Always a time to break the silence

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And every year on Martin Luther King Jr. day I hear his words again and again on the radio and T.V. and I always cry, and I always want him back in our world. I don’t think one day a year is hardly enough to think about him and his work; one day a year is a shameful amount of time to think about civil rights and racism in this country. It is so sad that nothing changes, that apathy still reigns supreme, and that his words are just as relevant today as they were in the 1950’s. I live in a town that has a major Big 10 University and I see no anti-war protests, no human rights movements during a time of wide spread world violence and genocide, and no concern for civil rights. I see a University town blind to the racist events going on around its peripheral while contractors build luxury high-rise apartments for middle-class white kids to live in, because god only knows the pour souls have no other options. I listen to white kids driving on campus listening to “riding dirty” with no understanding of what it is like to actually live that life, and how shameful it is that racism is such a norm in our police force that top 40 can wax on about it with out anyone finding such police behavior appalling or even sad. It is maddening. We need Martin Luther King Jr. now more than ever, because no one else is stepping up and saying anything about what is really going on, no one is telling the truth and making people listen; and until that happens, until civil rights, human rights,peace and non-violence are realities, every damn day should be Martin Luther King Jr. day.

Oh it's in color

This flickr set. is so very good. His pictures feel like home to me, they encapsulate everything I love about the city. He has pictures I can hear, and I think that is amazing.

But I can’t feel it in the air tonight

For the last 3 out of 4 nights I have had dreams including Phil Collins. In one dream I was a roadie for an indie band who was playing a show at the Vic. I was setting up the drums and played “In the Air Tonight” on them. In the following dream I was in a karaoke bar somewhere, singing “Sussudio”. And in the last (hopefully) dream, I was walking along, having a conversation with someone, who was speaking the lyrics of “I don’t care anymore”. The past 2 times I have driven, Phil Collins was on the radio when I started the car! What does this mean? Why is Phil Collins stalking me? What did I do to him? What does he have in store for me? Why can’t I be stalked by Ted Leo or Sam Cooke? I really have to make this stop, it is just so weird.