Russ is always good, well, they all are. Take a moment to enjoy this. It's simply the best.

Tom Paxton is telling it like it is.

Thanks to Kathleen for sending this YouTube link. It's so good to know that Tom Paxton and John Prine are still in the game. We decided to show our support for the unions on Saturday. It was great to be with like-minded people. The speakers were inspiring. It's heartening to know that people care.

union support rally at the thompson center--saturday at noon--we'll be there

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yuK4m3UzRk
Pete Seeger always said it best.

You Tell Me Your Dream---Salty Dogs of Chicago

With all the serious stuff going on in our lives and the world, I was so happy to run across this great tune from the Salty Dogs. I sure do miss those years when the Windy City Allstars were at Andy's every week playing great Dixieland and lots more. And Kim was in our wedding band. The best ever!

Thanks for sharing the joy!

When I Rise--a documentary that quietly says it all about the struggle for civil rights

When I Rise is a documentary about Barbara Smith Conrad, a talented woman who was among the first African Americans admitted to the University of Texas at Austin in 1957. This woman, who auditioned for and got the role of of Dido in the opera Dido and Aenaes, was then denied the right to sing by the Texas State Legislature only because of the color of her skin . Her representative to that legislature was the man responsible for having her removed from the role.

Her dignity and courage during that shameful incident and her subsequent successful career and the efforts by that same legislature and university to make it right, is the story that says it all about the struggle for civil rights. If I taught a class, I would use this film. She was raised during a time when African Americans rightfully feared for their lives at the hands of the white people in power. Although there are no dogs or hoses or beatings, it is her story, quietly and beautifully told, that so eloquently says why, to paraphrase what Dr. King said, it is the content of their character, and in Ms. Conrad's case, her absolute talent, by which people should be judged, not the color of their skin.