Tag: music

Photo Credit: ©Simon Luethi

Pedal Power NYC, an organization "dedicated to capturing and repurposing human power with bicycles", held a first ever musical concert powered by humans on stationary bikes near the stage. On their website they say, "We provide the bicycles and the crew – you provide the Natural Ass! Let’s be honest, we’d rather power our stage with natural ass than natural gas."

The festival, NYC Celebrates Water Festival 2011, was held at Union Square and titled the "Natural Ass Sessions"; and featured 16 stationary bikes for people to pedal and provide the electricity for the amps for the musicians on stage. John Fox, maker of the great anti-fracking movie, "Gasland", showed up and helped out.

The Festival wants to assure that the safe tap water enjoyed by 8 million New Yorkers remains safe. Some of the musical performers were Vanessa Bley, Masa, and Gordon Voldwell. Also, environmental groups promoted sustainability, and an anti-fracking petition was passed around and got over 1,000 signatures. Watch a video of the practice sessions below, and to find out more information about Pedal Power NYC, please visit: http://www.pedalpowernyc.org and check out a great article with pictures about the event from a great local source over at Inhabitat.com.

Off the Grid Rehersals - Powered by Natural Ass from Pedal Power NYC on Vimeo.

Rise Against has released a new music video for their song, "Make it Stop (September's Children)", to help raise awareness about the "It Gets Better" campaign. The campaign aims to reach out to the LBGT community to tell them "It Gets Better", and to combat LBGT teen suicide resulting from bullying in school. Watch the new video below.

To learn more and get involved in the "It Gets Better" campaign, please check out: http://www.itgetsbetter.org
 

A punk band from the Navajo nation, Blackfire, has been blending music and activism out in Arizona for over 20 years, from speaking out against immigration policies to environmental issues. A current issue they are trying to raise awareness on and fight is a plan for a ski resort company to produce more artificial snow on the San Francisco Peaks, a land that is very sacred to 13 Native nations, and is part of their religious beliefs. The environmental impact of pumping up and depositing on the peaks "reclaimed refuse water" will have a devastating effect on the animal and plant life, and is considered a desecration of sacred land by the members of Blackfire: Klee, Clayson and Jeneda, who are also family. Read a great interview of them on Truthout.org, and watch a video of theirs below.

Blackfire has been partnering with two great organizations to empower Native youth to bring about social change. The first organization is Outta Your Backpack Media, who empowers indigenous youth through free movie making workshops, and seek to create community ownership of media and more. The second organization is Taala Hooghan, an "Infoshop" and Youth Media Arts Center, that are "an Indigenous-established, community based and volunteer-run collective dedicated to creatively confronting and overcoming social and environmental injustices in the occupied territories of Flagstaff and surrounding areas." They focus on the media, arts, and education to empower youth.

 Blackfire is also going to play at the Grassroots Festival, a music and dance festival near Finger Lakes that has been held for decades using music to raise awareness on issues and to raise funding for causes. Some of the causes and organizations they support are Doctors Without Borders, Ithaca Free Clinic, and many others. On the Grassroots Festival's website it says, "It's all about having a grand time, generating a feeling of community, and giving something back to enhance our town, our society, and our world."

Justice Through Music teams up with Op-Critical for a song about the "hacktivist" group Anonymous which has been fighting and exposing corrupt governments, organizations and corporations. The music video features scenes from Tunisia to the US Chamber of Commerce, and explores the impact they have had in our society. It even delves into possible future targets that could be targeted by Anonymous. This video is also in support of Occupy Wall Street, and all the other thousands of cities where Occupy movements have sprung up. #occupywallstreet #occupydc #occupykst

The band Op-Critical recorded the song, and it was recorded at The House of Jam Studios and Dave Hanbury (www.houseofjamrecording.com). It was mixed and mastered by Edward Vinatea in New York. The computer animation graphics, including the chess scenes and the moving graphics were done by Brad Dismukes (www.BradDismukes.com), and CR and Dan at the JTMP Studios with additional graphics, and CR editing the video.

HD VIDEO: "ANONYMOUS" By Op-Critical

TUNISIA - EGYPT - LEBANON - YEMEN - SYRIA - IRAN - NEW YORK

JTMP is committed to supporting civil and voting rights for young people at home and all around the world. We want this place to be a forum for the peaceful and non-violent protests calling for freedom that is spreading from Tunisia, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and even home here in New York when it comes to Youth, Social Media, and Freedom, civil rights, and free and fair elections.

If you have a peaceful and non-violent Twitter Account, Facebook Page, story, photograph or cell phone or other video that you think will help spread peace, freedom and democracy, or you feel needs to be seen by the world, please send it to us and we will try to post it.

Below you will find Twitter Accounts you can follow, the latest videos, and current events at Occupy Wall Street and throughout the world when it comes to peaceful protests by youth around the world calling for freedom and democracy. Spread the word about us! Send us your videos!

RECOMMENDED SITES

OCCUPY DC

October2011.org

The Fight Back

US Day of Rage