SEEING (May Your Pen Grace The Page) >> Luka Lesson >> video: Wang Di
In anticipation of Luka Lesson’s 2012 visit to Beijing, a short film competition asking participants to use the message of his poem ‘May Your Pen Grace The Page’ was established. This film is the result of that competition. It is underground filmmaker Wang Di’s portrayal of blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng’s struggle for freedom and the recognition of human rights in China and abroad.
Made with no budget, the film uses local actors, media footage banned in China and Luka Lesson’s recording of ‘May Your Pen Grace The Page’ to bring light to this important issue. It is now the only ‘Official’ video made for the inspirational poem ‘May Your Pen Grace The Page’ in existence.
For the full poem go to
http://lesson.bandcamp.com/track/may-your-pen-grace-the-page.
For more by this artist, check out:
http://www.lukalesson.org
http://www.facebook.com/lukalesson
http://www.twitter.com/lukalesson
The City of Saba > Rumi
The City of SABA was written in the 13th century by the Sufi mystic poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi and translated and recited in our film by Coleman Barks. What is so striking about this poem is it’s relevance to what is happening in our SABA – Washington, D.C.
One of 21 video poems in Four Seasons Productions newly released Moving Poetry Series – Three innovative new films – RANT * RAVE * RIFF.
The Great Displaced > Omar Musa
Poem by Omar Musa
Website: http://obmmusic.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/omarmusaqbn
Twitter: @obmmusic https://twitter.com/#!/obmmusic
Shot and edited by Rush
Website: http://therush.com.au/
Twitter: @rushphotos http://www.twitter.com/rushphotos
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rushphotographer
Instagram: @rushphotos
Confrontation > Michael Franti/Spencer Love/Penny Shaw
“Confrontation”
poem spoken by Michael Franti
from 1 Giant Leap
http://www.whataboutme.tv/
(musicians)
michael franti
jiggs
spencer love
tehamua nikora
penny shaw
kirsten olivier
soweto string quartet
kishore kumar mishra
paco
carol robinson
frank byng
smart and friends
bahman mobayen
robin jeffrey
duncan bridgeman
(interviews)
fred reid
david oldfield
george naku
Please Resist Me > Luka Lesson
Written and spoken by Luka Lesson
Produced by Icon Kinesis
In collaboration with The Centre for Poetics and Justice
Follow on Twitter: @lukalesson
http://www.facebook.com/lukaislesson
Purchase the PLEASE RESIST ME Album at http://www.lesson.bandcamp.com
www.lukalesson.com
Lyrics:
Please resist me
Colonise me, compromise me, conflict me
Please don’t risk me
If you see me at the airport
please come and frisk me
Please resist me
Colonise me, compromise me and conflict me
Please don’t risk me
Please call me stupid
Because your resistance brings our evolution
Please resist me
Call me a ‘wog’
It’s brought us so close together I could call me a squad
Please resist me
Lock me in solitary confinement
I’ll close my eyes and admire the quality of the silence
I’ll write rhymes in my mind honestly and define them
Solidly redefine and memorise them
Until like a diamond
when I come out
I’ll be better than when I arrived in
Please resist me
Keep me under the thumb
Keep me down trodden
Keep me under the gun
Keep me working harder under thunder and sun
Son, haven’t you heard? I’m becoming a gun
Please resist me
Because resistance brings evolution
and you’ve resisted me consistently I thank you for your contribution
I’m a happy man
Your stupidity has made me strong
I’ve developed wings, a thick skin and this here opposable thumb
It holds my pen which loads my explodable tongue
So without loading a gun I’m killing high quotas of unemotional…
punks
Sorry – you also taught me to speak French
I learnt it when you kept keeping me at arms-length
And then I learnt Italian just to expand my head
And Greek to learn from where my ancestors had fled
And then I learnt some Yanyuwa just to show the people of this land some respect
You see it’s been your example that has led me to leave you for dead
So don’t trust me
I’m risky
Insurmountable, unaccountable
I’m an undeniable, unreliable, maniacal liability
I fire soliloquies and my liturgies literally leave a literary litany
You see
When I was little
They told me I was illegitimate, illiterate and limited
Little did they know that in a minute I’d be killing it
I’m vivid like in cinemas so my synonym is vividness
I stick it like I’m cinnamon and kill it like a militant
I live it like a citizen – you live a life like imprisonment
Besides Indigenous
immigrant might be the most legitimate of citizens
So it’s better to live a life like us…
Isn’t it?
– Luka Lesson
#MUHAMMAD > a response to ‘Innocence of Muslims’
A powerful response to the agitprop video “Innocence of Muslims” which defends the integrity of the Prophet Mohamed without calling for retribution of violence by # TalkIslam
The young Egyptian poet’s name is unknown.
Statement:
“Find out who the real Muhammad (pbuh) was. He was a lover of the environment, a women’s rights liberator, a carer of the orphan, a man of mercy and of justice.
This isn’t only a response to the cheap film that was made but also a means to let everyone know who Muhammad (pbuh) truly was.”
Our Future > Gina Rinehart
Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart has found inspiration in the form of poetry to impart her philosophy of prosperity and mining. The piece, titled “Our Future”, was engraved on a 30-tonne iron ore boulder and discusses the benefits of the resources industry.
Below, The Chaser’s, Craig Reucassel performs the poem on Q&A. Watch the full episode here: http://bit.ly/zYH7N7
My Confessions (pt 1-4) > Joel McKerrow
“My Confessions” by Joel McKerrow is an epic poem series that explores the taboos of being white male Christian dominance and the guilt that comes with being the most privileged ‘minority’ in a globalised world.
It is a heartfelt, honest and exposing piece of work that deserves to be seen in it’s entirety so SLAM TV presents all four poems and the epilogue here:
My Confessions pt 1 – The White Part of Me
My Confessions pt 2- The Rich Part of Me
My Confessions pt 3 – The Christian Part of Me
My Confessions pt 4 – The masculine part + The Epilogue
For more work by this poet go to: www.joelmckerrow.com
Chuggers > Doubting Thomas
Inspired by the writings and thought of Oscar Wilde and Slavoj Zizek; and the relentless antics of charity muggers across the world. Warning: contains satire.
Doubting Thomas urges you to do one of the things humans do best – create shit.
True lies> Taalam Acey
TRUE LIES
Recommended Dosage: 3-4 views as needed. Best results if taken 30 minutes prior to television consumption.’
“If Guerrilla News Network 60 Minutes, Taalam Acey would be our Andy Rooney.”
A true guerrilla collaboration to give audiences a taste of what to expect from the soon to be released documentary, American Blackout directed by GNN’s Ian Inaba. Set to premiere at Sundance 2006 the feature length film follows the career of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and investigates the current tactics used to control our democratic process and silence political dissent. This piece originally inspired by the book of the same name, features Taalam Acey’s ever potent prose deftly matched by the animation of Haik Hoisington and scored to the music of another GNN ally, The Soulsavers.
From the documentary: American Blackout
Thanksgiving Prayer > William S. Burroughs
Thanksgiving Day, Nov 28,1986 first appeared in the chapbook Tornado Alley, with illustrations by S. Clay Wilson. Gus Van Sant then made a short film of Burroughs reading the text.
This poem resonates today as exposing what has gone horribly wrong in the USA, or maybe what has always been wrong.
Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 1986
William S. Burroughs
For John Dillinger
In hope he is still alive
Thanks for the wild turkey and the Passenger Pigeons, destined to be shit out through wholesome American guts
thanks for a Continent to despoil and poison
thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and danger
thanks for vast herds of bison to kill and skin, leaving the carcass to rot
thanks for bounties on wolves and coyotes
thanks for the AMERICAN DREAM to vulgarize and falsify until the bare lies shine through
thanks for the KKK, for nigger-killing lawmen feeling their notches, for decent church-going women with their mean, pinched, bitter, evil faces
thanks for Kill a Queer for Christ stickers
thanks for laboratory AIDS
thanks for Prohibition and the War Against Drugs
thanks for a country where nobody is allowed to mind his own business
thanks for a nation of finks — yes,
thanks for all the memories all right, lets see your arms you always were a headache and you always were a bore
thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams.
Terrorism Is Not A Religion > Hersi
Hersi is a former US Marine and veteran of Iraq. He is also a Somali Muslim. In this Video he recounts his experience as a Muslim in the American school system and the US military.
humanERROR > Frying Dutchman
Frying Dutchman, a Kyoto-based band virtually unknown a year ago, is behind what has perhaps become the anthem of the post-Fukushima youth movement. The song “humanERROR,” a poetic rant which, if nothing else, clearly articulates the narrative embraced by many Japanese, has become an internet sensation over the past three months. Organizers, concerned that people might not know how to articulate their protest on the one year anniversary of 3.11, began a campaign to get 100,000 people to play “humanERROR” on sound systems across Japan — the louder and more public the better, they explained. Sixty-seven thousand registered.
While we are only seeing the beginning stages of what will undoubtedly be a massive social, political and artistic impact stemming directly from 3.11, it is both heartbreaking and inspiring to watch Japan’s artists struggle with the singular collective catastrophe of their time.
In the video above, watch Frying Dutchman perform “humanERROR” on the banks of the Kamo River in Kyoto — the same banks that gave us the Kabuki Theater.
from Asiasociety.org
Frying Dutchman official website: http://fryingdutchman.jp/eng.php
SLAM TV 