Bravo, Makana, Bravo! ----- APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied

[kpete]

APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied
Within secure zone, musician sings on behalf of the many

!!!!!Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-M07v8N_eU&feature=player_embedded

MORE: Photos below
Honolulu - A change in the programmed entertainment at last night's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gala left a few world leaders slack-jawed, though most seemed not to notice that anything was amiss.

During the gala dinner, renowned Hawaiian guitarist Makana, who performed at the White House in 2009, opened his suit jacket to reveal a home-made “Occupy with Aloha” T-shirt. Then, instead of playing the expected instrumental background music, he spent almost 45 minutes repeatedly singing his protest ballad released earlier that day. The ballad, called “We Are the Many,” includes lines such as “The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw.... And until they are purged, we won't withdraw,” and ends with the refrain: “We'll occupy the streets, we'll occupy the courts, we'll occupy the offices of you, till you do the bidding of the many, not the few.”

Those who could hear Makana’s message included Presidents Barack Obama of the United States of America, Hu Jintao of China, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, and over a dozen other heads of state.

“At first, I was worried about playing ‘We Are The Many,’” said Makana. “But I found it odd that I was afraid to sing a song I’d written, especially since I'd written it with these people in mind.”

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VIDEO & PICS & MORE:
http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/2011/11/amazing-triumph-apec-dinner-gala-in.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AndYesIDoTakeItPersonally+%28And%2C+yes%2C+I+DO+take+it+personally%29

BRAVO!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3BYw4xjxE&feature=player_embedded

[valerief]

1. Cool! nt

[Harmony Blue]

2. That is amazing...they think they can hide

Truly inspiring courage and conviction! :toast:

[lonestarnot]

3. Right the fuck on!

K & R! Good on you HI dude! :applause:

[snagglepuss]

4. Absolutely brilliant. Bravo. Bravo. Bravo.

:applause:


:yourock:

[Remember Me]

40. I think so too. I love it -- WE HAVE OUR MOVEMENT ANTHEM!!

even posted a thread w/lyrics here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2300770&mesg_id=2300844

[barbtries]

5. yay

it's everywhere.

[DocMac]

6. Awesome!!!! nt

[WillyT]

7. Absolutely Perfect !!! - K & R !!!

:bounce:

:kick:

[malaise]

8. Brilliant!

Occupy the planet

[zonkers]

9. Sorry but no one was listening. No one could read his shirt with his jacket on. And

what does Occupy with Aloha mean? It should have said "WE ARE THE 99%".

on edit

Look, I like the guys intentions but I don't have that "YES, YOU NAILED IT". If he would have been dragged from the room, I might have.

[DocMac]

11. He may have put his career on the line.

Isn't that good enough for you?

[zonkers]

15. He definitely put his career on the line. All the more reason for him to swing for the fences...

I applaud his intention. Just thought he soft pedaled his execution.

[lunatica]

13. Well that tells us something doesn't it

No occupy incident is useless. But negativity about any occupy incident is really useful to enemies of occupy. Go for it. You won't win.

[xiamiam]

14. +1

[kpete]

23. nicely done

peace,
kpete

[pnorman]

16. I think that Obama knew of that guy,

and understood his "message" with little difficulty.

He could have emulated his predecessor, Bush43, but he chose not to do so. Kudos to the guitarist, and also to Obama!

[lindalou65]

58. the audience heard--

they may have chosen to "tune it out" but they heard. Bravo for Makana! His powerful song will resonate to others out there.

[PETRUS]

10. Cool. Probably went over the audience's heads, but still...

[JDPriestly]

25. No. That took courage. The termites of the world were sitting at those tables.

They eat away at everything that is good and human -- out of greed.

[PETRUS]

29. I'm with ya.

It did take courage and I'm thrilled to hear about it. Just wondering how many of the termites were paying attention...

[JDPriestly]

31. They think that they are doing God's work by spreading "prosperity"

to underdeveloped countries.

Problem is that the prosperity is only going into the hands of the 1% and the people in underdeveloped countries, most of them, are running as fast as they can into countries like the US and Europe in which work still gets paid a tiny bit more than it seems to be worth in their underdeveloped countries.

[PETRUS]

32. You may be right.

In a nearly literal sense. It's not hard to imagine that many of the 1% are simply so out of touch, living in their own world and echo chamber, that they believe in the righteousness of the policies for which they advocate. Some may just be selfish scum...

[russspeakeasy]

57. Probably none...they were too busy thinking about going back

to work on their insider trading deals...

[xiamiam]

12. 45 minutes of the same song..i love this ..i love it..cant stop smiling..nt

[dkf]

17. Never heard of the guy.

Good luck to him getting gigs though. I daresay knowing your entertainment might go off in protest at you isn't a recommendation.

[kestrel91316]

39. Well, this killjoy post is NO SURPRISE. Consider the source, folks.

[AllyCat]

50. I'm guessing he's never heard of you either,

although you certainly are making a name for yourself here.

[sabrina 1]

55. In a democracy, your entertainment is one of your

employers and free to go off if they please, to let you know whether they think you are going a good job or not. All the more important for the employer to do so when you are about to make deals with foreigner guests without having consulted with those to whom your responsible.

I can see a lot of work has to be done to re-introduce people to the idea that we do not live in a monarchy.

The extent to which people have been indoctrinated into an acceptance that elected officials are in some way superior to the people in this country is disturbing.

The CNN stenographer eg, exposed how far removed she is from the notion of democracy, when she asked in a voice of great concern 'but why was he not removed? Does anyone have any idea why security was not called?'

For what? For singing a song? He is NOT, despite her implication, an 'underling' who 'got out of line'. He is a citizen, and equal to every person in that room whose opinions are as worthy, and imo, more so, than any of those he was addressing in his song.

[ljm2002]

18. Good for him!

It reminds me of Stephen Colbert's turn at the Press Club Dinner, for which he will always be one of my heroes. I never heard of Makana before, but he's now one of my heroes too! Good song, too.

[democrank]

19. K & R in solidarity

[KamaAina]

20. Maika'i no, E Makana!

(very fine, indeed!)

The 1% love to hold meetings like that in Honolulu, not only for the obvious reasons but because it's perceived as relatively safe from protests; an Asian Development Bank meeting slated for Seattle shortly after the WTO "Battle of Seattle" was hastily moved there. So it's up to the kama'aina (local people; now you know :-) ) to get in their face.

[FirstLight]

21. his recount is beautiful

he had fear about doing it, but said that was the only way he could change his space about it...that it was wrong for him to be afraid to sing a song he wrote just for this kind of moment....

brave and light soul! :loveya:
listen to the whole song, too... beautiful

[hootinholler]

22. Great song! I hope it got under some skin.

The last line: We are the many you are the few.

Stretched it for 45 minutes? That's talent.

[AntiFascist]

24. K&R, this is great!....hope Obama enjoyed his dinner. n/t

[RainDog]

26. BRAVO! n/t

[Dover]

27. Woohoo! It seems that the Occupy movement WILL have a soundtrack!

It's one thing to stand with a group, and quite another to stand alone facing one's fears and the darkness in the face. A courageous, talented and beautiful light... a beacon for us all.
I hope more in the media pick up on this amazing story and hope many more will hear his song.


From his website

HONOLULU: November 12, 2011--
The "We Are The Many" story portrays the history and highlights of people's struggles for progress, justice, equality and integrity of the public interest over 200+ years of US history leading to the situation today.
Inspired by the likes of Woody Guthrie and folk protest music in general, Makana wanted to contextualize the ongoing nature of citizens having to stand up for community and rights. Integrating his music and diverse imagery with some basic approaches to dealing with imbalances, hardships and corruption presents a compelling and inspiring experience.

Makana was motivated in part by his recent trip to New York City where he explored the Occupy Wall Street protests and came across an article in the New York Times by James C. McKinley Jr. "At the Protests, the Message Lacks a Melody". It quotes Tom Morello stating "Every successful movement has a soundtrack" and decries the lack of an "anthem" for OWS.
What is an artist to do? "We Are The Many" is available on Youtube and as a free MP3 download on Makanamusic.com. Invitation is extended to view, share and embed the video for all audiences.
Thank you for your interest and concern for the functioning and improvement of our
society.

Links:
We Are The Many video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3BYw4xjxE

Abbreviated link to YouTube video: http://bit.ly/we-are-the-many
Higher quality video on Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/makana/ows

"At the Protests, the Message Lacks a

Melody": http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/arts/music/occupy-wall-street-protest-lacks-ananthem.
html?_r=2
Artist Website: http://www.makanamusic.com
###

[krabigirl]

28. K&R

[Uncle Joe]

30. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[girl gone mad]

33. Handsome, talented, socially aware..

I bet he cooks, too.

:)

[slay]

34. That... is... freaking.. awesome!

So cool to see him using his talent - and access - to sing the ballad of the 99%! :woohoo:

[NYC_SKP]

35. I LOVE that President Obama and the Secret Service Let Makana Play, AWESOME!!!

Thank you, President Obama, because I know you could have had him barred from entry.

:patriot:

[dotymed]

36. Thanks Kpete.

For Makana to put his obviously renowned reputation on the line for humanity is a huge deal. Whether the "leaders" openly recognized it or not. This talented artist committed an act of bravery as big as any. Yes, his "access" has now

been put in play, God Bless him. I am sure the R/Wcc hate mongers will be demanding his exile. Thank you Makana.

[red dog 1]

37. Makana Is My New hero!

[kestrel91316]

38. A first-class subversive, he is!

[KoKo]

41. Thanks....K&R!

[ClayZ]

42. Yay!!!

K and R

[mahina]

43. This happend within two miles of my home, but I heard about it first at DU.

It started making the local social media rounds much later.

Thanks Kpete. I'm definitely still a fan of the President's, know he is doing the best he can and things are complicated, I understand he is not a 'ready, fire, aim' kind of guy, but I'm super proud of Makana for doing this!

[red dog 1]

44. "Slak-Jawed World Leaders"?....Yep, That Describes Them Pretty Well!

[Mosaic]

45. Very Talented and Important

With the biggest leaders in the world in the room, the Occupy message is all important to everyone. As it should be. Corporatism must be stopped.

[RueVoltaire]

46. Did anyone see the Makana interview on CNN?

I signed up just to share this link with everyone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHJ_RgNxSqg
Pass it on.

[XemaSab]

47. Welcome to DU!

Pull up a chair and hang out for a while! :D

[Historic NY]

49. Welcome to DU and thanks .

[Raksha]

54. Thanks - great video, and welcome to DU!

:toast:

[tpsbmam]

61. Glad you did sign up and share....awesome video! Thanks, welcome and

stick around!

:toast: :hi:

[Beartracks]

48. Wow! Still, I wonder...

... how many of these leaders had absolutely NO idea what this "occupy" thing was he was singing about.

======================

[Amonester]

52. They are kept in their 'bubble' for a reason...

Although they benefit from that 'bubble' in some ways (fame & money, but real 'power' not so much...). :(

[avaistheone1]

51. Well played Makana

on all levels.

Kudos.

k&r


:kick:

[Raksha]

53. K & R - Bravo, Makana!

[Fire Walk With Me]

56. "he spent almost 45 minutes repeatedly singing his protest ballad"

:rofl::yourock:

[joanbarnes]

59. Mahalo

[Lenomsky]

60. Simply Brilliant :)

[davidthegnome]

62. I appreciate Makana's bravery

and his work. It was a noble attempt to do something good - to make leaders sit up and pay attention. Yet for all of Makana's skill and bravery, they will not.

Until we sing his song in our millions in Washington DC, New York City and other places throughout the Country - and indeed, throughout the world.

I am not brave like Makana. I watched the police in full riot gear crack down on Portland Oregon's occupy movement. I was afraid for those people, of what might happen to them, of what did happen to some. I do not think I would have had the courage to face down so many police, let alone sing a song of liberty for even the President to hear.

Yet, it is those like Makana that give me courage. If this young man can do what he did, then I can stand with the occupiers shoulder to shoulder and sing. It is his example and the example of others like him - that will give courage to the many, like me, who are afraid. I'll take a beating, I'll take some tear gas or whatever may come. If necessary, I'll give up my life for the cause. I would not be so willing did we not have people like Makana to give us courage and strength.

Well done Makana, I salute your bravery and your skill. I thank you for inspiring us all to courage and hope.