Why are we given the right to remain silent instead of the right to be heard?

Omission. It's not about what's being said, it's about what's NOT being said.

Some folks have a TV in every room in their house. Others have a telephone in every room. I want to make sure there are pens and paper in every room to capture these stream of consciousness, friends inspired ideas.

We are the children of the migrant worker
We are the offspring of the concentration camp

Self determination,
culture, stories,
equality, justice, liberation

Cliche terms form the 70's or values I work towards in this cyber-indie-music loving life. While I fully embrace the technology these times offer, I sometimes wish I was around in the 70's as the Third World movement blossomed. The Vietnam War, Black Power, Ethnic Studies Strikes, fighting against gentrification, and culture building.

Sing a song for ourselves.
What have we got to lose.
Sing a song for ourselves.
We've got the right to chose.

*

I got into the music because I found others who were anti-authoritarian, who believed in social justice, who rooted for the underdog in an oppressive environment. We valued an aesthetic of difference and for me, as an Asian American woman, I felt like I had some control over my difference and why I was being discriminated against.

I am skin and bones,
I am slanted eyes,
but it mother fuckin' makes me try!

It makes me try and that ain't wrong. I tell you why, there ain't no right.

*

You're not punk, and I'm telling everyone.
Save your breath I never was one.

One of the first fights I had with Srini was over which label I could claim: punk or indie. Sure, I might not pass the Maximum Rock n Roll test, but after years of going to Gilman, Berkley Square, AK Press parties, 17th and Capp, Starcleaners, and house shows, I figured I earned my punk rock badge. These days I'm not sure if I'm still a card holding member.

1-2-3-4, who's punk what's the score.

*

Similarly, after years of calling myself a community organizer or culture worker, I'm coming to question these claims as well.

"A sector of our community who controls information and media are basically people who want to push assimilation and mainstreaming. So, it's important for the people who ARE still radicals and revolutionaries, to tell the stories and tell the history of that period of time so it doesn't get whitewashed or re-written or de-politicized." ~Fred Ho

Fred Ho's book, Legacy to Liberation: Politics and Culture of Revolutionary Asian Pacific America, places me more into the establishment than this Asian American organizer would care to accept.

*

Do you call it jaded, mature, old? I loved rockin' out to the scale hummin' bass, raspy hollars, clever choppin' drums of Hot Water Music at Punks with Presses or17th and Capp when I called Srini up and said, "You've got to get down here!" We rocked together, to the music, to the lyrics, to the lifestyle, to the culture.

It feels good.
Connecting,
with the union of singing.
Through heartache,
frustrated,
but backed up by my FRIENDS.

Gotta try, gotta fight, NEVER QUIT.
You're forgetting
why we're here
and what we're FIGHTING for.

*

Lately, I've realized how much of that has changed. I really miss it. When the bodies were pressed together, hot and sweaty, but fuckin' excited. In love with the band, the music, the friends.

But last night at Unwound, us old farts that used to rock in to each other, smooshed together, jumping up from excitement, left plenty of space between us. It was so mellow, my sick friend could be in the front row.

We didn't rock because Unwound didn't.
We could nod our heads and occasionally throw our fists in the air, but we were kinda tired.
We were worried about our jobs: if we'd get one, or would we be able to wake up for them.
We can't stand for that long.
And we've developed our addictions to the point of craving them while at the show.

We're getting old.

*

But I can say that the old punk spirit is still in me.
These days, I've just channeled it differently.

Towards my dreams:
creating with media,
building community,
and learning, loving, and laughing with friends.