Showing posts with label patriotic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label patriotic. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Michelle Obama: "An American Girl"

The Atlantic recently published an excellent article on the new First Lady...

When Michelle Obama told a Milwaukee campaign rally last February, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country," critics derided her as another Angry Black Woman. But the only truly radical proposition put forth by Obama, born and raised in Chicago's storied South Side, is the idea of a black community fully vested in the country at large, and proud of the American dream.

Drea and I have had the great fortune to see Michelle speak live on two occasions, once with a few hundred folks in a high school gym in Council Bluffs, Iowa, early in the primary/caucus process and later at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on the eve of the state's first-ever Democratic CAUCUS. In both cases, she was impressive as hell: intelligent, compassionate, strong and always very human. We became fans of hers early on and were pretty disappointed when she was attacked during the campaign. She really got a raw deal from some in the media and on the Right. Our experience with Michelle bore no resemblance to the caricature being put forth by the political noise machine. We always felt that if people could just get in front of her themselves, they would see and feel what we did. So, we are thrilled that she will have the next 4-8 years to correct the record...

As a woman of color herself, Drea is particularly inspired by the example Michelle Obama represents for other women of color, particularly younger sisters struggling to realize their own visions of themselves. We are proud to call her our First Lady and look forward to seeing what her contribution will be to this exciting chapter in our nation's history...

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Music of the Vietnam Era

I am teaching my "America in the Sixties" class again this semester. Not surprisingly, students are drawn to the music of the period, so I do a lot with it in the course. Over the past few times I've taught the class, I've been expanding my Vietnam-era music mix. It is up to a 5th CD at this point. We don't deal with every track in class, but I put the following expanded mix on reserve so they can listen more broadly, if they'd like. Most do.

So, here is the list of tracks. I thought I'd share, but I am also always interested to hear suggestions for new tunes to add to any category and, I suppose, arguments to elimnate aything you think does not belong. The "patriotic/pro-war music" section is the weakest, so any suggestions there are particularly welcome...

Music about soldiers’ experiences:
• The Ballad of the Green Beret, Sgt. Barry Saddler
• Vietnam Blues, Sarge Lintecum
• Saigon, Saigon (Dinky Dow Do)
• Run Through the Jungle, Creedance Clearwater Revival
• Chain Of Fools, Aretha Franklin
• Green Eyed Lady, Guess Who
• To Susan On The West Coast Waiting, Donovan
• Battle Hymn Of The River Rats, Johnny Cash
• Izabella, Jimi Hendrix
• Oh, Camil (The Winter Soldier), Graham Nash
• Shakin All Over, The Guess Who
• Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town, Kenny Rogers & the First Edition
• Waist Deep In The Big Muddy, Pete Seeger
• Soldiers of Peace, Graham Nash
• These Boots are Made for Walking, Nancy Sinatra

Anti-war/protest music:
• I Ain't Marchin' Anymore, Phil Ochs
• Blowin' In the Wind, Bob Dylan
• I Got a Letter from LBJ, Tom Paxton
• Hell No, I Ain't Gonna Go, Matt Jones and Elaine Laron
• Vietnam, Paul Kaplan
• Hole In The Ground, Thom Parrott
• The Times They Are a-Changin', Bob Dylan
• Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Pete Seeger
• Draft Dodger Rag, Phil Ochs
• Universal Soldier, Buffy St. Marie
• Two Hangmen, Mason Profit Band
• Agent Orange Song, Country Joe McDonald
• Kill for Peace, The Fugs
• Looks Like We're Fixin' to Die Rag, Country Joe & the Fish
• Universal Soldier, Donovan
• Masters of War, Bob Dylan
• Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire
• It Better End Soon, Chicago
• Gimme Shelter, Rolling Stones
• Ohio, Neil Young
• Maggie's Farm, Bob Dylan
• Fortunate Son, Creedance Clearwater Revival
• Power to the People, John Lennon
• What Are Their Names?, David Crosby
• Hey Joe, Jimi Hendrix
• Rejoyce, Jefferson Airplane
• Machine Gun, Jimi Hendrix
• Ballad of Penny Evans, Steve Goodman
• What About Me?, Quicksilver Messenger Service
• Street Fightin' Man, Rolling Stones
• For What It's Worth, Buffalo Springfield
• Give Peace a Chance, John Lennon
• All Along the Watchtower, Jimi Hendrix
• War, Edwin Starr
• Vietnam, Jimmy Cliff
• Ball Of Confusion, The Temptations
• What's Goin' On, Marvin Gay
• Singing in Vietnam Talking Blues, Johnny Cash
• Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore John Prine
• What is Truth, Johnny Cash
• We Gotta Get Out of this Place, The Animals
• Paint It Black, Rolling Stones
• Who'll Stop The Rain, Creedence Clearwater Revival

Patriotic/Pro-war music:
• Okie from Muskogee, Merle Haggard
• Battle Hymn Of Lt. Calley, C Co (Feat. Terry Nelson
• Hello Vietnam, George Strait
• Fightin' Side of Me, Merle Haggard
• Song of the patriot, Johnny Cash & Marty Robbins

Counter-cultural/psychedelic music:
• White Rabbit, Jefferson Airplane
• The Unknown Soldier, The Doors
• It Can't Happen Here, Frank Zappa
• Sky Pilot, Eric Burdon & The Animals
• Insense and Peppermints, Strawberry Alarm Clock
• Good Morning Starshine, Oliver
• Volunteers, Jefferson Airplane
• That's It For The Other One, Grateful Dead
• All You Need Is Love, The Beatles
• Break On Through, The Doors
• Cream Puff War, Grateful Dead
• Mary Jane, Janis Joplin
• Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, The Beatles
• Tales Of Brave Ulysees, Cream
• Get Together, The Youngbloods
• Beautiful Jam, Grateful Dead
• Revolution 1, The Beatles
• Walking Blues, Quicksilver Messenger Service
• I Need a Man to Love, Janis Joplin
• Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix
• Tomorrow Never Knows, The Beatles
• Dear Mr. Fantasy, Traffic
• The End, The Doors
• In The Year 2525, Zager and Evans
• Morning Dew, Grateful Dead
• Star Spangled Banner, Jimi Hendrix
• Imagine, John Lennon

I also intersperse the following 60s news clips throughout my Vietnam mix. They come from a nice 2-CD set, featuring Walter Cronkite and Fred Friendly, titled, "I Can Hear It Now":
• NEWS: Tonkin Gulf Incident & Resolution (August 4, 1964)
• NEWS: Defoliate Jungle/Bombing Restraint, 1964
• NEWS: Burning of village of Cam Ne - (with Morley Safer)...
• NEWS: LBJ rap
• NEWS: Government officials voice optimism about war
• NEWS: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearings
• NEWS: New Hampshire Primary: Sen. McCarthy challenges LBJ (1968)
• NEWS: Senator Robert F. Kennedy decides to run...
• NEWS: Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., April 4, '68...
• NEWS: "I've been to the mountain top..." - (with Martin Luther King)...
• NEWS: Robert F. Kennedy Speaks Of Dr. King And Violence (1968)
• NEWS: Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy , 1968
• NEWS: 1968 Democratic National Convention...
• NEWS: Demonstrations at Columbia University...
• NEWS: Vice President Spiro Agnew castigates news media...
• NEWS: Nixon on End of War
• NEWS: Nixon policy speech, November 3, 1969
• NEWS: Reprise On Tonkin Gulf Resolution (February 6, 1970)
• NEWS: Nixon rap
• NEWS: Nixon, "We are caught in war, wanting peace..."
• NEWS: Peace demonstration/moratorium, Oct. 15, '69 & Nov. 15, '69...
• NEWS: Nixon rap