It's darkest before the dawn- "Quite Early Morning" by Holly Near

A cover of a great, hope-filled Pete Seeger classic

Quite Early Morning
Pete Seeger

Don't you know it's darkest before the dawn
And it's this thought keeps me moving on
If we could heed these early warnings
The time is now quite early morning
If we could heed these early warnings
The time is now quite early morning

Some say that humankind won't long endure
But what makes them so doggone sure?
I know that you who hear my singing
Could make those freedom bells go ringing
I know that you who hear my singing
Could make those freedom bells go ringing

And so keep on while we live
Until we have no, no more to give
And when these fingers can strum no longer
Hand the old banjo to young ones stronger
And when these fingers can strum no longer
Hand the old banjo to young ones stronger

So though it's darkest before the dawn
These thoughts keep us moving on
Through all this world of joy and sorrow
We still can have singing tomorrows
Through all this world of joy and sorrow
We still can have singing tomorrows

Peace Now! "New Kicks," by Le Tigre

We Say No To War! Peace Now! This is What Democracy Looks Like!

 Kathleen Hanna, activist, musician, and member of Le Tigre and Bikini Kill, produces this modern protest anthem.

Marching in Ferguson, August 14, 2014

On August 14, hundreds of people gathered in Ferguson to peacefully uphold the rights of citizens to protest on the streets of Ferguson after police had unleashed teargas and pointed sniper rifles at those who were engaged in peaceful protest. I was proud to be among these people.

Some of our sisters at the meeting point had brought signs.

Episcopal Bishop Smith marched on the outside as clergy were asked to do in order to support the other protesters.

At the site of the killing of Mike Brown, on Canfield Drive in the Canfield Green Apartments.

A Deaconess Anne House intern at the starting point.

Friends of mine in the crowd.

Deaconess Anne House intern Eric and my friend Emily.

Some of the great people who marched behind me kept up a great variety of chants.

There I am at Canfield Green.

There were some amazing speeches and signs carried to Canfield.

On the way back down West Florissant Road.

St. John's Tower Grove's contingent.

Raise up your children in the way they should go....

Bishop Smith on Canfield Drive.

Crossing the Delmar Divide: the BBC investigates housing segregation in St. Louis

The video is available on KPLR's website: Crossing the Delmar Divide

Here is the link from YouTube:

Marching Against Monsanto- "Hummingbird"- The Both

I got a message from the Hummingbird....

Hummingbird
Ted Leo and Aimee Mann

In the woods we lit a fire
And we watched a wary deer walk by
The trees were restless,
moving underbrush
And clouds were banking in the sky

But I got a message from the hummingbird
He gave me a warning in disguise
He told me they're marching on Monsanto
But the same monolithic structures rise

In the garden we sat writing
To the rush of highway noise beside
Lonesome bees ignored the sirens
While remembering their dancing guide

But I got a message from the hummingbird
He gave me a warning in disguise
He told me they're marching on the Capitol
With wings at their back
and fear in their eyes

There's sage and glove and distant waters
But there's no map home
for Memory's daughters
Do the darting thoughts of gods have
dreams like ours?

On the tarmac rows of pirouetting
Jets wait gravely in their lanes
While from our windows, getting higher
We see hybrids wandering the plains

And I got a message from the hummingbird
He gave me a warning in disguise
He told me they're barking at their shadows
While the same monolithic structures rise

I got a message from the hummingbird

I believe in prophecy- "God is God"- Steve Earle

Yeah, I believe in God, and God ain't me....

God is God
Steve Earle

I believe in prophecy.
Some folks see things not everybody can see.
And,once in a while,they pass the secret along to you and me.

And I believe in miracles.
Something sacred burning in every bush and tree.
We can all learn to sing the songs the angels sing.

Yeah, I believe in God, and God ain't me.

I've traveled around the world,
Stood on mighty mountains and gazed across the wilderness.
Never seen a line in the sand or a diamond in the dust.

And as our fate unfurls,
Every day that passes I'm sure about a little bit less.
Even my money keeps telling me it's God I need to trust.

And I believe in God, but God ain't us.

God,in my little understanding, don't care what name I call.
Whether or not I believe doesn't matter at all.

I receive the blessings.
That every day on Earth's another chance to get it right.
Let this little light of mine shine and rage against the night.

Just another lesson
Maybe someone's watching and wondering what I got.
Maybe this is why I'm here on Earth, and maybe not.

But I believe in God, and God is God.

California Drought, 2014-2015

California, a state built on stolen water, as detailed in the book Cadillac Desert, has about one year of water left. Here is what Lake McClure, which is a reservoir in California, looks like right now.