"Art Saved Us" -Ruth Asawa, artist, in reference to mass-incarcerated, concentration-camp-living Japanese Americans https://youtu.be/CpfhVmDNuho

https://ramonahouston.com/podcast/have-communities-of-color-worked-together-to-advance-social-change/?fbclid=IwAR3k9FD71jX_FkKyr9DcVZLmDThMa2k-uLNr7AQ_YiCelViTLNUvVsejgA8 https://unityarchiveproject.org/what-is-lrs/unity-newspaper/

What This Wave of Anti-Asian Violence Reveals About America Too often, attention to nonwhite groups is only as pressing as the injuries that they have suffered. By Anne Anlin Cheng Ms. Cheng is a comparative race scholar and author of “The Melancholy of Race: Psychoanalysis, Assimilation, and Hidden Grief” and “Ornamentalism.” Feb. 21, 2021 Jim … Continue reading Opinion piece on Anti-Asian Violence by Anne Anlin Cheng in the NY Times →

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/18/please-dont-kill-me-antioch-man-was-killed-by-officers-attorney-says-department-failed-to-announce-december-death/

Jeff Bezos accumulates wealth at a rate of $260 Million per day.  That is a mind-boggling number for most of us.  However, if we are to pull our minds out of the cesspool of capitalist brainwashing and give birth to a more egalitarian society, it essential to understand how massive wealth inequality is becoming worse. … Continue reading The Need for More Class Consciousness →

Chinatown Supports Rent Control and Says Yes on Proposition 10! By Chinatown Community for Equitable Development November 3, 2018 Two months ago, the film Crazy Rich Asians received an overwhelmingly positive reaction upon its release. For all the applause, it contributed to a problematic representation that glamorizes wealthy Asians. While there are indeed rich Asians … Continue reading The Fight for Rent Control in CA →

Recommended reading.  He puts the rise of fascism in historical context while arguing "that current trends reflect a significant divergence from the dictatorships of the 1930s." "The most original revelation of the current wave of authoritarians is that the construction of overtly antidemocratic dictatorships aspiring to totalitarianism is unnecessary for holding power. Perhaps the most … Continue reading Christopher R. Browning, “The Suffocation of Democracy” →

An inspiration to me and many musicians.  I only saw him live once, playing for over two hours straight on the Bosendorfer in Mandeville Hall at University of California San Diego many moons ago.  William Parker on bass, had to leave the stage numerous times to take a break while Cecil kept plowing ahead, forcefully, … Continue reading Cecil Taylor →

Where the Music Came From: The Must Read is Blues People: While watching his marathon, I could never shake the feeling that Ken Burns knew next to nothing about the essence of "jazz".  Sure, there was some footage I hadn't seen before, but handing the central voice over to  Wynton "I got a cushy gig … Continue reading New Documentary to Offset Reactionary Message of “Ken Burns’ Jazz” →

'Well, I don't know what jazz is. And what most people think of as jazz I don't think that's what it is at all. As a matter of fact I don't think the word has any meaning at all, but that's another conversation..."  - Cecil Taylor, September 3, 1994 Ruminations about music will be posted … Continue reading blog as anger management →