12) MUSIC NOTES, By Wally Brooker

Faith Nolan & the CUPE Freedom Singers

Singer, songwriter and activist Faith Nolan is well‑known to readers of this newspaper. She's been inspiring working people across Canada for more than thirty years. Born in Halifax of African, Miqmaq and Irish heritage, she grew up in Toronto's Cabbagetown district. Her socialist, anti‑racist and queer‑positive message is delivered with a sharp wit and an engaging style that breaks down barriers between performer and audience. In recent years Nolan has been organizing labour choirs. The CUPE Freedom singers has been performing with her at rallies, marches and forums in Southern Ontario. Here are some video clips of their exciting performance at a recent forum sponsored by the Greater Toronto Worker's Assembly: www.socialistproject.ca/leftstreamed/. For more info: www.faithnolan.org.

Sounds of the Arab revolution

Events in Tunisia and Egypt show once again that music can be a driving force in the struggle for social change. Historian Mark LeVine, in his 2008 book Heavy Metal Islam, described the rise of a dissident youth culture in the Arab world that has creatively adapted various forms of western pop music, including heavy metal and hip‑hop, as a means of resisting repressive regimes. One example of this insurgent culture is Tunisian rapper Hamada Ben-Amor (El Général). During the protests he released an anti-regime video, "Mr. President, Your People Are Dying." He was subsequently arrested but soon released after much protest. Look for "El Général, the Voice of Tunisia" on YouTube.  

Haiti's electoral farce

Popular Haitian musician Michel ("Sweet Mickey") Martelly is contesting right‑wing candidate Mirlande Manigat in the March 20 presidential election runoff, following the ouster of President René Préval's designated successor, Jude Célestin. The dubious removal of Célestin was announced Feb. 3 by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council, acting on the "expert advice" of the Organization of American States. "Sweet Mickey," billed as a "protest" candidate, has links to Haiti's elite, as well as to coup plotters and paramilitary death squads. The first round of voting on Nov. 28 resulted in a dismal 22% turnout. Haitians rightly abstained from a farce that excludes the largest party in the country, exiled President Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas. There is little chance that the results on March 20 will express the will of the people.

Belafonte to Obama supporters: "No more retreat"

In a Jan. 26 interview on Democracy Now, Harry Belafonte was asked to assess the presidency of Barack Obama. The occasion was the Sundance Film Festival, where "Sing Your Song," a new film about the 84‑year old star's life receivrf accolades. While Belafonte acknowledged that the election of Obama says something about "America's deeper resonance," he added that he was "dismayed" by the way the President has used his power. During the 2008 campaign, he said, Obama asked him "When are you and [fellow African-American activist] Cornell West going to cut me some slack?" His reply: "What makes you think we haven't?" Belafonte's advice to Obama supporters: "Any further retreat from bringing truth to power would be a disservice to this country." Read the interview at www.democracynow.org/.

Patti Smith's National Book Award

Patti Smith is the 2010 non‑fiction recipient of the U.S. publishing industry's National Book Award. In Just Kids, the rock & roll poet and visual artist, now 64, writes of her working-class roots in small‑town New Jersey, her emergence as an artist in the hothouse cultural atmosphere of New York City in the '70s, and her close relationship with celebrated photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (1946‑1989). In 2002 Patti Smith became one of the first major artists to oppose the U.S. invasion of Iraq. She continues to be an outspoken anti‑war activist, having recorded powerful songs about the 2006 Israeli massacres in Lebanon ("Qana"), the imprisonment of innocent Muslims at Guantanamo ("Without Chains"), and a tribute to murdered peace activist Rachel Corrie ("Peaceable Kingdom"). For more info: www.pattismith.net.

Leon Rosselson coming to Canada

Leon Rosselson, a prominent figure in British folk music since the early sixties, is planning a rare visit to Canada. Music lovers can catch him at the Vancouver Island Folk Festival (July 8‑10) and the Vancouver Folk Festival (July 15‑17). A Toronto concert in early August is also in the works. Rosselson's recent benefit CD for Medical Aid for Palestinians, The Last Chance: Eight Songs on Israel/Palestine, was reviewed in PV last September (read it at http://wallybrooker.wordpress.com/category/reviews/). "The Last Chance" was previously available in Canada only as an iTunes download. Now the hard copy of the CD, with Rosselson's insightful notes, can be purchased from Beit Zatoun in Toronto (www.beitzatoun.org). It will also be available during his tour.

(The above article is from the March 1-15, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)