Sometimes, the Truth Is Unpleasant
I’m sorry about your cold, and hope you feel better soon (“Hack Snort,” Editor’s Note, Dec. 15). One request: In the future, would you please make an effort not to put “phlegm” and “good chunk” on the same line of text? Thanks, and happy holidays.
Paul Muhlrad
Ash Deserves a Ticket Out of Town!
Thank you for finally putting Bruce Ass … I mean Bruce Ash on your Get Out of Town! list (Dec. 15). I have written at least one other year asking for this and thought maybe his absence from the list was mostly because his highest-profile stuff is on talk radio. I’ve personally argued with him via email and accused him of being a spoiled rich kid who lives in an ivory tower.
Anyway, before I start ranting, I will just say thanks again.
Greg Booth
In Defense of the Sound Strike and Derechos Humanos
Ah, the Tucson Weekly … what can I say? Lots of good stuff in there—and sometimes, not so much. And sometimes a mixed bag.
But, oh, Linda Ray … did you have to go and do it? Yes, I’m talking about the “Get Out of Town!” directed toward Derechos Humanos and the Sound Strike. First of all, Linda, my disappointment is not bitter. You did start your bit by recognizing the “essential work for the civil rights of Southern Arizona’s Latino population.” The only thing I would add is that the civil rights work of Derechos Humanos benefits us all. DH has also been on the front lines in protesting wars, walking union picket lines and supporting many not-specifically “Latino” struggles.
Frankly, if anyone should get out of town, it’s the local musicians and downtown hipsters who are so loudly complaining about the Sound Strike. OK, they shouldn’t get out of town. Instead, they should recognize what’s going on, and they should get involved. I’m a local musician myself, and I frequent downtown music venues. I’m also an active supporter of Derechos Humanos, the immigrant-rights struggle and the fight to defend Ethnic Studies. I’ve gone to many a demonstration, and I’ve volunteered time at DH helping report abuses of immigrant workers. I’ve gone to federal court to witness the travesty of “Operation Streamline,” and I’ve even gone into the desert to confront and expose Minuteman camps.
Guess who I virtually never see participating in day-in, day-out civil rights struggles or showing solidarity in the streets? Local musicians and downtown hipsters. The simple fact is that most local musicians and scenesters are, frankly, self-absorbed and self-indulgent. They think that it is “uncool” and beneath them to actually show that they might give enough of a shit about poor people and working people and students and those targeted by racism to actually do something about it.
Yes, there are notable exceptions. I also know that there are times when musicians can get it together to really help out an important cause. I’ve twice organized successful benefits for Haitian workers affected by hurricanes and earthquakes, and the support was tremendous. Benefits are great, but they aren’t the same as taking the struggle to the streets. And if a musician criticizes the Sound Strike but actively supports this movement otherwise, my words for them are far less sharp.
When Ray says, “Derechos cut off a much-more-leveragable benefit: The empowering sound of music to motivate and mobilize widespread action,” the fact is that the proof is in the pudding: Most of the local scenesters who complain loudest about the Sound Strike have not shown the slightest willingness to put their bodies on the line or stand up with immigrants and brown people being targeted by Arizona’s new Jim Crow.
When Ray talks about the contributions of music to the movement such as “We Shall Overcome” and union-organizing songs, let’s be clear: The vast majority of those songs came from people involved in the struggles they were singing about.
So when these folks complain about the Sound Strike and about how much their music can help the movement, I just want to tell them, “You get out of town … and don’t come back until you’re ready to contribute something real, not imaginary.”
James Patrick Jordan
Hoffman’s Attack on Occupy Tucson Was a Disgrace
I was surprised (and outraged) by the front-page article by Josh Brodesky in the Arizona Daily Star on Dec. 11. It was unjust and irrational, and now the Tucson Weekly has published an attack with a Guest Commentary by Jonathan Hoffman (Dec. 22).
He praises the Tea Party movement as more effective. True, it has been, having managed to bring our government virtually to a gridlocked standstill. If that’s what he calls “working within the system,” unfortunately, he is correct. The system is a disgrace.
The Occupy movement is not limited to “the political left,” another smear. The city’s waste of police time (for which Occupiers pay taxes) and the over-the-top multiple citations show the bellicose suppression of freedom of speech and assembly. Councilwoman Regina Romero shows admirable sense in advocating that those tickets be torn up. She is brave to stand up in an atmosphere of such hostility and propaganda from the media, which hopefully will change if and when mutual respect between Tucson and its citizens is restored.
David Ray
This article appears in Dec 29, 2011 – Jan 4, 2012.
I agree with you, James Jordan. While the Sound Strike itself is no longer useful, this entire hullaballoo would have looked quite different had more musicians and venue managers shown solidarity in the streets in the summer of 2010. Many Tucson musicians and venue managers spoke out publicly against SB1070, but failed to dedicate their time and physical presence to supporting groups like Derechos Humanos. While some of these people are my friends, it is still difficult for me to sympathize with their outrage at the Sound Strike. It is one thing to argue that protests against SB1070 would have been more effective had the Sound Strike not existed, but it is quite another to make that argument and then fail to show up to the rallies, marches, sit-ins, etc. organized by community leaders.
I disagree with you James Jordan. You say “I’m a local musician myself, and I frequent downtown music venues” then you should care what affect soundstrike has had on them, and they say themselves it has had a negative impact.
I also disagree with you Rachel they DID unite against 1070 they even got a write up in rolling stone and billboard magazines over their efforts. Derechos Humanos is not the only civil rights organization in town perhaps you should tell us what your organization did instead of talking about what others supposedly didn’t do.
Sangria: I don’t think James Jordan was saying the Sound Strike didn’t have a negative effect on downtown music venues. I think he was saying that, given the civil rights crisis– a crisis on par with 1963 Birmingham–musician complaints rang a little hollow since the musicians themselves weren’t out in the streets.
In the summer of 2010, there were rallies held almost daily at the Federal courthouse, the state building and Armory Park. There were several large marches in both downtown Tucson and Phoenix. There were sit-ins at Senator McCain’s and Mark Stegeman’s offices, and a takeover of school board meetings. Nine people chained themselves to the doors of the state house. Supporters in Los Angeles locked down in the street in front of an immigration detention center. Some of these events were organized by Derechos Humanos, but mainly a coalition of groups worked together: Tierra y Libertad, the Tucson May 1st Coalition, Border Action Network, No More Deaths, Todos Somos Arizona, and a smattering of smaller, unnamed groups. As for what I did? I went to those events. Lots of them. And tried to involve folks in the music community, but was rebuffed.
Rachel I didn’t realize it is your way or the highway. I too would take the highway over people dictating to me the “proper” way to show support. It was a crisis yes but not on par with the civil rights crisis of ’63.. The only segregation I see is voluntary.
I really get tired of activists telling me the only way to make a change is to stand (or sit) for hours yelling and holding signs. Others show their support or lack of in other ways – by talking with people, educating others, and speaking to representatives. The people who made the largest difference in the fight against hateful legislation are the non-activist voters who recalled Pearce.