Who's Behind the Recent Anti-Integration Decision?

Court decisions don't take place in a vacuum and judges are by no means "objective." This new court has certainly shown its (conservative) activist colors recently. So, what political interests were behind the recent anti-integration decision by the Supreme Court? The L.A. Times susses it out. Not surprisingly, the arguments put forth by the majority were the brainchild of a conservative, business-oriented legal movement that began in the 1970s as a reaction to civil rights, environmental and other liberal movements of the time. Check the full story out:

Who's Behind the Recent Anti-Integration Decision?

March for Peace

On May 21, two college students - Ashley Casale (age 19) and Michael Israel (age 18) - set off by foot on a 3,000 mile trek from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., in what can only be called an amazing act of conscience. The goal of the march is to bring awareness to non-violent solutions to domestic and global conflicts.

In the "Values" section of their website, it states:

"Students from around the country are interested in engaging our generation in discussion of peaceful solutions to some of the world's greatest problems, and in taking action.... Marching for Peace means marching for:

- Nonviolent resistance to war efforts
- End of genocide in Darfur and all crimes against humanity
- Civil disobedience to social injustices and orders of war
- End of nuclear weapon holding and proliferation
- Principles of sustainability and global citizenship"

Ashley and Michael's "March for Peace" will be arriving in Lincoln this evening to participate in the weekly peace vigil held outside the federal building. Tomorrow, they will head off to Omaha where there will be a large music festival and peace rally on Saturday (7/14) from 1-7pm in their honor at Levi Carter Park.

For more information, to track the progress of, or to support these courageous students, check out the following website:

March for Peace

Olbermann Comment: "Bush and Cheney Resign!"

Olbermann displays courage once again. As a historian, I particularly appreciate the historical consciousness he brings to his analyses...

Mavis Staples

I love this rockin' version of "Eyes on the Prize." A very powerful video, too. I saw Mavis at Bonnaroo this year and she and her band were magnificent.

Here is what soul music authority Rob Bowman (Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records) had to say about her latest album, "We’ll Never Turn Back":

"For over fifty years, Mavis Staples has been a national treasure, working her vocal magic on the highways and byways of gospel, folk and soul music. With both her family group, the Staple Singers, and as a solo artist in her own right she has helped to define much of what is righteous and soulful in American music. In the early 1960s, the Staple Singers began to work with Dr. Martin Luther King singing in support of the Civil Rights movement.

"With We’ll Never Turn Back, Mavis Staples has come full circle, singing songs that were seminal to a movement and time that helped form her as an artist. Alongside songs that were inextricably part of the Civil Rights movement, many of them associated with the Freedom Singers, Mavis co-wrote the title track with producer and guitarist extraordinaire Ry Cooder, sings a Cooder original, "I'll Be Rested," and opens the CD with a cover of bluesman J.B. Lenoir's "Down in Mississippi," connecting the disc to her own roots down South.

For many artists, such a project would be an exercise in recreating period pieces in much the same way that museums present the past as freeze-frame tableaux. Mavis takes a different path, personalizing the record, ad libbing spoken and sung commentary on several songs, connecting the lyrics to her own life, her family and, perhaps most tellingly, to the very real issues of today. Ry Cooder with the help of his son Joaquin Cooder, drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Mike Elizando, many of the original Freedom Singers and South African choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo, creates soundscapes for Mavis' deep-in-the-well, heart felt vocals that redefines much of the material while simultaneously casting it in a rich, vibrant deeply rooted past.

We’ll Never Turn Back may have started off as an homage to a period in which everyday citizens exhibited incredible bravery and, in the process, wrought incredible changes to American society. It ended up being a deeply personal account of Mavis' life from childhood days in Mississippi, through the Civil Rights era and on up to her current anger and indignation over the fact that many Americans are still treated as second class citizens. The net result is perhaps her greatest life work and one of the most moving albums this writer has ever heard. If there is any justice, We’ll Never Turn Back will inspire many of us to find bravery in our own hearts, conquer the rampant apathy that blankets our society and take action to right the wrongs in our present day society."

Baby Got Book!

Well, as a native Clevelander and someone interested in spiritual matters, what better first spiritual post than this rappin' preacher from my hometown! Whatever reaches the flock, right? Dag. People are so strange...

Baby Got Book!