Tidbits - September 28, 2017 - Reader Comments: Support for Colin; MLK - also called `Disruptive'; Youth Football Players Kneel; My Flag - A poem; Puerto Rico Calamity; Women's Health; Police Unions; Cuba travel; Resources; Announcements; and more....

Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements and Shorts - September 28, 2017,Portside

Re: From Louis Armstrong to the NFL: Ungrateful as the New Uppity (Michael Meeropol)
Another Famous Activist Also Took a Knee, 50 Years Before Kaepernick-and He Too Was Called `Disruptive' and an `Agitator'
Re: Eight-Year-Old Football Players Kneel During National Anthem Amid St. Louis Protests (Gwendolyn Ivey; Jean Douthwright; Oakland Unified School District Honor Band)
My Flag - A poem by Seymour Joseph
Re: Puerto Rico's Agriculture and Farmers Decimated by Maria (Howie Leveton)
Re: 70,000 in Puerto Rico Urged to Evacuate with Dam in `Imminent' Danger (Sonia Collins; Luis Othoniel)
Mueller Takes Aim - Mike Stanfill cartoon
Re: The Republic Effort to Rig Elections (Kevin McDougall)
Re: Reproductive Health Care on the Line: Whose Fight? (Frank Donnelly)
Re: Abortion Is Central to Universal Health Care. Will Democrats Protect It? (Sheila Parks; Amy Bookbinder; Trixie Deveau)
Re: Police Unions, Police Officers, and Police Abolition (Susan Rosenthal)
'The only Boss we listen to' - How Bruce Springsteen helped feed miners and their families
Re: Read: Bernie Sanders's Big Foreign Policy Speech (David Ecklein)
Re: Harvard Disinvites Chelsea Manning, and the Feeling Is Mutual (Kathy Campbell; Darrah Hopper)
Re: This Lawyer Helped Reagan Bust the Air Traffic Controllers Union. Now Trump Wants Him on the NLRB (Julie Weiner)
Re: Tidbits - Sept. 21 - The Making and the Breaking of the Legend of Robert E. Lee (Chris Gambrell)
Re: The MST and the Fight to Change the Brazilian Power Structure (Carlos Eduardo Caldarelli; Pedro Martini)
Re: In the Middle East, Maybe We're the Bad Guys (Stan Nadel)

Resources:

Just released: The Resistance Guide (Sophie Lasoff)
One-third of Native American and African American Children Are (Still) n Poverty (Economic Policy Institute)

Announcements:

2018 Ella Baker Applications Now Open (Center for Constitutional Rights)
Fundraiser for Cuba Hurricane Relief - Berkeley - October 8
A New "New Deal" for NYC & the USA - New York City - October 27 and 28
New Music Lovers Trip to Cuba Announced - January 4 - 14, 2018

Re: From Louis Armstrong to the NFL: Ungrateful as the New Uppity

During the same period when Louis Armstrong and other African Americans were being used as pawns in the Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union, the blues singer Josh White was one of the individuals hauled before the House Un-American Activities Committee to "purge" himself of communist associations. He had performed on the same stage as Paul Robeson and, worse, had recorded the anti-lynching song STRANGE FRUIT. In an effort of political contortion he stated that he realized that Strange Fruit was an example of the US "washing its dirty laundry" --- so he said that though he would continue to sing the song in the US as part of an effort to recognize our internal failings, it would be inappropriate to sing the song overseas -- and he promised not to do it.

My father, who wrote Strange Fruit, always felt that Josh White had succumbed to the pressure of the witch-hunters of HUAC --- but it did him (White) no good. He was blacklisted for most of the 1950s. My father himself had been hauled before a New York State "anti-red" committee and asked if the Communist Party had "told" him to write Strange Fruit.

Unfortunately, Colin Kaepernick is in danger of being blacklisted but the solidarity of many NFL players may yet force white Americans to really confront the failure to hold police officers who murder unarmed civilians accountable ---

Years after White was forced to promise to never sing Strange Fruit again overseas, the song was recognized by TIME MAGAZINE as a "song of the [20th] century" -- just as Louis Armstrong is now hailed as a cultural hero of America -- his "uppity past" down the memory hole.

Colin Kaepernick and other courageous individuals sticking their necks out will be similarly rewarded by history.

Michael Meeropol

Another Famous Activist Also Took a Knee, 50 Years Before Kaepernick-and He Too Was Called `Disruptive' and an `Agitator'

Martin Luther King Jr. knelt to protest the treatment of African Americans several times throughout the 1960s.

By Liz Posner
September 25, 2017
AlterNet

when 8 year old children are required to show you how to behave.....

Gwendolyn Ivey
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Even our 8 year olds get it...

Bravo to these young men. It takes courage to kneel and resist.

Jean Douthwright

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Members of the Oakland Unified School District Honor Band kneel as they perform the national anthem before the Oakland Athletics play the Seattle Mariners in Oakland.

My Flag - A poem by Seymour Joseph

A patriot is not one who blindly obeys traditional expressions of allegiance to one's country, but who loves his or her country to the extent that they must act to help right the wrongs that afflict their country. The kneeling gestures of football players are akin to the statement by Sen. Carl Schurz in 1872: "My country right or wrong; when right to be kept right, when wrong to be set right."

My own version of this is a poem I wrote years ago. Here it is.

My Flag

I have a flag to which I'm true;
It doesn't wave as others do.
It's furled within around my heart,
the place where love and loyalty start.
Born with me it isn't made
of flimsy cloth whose colors fade,
but holds the fort of national pride
where climate cannot reach inside.
I needn't fly it from a pole
to play a patriotic role,
or drape it across my front window
to let the passersby all know
that here resides an American.
No more, no less, but just a man
whose sense of country is inherent,
as with the restless sea its current.
One who believes that democracy's
not hubris, but humility.
Some use the flag to mask their lies,
and the fear of terror to terrorize.
At home our civil liberties
and abroad our troops are casualties.
They conjured up this deadly brew
and wrapped it in red, white and blue.
Not arrogance but pride alone
may justify the flag be flown.

So let the stars and stripes fly free
if so you choose that all may see
the colors of your allegiance to
those values they bequeathed to you
who fought to secure democracy,
the colors that reside in me.

Seymour Joseph

Re: Puerto Rico's Agriculture and Farmers Decimated by Maria

Screwed, the island and people are screwed.
I wonder what the banks are going to do with Puerto Rico?
Refineries and offshore drilling?

Howie Leveton
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: 70,000 in Puerto Rico Urged to Evacuate with Dam in `Imminent' Danger

Send helicopters to evacuate those in the path of the dam. We can afford it.

Sonia Collins
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Bibliography of the catastrophe in Puerto Rico - Dear American friends, the corporate media will do its best to ignore us, the federal government of Trump won't really help, and the bankers that are the de facto dictators of the island are ready to turn crisis into profit (for them), but the result of what just happened in Puerto Rico - between the worst Hurricane in a century and the worst economic crisis in its history - is unimaginable destruction. It is important that you learn as much as you can about the colony of your Empire. The people in the island are fierce and will reconstruct even when the enemies are surrounding them.

Puerto Rico will need you to be prepared and educated when the time comes for you to support the struggle. In the comments section I am linking the very few articles in English that have recently appeared to give you a sense of what is happening. Articles that at least attempt to unearth both the gravity and complexity of the situation. Please add as many as you can find to the list in the comment section or in the share. Thanks.

Luis Othoniel
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Mueller Takes Aim - Mike Stanfill cartoon

September 18, 2017
Raging Pencils

Raging Pencils is a thrice-weekly progressive comic developed and created by Dallas-area illustrator
Mike Stanfill, sometimes known as "Lefty", sometimes not.

Re: The Republic Effort to Rig Elections

Resist. And relentlessly, as Frederick Douglass once said, "Agitate, agitate, agitate."

Kevin McDougall
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Reproductive Health Care on the Line: Whose Fight?

Sadly, the pro-lifers are really only pro-birthers. Once you clear the birth canal, buddy you are on your own. They will then attempt to deny you any form of care or support. Their job is done when another poor child is brought into the world to suffer and grow up deprived of many of life's basic necessities. They are lacking compassion and human grace.

Frank Donnelly
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Abortion Is Central to Universal Health Care. Will Democrats Protect It?

All of us involved in abortion rights know that many Repubs in power are against abortion rights and are totally misogynist. The question remains, will the Dems also throw women under the bus about abortion rights in their rush to Universal Health Care, and not protect abortion rights.

Sheila Parks
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Unbelievable that we're still fighting this one.
#Mysogyny
#Theocracy

Amy Bookbinder
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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The U.S. is so backward in social matters, it is astonishing to me.

how does a kind hearted, caring, liberal thinker bear to live in the U.S., in this era?.....with its massive economy, spent on war machines, to defend 'democracy' worldwide while its own citizens starve or suffer humiliation and pain daily for the lack of health care? How about caring for democracy WITHIN the United States?

Trixie Deveau
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Police Unions, Police Officers, and Police Abolition

Police are middle-class professionals, not workers

I appreciate the author's effort to solve a long-standing problem; the importance of distinguishing between institutions of class rule and the individuals who work in them, who may feel ambivalence about their role as agents of social control.

Service sector institutions exist to serve the needs of the capitalist class; however, they sometimes meet the needs of working-class people. As the author points out, the hope of helping their communities can lure good people into policing (in addition to the favorable terms of employment).

Like other salaried professionals, individual police are pulled between the demands of their bosses and the needs of those who seek their services. This tug-of-war is a class conflict.

The belief that service professionals (like cops) are working class is mistaken and misleading. As Marx and Engels pointed out, class is a function.

Soldiers are working class because they must obey orders without question. In contrast, police have discretionary power over how they interpret their role, for example, who to arrest and who to let off with a warning. The job of police is to manage the population for the ruling class, and this managerial role is a middle-class function.

The middle-class function of police and other salaried professionals explains their role as both agents of social control and also as helpers. It also explains the seemingly contradictory opinions of those on the receiving end, who deeply resent the control and greatly appreciate the help.

The only way to solve the dilemma the author presents is to be clear that police are middle-class professionals, and being in a union does not change that. The good news is that, unlike workers, middle-class individuals have a choice: they can manage the system for the capitalist class; or they can oppose it in the interests of the working class.

The left is correct to oppose the institution of policing and the brutality it imposes. At the same time, we must pull on individual police to reject their role as managers of the system and support the working class instead. It is unrealistic to expect to win the entire police force to the side of the working class, but we can help to tear it apart, which can only benefit the cause of the working class.

Susan Rosenthal

'The only Boss we listen to' - How Bruce Springsteen helped feed miners and their families

Springsteen brought his tour to Newcastle in June 1985 - just months after the miners' strike ended, he helped put food on their tables

September 25, 2017
ChronicleLive

Re: Read: Bernie Sanders's Big Foreign Policy Speech

Finally, Senator Sanders makes his long-awaited foreign policy position clear.

When you get beyond Bernie's platitudes, he doesn't offer much beyond the Biparty Line.

Sanders virtually identifies ("directly related") foreign policy with military policy, but then quotes Eisenhower's well-known lofty exit afterthoughts, following it with a rosy view of Churchill's 1946 speech, which many consider as the Cold War gauntlet thrown down before the Soviets - emphasizing the same platitudes. Bernie falsifies the context of Churchill's speech - he declares it was made against a backdrop of "a huge standing army, with an arsenal of nuclear weapons, with allies around the world, and with expansionist aims" - when the Soviet Union had been almost totally exhausted by WW2 in 1946 and had not even tested an atomic weapon until 1949.

The backdrop the Soviets faced looked to them like "a huge standing army, with an arsenal of nuclear weapons, with allies around the world, and with expansionist aims"; this was more true of the US, which suffered comparatively little in World War 2 and emerged as the world leader. After Churchill's speech, it was clear to the Soviets that they had to rebuild their forces, pursue development of their own atomic bomb, and take many costly and unpopular measures. It resulted in the dangerous MAD (mutually assured destruction) impasse that by good fortune did not blow up in the world's face. Echoing this history, the North Korea/US standoff is similarly risky, and demands direction from putative progressives like Bernie Sanders. He gives none in his speech.

So with the Soviet Union out of the picture, Bernie is eager to name new enemies. With a passing reference to ISIS, he swings his truncheon at the current Bad Boy, DPRK (North Korea). His one-sentence paragraph says it all: /"//In recent years, we are increasingly confronted by the isolated dictatorship of North Korea, which is making rapid progress in nuclear weaponry and intercontinental ballistic missiles." /That is it - no attempt to illuminate why the DPRK is isolated, or why it should stoop to such drastic, dangerous, and costly (monetarily and politically) means of self defense. Certainly no mention of the fact that the US refuses to sign a peace treaty with them, has maintained crushing boycotts and sanctions for years (and enforced them with reprisals on countries violating Washington's will in this matter), and constantly conducts provocative military maneuvers in conjunction with South Korean forces. In contrast to the DPRK, the sun never sets on US troops and military installations in foreign countries, some involved in actual shooting war at this moment. The North Koreans do not have military soldiers or bases anywhere, except in their own beleaguered country. Without a peace treaty and guarantee of normal conditions of commerce with other nations, the DPRK considers itself still at war with the US. You could expect Donald Trump not to understand this - thus his crude extermination threat at the UN was not really a surprise - but from Bernie Sanders, supposedly the highest positioned and brightest progressive in the US political firmament - it is a disappointing shock.

Later on in the speech, Sanders expresses approval for increased sanctions on DPRK. Sanctions and boycotts are a form of warfare, not diplomacy. Why is North Korea "isolated"? Because powers aligned with the US desire it, and want to induce "regime change". Why does Bernie rate North Korea as "one of the worst regimes in the world" - when there are several other contenders in Africa, let alone our ally Saudi Arabia? The concept of "regime change" should be exposed by progressives, not toyed with as in Bernie's speech.

And then Bernie tries to sell yet again the claim that Russia interfered (not just expressed its preferences) in our 2016 electoral process. No proof, simply assertion. He hews to the standard Biparty Line in never mentioning that other countries (Israel, Britain, Saudi Arabia, etc.) have much more actual and proven influence in American politics.

He does mention past US mideast meddling, especially instances going back to the 1953 interference in Iran's politics. But the chronic Israel/Palestine issue is a current bleeding sore involving vast American aid and support for one party in the dispute, and this does not even rate a cameo appearance in Bernie's speech.

Really disappointing - where do we go from here? I doubt we can depend on any new direction from Senator Bernie Sanders.

With all due respect,

David Ecklein

Re: Harvard Disinvites Chelsea Manning, and the Feeling Is Mutual

Your telling me S. Spicer is honorific what a laugh. I as a student would rather hear what C. Manning has to say as to why she did what she did than listen to that liar Spicer and the other windbag Lewendoski.

Kathy Campbell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Chelsea should just go for the huge speaker's fees instead of some stupid honor and it must be a pretty stupid honor if they are handing it out to Spicer. I would pay to hear Manning speak on the military [lack of] justice system.

Darrah Hopper
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: This Lawyer Helped Reagan Bust the Air Traffic Controllers Union. Now Trump Wants Him on the NLRB

Even more monstrous than Trump pretending Puerto Rico isn't part of the U.S.: his nominating the lawyer who helped Reagan break the air traffic controllers' union to run the National Labor Relations Board!

Julie Weiner
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Tidbits - Sept. 21 - The Making and the Breaking of the Legend of Robert E. Lee

You start with a false premise, and muddy the waters. The "very best" mentioned in The Bands' song refers to Virgil Caines' younger brother. The only Robert E Lee mentioned in the song is not a man, but a train. https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/band/thenighttheydroveolddixiedown.html

Chris Gambrell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: The MST and the Fight to Change the Brazilian Power Structure

The article is realistic and expose the land tenure question in Brazil. Old question and not resolved so far.

Carlos Eduardo Caldarelli
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

====

Agreed! Serious issue... there were some minor developments in the last 10 years, but it was nothing that could be considered a real attempt at solving the problem --

Pedro Martini
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: In the Middle East, Maybe We're the Bad Guys

The problem with this is the word "the" before bad guys--it implies that all those opposed to the US are good guys. We're certainly bad guys in the region, but to use the phraseology from this article, it is a region full of bad guys and not many good guys. All too many leftists and anti-imperialists count some really nasty actors as "good guys" just because they oppose the US.

Stan Nadel

Just released: The Resistance Guide

Social movements of the past can teach us how to shape the future. Resistance Guide will equip you with the essential strategies to shift public opinion, change laws and decisions, and elect new leaders. This is a handbook for anyone who wants to understand what makes movements succeed, and how we can use this knowledge to fight for a better America.

Special note (and download offer) from book co-author Sophie Lasoff:

"It's been nearly one year of Trump's America. Since day one, my biggest fear has not been of what the right-wing is capable of--but that we would not meet the challenge to stop them. I was afraid that people would stay home, in apathy or in fear.

"It has given me tremendous hope to see that hasn't been true. From the Women's March to the airport protests to the health care fight to Charlottesville, we are in one of the most vibrant eras of social movements that this country has seen in a generation.

"Even so, it's not easy to keep hope. With the right wing stronger than ever, it's easy to feel complete loss. I talk with many friends and family who still feel aimless--who ask over and over, 'what can I do?' Others who have gotten involved, maybe for the first time, still feel doubtful-- 'is any of this making a difference?'

"These conversations remind me how lucky I am to be part of a brilliant community of thinkers and innovators who have been experimenting with what makes or breaks explosive movements like the one we've found ourselves amidst today. Studying and dissecting movements of the past has given us so many answers for how we might turn a fledgling movement into one powerful enough to transform what is politically possible.

"Trump's election was a massive wake-up call--for many reasons. For us, the explosion of participation and emergent formation of the resistance' was a wake up call that more people wanted and needed this information than we realized.

"Paul Engler recognized this opening and began writing what we're launching today as the Resistance Guide. I'm beyond humbled to share recognition with him as a co-author. It's truly thanks to his generous mentorship--and that of the whole Momentum community--that I am writing this today.

"We are offering the guide for free to download or explore at guidingtheresistance.org. But I also highly suggest you purchase a copy on Amazon - mostly to appreciate Josiah Werning's absolutely inspired design. All proceeds go straight back into the book itself to cover costs of self-publishing.

"What you'll find inside are 127 pages that are intended for anyone - not just professional organizers or veteran activists - looking to fight Trump and win. We are resting on the foundations of a great movement, but things are still bleak. We have a long way to go to defeat Trump's agenda. Bottom line, our proposition is that it's going to take *a lot of us* to get there.

"(For those who are familiar - much of the content is a simplified translation of pieces of momentum theory, social movement ecology, and populism that you may find useful to help explain your work or orient new members, regardless of its application to the Trump resistance.)

"The most beautiful thing that I've learned about successful movements is that they take an extraordinary amount of faith. Not only from the most committed, top leaders. Every, single person who walks out of their home and into the streets does so with a conviction that flies in the face of what we're told to be true - that someone else holds our power. In the halls Washington, American democracy is and only has been an idea - to paraphrase Heather McGee - and it's our job to make it manifest.

"I hope we can create the movement we so desperately need. Some days are better than others, in terms of my degree of faith. But in my experience, there's nothing better for hope than a place to begin. This guide is certainly not everything we need, but I hope it can be a place to begin."

One-third of Native American and African American Children Are (Still) n Poverty

Economic Snapshot
By Janelle Jones

September 20, 2017
Economic Policy Institute

Last week the Census Bureau released data on income, poverty, and health insurance, which showed a slight decline in the national poverty rate (from 14.7 percent in 2015 to 14.0 percent in 2016). There was an even sharper decline in the poverty rate for children under 18 years old, from 19.7 percent in 2015 to 18.0 percent in 2016. While any decrease in poverty is welcome news, national numbers can hide the stark differences in poverty rate by race.

Applications are now open for the 2018 Ella Baker Summer Internship Program, which CCR created in 1987 to honor the legacy of Ella Baker, a hero of the civil rights movement, and to train the next generation of social justice lawyers. Through our program, students work with CCR staff on active cases and advocacy campaigns. In addition, we bring in CCR clients, movement allies, and other advisors to speak with students about all aspects of our work. At the same time, students build a cohort with their colleagues that will further expand our growing network of CCR-trained lawyers from around the world.

Ruby-Beth Buitekant, a 2016 Ella Baker intern, wrote this about her experience: "We challenged the exceptionalism that is often taught in law schools and instead were encouraged to think about the ways that the law can support of organizers and movements. We talked about the power of listening, learning from organizers and taking a back seat - not something lawyers are typically trained to do."

The program is open to 1L and 2L students. If you are a 2L, you must upload your application by October 16, 2017. 1L applicants may upload their applications between December 1-15, 2017. 1L applications uploaded before December 1, 2017, will not be considered. Please spread the word and encourage any eligible students to apply.

Center for Constitutional Rights
666 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10012-2317

Fundraiser for Cuba Hurricane Relief - Berkeley - October 8

Photo: Bill Hackwell // International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity

Join us for an afternoon of Solidarity with Revolutionary Cuba at this Critical Time

Irma is the largest hurricane ever to hit Cuba. The government and their mass organizations are still assessing the damage, but we know it will be great. While socialist Cuba is pulling together as a society the cruel and inhumane blockade is making it nearly impossible for them to get much needed funds. Many people are asking how they can help. Our event is one of many that people around the state, country and around the world are organizing to help Cuba at this difficult moment. All proceeds from this event will go directly to Cuba, no administrative costs, no bank transaction fees.

Sunday October 8, 3PM
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
1606 Bonita Ave, Berkeley

$10-20 at the door, (no one will be turned away for lack of funds)

MUSIC by local Bay Area group

Program includes

Nancy Morejon, one of Cuba's most foremost poets.
Dr. Lucia Agudelo, US graduate from the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba (ELAM)
Dr. Abraham Vela, US graduate from the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba (ELAM)(both whom recently participated in the Third Days of Action Against the Blockade in Washington DC)
Daysi Salas, from the Cuban Union of Writers and Artists.

[ELAM, as it is known, is a unique international medical school created by the Cuban government in 1999 to train students from poor communities in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the United States to be doctors. Students get free tuition, accommodation and a small stipend. The only requirement is that graduates return to practice medicine in under-served communities in their own countries. The school has so far graduated more than 20,000 students, including 170 from the U.S.]

Organized by the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity. Initial list of endorsers: Altruvistas, Clínica Martín-Baró, Global Exchange, SOL Economics, Task Force on the Americas, Playtwo Pictures.

To endorse write to: info@theinternationalcommittee.org

Visit our FACEBOOK page and invite your friends

For more information call 510-219-0092

A New "New Deal" for NYC & the USA - New York City - October 27 and 28

The National Jobs for All Coalition is dedicated to the propositions that meaningful employment is a precondition for a fulfilling life and that every person capable of working should have the right to a job.

Full conference program and speakers, click here.

October 27th, 2017 - The Dual New Deal Legacy: Creating Jobs and Building the Nation's Physical, Environmental, and Cultural Infra-structure: Can We Do It Again?

The New School, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center
55 West 13th Street, Room I -202
Manhattan

Friday, October 27, 2017

5:00 - 8:00 PM

October 28, 2017 - Strategizing for a New, New Deal New York City & the USA

Columbia Law School
435 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10027

Saturday, October 28, 2017

10:00 am - 4:00 PM

To RSVP, please visit Eventbrite

National Jobs for All Coalition
P.O. Box 96
Lynbrook, NY 11563
Email: njfac@njfac.org

or call (203) 856-3877

New Music Lovers Trip to Cuba Announced - January 4 - 14, 2018

HotHouse joins acclaimed author and musicologist Ned Sublette for special music lovers trip to Cuba

HotHouse is Chicago's primary presenter of Cuban culture and a major organizer of projects that focus on the legacy of the African Diaspora.

This January, HotHouse is partnering with one of the worlds preeminent scholars in this field - Ned Sublette. His book on Cuban music, Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo was published in 2004 is considered a primary source for understanding Cuban culture. Ned is also the author of The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square, The Year Before the Flood: A Story of New Orleans, and The Slave Coast released last year.

Like HotHouse led delegations to Cuba, Sublette's Postmambo Cuban Music Seminars are radical departures from tourist excursions. These are immersive journeys far from the well-worn tropes of sun. rum and 1950's cars.

Sublette's trip to central Cuba is produced in conjunction with musicologist Caridad Diez's Project Rumbaways and will travel to smaller towns in the interior of the island where the legendary singer Beny More made his mark . Participants hear an immersive schedule of live music in spectacular Cuban cultural, historical, and architectural sites while in intimate conversation with two renowned scholars. A trip for serious music lovers. All inclusive 10- day excursion est. $5,500

HotHouse is extending an invitation to join this special delegation through October 10. Please write to this email - hothouse3.0@gmail.com to receive an application and more information.

HotHouse
c/o 5555 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60640

hothouse3.0@gmail.com

Portside

We need to say ‘NO’ from day one to dictatorial ambition and repressive actions. Please click to help Portside to inform, analyze and mobilize in the year ahead.