NEW CD BUILDS CULTURE OF PEACE THROUGH MUSIC

No Nukes CD!
Songs of Resistance

The just released “Seeds of Change: No Nukes! No Wars!” CD chronicles some of the music, poetry and oral history of six decades of resistance to nuclear weapons. The CD marks the historic 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From folk to hip hop, rock to spoken word, these artists offer unique perspectives on empire, the bomb and the imperative to create social and political change. This unique CD was produced to reach out to new and diverse communities about the threat of nuclear weapons and raise awareness about the upcoming August 6 “Seeds of Change” rally and march to the Livermore nuclear weapons lab.

“It's been 60 years since the U.S. nuclear bombing of Japanese people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and in that more than half a century, it's interesting to note that no other nation has used nuclear weapons,” explains Mumia Abu-Jamal, CD contributor, award-winning journalist and political prisoner, on death row since 1982. “And plans are afoot, under the so-called Bush Doctrine, to remake nukes, this time into 'limited' and even 'conventional' weapons! In Livermore, California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) is hard at work designing new nuclear weapons for the new millennium.”

The “Seeds of Change” CD offers music from many cultures and for all ages. Long time anti-nuclear activists Utah Phillips, a politically-conscious folk singer and master storyteller, contributed his song, the “Enola Gay.” The song about the Enola Gay explains that the pilot Paul Tibbets, named the aircraft after his mother. It was the Enola Gay that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. In addition, to donating songs, some bands, including the Company of Prophets, a hip hop group from Oakland’s underground, created new songs for the compilation. Their song “Party at Ground Zero” speaks to the younger generation, integrating social justice issues with the nuclear abolition movement. The songs and poems in the CD are woven together by the oral history of Mr. Matsushima, a hibakusha (an atomic bomb survivor) from the city of Hiroshima, who toured the Livermore nuclear weapons lab in April.

“People respond to music on a visceral level, it inspires us in a way that a lecture or the written word alone usually does not,” explains Kelly Franger, Tri-Valley CAREs intern. “Mr. Matsushima's story of survival embedded within the CD's passionate sounds of resistance to nuclear weapons will move not only the youth, but the youth in us all.”

Additional musicians and poets featured on the CD include: Spearhead—a socially and politically conscious band that combines reggae, hip hop, and soul to unite people with compassion and understanding; Universal Language—a musical melting pot, fusing traditional Latin music with grooves from all parts of the globe; Tatsumaki—a five member Japanese rock band from Nagasaki; Cesar A. Cruz—an internationally renowned poet, educator and human rights activist; Clan Dyken— an activist band that has played in clear cut forests, proposed nuke dumps, nuke test sites, Indian reservations and the Livermore nuclear weapons lab; and Emma’s Revolution—an award-winning, activist songwriting duo of musical uprising of truth and hopes.

Join us for live music and celebration at CD release parties in:
SAN FRANCISCO--The party will feature music and performance by: Entre Musicos, Fariba, Sherry Glaser and more. Cosponsored by KPFA’s La Onda Bajita and Tri-Valley CAREs.
WHEN: Friday, July 22 at 7 PM
WHERE: New College of San Francisco, 777 Valencia St. (Near 24th and Mission BART)
Cost: $5-$8 sliding scale.