A BusyGal Nugget | FREEDOM DENIED

Sometimes we have to make a stand,…. by sitting down!

In honour of the those who went before me….

Strange Fruit

In honour of Black History Month… may we never forget!

Powerful Video of legenary singer, Ms. Billie Holiday performing this extraordinary song.   May we never forget the sacrifice that so many made in the effort to be equal in this country!

Sung by Billie Holiday

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

Women’s March Against Tyranny Anthem | I CAN’T KEEP QUIET

As the song says, I CAN’T KEEP QUIET any longer.  

This weekend something happened to all of us — both women and the men that love us at the 627 national and international marches against the demagogue and fascist that is Trump.  The Resistance has begun in full swing and a sisterhood has been born unto the world!

This song is an anthem of solidarity in a movement against the belligerence and hate of Trump that pulls out and legitimizes the racist, the misogynist, — the morons that make up the lowest common denominators amongst us all!  Showing solidarity for women and all the other issues surrounding Trump’s horrific rhetoric (grab her by the p…sy) – remember, women wore pink “pussy-hats”.   I know that we must move on and I accept that Trump is the president.  

But I CAN’T STAY QUIET ANY LONGER!!!  

I condemn his unabashed bigotry, and his hateful comments about women, Muslims, Hispanics, and other marginalized groups.  I condemn him for mocking Serge Kovaleski, and for welcoming white supremacists into his administration. I condemn him for running a campaign based on division . I condemn his inability to admit personal fault.  I condemn his lack of intellectual curiosity and his disrespect for American norms and values.  I condemn his lack of vision to understand in the most basic terms that life without the arts is not worth living!  Arts and the humanities get the truth of things in life, so naturally Trump and his administration want to de-fund them and paint #AlternativeFacts! 

As an article written by Jesse Berney about 3 days ago in Rolling Stones states:

The day before Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States – an actual event taking place in the universe we live in – news broke that his administration plans to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. And I wanted to scream.

His administration is likely to be just as bad as you think – and possibly worse

This is Donald Trump’s America: one where things like art and books and science and learning and thoughtful consideration of complicated problems are deemed worthless and tossed aside. This can’t be surprising after the Trump we saw on the campaign trail, the man who never answered a question with a hint of intelligence or depth.

Therefore, on the most fundamental level, I condemn Trump as a human being!

In closing,  please share this with your friends. This Anthem needs to get out there. 

Here’s the back story:  Apparently, these women are all from different states and never met till the day of the march. They practiced this song online using Skype and they only met once before the march. Some met that day for the first time!  This song and it’s sentiment made me cry when I heard it because the beauty and the harmony of their voices captured for me how women can come together to find their voice. I find it healing and empowering in the best possible way.

#TogetherWeRise #OneWomansRiot #iCantkeepquiet

Here are the lyrics.

“Quiet”
Written by MILCK and AG
Produced by AG

put on your face
know your place
shut up and smile
don’t spread your legs
I could do that

but no one knows me no one ever will
if I don’t say something, if I just lie still
would I be that monster, scare them all away
If I let the-em hear what I have to say

I can’t keep quiet, no oh oh oh oh oh oh
I can’t keep quiet, no oh oh oh oh oh oh
A one woman riot, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

I can’t keep quiet
For anyone
Anymore

Cuz no one knows me no one ever will
if I don’t say something, take that dry blue pill
they may see that monster, they may run away
But I have to do this, do it anyway
I can’t keep quiet, no oh oh oh oh oh oh
I can’t keep quiet, no oh oh oh oh oh oh
A one woman riot, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh I can’t keep quiet

Let it out Let it out
Let it out now
There’ll be someone who understands
Let it out Let it out
Let it out now
Must be someone who’ll understand
Let it out Let it out
Let it out now
There’ll be someone who understands
Let it out Let it out
Let it out now

I can’t keep quiet

Beauty Found in the Concrete Ashes of Humanity

I am so proud to call Bridgit Antoinette Evans my friend and my sister!  We have been friends now for over 20 years, going all the way back to our time in grad school at Columbia University in the 90s.  The script written by Sandra A. Daley-Sharif is utterly phenomenal and blew me away with its poignancy, its pathos and its hard-hitting message of humanity and spirit.    I feel that these two women’s work – Sandra’s words and Bridgit performance – had to be highlighted at the top of this year, 2017, as we move forward as a country to try to heal from the wounds of an election cycle that left us all hurting and rendered an incomprehensible reality to us all – that we have lost our compassion and our ability to see the humanity in the least of our brothers and sisters.

To me, this video highlighted a social area of injustice that we usually  completely ignore – homelessness that leads to self-deprecating isolation and shame. Unfortunately it seems to me that many of the tenants of the roots of the United States are being ripped apart today as is so evidenced by the election of a man such as Trump – who glorifies opulence as well as over-the-top conspicuous consumption while ignoring  the plight of millions of Americans today – specifically as highlighted here in the harsh reality of poverty and homelessness!

It seem to me that we as nation have forgotten our compassion and our need to lift up and not stomp into oblivion those that are helpless due in many instances to no fault of their own.  Maybe it was a loss of a job, outrageous medical expenses, a divorce, I don’t know; but I do know that we need to be cognizant of our fellow-man and woman no matter what he or she looks like or smells like or worships like because one day, there but for the grace of God, go we and then this story as portrayed in this video becomes our own reality too.

This theatrical performance hits the heart because of its utter simplicity in delivery and its lack of bravado that yields complete authenticity.  It is an introspection of purpose that creates mind-blowing power!  I hope that you will enjoy this as much as I did so please take the time to share with your friends and family!  I believe that this powerful yet gentle message will touch their hearts deeply.  Bravo Bridgit and Bravo Sandra for creating such a  wonder piece!

The BusyGal
Felicia M. Lopes