the horror the drama, the unmitigated gall they honked their horns!

There were reports of the peacefulness of the protestors. There were several stories of local Canadian police that was talking to the truckers and several of them donated to the cause. The mainstream media got on the bandwagon when some of the protestors took a statue of a local hero and cancer research activist, Terry Fox and decorated it with some Confederate flags and other graffiti didnt pull it down, or damage it, but put graffiti and a Confederate flag on it. The thing that wasnt broadcast was that other truckers cleaned it up afterwards.

To help pay for the food and the fuel and expenses of the protestors, people contributed to the crowd-sourcing site GoFundMe in a couple days, the fundraiser gathered over $8 million, but the vast majority of that money was held back by the website when it determined the fundraiser violat[ed] its terms of service and started refunding donors.

Supporters then turned to GiveSendGo, another crowd-funding site, and raised another $16 million. But the Canadian government had other ideas, and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice froze those funds from going to truckers.

The situation got nastier: Police began confiscating fuel, and arresting people who were bringing fuel and other essentials to the truckers. To frustrate officers, supporters started walking around with fuel cans full of water.

Trudeau and the government also enacted the never-before-used Emergencies Act to freeze trucker bank accounts and suspend all donations flowing to the convoy, and ordered insurance companies to drop policies on participating vehicles.

What, exactly, was the emergency? Surely, the honking horns werent that bad.

Weeks into the protest, Ontario (where Ottowa is located) announced it would lift its COVID-19 proof-of-vaccination mandate in two weeks not because of the protests, the premier said, but because it is safe to do so.

I am sure that it is only a coincidence.

The truckers disbanded in late February, seemingly having scored at least a partial victory by pressuring the region to lift local vaccine mandates.

Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary to get people to pay attention to you. Doing so peacefully is a good thing. Standing up for what you believe in is a good thing.

The important thing is to not just be a sheeple get involved, talk to friends and neighbors, try and make a difference.

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Peaceful protests work, from the Salt March to the Freedom Convoy | The Right Stuff - Enumclaw Courier-Herald

Several trucks rolled past Black Lives Matter Plaza on Friday after members of the Peoples Convoy vowed earlier to take it back.

Since arriving in the Washington metro area on March 4 to protest COVID-19 mandates, the gathering of 18-wheelers and cars has mostly stayed on the Capital Beltway but in recent days began slowing traffic within city limits.

In a video posted on Twitter Friday morning, a speaker at the convoys staging site declared the groups new aim in Washington.

Whats going to happen up here in D.C.: Black Lives Matter Street, were gonna take it back, said a man at the groups morning send-off meeting. All that paint is coming off the street.

Later Friday, a small group of trucks drove near the two-block plaza thats just a stones throw from the White House and then departed the area.

The bright yellow markings denoting the BLM Plaza, which was established during the nationwide George Floyd protests in 2020, remained intact as of Friday afternoon.

On several occasions this week, the convoy made detours into the city, creating traffic jams and infuriating residents.

The protest echoes Canadas Freedom Convoy that overtook several Canadian cities and key border crossings for several weeks last month.

Nearly all U.S. cities have curbed many pandemic restrictions in place during the height of the pandemic. Federal mask mandates remain in place for public transport and flights.

Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.

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Freedom Convoy briefly converged on Washington's Black Lives Matter Plaza - Washington Times

When I think of one of the most anarchic albums of all time, my mind strangely wanders to a goofy, tourist-filled sunflower field. In the throes of the pre-vaccine pandemic, all my wife, Brenna, and I could do was drive endlessly through the countryside (a time I detailed in my Talkhouse essay about Neil Youngs Silver and Gold). But a few months into the endless road trip, our conversations grew darker.

What we noticed was that the rah-rah Were all in this together messaging had given way to something uglier: information clampdown and a sea of shrieking, masked avatars. Somewhere between the edge-of-your-seat COVID death ticker, the Fiery but mostly peaceful chyron, and the spike in petty Twitter cancellations, the world felt smoothed over, like a ball bearing. Stick out and be ground down, culture seemed to communicate.

Thats why we wanted to throw our computers in the ocean and see some sunflowers on a glorious day but our hearts sank. What should have been a cost-free excursion was $15 a pop and a parking fiasco, flooded with yahoos taking influencer selfies. Given that everything felt like a tiresome lecture already, this gatekeeping of God-given beauty felt like rat poison to the soul. Not everything can be streamlined, I thought. Not everything can be monetized.

So we pulled a U-turn, kicked up dust, and cranked up an album that feels liable to shake apart at any moment: The Falls Hex Enduction Hour, which turns 40 this month. After maybe a hundred listens, weve declared it to be one of the greatest rock & roll albums of all time but it cuts even deeper than that. Hex as we call it in shorthand every time we need a dose fulfills the definition of the word. More than any other album in our lives, its become a spell against uptightness, self-consciousness, and whats become a mass, pathological need to constantly be upset and angry.

I first got into Hex back when we lived in Queens. During commutes to my old internship at Billboard, when I felt like my train was about to derail, I fell in love with Jawbone and the Air-Rifle. The surf-rocky main riff reminded me of 13th Floor Elevators Roller Coaster; it felt like an invitation to a knife fight. And when it lurched into the wonderfully nauseating half-time section with singer Mark E. Smith reporting his outlandish lyrics like a freight conductor it felt legitimately dangerous. This music made me feel alive.

When we moved out of the city in 2019, I kept that exhilarating feeling in my back pocket. And during a miserable period when 24-year-olds quote-tweeted the CDC and, overall, acted like insufferable church ladies, Hex worked like a charm. When the internet became an unbearably arid place to be, we simply put on opener The Classical, and within 20 seconds, all the elements were there. The double-drum-kit attack and the often unprintable, Nazi-skewering lyrics were a reliable balm for our agitated brains.

But the first two tracks aside seriously, has there ever been an opening salvo like The Classical and Jawbone? theres not a weak song on Hex, and so many outlandish artistic choices still make Brenna and I cackle with delight.

Why did they kill the hurtling momentum on track three with Hip Priest, a mishmash of mumbles and guitar meanderings seemingly stuck in first gear? How does the cowbell on Mere Pseud Mag. Ed. go so hard? Why are there gurgling orcs on Who Makes the Nazis? How did all this chaos produce a ballad as hypnotic and beautiful as Iceland, which features a recording Smith made of wind against his bedroom window? And so on and so forth.

Now, Ive grown to love lots of Fall records sometimes, Im more in the mood for Live at the Witch Trials or Perverted by Language or Imperial Wax Solvent. But as terrific and idiosyncratic as they are, none of them hold a candle to Hex Enduction Hour, in my opinion. Brenna and I have tried to figure out why this is. Maybe they just needed two drummers at all times for maximum impact. Or maybe it was just a case of right place, right time it hit us hard when it needed to

Whatever the case, Hex Enduction Hour is a zonked universe I keep returning to when I dont feel like being pushed around, or mentally policed, or shamed into subscribing to someone elses thinking. Its also infected my music-making: My default is melodic, folky power-pop songs, but lately, Im working on a rather demented project called Mouser, where Im trying to choose the ugliest chords, the most hypnotic rhythms, and the most smothering atmospheres.

Most of all, Hex just gives me a boost of creative affirmation the feeling that there are still dangerous and thrilling unknowns in the world, and that my generation isnt doomed to molder in bed, smoke weed, watch Netflix, and hate the president.

Everythings pretty much back to normal now, but Brenna and I still have our trusty playlist when were headed into some excruciatingly stifling social situation. First, we put on Captain Beefhearts Frownland, where Don Van Vliet explains that his heart and soul are limitless and that you cant wipe the grin off his face, no matter how dismal things get. And then, we put on you-know-what.

And nothing makes my heart sing than three words, spat at everything and everyone: Hey there, fuckface!!! Hey there, fuckface!!! In those moments, in a torrent of noise, with the world on its knees, Ive never felt better in my life.

Read more here:

In An Era Of Smothering Control, The Fall Gave Me Freedom - Talkhouse

Good morning! Tomorrow D.C. United plays a day game in Toronto, your NWSL champions the Washington Spirit are in Orlando for their Challenge Cup opener, and Loudoun United have a bizarre 1pm kickoff up in New Jersey. Were in the deep end at B&RU! Hope you like to read articles online about soccer.

Speaking of...

D.C. United strikes deal to acquire Taxiarchis Fountas earlier than expected | Washington PostSteven Goff is reporting that United has agreed to a deal with Rapid Wien to bring Taxi Fountas to the District sooner than originally planned, with roughly $400,000 going to the Austrian side to buy out the remaining few months of Fountas contract. Its no secret that United has been pushing for this, and reports in Austria have pointed towards Fountas wanting to make the move happen ASAP as well, so if it costs a little money...I think the Black-and-Red will be able to live with it.

Fountas will need time to get his visa, so dont expect him to make a dramatic, WWE baw gawd thats Taxis music!!! entrance tomorrow at BMO Field, but itll still be a boon to a team that needs sharper movement and more creativity in the attack.

Speaking of Uniteds attack, Michael Estrada has been officially called up by Ecuador:

We already heard that Estrada is out for this weekend for family reasons and would stay in Ecuador to join up with the national team, so this is just crossing a T and dotting an I.

Spirit Coach Kris Ward Uses a Player-First Philosophy In Search of a Second NWSL Title | Washington City PaperNot only is this a good read about Kris Ward and his path to becoming the Spirits head coach, but it contains some news about the teams acting GM (its a familiar name!) and that the club will soon hire Angela Salem who retired after an NWSL Best XI season in 2021, and who played for the Spirit in 2015 as an assistant coach.

Ward spoke to media yesterday, breaking some news, praising Ashley Sanchezs growth (if you like Sanchez, we have more about her coming up in an hour, or in the past if you didnt read this post right when it went live), and alluding to adjustments in style of play. Heres the thread of press conference quotes:

Washington Spirit Sign Defender Amber Brooks | WashingtonSpirit.comWashington also added NWSL veteran Amber Brooks to its squad yesterday, a move that seemed expected once her preseason trial carried on through the Florida leg of training camp. Brooks will battle against Karina Rodrguez and Alia Martin for the job of being the go-do center back option when Emily Sonnett and/or Sam Staab are unavailable, but with international call-ups, Brooks and Martin will both get chances to play alongside Staab (unless Vlatko calls Staab up too, which...look Im just a blogger but I feel like that should have happened months ago).

What Im saying is that the Spirit are deep.

Interview with Andi Sullivan | RFK RefugeesAndi Sullivan stopped by RFK Refugees to talk about whats to come for the Spirit, her USWNT play, and of course the mystery of the cherry blossom kits.

Ill throw in that there is a new Plex Weather coming out in literally hours.

NWSL Challenge Cup: Taking stock of every team as the games begin | Just Womens SportsWant to know whats going on with the rest of the league? Claire Watkins has a preview covering the basics for all 12 NWSL teams, including a note that the Spirit are right up there among the favorites.

USMNT roster named for March World Cup qualifying window | Stars and Stripes FCGregg Berhalter announced his 27-man USMNT squad, but it sounds like theyre probably going to have to make a quick change based on what happened just a couple of hours before the announcement:

Not ideal!

Its like trying to hold water in your fist: Searching for the truth behind the Quertaro stadium violence | The AthleticThis is a long read, but some tremendous on-the-ground reporting from Pablo Maurer and Felipe Cardenas on how things are in Quertaro in the aftermath of the horrible fighting seen at a match between los Gallos Blancos and Atlas.

Alright, thats it for me for now, but theres plenty more to come today and tomorrow. Enjoy your Friday, and go Terps!

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Friday Freedom Kicks: Taxiarchis Fountas to D.C. United, USMNT roster for March qualifiers, and more - Black And Red United