Saturday, April 1, 2006, MusicThe Scene: Anne Feeney on Tour with Jack Erdie and special guest Joe JencksActivist, organizer, songwriter, folksinger, troublemaker & hell-raiser from Pittsburgh, PA. Anne Feeney‘s conscience & consciousness were shaped by the Vietnam war & the Civil Rights Movement. Anne, Joe, and Jack performed at 8 PM at The Village Theatre in the Maitri Center, in the Historic Hannaford Building, 4120 Hamilton Avenue, Northside, Cincinnati, OH. Leah and I remember Anne from the late '70s and early '80s, when she was a firebrand headliner at Wobblie Joe's, one of our favorite bars on the Pittsburgh Southside.
It was a wonderful evening of songs and solidarity.
The evening went too quickly, but it was great to get reaquainted. It won't be so long before the next time.
Sunday, April 2nd, 2006 2:00 PM, there was an IWW Open House with Anne Feeney and Jack Erdie at the new IWW General Headquarters, 4001 Hamilton Ave, Cincinnati, OH, 513-591-1905 http://iww.org. They had light refreshments and an IWW sing-a-long at the brand new headquarters of the Industrial Workers of the World - Joe Hill's Union - The Wobblies! Leah and I went but only stayed for one song because I had to ref a couple of soccer games. NOTE (added April 3): One friend is concerned that the IWW might be a communist organization, and that association with communists would not help the anti-war cause. Well, IWW is a left wing fringe group, and they do have a strong anti-capitalist message, and they may in fact be communists or socialists. That said, the people I met this weekend seemed to be genuinely good people, not given to violence or abuse of any type, and I like their message of standing up for your rights, so I'm going to remain a supporter of the music and especially of the anti-war message. Regarding communism, I'm not sufficiently convinced of human goodness to support it as a practical solution for human self-governance. As near as I can tell, the key to any worthwhile human governance is to have sufficient checks and balances (the true genius of western democracy) to reign in corruption. Western democracies are in an ongoing struggle with capitalism and religion, far more serious and, in historical terms, more deadly than our struggle with communism (except, of course, the Stalinist version), and even though I am deeply offended by the greed and graft produced by the relatively unbridled capitalism we see around us, and as potentially horrific as are the theocratic tendancies attempting to take over the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East, I am well aware we in the U.S. already have an excellent system for correcting those problems, if only we insist upon it. I'm more liberal and libertarian than socialist or communist, but I respect and enjoy at least a few of the incredibly hopeful and optimistic people who adopt those stances. From the musical side, here are some more worthwhile links:
More fun later, Ray
Written April 2, Updated April 3, 2006 |
