Nov 24
My favorite singing group Occupella was at it again on Black Friday, singing up a storm in support of Walmart workers at the retail giant’s store at the Hilltop Mall in Richmond. We had a healthy turnout of about 30 at the lower level side entrance. I took a side trip up to the main …
Nov 24
Sheila and I happened to be at an event in Oakland where the conversation turned to Ecuador and someone gave us a business card for something called the Pachamama Alliance. With the card came an invitation to the group’s luncheon. Neither of us had ever heard of the group and we were skeptical. Curiosity more …
Sep 21
Bob Moses, the civil rights leader of the 1960s, is in town and I had the privilege of participating in an informal evening with him and about 30 others at the home of a friend in North Oakland. The event was billed as a fundraiser for Ron Bridgeforth — more about that later — but …
Sep 20
Miko Peled, the son of an Israeli general, spoke at Berkeley Community College yesterday evening, and I listened. Peled, born and raised in Jerusalem, a European Jew from a long line of Zionist militarists, dissents strongly from the official line about Israel. In a 45-minute presentation, he punctured the myth of the Israeli state as …
Sep 17
The wandering minstrels of Occupella, or some of them, gathered this afternoon at a Wells Fargo branch in the Fillmore District of San Francisco. With the help of several sweet-voiced volunteers, we serenaded the bank’s employees, customers, and passers-by with old standards like Take Me Out of the Big Banks, Pay Up Your Corporate Tax, …
Sep 10
The Tax the Rich demonstration on upper Solano Avenue in Berkeley celebrated its first birthday this afternoon, and Occupella was there. The demonstration, at the old Oaks Theatre across the street from a Private Client (read: loaded) branch of Chase, features signs urging higher tax rates on corporations and wealthy individuals, among other causes. Numerous …
Aug 23
Makana’s performance of “We Are the Many” is one of the great moments of courage in the history of music. Last November, the 33-year old Hawaiian singer and slack-key guitar virtuoso was invited to play dinner music at the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit in Honolulu. With President Obama and other heads of state feeding their faces, …
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