Common, produced by Will.i.am, sampling Martin Luther King Jr, for the Freedom Writers soundtrack:
Common: “A Dream” Music Video
Freedom Writers: film | soundtrack | videos | audio. Film based on the book: The Freedom Writers Diary; How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them.
via KEXP: Songs of Celebration & Remembrance: Commemorating the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Inauguration of Barack Obama.
For a recent This American Life, “The Inauguration Show,” I was among several producers TAL asked “all over the country to go out and talk to people about what they’re thinking as Barack Obama gets ready to take office.” From the dozens of hours of interviews, they crafted another fine TAL hour.
I went to our state capital, Helena MT, to talk to citizens, and to the “citizen-legislators” now in session. (The Montana legislature meets only 90 days every two years, so our reps are real folk most of the time and only part-time pols.)
I’m posting a few of the more fascinating MTÂ voices which couldn’t fit in the TAL episode. Each offers a singular vision of political history:
State Representative Brady Wiseman
(D– Bozeman MT)
“They have eaten out our essence…” (1:38 mp3):
State Senator Jonathan Windy Boy
(D– Box Elder MT)
“Natural Law” (1:20 mp3):
State Representative Janna Taylor
(R– Dayton MT)
“Not Substance, Appearance” (1:19 mp3):
Bishop David Eslick
Worship House of the Rockies, Helena MT
“Jesus Is Coming” (1:19 mp3):
(more) Rep. Brady Wiseman
“Jubiliee” (1:03 mp3):
Brady is a friend and a real big-picture person. We’ll be posting a longer vers of his interview soon, with transcript, cuz I think people should hear what this guy has to say.
Charles Gaulperin is a Santeria priest and the owner of Botanica El Congo Manuel. The shop sells religious items and is located in a strip mall on Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood. Outside, it’s the kind of place Angeleonos drive by a million times and never notice. Inside the Botanica, are sacred Afro-Cuban ceremonies. We witness one involving the sacrifice of a hen and a sick man in New York. Aired on NPR Day to Day; by producer Queena Kim, “Botanica El Congo Manuel” (4:58 mp3):
The Crossing East project has posted several videos made from their (Peabody winning) radio series. “Refugee Dreams Revisited”:
Other X-East vids: “Chinese Frontier Herbalist” and “Hawaiians and Native Americans.”