First, read this. Read it all, including this.
Then, listen to this:
...while reading the following (provided by YouTube uploader Charles Van Driel, whomever he may be):
"Original Faubus Fables" performed by Charles Mingus. Taken from the 1960 "Charles Mingus presents Charles Mingus" record. Composed by Charles Mingus.
It was written as a direct protest against Arkansas governor Orval E. Faubus, who in 1957 sent out the National Guard to prevent the integration of Little Rock Central High School by nine African American teenagers. This composition was also released a year earlier on the "Mingus Ah Um" record as "Fables Of Faubus" but only instrumental as record company Columbia refused the lyrics.
Lyrics:Charity toward all and malice toward none, my foot. In 5 years all we will have on the national political stage is Republicans and dissidents.
Oh, Lord, don't let 'em shoot us!
Oh, Lord, don't let 'em stab us!
Oh, Lord, don't let 'em tar and feather us!
Oh, Lord, no more swastikas!
Oh, Lord, no more Ku Klux Klan!
Name me someone who's ridiculous, Dannie.
Governor Faubus!
Why is he so sick and ridiculous?
He won't permit integrated schools.
Then he's a fool! Boo! Nazi Fascist supremists!
Boo! Ku Klux Klan (with your Jim Crow plan)
Name me a handful that's ridiculous, Dannie Richmond.
Faubus, Rockefeller, Eisenhower
Why are they so sick and ridiculous?
Two, four, six, eight:
They brainwash and teach you hate.
H-E-L-L-O, Hello.
Original Faubus Fables, Charles Mingus (1960, from "Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus," Candid CCD 79005), via YouTube, embedded for noncommercial critical discussion and educational purposes.
Fuck the GOP and their just plain criminal behavior. And fuck the justice dept. for not doing anything about it. And fuck the corporate media who say no tax returns, Mitt? Well shucks, that's just fine with us. And while we know you are lying about everything, it's not our place to call you on it.
ReplyDeleteAnd Husted in Ohio now changes the rules on provisional ballots as just the latest in a string of attempts to curtail the vote. And no one will call it for what it is, blatant cheating. AND WE LET THEM ALL GET AWAY WITH IT.
And by the way, Watergate never really ended. These bastards will still do anything to win.
I'm a little out of control right now. I can't trust the electoral process or the courts, let alone the actual politicians.
But back to your Prayer Meeting, which actually is a prayer this time. I have read that Fables of Faubus was originally an instrumental and the words were added later. But either way, I never knew the words, so thanks for that. Powerful, chilling.
P.S. Bears D is kicking ass right now, so I think I'll try to enjoy it.
I'm gonna plagiarize your comment for a top-level post.
DeleteThe commenter I quoted in this post claims that Columbia refused to let Mingus record the lyrics on Mingus Ah Um in 1959, so he recorded again with a small combo on a different label. I'll bet that the record executive who made that decision was nowhere in the area when Mingus got the word, or he would have been separated from about eight of his teeth.