Massive global arts
movement mobilizes to change the world
Over 800 Events Planned in 115 Countries for
100 Thousand Poets for Change
Santa Rosa, Calif. (September 19, 2012) –
September 29, 2012 marks the second annual global event for 100 Thousand
Poets for Change, a grassroots organization that brings communities together to
call for environmental, social, and political change within the framework of
peace and sustainability. An event that began primarily with poet organizers,
100 Thousand Poets for Change has grown into an interdisciplinary coalition
with year round events which includes musicians, dancers, mimes, painters and
photographers from around the world.
Local issues are still key to this
massive global event as communities around the world raise their voices on
issues such as homelessness, global warming, education, racism and censorship,
through concerts, readings, lectures, workshops, flash mobs, theater
performances and other actions.
But these locally focused events have
taken on a more continuous and expansive form through the new disciplines
represented this year. For example, photographers are making a long-term
project out of the event; they will document the involvement of their
communities and explore connections with the broader global issues to turn into
future exhibits. More and more organizers and participants of the one day,
annual event are making plans to continue their actions after September 29.
Many have formed groups in their cities that will continue to work year-round
towards the goals their community seeks.
“Peace and sustainability are major
concerns worldwide, and the guiding principles for this global event,” said
Michael Rothenberg, Co-Founder of 100 Thousand Poets for Change. “We are in a
world where it isn't just one issue that needs to be addressed. A common ground
is built through this global compilation of local stories, which is how we
create a true narrative for discourse to inform the future.”
More than 200 hundred bands will be
performing around the world, from Los Angeles, New Orleans and Detroit to
Serbia, Nigeria and Italy. The musicians involved in this movement are once
again using their songs and performances to try to communicate their concerns
to the world. As Ross Altman, singer-songwriter, activist and educator, reminds
us: “from Plato, who banned [musicians] from the Republic, to Putin, who had
Russian punk band members of Pussy Riot arrested, charged, tried, convicted and
sentenced to two years in prison for a song prayer, musicians throughout
history have been regarded as a danger and threat to change the social order.”
In addition to the hundreds of musicians
expressing themselves through song, numerous Mimes for Change events in Egypt,
Turkey and Uruguay will take place in addition to the day long poetry festivals
in Los Angeles, Guatemala City, Pune, India, La Plata, Argentina and Genoa,
Italy; thousands of musicians, poets and artists are participating around the
world, totaling nearly 800 events globally, including:
• 25 different events in the San
Francisco Bay Area, the birthplace of 100 Thousand Poets for Change, including
poetry readings by Beat Legend Michael McClure, former US Poet Laureate Robert
Hass and other major poets at the famed Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival
• In New Orleans, 15 live bands will perform to raise
funds for the APEX Youth Center and Homegrown Harvest Music and Arts Festival
• In Hollywood, Florida, Global Vibes will host an event called, “War Destroys Children’s
Lives” at two venues and feature over 15 “Bands for Change”
• Peace On Streets, R.O.A.D., Tasker
Elite and SHARP will host performance artists, poets, musicians, hip hop
artists and various youth and parent groups who will perform and lead workshops
throughout Philadelphia to bring awareness to the ongoing problem of street
violence in their city
• Wordstock, a 3-day festival at the
Bamboo Arts and Celebration Center in De Leon Springs, FL will include poetry
slams, concerts, and an art exhibition focusing on images of war and peace
• The Occupy Wall Street
Poetry group kicks off a weekend of events in New York City with a poetry
reading at the famous St. Mark’s Poetry Project
• In Jamaica, a week long Street Dub Vibe
series called “Tell the Children the Truth” will include concerts, spoken word
performances, art exhibits, lectures and workshops to bring attention to the
damaging culture of secrecy and denial surrounding the abuse, poverty and
illiteracy impacting the nation’s children and destroying their future.
• Poetry and peace gatherings are planned
in the strife-torn cities of Kabul and Jalalabad, Afghanistan
• In Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt, poets,
musicians and mime artists,
in response to violence in
the world and the major changes taking place in the Arab World, will perform in
public spaces and theaters and explore new ways to communicate their concerns,
and their roles as artists, in influencing the future of their country
• In Volos, Greece, there will be 5 days
of poetry and music events, including an exhibition of photography looking at the
new phenomenon of homelessness in Greece
• An event in Blackpool, England will
celebrate activist poets and writers of past generations through a special performance
of Bullets and Daffodils, a play about the life of peace poet Wilfred
Owen
Organizers and participants are hoping
through their actions and events to seize and redirect the political and social
dialogue of the day and turn the narrative of civilization towards peace and
sustainability. Those that want to get involved can visit www.100tpc.org to find an event near them or
sign up to organize one in their area.
About 100 Thousand Poets for Change
100 Thousand Poets for Change began in
Sonoma County, Calif. The official Headquarters’ Event will take place at
the Arlene Francis Center in downtown Santa Rosa and will feature poetry
readings, group meditations, workshops, and music and dance of various styles
including hip hop, flamenco, African drums, reggae, salsa, folk and more. The
HQ event will also live-stream other 100 Thousand Poets for Change events
worldwide. This 3-day event is sponsored by the Peace & Justice Center of
Sonoma County and the Sonoma County Arts Council.
Immediately following September 29th, all
documentation on the 100TPC.org website, which will include specific event
pages with photos, video and other documentation compiled by each city
coordinator, will be preserved by Stanford University in California. Stanford
recognized 100 Thousand Poets for Change in 2011 as an historical event, the
largest poetry reading in history. They will continue to archive the complete
contents of 100TPC.org, as part of their digital archiving program LOCKSS.
Co-Founder Michael Rothenberg (walterblue@bigbridge.org) is a
widely known poet, editor of the online literary magazine Bigbridge.org and an
environmental activist based in Northern California. Terri Carrion is a poet,
translator, photographer, and editor and visual designer for BigBridge.org.
100 Thousand Poets for Change
P.O. Box 870
Guerneville, Ca 95446
Phone: 305-753-4569
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