[JUST ABOUT NOW IS A COLLECTION OF THINGS HAPPENING IN OUR SPACES & PLACES, PHYSICAL & DIGITAL, intersecting past, present, future, CREATIVITY, CULTURE & COMMUNITY INTO the NOW. STITCHED TOGETHER BY GEROME FOR WSKRA.COM]
“The Yoorrook Justice Commission, represented by the design at the centre of the logo, is central to the truth telling for injustices for First Nations people and in turn is central to making recommendations for healing, system reform and practical changes to laws, policy and education.
“The circles represent meeting and community and they are connected through the songlines of culture and understanding.”
BOOKS. Published in 1949. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. “Nineteen Eighty-Four (also published as 1984) is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell’s ninth and final book completed in his lifetime.
“It centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of people and behaviours within society. Orwell, a staunch believer in democratic socialism and member of the anti-Stalinist Left, modelled the Britain under authoritarian socialism in the novel on the Soviet Union in the era of Stalinism and on the very similar practices of both censorship and propaganda in Nazi Germany. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within societies and the ways in which they can be manipulated.
“The story takes place in an imagined future. The current year is uncertain, but believed to be 1984. Much of the world is in perpetual war. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, has become a province of the totalitarian superstate Oceania, which is led by Big Brother, a dictatorial leader supported by an intense cult of personality manufactured by the Party’s Thought Police. The Party engages in omnipresent government surveillance and, through the Ministry of Truth, historical negationism and constant propaganda to persecute individuality and independent thinking.”–Wikipedia
“Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was a British novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (i.e. to both left-wing authoritarian communism and to right-wing fascism), and support of democratic socialism.
“Orwell’s work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective “Orwellian“—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as “Big Brother“, “Thought Police“, “Room 101“, “Newspeak“, “memory hole“, “doublethink“, and “thoughtcrime“. In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.”–Wikipedia
COMMUNITY. ART. Peaceful protest is not a threat to anyone | Thoughtcrime in the UK | Allriot Kickass Political T-shirts. “The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.”–Toni Cade Bambara
“Nineteen Eighty-Four”: 75 years after its publication, George Orwell’s prophecy is as powerful as ever | ABC Religion & Ethics | Peter Marks (June 2024)
FILM ADAPTATION. Released in 1984. Nineteen Eighty-Four, or 1984 (original trailer), “written and directed by Michael Radford, based upon George Orwell’s 1949 novel of the same name. Staring John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, and Cyril Cusack, the film follows the life of Winston Smith (Hurt), a low-ranking civil servant in a war-torn London ruled by Oceania, a totalitarian superstate.
“Smith struggles to maintain his sanity and his grip on reality as the regime’s overwhelming power and influence persecutes individualism and individual thinking on both a political and personal level.”–Wikipedia
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell | Britannica | Cathy Lowne (July 2024). “Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-four as a warning after years of brooding on the twin menaces of Nazism and Stalinism. Its depiction of a state where daring to think differently is rewarded with torture, where people are monitored every second of the day, and where party propaganda trumps free speech and thought is a sobering reminder of the evils of unaccountable governments. Winston [Smith] is the symbol of the values of civilized life, and his defeat is a poignant reminder of the vulnerability of such values in the midst of all-powerful states.”
BOOKS. 2002. Why Orwell Matters by Christopher Hitchens. Christopher Hitchens on Why Orwell Matters + Q&A (2002)
Why Christopher Hitchens Matters by William Ray (2013)
“I met Christopher Hitchens while moderating a debate about socialism during the dying days of the old Soviet Union. The Iron Curtain was falling throughout Europe, and the debate organizer explained that the challenging case for socialism would be made by Christopher Hitchens, an English-born journalist whose name was new to me. Trained in political debate at Cambridge, Christopher Hitchens rarely lost an argument on any subject that engaged his interest, including democracy movements behind the Iron Curtain, post-Soviet Union U.S. politics, and the questionable existence of God. I learned this in the course of a friendship that lasted until his much too early death.
“Like Orwell, Christopher Hitchens was a master of irony, irreverence, and oxymoron. A loyal friend, he was relentless in print but respectful in person. Like Orwell, he remained faithful to his early socialist ideals while criticizing communism as it developed in the Soviet Union and its Iron Curtain satellites. He shared a tough, pared-down liberalism with Orwell and (I believe) with Steinbeck as well. Its basic principles (in my own words) are relevant to the case of Orwell vs. Steinbeck:
The Seven Laws of Liberalism
* Freedom is precious.
* Truth is objective.
* Reason is essential.
* Every individual has value.
* No authority is infallible.
* God is debatable.
* History happened.”
MUSIC. 1984. Eurythmics | Sexcrime 1984. “Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) is a song written and performed by the British duo Eurythmics. It was released as the first single from their album 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother), which served as the soundtrack to the film Nineteen Eighty-Four, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by George Orwell.”
BOOKS. Published in 1945. Animal Farm by George Orwell. “In 1944 Orwell finished Animal Farm, a political fable based on the story of the Russian Revolution and its betrayal by Joseph Stalin.
“In the book a group of barnyard animals overthrow and chase off their exploitative human masters and set up an egalitarian society of their own. Eventually the animals’ intelligent and power-loving leaders, the pigs, subvert the revolution and form a dictatorship whose bondage is even more oppressive and heartless than that of their former human masters. (“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”)
“At first Orwell had difficulty finding a publisher for the small masterpiece, but when it appeared in 1945, Animal Farm made him famous and, for the first time, prosperous.”–Britannica
BOOKS. 1988. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy Of The Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
“Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media is a 1988 book by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. It argues that the mass communication media of the U.S. “are effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function, by reliance on market forces, internalized assumptions, and self-censorship, and without overt coercion”, by means of the propaganda model of communication.
“The title refers to consent of the governed, and derives from the phrase “the manufacture of consent” used by Walter Lippmann in Public Opinion (1922). The book was honored with the Orwell Award.
“A 2002 revision takes account of developments such as the fall of the Soviet Union. A 2009 interview with the authors notes the effects of the internet on the propaganda model.”–Wikipedia
DOCUMENTARY FILM. 1992. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky And The Media by Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick (2.75 hours) | Cool World
“Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky And The Media explores the political life and ideas of linguist, intellectual, and political activist Noam Chomsky. Canadian filmmakers Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick expand the analysis of political economy and mass media presented in Manufacturing Consent, a 1988 book Chomsky wrote with Edward S. Herman.”–Wikipedia
In a nutshell: Noam Chomsky – Manufacturing Consent [9 minutes]
In a 3-minute animated video: Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent revisited | Al Jazeera | The Listening Post (December 2018)
DOCUMENTARY. Pandora’s Box (1992) by Adam Curtis (UK). “Pandora’s Box, subtitled A Fable From the Age of Science, is a [six part] BBC television documentary series by Adam Curtis looking at the consequences of political and technocratic rationalism. It won a BAFTA for Best Factual Series in 1993.”
Part 1: The Engineer’s Plot. “This episode, originally broadcast on 11 June 1992, details how the Bolshevik revolutionaries who came into power in 1917 attempted to industrialise and control the Soviet Union with rational scientific methods. The Bolsheviks wanted to turn the Soviet people into scientific beings. Aleksei Gastev used social engineering, including a social engineering machine, to make people more rational.
“When Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin took over in the mid-1960s, the economy of the Soviet Union was stagnating. By 1978, the country was in full economic crisis. Production had degenerated to a “pointless, elaborate ritual” and endeavours to improve the plan had been abandoned. The narrator says, “What had begun as a grand moral attempt to build a rational society ended by creating a bizarre, bewildering existence for millions of Soviet people.””
Part 2: To The Brink of Eternity. “An investigation into the workings of the first scientific think-tank, the Rand Corporation, which Khrushchev called “the American Academy for death and destruction”. The mathematical geniuses there believed they could apply the abstract methods of science to the dark terrors of the Cold War and build a new age of peace and reason. In the end, their vision degenerated into fantasy.”
DOCUMENTARY. HyperNormalisation (2016) by Adam Curtis (UK) | Vimeo. “Our world is strange, and often fake and corrupt, but how did we get here? We live in a time of great uncertainty and confusion. Events keep happening that seem inexplicable and out of control. Donald Trump, Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, random bomb attacks. And those who are supposed to be in power are paralysed — they have no idea what to do.
“This film is the epic story of how we got to this strange place. It explains not only why these chaotic events are happening — but also why we, and our politicians, cannot understand them. It shows that what has happened is that all of us in the West — not just the politicians and the journalists and the experts, but we ourselves — have retreated into a simplified, and often completely fake version of the world. But because it is all around us we accept it as normal.
“But there is another world outside. Forces that politicians tried to forget and bury forty years ago — that then festered and mutated — but which are now turning on us with a vengeful fury, piercing though the wall of our fake world.”–HyperNormalisation
DOCUMENTARY. 2022. Russia 1985–1999: TraumaZone by Adam Curtis Parts 1–7
TraumaZone: Adam Curtis’s nightmarish study of the Soviet Union’s downfall | Dazed | Diyora Shadijanova (October 2022). “The documentarian’s new series, Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone, is a dark and eerily familiar look at the collapse of the Soviet Union”
“Watching TraumaZone is like looking through a broken kaleidoscope, where all you see are iterations of the same despair and destruction. Nearly seven hours of footage detailing the collapse of the Soviet Union will leave anyone feeling depressed, especially when we know that what comes after is Putin’s authoritarian dictatorship which leads to more wars inside Russia and across borders. For those looking to understand the general gist of history that contextualises Putin’s emergence and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, TraumaZone is an excellent source for first-hand accounts. Yet it struggles to tell the whole story in the detail the subject deserves.”–Dazed
“Adam Curtis (born 26 May 1955) is an English documentary filmmaker.
“Curtis began his career as a conventional documentary producer for the BBC throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The release of Pandora’s Box(1992) marked the introduction of Curtis’s distinctive presentation that uses collage to explore aspects of sociology, psychology, philosophy, and political history.
“His style has been described as involving, “whiplash digressions, menacing atmospherics and arpeggiated scores, and the near-psychedelic compilation of archival footage”, narrated by Curtis himself with “patrician economy and assertion”. His films have won five BAFTAs.”–Wikipedia
INTERVIEW. Adam Curtis on the fall of the Soviet Union’s worrying parallels with modern Britain | PoliticsJOE (October 2022)
DOCUMENTARY SERIES. The Murdochs: Empire Of Influence | SBS On Demand. “Behind the scenes of the improbable rise of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, his outsized influence around the globe, and the intense succession battle between his children over who will inherit his position.”–SBS On Demand
“The [seven-part] series was produced with The New York Times and Left/Right and is based on the New York Times Magazine article How Rupert Murdoch’s Empire Of Influence Remade The World, by journalists Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg. They serve as consulting producers on the series.”–IMDb
“Rupert Murdoch (born March 11, 1931, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian-born American newspaper publisher and media entrepreneur who founded (1979) the global media holding company the News Corporation Ltd. —often called News Corp. It focused on publishing after a reorganization in which its media and television holdings were spun off (2013) as 21st Century Fox and largely sold (2019). That sale resulted in the creation of Fox Corporation, which included Fox News and other TV channels.”–Britannica
COMMUNITY. Rupert Murdoch and new ‘Washington Post’ CEO accused of cover-up in hacking scandal | NPR | David Folkenflik (March 2024). “For years, investigators and journalists working for Murdoch’s British tabloids had hacked into the voicemails and emails of royals, politicians and the stars of sports, music, movies and more. Revelations surfaced in isolated cases, starting with the arrest of a correspondent in 2006. Murdoch’s executives insisted that this was the result of a “rogue reporter.”
“The scandal erupted into public view in 2011 when it became clear that the phones of everyday people had been hacked – including the victims of violent crime and veterans killed in combat.
“Murdoch’s tabloids weren’t the only ones that took such actions, but they were considered — by far — the most grievous transgressors. To date, Murdoch’s News Corp. has paid an estimated $1.5 billion in settlements and costs associated with the hacking scandal. Late last fall, it made a six-figure payment to former Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne, whose scandals had been intensely covered by the tabloids.”–David Folkenflik
COMMUNITY. Pie In The Sky News. Sky News Australia releases 2023 schedule with new programs, new hosts, exclusive digital content and a new app as Sharri Markson joins primetime weekday line-up | Sky News Australia (January 2023).
“Sky News Australia is an Australian conservative news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs featuring a line-up of conservative commentators.”–Wikipedia
COMMUNITY. Under The Facade Of Journalism. Australians For A Murdoch Royal Commission. “During the Voice referendum, the Murdoch Press ran an aggressive political campaign that weaponised mis- and disinformation in favour of a ‘No’ vote.” Under The Facade Of Journalism: Final Report of the Murdoch Referendum Accountability Project
COMMUNITY. Phillip Adams Farewell From Late Night Live | ABC News | Laura Tingle (28 June 2024). “Phillip Adams in conversation with Laura Tingle as he says farewell to Late Night Live.”
‘I am just a marionette’: ABC veteran Phillip Adams reveals what sets him apart ahead of final show | The Guardian | Amanda Meade (27 June 2024)
“Phillip Adams AO, FAHA, FRSA (born 12 July 1939 is an Australian humanist, social commentator, ex-broadcaster, public intellectual and farmer. He hosted Late Night Live, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) program on Radio National from 1991 to 2024. He also writes a weekly column for The Weekend Australian.”–Wikipedia
“Starting in the 20th century, humanist movements are typically non-religious and aligned with secularism. Most frequently, humanism refers to a non-theistic view centered on human agency, and a reliance on science and reason rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world.
“Humanists tend to advocate for human rights, free speech, progressive policies, and democracy. People with a humanist worldview maintain religion is not a precondition of morality, and object to excessive religious entanglement with education and the state.”–Wikipedia
COMMUNITY. Since 2019. The Centre For Public Integrity
“The Centre for Public Integrity is an independent think tank dedicated to preventing corruption, protecting the integrity of our accountability institutions, reining in executive power, and eliminating the undue influence of big money in politics in Australia. The Centre for Public Integrity’s work is only possible due to the voluntary service that some of the nation’s leading academic and legal minds donate to our board and expert project committees.”
Support Our Democracy Now
MUSIC. 2022. Usher | Tiny Desk Concert | NPR. “We celebrate Black Music Month. This has been Black magic.” Truer words may have never been spoken behind the Tiny Desk as R&B goliath Usher caps off our month-long celebration of Black music, highlighting a catalog chock-full of hits spanning 25 years.
“It’s been over two years since NPR headquarters was abuzz with chatter of a legend in the building. After an early morning rehearsal for his set at the Something in the Water Festival in Washington, D.C., he made his way over to deliver an unforgettable performance.”–Bobby Carter (30 June 2022)
DOCUMENTARY SERIES. 2022. Resistance In A Hostile Environment: Uprising by Steve McQueen, James Rogan (UK) | SBS On Demand (expires 2 September 2024). “Filmmakers Steve McQueen and James Rogan explore three key events in 1981 and how they affected race relations in Britain.
“In the early hours of 18 January 1981, in a house in South London, a birthday party ends in a fire. Thirteen young black British people lose their lives. The fire and its aftermath ignite an uprising by the black British community.”
“The three-part miniseries tells the extraordinary story of three intertwined events from 1981: the New Cross Fire, which killed 13 young Black people; the Black People’s Day of Action; and the Brixton riots – turning points which would go on to define race relations in the UK for a generation.
“Uprising has a 100% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics consensus says, “Honest, harrowing, and heartbreaking, Uprising is an incredible feat of documentary storytelling from Steve McQueen.” Guardian calls it “brilliant and furious and human.””–Showmax Stories
COMMUNITY. Margaret Thatcher left a dark legacy that has still not disappeared | The Guardian | Hugo Young (April 2013). “Days before he died in 2003, Guardian columnist and Thatcher biographer Hugo Young wrote an epitaph for the prime minister who changed Britain forever.”
“What happened at the hands of this woman’s indifference to sentiment and good sense in the early 1980s brought unnecessary calamity to the lives of several million people who lost their jobs. It led to riots that nobody needed.
“More insidiously, it fathered a mood of tolerated harshness. Materialistic individualism was blessed as a virtue, the driver of national success. Everything was justified as long as it made money – and this, too, is still with us.
“Thatcherism failed to destroy the welfare state. The lady was too shrewd to try that, and barely succeeded in reducing the share of the national income taken by the public sector.
“But the sense of community evaporated. There turned out to be no such thing as society, at least in the sense we used to understand it. Whether pushing each other off the road, barging past social rivals, beating up rival soccer fans, or idolising wealth as the only measure of virtue, Brits became more unpleasant to be with.”–Hugo Young
MUSIC. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Concrete Jungle (Live at The Old Grey Whistle, 1973). “The Wailers do a live in-studio performance for London’s Top Gear Radio Show before performing live for BBC Channel 2′s Old Grey Whistle Test. They perform Stir It Up and Concrete Jungle during this set. This is one of only 2 or 3 times where Bob, Peter, and Bunny are captured on video performing together as The Wailers.”
“Robert Nesta Marley OM (6 February 1945 — 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican reggae singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of the genre, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive vocal and songwriting style.
“Marley began to use cannabis when he converted to the Rastafari faith from Catholicism in 1966. Marley was arrested in 1968 after being caught with cannabis but continued to use marijuana in accordance with his religious beliefs.
“Of his marijuana usage, Marley said, “When you smoke herb, herb reveal yourself to you. All the wickedness you do, the herb reveal itself to yourself, your conscience, show up yourself clear, because herb make you meditate. Is only a natural t’ing and it grow like a tree.” Marley saw marijuana usage as a vital factor in religious growth and connection with Jah, and as a way to philosophise and become wiser.”–Wikipedia
DOCUMENTARY SERIES. 2024. Defiance: Fighting The Far Right by Riz Ahmed | Channel 4 (Official Trailer)
“The series combines archival footage and compelling new testimony from key figures on the front line at the time, detailing what happened when the British Asian community decided to fight back.”
Defiance: Fighting The Far Right (review) – a powerful tale of British Asians who fought against racism | The Guardian | Leila Latif (April 2024). “The [three-part] series refuses to allow a false narrative of “peaceful protests” that re-writes history into a cosier tale about multiculturalism. It is unacceptable to believe that rights for British Asians happened because of the goodwill of the majority…
“It also frames the period’s racism as extending far beyond the violent confrontations and depicts the more “respectable” face of bigotry in an era when brownface and Asian characters as objects of ridicule were rife on TV and politicians would legitimise the fear of a “different culture” threatening British identity.”
COMMUNITY. Eddie McGuire defends Sam Newman‘s blackface stunt | The Mercury | Alex Turner-Cohen (February 2020). “Eddie McGuire has been criticised for defending Footy Show colleague Sam Newman’s controversial stunt in a doco that aired on Sunday night.”
“In the U.S., the practice of blackface became a popular entertainment during the 19th century into the 20th. It contributed to the spread of racial stereotypes such as “Jim Crow“, the “happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation”, and “Zip Coon” also known as the “dandified coon”.
“In 1999, Sam Newman wore blackface to impersonate legendary Indigenous Australian Football League footballer Nicky Winmar after Winmar did not attend a scheduled appearance on the program.”–Wikipedia
COMMUNITY. Nicky Winmar’s stand. 1993: AFL player Nicky Winmar responds to racist abuse from spectators | National Museum Of Australia
DOCUMENTARY SERIES. MUSIC. Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop Changed The World by Yemi Bamiro, Todd Williams (UK) | SBS On Demand
“Chuck D transports audiences back to hip-hop’s inception and documents the genre’s steps in revolutionising and challenging America’s history over four decades.”
“Hip hop or hip-hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans, starting in the Bronx, New York City. Pioneered from Black American street culture that had been around for years prior to its more mainstream discovery, it later reached other groups such as Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans.
“Hip hop culture is characterized by the key elements of rapping, DJing, and turntablism and breakdancing; other elements include graffiti, beatboxing, street entrepreneurship, hip hop language, and hip hop fashion. From hip hop culture emerged a new genre of popular music, hip hop music.”–Wikipedia
MUSIC. 1979. Steel Pulse – Ku Klux Klan (Live At The Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland 1979). “Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Erdington area of Birmingham, England. Steel Pulse were the first non-Jamaican act to win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.”
COMMUNITY. Strange Fruit: Anniversary Of A Lynching | NPR | Radio Diaries (August 2010)
“Ku Klux Klan, either of two distinct U.S. hate organizations that employed terror in pursuit of their white supremacist agenda. One group was founded immediately after the Civil War and lasted until the 1870s. The other began in 1915 and has continued to the present.
“This second Klan peaked in the 1920s, when its membership exceeded 4,000,000 nationally, and profits rolled in from the sale of its memberships, regalia, costumes, publications, and rituals. A burning cross became the symbol of the new organization, and white-robed Klansmen participated in marches, parades, and nighttime cross burnings all over the country. To the old Klan’s hostility toward Blacks the new Klan—which was strong in the Midwest as well as in the South—added bias against Roman Catholics, Jews, foreigners, and organized labour.”–Britannica
MUSIC. 1956. Billie Holiday | Strange Fruit
Southern trees bear strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root / Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze / Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees / Pastoral scene of the gallant south / The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth / Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh / Then the sudden smell of burning flesh / Here is fruit for the crows to pluck / For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck / For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop / Here is a strange and bitter crop
MUSIC. 1965. Nina Simone | Strange Fruit
“Strange Fruit is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939.
“The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black Americans with lyrics that compare the victims to the fruit of trees. Such lynchings had reached a peak in the Southern United States at the turn of the 20th century.”–Wikipedia
DOCUMENTARY. 2023. Malcolm X: Justice By Any Means by Amine Mestari (France) | SBS On Demand. “Focuses on declassified FBI reports and retraces the relentless spiral that led to the death of African-American leader Malcolm X.”
COMMUNITY. Malcolm X | “By Any Means Necessary” Speech (1964) | Circle Of Life Foundation. “By any means necessary is a translation of a phrase used by French intellectual Jean-Paul Sartre in his play Dirty Hands. It entered the popular civil rights culture through a speech given by Malcolm X at the Organization of Afro-American Unity founding rally on June 28, 1964.”
COMMUNITY. What’s the history behind France’s far-right Rassemblement National party? | Le Monde (English). “Formerly known as the Front National, the far-right party was founded in 1972 by a neo-fascist group. It achieved historic success in France’s EU elections on June 9, garnering 31.5% of the vote.”–Arthur Eryeh-Fort, Olivier Escher, Diana Liu
France legislative election 2024 | How France voted: Charts and maps | Politico | Hanne Cokelaere (July 2024). “Politico analyzes the vote that redrew French politics, in which the left beat Marine Le Pen’s far right.”
5 charts showing where France’s National Front draws its support | Pew Research Center | Richard Wike (April 2017)
PHOTOGRAPHY. “Short Hair Shorthand”: The Far Right in the UK Through the Magnum Archive
“Three Magnum photographers reflect on their experiences photographing extreme anti-immigrant sentiment in the British Isles, and the dangers of focusing on aesthetics when documenting the right-wing.”
Remembering the Battle of Lewisham | Tribune Magazine | Padraig O’Neill (August 2023). “On this day in 1977 [August 13], the National Front attempted to organise a national demonstration through Lewisham, a multi-racial area of southeast London. Against a backdrop of deep economic crisis, its aim was to intimidate the local black community and provoke conflict. A year before, in a local council election, the far right had secured almost half the vote – the stage seemed set for a foothold in Britain’s capital.”
MUSIC. 1989. Public Enemy | Fight The Power (Official Music Video). “Public Enemy is an American hip hop group formed by Chuck D and Flavor Flav on Long Island, New York, in 1985. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as American Racism and the American media. Their debut album Yo! Bum Rush The Show was released in 1987 to critical acclaim, and their second album It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988), was the first hip hop album to top The Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop critics’ poll.”–Wikipedia
MUSIC. 2006. Blackfire | It Aint Over! 2012. Black Fire | Silence Is A Weapon. “Blackfire is a Native American punk rock group. Composed of two brothers and their sister, their musical style is influenced by traditional Navajo Diné music and alternative rock, with political messages about government oppression and human rights.”
“Kutcha Edwards (born 1965) is an Aboriginal Australian singer and songwriter. He is known as a former member of the [Australian] band Blackfire during the 1990s. More recently, he has fronted the Kutcha Edwards Band, and is part of The Black Arm Band. He has won several Music Victoria Awards, as well as the Melbourne Prize for Music in 2016.”–Wikipedia
MUSIC. LIVE. Wuigada – Gagada (To Sing – Loud) | Kutcha Edwards and the Australian Art Orchestra, Friday 30 August 2024 7pm–8pm at The Capitol.
“Reimagined for the AAO, this work celebrates the songs of country, history, pain and joy expressed in Kutcha Edward’s repertoire, and creates space for experimentation by some of Australia’s most creative voices of jazz and improvisation.”–Now Or Never
MUSIC. 1971. The Rolling Stones | Brown Sugar (Live). “The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active across seven decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era.
“In the early 1960s, the band pioneered the gritty, rhythmically driven sound that came to define hard rock. Their first stable line-up consisted of vocalist Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, bassist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts. During their early years, Jones was the primary leader.”–Wikipedia
Brown Sugar: The Rolling Stones Most Controversial Song | Joe Nose (April 2021). “Brown Sugar is one of The Rolling Stones most beloved songs yet has some of their darkest provocative lyrics. In this video, I look back at the history of the song and reanalyze it with a modern lens.”
MUSIC. 1999. Hugh Masekela | Stimela (The Coal Train). “Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as “the father of South African jazz”. Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and for writing well-known anti-apartheid songs such as Soweto Blues and Bring Him Back Home. He also had a number-one US pop hit in 1968 with his version of Grazing in the Grass.”–Wikipedia
MUSIC. 1987. Hugh Masekela | Bring Him Back Home Nelson Mandela (Live Zimbabwe 1987)
ART. FASHION. NOW. Africa Fashion at the NGV until 6 October 2024
“The diversity and ingenuity of the continent’s contemporary fashion industry is explored in a visually arresting display of contemporary couture, ready-to-wear and made-to-order from the many ground-breaking designers, collectives and stylists working in Africa today. From the minimal to the artisanal to the maximalist to the narrative, Africa Fashion offers a glimpse of the glamour and the politics of this globally influential scene.”–NGV
MUSIC. MUSIC VIDEO. 2020. Diamond Platnumz feat. Koffi Olomide | Waah! (Official Music Video)
MUSIC. MUSIC VIDEO. 2023. Diamond Platnumz feat. Chley | Shu! (Official Music Video)
COMMUNITY. GASTRONOMY. NOW. Akwaaba. “Melbourne’s West African restaurant/bar at the beach end of Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, offers exceptional traditional West African & fusion dishes.”
MUSIC. LIVE. NOW. NGV Friday Nights | Stani Goma Curates: Melbourne African Traditional Ensemble, Friday 2 August 2024, 6pm–10pm. Kunjani Heita Afrika, Friday 16 August 2024, 6pm–10pm, NGV International
ANCIENT ART. NOW. Melbourne Winter Masterpieces 2024 | NGV, 14 June to 6 October 2024
“The NGV has partnered with the British Museum to present Pharaoh, a landmark exhibition that celebrates three thousand years of ancient Egyptian art and culture. Through more than 500 objects, including monumental sculpture, architecture, temple statuary, exquisite jewellery, papyri, coffins and a rich array of funerary objects, the exhibition unpacks the phenomenon of pharaoh, those all-powerful kings claiming a divine origin.”–NGV
MUSIC. 1969. Miriam Makeba | Malaika (Live 1969). “Malaika Nakupenda Malaika is a Swahili song written by Tanzanian artist, Adam Salim in 1945 and recorded for the first time by Kenyan musician Fadhili William. This song is possibly the most famous of all Swahili love songs in Tanzania, Kenya and the entire East Africa, as well as being one of the most widely known of all Swahili songs in the world. Malaika in this context means “angel” in Swahili, and this word has always been used by the Swahili speakers to refer to a beautiful girl.”–Wikipedia
MUSIC. 1967. Miriam Makeba | Pata Pata (Live 1967). “Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist. She recorded and toured with Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, and her former husband Hugh Masekela. Makeba campaigned against the South African system of apartheid. The South African government responded by revoking her passport in 1960, and her citizenship and right of return in 1963. As the apartheid system crumbled she returned home for the first time in 1990.”–Miriam Makeba Official Channel
MUSIC. 2016. Angelique Kidjo | Pata Pata (Live at Austin City Limits). “Born in Ouidah, Benin, Kidjo made her musical debut in 1981 with the album Pretty. Following a political coup in 1983, she moved to Paris, France, to pursue a career in music without fear of political persecution. She rose to international fame in the 1990s with albums such as Logozo, Ayé, and Fifa.
“Kidjo’s approach to her music and her activism are linked: Both come from a profound understanding of the human spirit, and a desire to use her voice to empower and inspire others. “Music gave me the strength to talk about anything, she says. My music is steeped in the story of resilience, love, and what you can accomplish with very little.””–Vilcek Foundation
MUSIC. 2019. Playing For Change | Pata Pata. “Playing For Change is a multimedia music project, featuring musicians and singers from across the globe, co-founded in 2002 by Mark Johnson and Whitney Kroenke.
“Playing For Change also created in 2007 a separate non-profit organization called the Playing For Change Foundation, which builds music and art schools for children around the world.”–Wikipedia
MUSIC. 2024. Mr. Bobby | Manu Chao | Song Around The World | Playing For Change. “With reggae reflecting the ideas of freedom, resilience and unity, and hip hop’s profound ability to use words to change lives, “Mr. Bobby” Song Around The World champions the transformative power of music.”–Manu Chao
“Manu Chao (born José Manuel Tomás Arturo Chao Ortega on 21 June 1961) is a French-Spanish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek, and occasionally in other languages. Chao began his musical career in Paris, busking and playing with groups such as Hot Pants and Los Carayos, which combined a variety of languages and musical styles.
“With friends and his brother Antoine Chao, he founded the band Mano Negra in 1987, achieving considerable success, particularly in Europe. He became a solo artist after its breakup in 1995 and since then has toured regularly with his live band, Radio Bemba.”–Wikipedia
MUSIC. 2003. The Cat Empire | The Chariot (Official Lyric Video). “The Cat Empire are an Australian jazz/funk band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1999. For most of the band’s duration, the core members were Felix Riebl (lead vocals, percussion), Harry James Angus (trumpet, vocals), Will Hull-Brown (drums), Jamshid Khadiwhala (turntables, percussion), Ollie McGill (keyboards, backing vocals) and Ryan Monro (bass, backing vocals). Monro retired from the band in March 2021, while Angus, Hull-Brown and Khadiwhala all left in April 2022.”
MUSIC. 2018. Aya Nakamura | Djadja. “Aya Nakamura is a chart-topping French- Malian pop singer mixing urban and Afrobeat sounds, mostly known for the #1 hit single and global smash Djadja (2018).”
POST-SCRIPTUM: Paris Olympics | Friday 26 July to Sunday 11 August 2024
Welcome to the city of light. How Paris got its glow | France 24
A Midnight Drive through the Sparkling Streets of Paris | Paris Top Tips
Welcome to the city of love. Paris 2024 | BBC Official Trailer
France’s Olympic champions: What it takes to win gold | France In Focus | France 24 (June 2024)
POST-POSTSCRIPTUM: “We may be through with the past, but the past ain’t through with us.”–Jimmy Gator
NOW. Eve Of Destruction, 14 August 2024 (premiere)
“It’s a talk show like no other: one question, two guests and the man everyone agrees is this country’s least experienced interviewer. The question? If your house was about to be destroyed, what two things would you save? The guests? Ah, but that would be telling. Join Shaun each week as he chats with his famous celebrity acquaintances about what’s REALLY important to them. Stream from Wednesday 14 August 2024“–ABC
“Featuring ANAM alumni Zela Papageorgiou (percussions) and Hamish Jamieson (cello), We Dance With Ghosts seeks to draw out the history of the old mansion that houses the new art gallery. The evening will also be a unique and intimate opportunity to view current exhibitions by Juncture Prize winners Vittoria Di Stefano and Shivanjani Lal, and to gather with friends in the spirit of musical soirées hosted by the Michaelis family at their residence in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.”–Linden New Art
NOW. MIFF 2024, 8–25 August 2024
“This winter, we’re taking over Melbourne with one of our most exciting programs ever, featuring more than 250 films from over 60 countries. We’ve got the hottest picks from the worldwide festival circuit, new Aussie films, future award contenders and films showing for the first time in Victoria.”–MIFF
NOW. Now Or Never, 22–31 August 2024
“Addressing the theme Look Through The Image, the expansive Now or Never 2024 program invites audiences to interrogate what’s in front of them, explore deeper meanings, contemplate layers of symbolism and question reality – from AI-generated narratives and visual distortion works to cinematic and augmented reality experiences. This year the festival brings visual language to the forefront of the program, with a focus on the presentation of large works designed to shift perspectives and push boundaries.”–Now Or Never
COMMUNITY. AWOL AF. (A Week Of Leather And Fetish), Monday 5 to Sunday 11 August 2024, Laird Hotel Abbotsford
COMMUNITY. ART. Men On Men Art Competition & Exhibition, Laird Hotel, 149 Gipps Street Abbotsford
NOW. Acland Street St Kilda Fathers Day Car Show, Sunday 1 September 2024 10am–6pm
“Showcars Melbourne & Acland St Traders Association will host and celebrate the 11th Father’s Day Car & Bike Show in St Kilda. Acland St, Shakespeare Grove, O’Donnell Gardens and Luna Park’s forecourt will be transformed into a car lovers festival [precinct] with a great family vibe. The area will be closed to local traffic on the day.”–Showcars Melbourne
NOW. Black Fella White Fella | Warumpi Band (1987)
NOW. Beds Are Burning | Midnight Oil (1987)
“Warumpi Band were an Australian country and Aboriginal rock group which formed in the outback settlement of Papunya, Northern Territory, in 1980. The original line-up was George Burarrwanga on vocals and didgeridoo, Gordon Butcher Tjapanangka on drums, his brother Sammy Butcher Tjapanangka on guitar and bass guitar, and Neil Murray on rhythm guitar and backing vocals. Their songs are in English, Luritja and Gumatj. Their key singles are Blackfella/Whitefella (1985), Sit Down Money (1986), My Island Home (1987) and No Fear (1987).”–Wikipedia
“Midnight Oil were an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972. The group garnered worldwide attention with [their] 1987 album Diesel and Dust. [Their] singles The Dead Heart and Beds Are Burning illuminated the plight of Indigenous Australians.”–Wikipedia
Now more than ever.
Gerome Villarete, Secretary
Art Saves Lives
❤️🖤💛