Category: Creative Resistance

Tom Lewis in the blogs

Long-time Worcester resident Tom Lewis was out of town this weekend, up in Maine to protest a new Aegis destroyer coming out of Bath Iron Works. But that didn’t keep him from appearing all over the blogosphere.

Linking to a Catholic Free Press article, Defend the Faith notes that Tom and Fran Warner, who both have artwork in the ARTSWorcester Biennial, have covered their work to protest Planned Parenthood holding a fundraiser in the gallery.

Michael Iafrate remembers the recent 39th anniversary of the Catonville Nine, in which nine Catholic activists napalmed draft records, by quoting Tom’s testimony from the subsequent trial:

I wasn’t concerned with the law
I wasn’t even thinking about the law
I was thinking of what those records meant
I wasn’t concerned with the law
I was concerned with the lives
of innocent people

Rock over London,
Rock on Worcester,
Tom Lewis — the freshmaker.

Tom Lewis, Harry Duchesne, Michael Boover at the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast
Tom Lewis, Harry Duchesne, Michael Boover at the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast, 2006

New work from Mike True and Dan Berrigan

Last night I got to listen to some of Father Daniel Berrigan’s new poetry CD, The Trouble with Our State. Listening to the readings helped me make sense of the poems (there was one line about Graham Greene that made no sense until I heard it), and the booklet is packed with beautiful artwork from the likes of Brian Kavanagh and Tom Lewis. The release party is April 27 at the Sixth Street Community Center (East Village, NYC).

The Trouble with Our State

People PowerAlso, I am told that the new book from Mike True (or, as I like to call him, Emeritus Professor Michael D. True, Ph.D. and Doctor of Humane Letters (honoris causa)) is out. It’s called People Power: Fifty Peacemakers and Their Communities. If I get my hands on a copy I’ll review it on Pie and Coffee.

Talking free culture and Democracy

Nicholas Reville

Here’s an interview I did with Nicholas Reville of the Participatory Culture Foundation. We discuss the Democracy media player, free culture, and Worcester.

Download the mp4 video (76MB) or see other formats. You can subscribe to WCCA via Democracy.

Listen to the audio:
Podcast, Podcast Feed, Subscribe via iTunes, MP3 Link (64K)


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Privacy contest for Worcester high schoolers

At last, the opt-out contest is here.

Public high schools send their students’ personal info to military recruiters each fall, unless the students opt out.

This is not good. So we’ve started a contest.

The Worcester junior or senior class with the highest percentage of students opting out will win $250. Students should turn in opt-out forms (pdf) ASAP.

More info at the contest website. If you know any Worcester high schoolers, let them know about the contest. You can contact optout.admin@gmail.com for more info, too.

Happy Birthday Mike Leslie

NB and I went down to the visionary junk shop Happy Birthday Mike Leslie yesterday and did a news story on the store. (If the “Play” link doesn’t work, try “Download.”)

Mike Leslie, shopkeeper Jacob Berendes and Mike Leslie

I put up some photos on Flickr. To get a sense of the store, look at this photo at the highest resolution. Yes, that’s a fabric giant squid hanging from the ceiling.

I love this store. It is like revolution in action. Or like something better than revolution in action.

Reminds me of the Diggers’ “free store” Trip Without A Ticket:

If Someone Asks to See the Manager
Tell Him He’s the Manager

Pix of George Frisbie Hoar statue

George Frisbie HoarHere’s my Flickr photoset of the George Frisbie Hoar statue by Worcester City Hall.

The statue is the a focal point of Worcester’s pro-immigrant rally on May 1. Senator Hoar is known as a defender of human rights.

These are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License. When I get the time to figure out CC’s public domain process, I’ll make these public domain.

If you are blogging or otherwise writing about the rally, I hope these are helpful.