Episode 35 of Cool Tunes for a Hot Planet is all about holding on in the face of the oppressive forces confronting us. Holding on while we resist the violence and injustice – racial injustice, climate injustice, social injustice – with hope. And with song. Now, as in the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s, music is a way to bond and unify us in whatever acts of peaceful resistance we can muster. No act is too small to confront the enormity of the evils we face. Email your Representative, talk to friends and family, boycott businesses that enable the corruption, above all VOTE. And by all means, sing.
SINGER-SONGWRITERS
James Kahn is a novelist, screenwriter, singer-songwriter, and one of the producers of Cool Tunes for a Hot Planet. His main focus over the last ten years has been music, and in particular the way it can be both inspired by, and effect changes in, social and climate injustice. His hope is that, as in the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s, music can guide our way to resisting the forces of chaos in society.
Harriet Jerusha Korim, one of the Cool Tunes for a Hot Planet producers, is a lifelong social justice activist, multi-media artist, and singer-songwriter. Celebrated for her human rights work and deeply involved in the climate justice movement, she brings them together in her rendition of the Lu Aya song, “I Can’t Breathe,” commenting on the suffocation being experienced both by oppressed people and a choking planet.
International film star Samuel L. Jackson issues a musical challenge to everyone who’s risen to “ice water” challenges on social media in the past: Sing the song “We ain’t gonna stop ’til people are free.” Then, as part of the challenge, he sings it himself – bringing meaning and substance to the usual social media platform blather.
Lu Aya graduated from Fordham University with a degree in Peace and Justice Studies. He is a poet, journalist, and organizer, performing at rallies, in hospitals, and in prisons, working with communities for collective healing and liberation, using music and poetry in the struggle for human rights.
Lea Morris’s origins are in the Baptist church of Baltimore. A singer-songwriter, educator, and choir director, she travels the world sharing songs and experiences to connect hearts and communities. Her uplifting, gospel-inspired music brings people together with hope and joy, in a world that needs healing.