Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: Protest Songs

Happy Election Day!  Because this is not a presidential election year, the vast majority of citizens will not be exercising their right to vote.  Some will be doing it because they do not care, some will be doing it because they cannot access the polls, and others will be doing it as a form of protest.

The act of protest has a very rich history in our country.  Most people, when thinking of protest, think of Vietnam, Civil Rights, Stonewall, and Occupy Wall Street.  And while these are some of the most visible causes of protest in our nation's past, they certainly are not the only ones.  American protest has been around longer than, well, America has.  Boston Tea Party anyone?

Some people think protest is pointless and does not accomplish anything.  Tell that to all the Tea Party candidates who have been elected, and all the incumbents they ousted.  Protest is partly to thank for my ability, as a woman, to vote today (a vote I will choose to exercise).

When you say the word protest, you commonly think of protest marches, strikes and picketing, sit-ins, book burning, boycotts, and hunger strikes.  But my favorite form of protest (is it weird that I have a favorite?) is by and large the protest song.  While we can take pictures of all the above mentioned forms of protest, protest songs themselves live for posterity.  The protest can continue until the struggle has ended.  Many protest songs are haunting, and emotional.  My favorite protest song (again, is it weird that I have a favorite) was recorded in 1939, and still pertinent today, albeit in less degree.

So today, I present one of the more somber playlists I have created, and possibly one of the most beautiful. 

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. "

- Elie Wiesel

 

Get Out The Vote!

Since it is not a presidential election year, a lot of people who are registered to vote will not worry about election day, which here in PA is May 17th.  This is terribly unfortunate, because there are a lot of important issues that are decided at the local and state levels of government, in which we all can have a say, if only we show up!

In my neck of the woods, some of the most important things being voted on are the School Board, a referendum question on the ballot regarding schools, and the County Commissioner's race.  While Hubby and I do not have children, the issues of the school district are still very important to us, as tax payers.  In addition, it is concerning to us that our district is looking to spend money renovating schools that either do not need it, or have low attendance, yet over 30 teaching jobs will be eliminated after this year.

However, the cause that is near and dear to our hearts is the Commissioner's race, namely because one of our neighbors is a County Commissioner up for re-election.  Not only is Jim Scahill a heck of a good guy, he also fights hard for Armstrong County.  He wants to increase job opportunities and clean up the system of property taxes as school funding.  When we had a concern about the proposed changes on our street, he came to the meetings, not only as a Commissioner, but as a resident, to help make sure the concerns were heard and alternatives were explored.

Regardless of your opinion of him, your political party, or your state of residence, where ever you are, I encourage you to get out and vote for local and state primaries and elections.  You have no right to complain about things if you do not.

Small Town Elements: Special Election Edition

Do you live in PA? If so, did you get out and vote today? I DID!

That's right, for the FIRST TIME since I moved to the Keystone state back in 2004, I was able to vote. For a while, I never changed my registration from OH to PA on anything, so I just never voted at all. Then when I did change things over, I never really bothered to register to vote. But when I got married, and went through all the name change hassle, I added voter registration to the list, and here we are!

Being married to a political science/economics geek, er, I mean guru, there is no way for me to avoid politics being a part of my life. The funny thing is, I like it. I mean, I hate arguing politics with anyone, but civilized discussions, meant to broaden opinions and inform the masses, that I just thrive on. I always thought I was politically stupid, until Hubby helped me realize I actually do know a thing or two. And, truth be told, our views are more alike than they are different.

But I am NOT going to use this entry to preach my personal political platform. I have my views, and they are mine. If you want to share any of the same ones I have, great, if not, that is great too. Just no name calling, and we will get along fine.

What I do want to encourage all of you to do is GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!

I missed out on so much by not voting for those 6 years. Every presidential election is historical, and I have up a chance to help make history. I gave up chances to make my voice heard. I know a lot of people say all politicians are liars, and while many do and say things I disagree with, regardless of party affiliation, there are many many good people involved in politics.


For example, tonight, I had the supreme honor of voting for Hubby, as well as my good friend J, for positions on local and state committees respectively. Both of these people are intelligent and honest; they care about people, and not the political games.

If you are not registered, please consider registering to vote for the next election. In a small town like mine, every vote counts, especially for local offices. Change starts at home.

Mahatma Gandhi said it best when he said "Be the change you want to see in the world".

The change I want to see is hope, so in order to see hope, I must have hope, and be hope to those who need it. And so I start, by raising my voice.

Small Town Government in Action

I usually try to stay away from politics. I just find it a little too brutal. So much bashing going on, left vs. right, Church vs. state, red vs. blue. I know some of that is to be expected, but anymore, it seems to be so, well, personal, focusing on the evils of a specific person, or an entire party, instead of a flawed theory, action, or ideology.


But politics, unfortunately, are everywhere, and can make life miserable. Politics exist in schools, the workplace, and in small town living.

However, I want to focus on politics in government, specifically, small town government, and even more specifically, my small town.

Back in January, out town started this project on the streets, digging them up and replacing sewage and gas lines in my part of town. My street was completely dug up. As in, we have no real road left in most places, just piles of dirt and gravel. When the snows hit, our street really did not get plowed because of this, until someone (yours truly) called the streets department and complained after Hubby's car got stuck.

So now that the snow has melted, our street is a dirty, gravely, dusty mess every time a car goes down. Even worse, the construction vehicles are being stored on the end of the street, so, our poor street has some major wear and tear.

At this point, I should mention that an elected official lives on our street. In terms of small town government, he is pretty influential. And yet our street looks positively post apocalyptic, and will for another seven weeks I am told.

This week, a huge hole developed in the street. So bad that you really could not drive over it. The crew working on the street put a cone in it. Then they put some dirt in it. And then it rained. So you know what happened, the hole opened up again. So frustrating.

Yesterday, as I sat outside waiting for Hubby to get home from work, I saw aforementioned elected official take two wheel barrow loads of gravel and dirt and fill the hole, then spread it around evenly so cars can safely pass over it.

To me, this was a tremendous metaphor for government in action. He could have pointed fingers, and complained, but instead, he rolled up his sleeves, and did the job himself. I think if more of this would happen, we could all meet closer to the middle.