october rabble rouser hall of fame

joe bell (1946-2013) & jadin bell (1998-2013)
     the course of events surrounding the bell family in the past year is absolutely incomprehensible.

     in april, joe bell set off on a walk from la grande thru the southeast and north to new york, a walk he hoped wouldn’t take more than about two years. his mission was to spread the word of his son jadin bell, who committed suicide after being bullied.  on KEOL’s grande review show all summer, we featured the progress of joe bell and some of the deeply inspiring stories he was sharing in what could otherwise be seen as a somewhat slow summer.  

      meeting joe bell during the pancake feed fundraiser for his "walk for change" gave the impression of exactly the man to be spreading the gospel.  joe was calm and unassuming.  he listened no matter how important the topic and made others feel comfortable, respected and understood.

      kid yoshida feels particularly guilty for doing such stupid things with more fortunate outomes.  certainly, for all the causes to support, there can be no underestimating the point of what joe bell was trying to do in a generation where gay rights are the watershed movement.  to be willing to do such a thing, and to pull it off, shows a dedication that can’t be tarnished.

       joe made triumph in overcoming lots of hurdles on the road, with his artificial knees and perpetual blisters, having to adjust physically to the task and the elements, surviving theft and misunderstanding by others.  but he also  inspired a lot of people.  he featured some interesting and frustrating accounts of the ordeal in this salon article ("they ripped him apart") that is required reading. few things are more important than this article published last september.

here are some other links....

faces for change

joe on opb’s think out loud

walk for change 

paul toutonghi's rememberance on opb's think out loud




malala yousafzai  (1997-present)
nominated for, though not awarded, the nobel peace prize, which was given to the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons october 11.  however, malala has recently won numerous other awards like the sakarov prize, the RAW in war anna politkovskaya award, and the gomes humanitarian award.  the sixteen-year-old pakastan girl was shot in the head by the taliban for promoting girls' access to education. still, she refuses to give up, saying "they can kill me, but it doesn't mean they can kill causes."  malala vows to press on in the face of persistent threats, seeking to become the doctor of the whole country and prime minister of pakistan.







annette buchanan conard (1945-2013)

a pioneer in journalist's right to protect sources.
     in 1966, buchanan assumed the role of editor of the oregon daily emerald and shortly thereafter wrote an article called “students condone marijuana use.” annette was then subpoenaed and asked to reveal her sources.  she refused to provide names to police and, in fact, mocked the need for a subpoena, saying, “i don’t know if you should need a grand jury to find out about drug use on campus.”  buchanan was charged with contempt of court, but was supported by journalists nationwide, and by president johnson, pushing free press and shield laws to protect sources.  what’s a person to do, be ostracized from their profession or follow court orders?  annette did what she thought was the responsible decision, not necessarily the popular or safest decision.  she was ordered to pay $300.  before paying, she appealed to the oregon supreme court, who upheld the verdict. the u.s. supreme court passed on the case in 1968. sometimes justice is hard to find, sometimes credibility is not respected.  the “girl editor” who just wanted to write about kids using drugs ended up dropping out of school and dropped back from the press firing lines, taking a job as copy editor at the oregonian.  support for her cause continued and by 1973 governor mccall, a former journalist himself, signed a shield law into place forbidding authorities from asking oregon media representatives to share sources.

     buchanan never revealed anything, staying out of the media.  frontal lobe damage from a few different head injuries left buchanan unable to talk, walk, dress, or eat by 2006.  she passed away in february 2013 without ever discussing the case or, more importantly, telling anyone who her sources were.  not that the police probably didn’t find out anyway.  they just didn’t find out through any complicity of buchanan.

     her story is featured in the autumn 2013 story in oregon quarterly “the stand she took.”  

herman wallace (1942-2013)

one of the angola three, who spent 40 years in solitary confinement for the supposed killing of a prison guard.         

       wallace had previously been an poet, “lover of literature,” and activist seeking to improve prison conditions on segregation, rape and violence, through hunger strikes, petitions, etc.   he had been purportedly held in the hole because of his “black pantherism” by a warden seeking a christian way of reform.  wallace was finally released on october 1 due to advanced liver disease and died on october 4 at the age of 71 years old.  three congressmen; cedric richmond, john conyers and bobby scott  referred to wallace as “the muhammed ali of justice” and entered a tribute to him in the congressional record.

       wallace died the same day as vietnamese general vo nguyen giap (aged 102 years old).

september 2013 rabble rouser of the month: russell brand

russell brand photo by richard young of rex features from the guardian

good comedy makes it nearly impossible to tell the difference between jokes and truth.  that’s what makes russell brand a master.  good luck figuring out whether he’s joking or serious.

on september 3, russell spoke at the gq men of the year awards ceremony to accept his oracle award. first thing brand attacked was how fake all the pompous parties associated with such events are.  then he bagged on his own oracle award, which he said “sounds recently made up.”  getting more serious, concerning boris johnson (the london mayor who had just won the politician of year), brand said, “glad to grace the same stage where boris johnson has just made light of the use of chemical weapons in syria.  gq can now stand for ‘genocide quips.’”  but the most notorious part of brand’s speech was, of course, the comment regarding hugo boss (the event sponsor).  “we had a lot of clients in the 30s and 40s. i can’t remember all of them” brand joked to mock his revelation that hugo boss made the uniforms for the nazi party in world war 2.  “the nazis did have flaws, but you know they looked fucking fantastic!  lets’ face it.  while they were killing people on the basis of their religion and sexuality.” 

history is not as forgiving as current times for covering up actions, so hugo boss can’t exactly deny the claims.  on the contrary, siegfried boss said, “the whole industry worked for the nazi army” in a huffington post report.  that’s an interesting quote in so much as it sounds as cavalier as it does obvious.  sure, in a you’re either with us or with them society, the lines are clear cut and you stand either to kill or be killed.  my guess is that most people would want to join the side of the victor.  (i am not sure who the “whole industry” refers to. all the clothing manufacturers or all businesses in general?)  still, i would assume most of the ones allowed to live did support the nazi army.  but the attitude didn’t seem one of remorse or compassion on boss’ part as much as a disconcerting, almost a boastful pride.  speaking of not telling the difference between jokes and truth, maybe siegfried boss should go into comedy.  the more things change, the more they stay the same.  by supporting politicians who condone the use of chemical weapons, how much does gq or hugo boss regret having supported the nazis in the 30 and 40s?  then to now, nothing has really changed.   

russell brand, congrats!    not just for exposing a little known fact, but for putting it into perspective.  i mean, if there had to be one thing positive said about the nazis, they did have impressive uniforms.  i am not sure brand wasn’t serious on that.  i suppose hugo boss was running with pride in their work.  and brand certainly wasn’t joking about the “fake parties,” so it was most likely to his delight that he was kicked out of an after party due to his speech.  “the glamour and the glitz isn’t real.  the party isn’t real.  you have a much better time mucking around trying to make your mates laugh.  i suppose that’s obvious.  we all know it.  we already know the important stuff like don’t trust politicians, don’t trust big business and don’t trust the media.  trust your own heart and each other.  when you take a breath and look away from the spectacle, it’s amazing how absurd it all seems when you look back.”

brand’s point in the guardian article in explaining his comments, questioned some glaring truths known that are certainly not funny, “if you can’t criticize hugo boss at the gq awards because they own the event, do you think it is significant that energy companies donate to the tory party?   will that affect government policy?  will the relationships that ‘politician of the year’ boris johnson has with city bankers… influence the way he runs our capital?   is it any wonder that amazon, vodafone and starbucks avoid paying tax when they enjoy such cosy relationships with members of our government?  ought we be concerned that our rights to protest are being continually eroded under the guise of enhancing our safety?  is there a relationship between proposed fracking in the uk, new laws that prohibit protest and the relationships between energy companies and our government?

that’s asking some serious questions. russell brand is the second brit to win the rabble rouser of the month award in the last three months and perhaps the first true celebrity to win it (in addition to the prestigious oracle award obviously). 

here is a video of the acceptance speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8U9JBJTm40