by Joe Courter
All of us are facing the difficult task of processing all the disturbing news in the world these days. In my life I have found that the wisdom, insights, and power of music feed me and keep me going. Song writers, like poets and authors, can convey a lot with their art. But music has a brevity that comes with a beat, a melody, that goes inside you. I was struck by the number of messages of tribute from fellow artists to Jill Sobule, who tragically just died at 67, in a house fire. In her 30-year career as a performer, she supported so many important issues and collaborated with so many other artists.
That brought to mind another artist, Ferron, another, now older woman, who touched many hearts. We still have her; she is 72. Besides her music, this quote from her always resonates in me: “Women live lives of oppression, men live lives of illusion.” The concept goes beyond just men and women. The illusion here is that the unfair situations of dominance and exploitation that exist are normal, in the view of the dominant political party or interest group. The oppressed, trapped in their status, often try to fight back for some freedom and justice. This relates to the concept “a better world is possible.” LGBTQ+ rights, DEI initiatives, bodily autonomy, health care, unvarnished history, all are under attack because that is the playbook of authoritarians. Repression is their game. Preserve the illusions.
This “War on Woke” we are seeing hides the parts of history that expose the shameful truth that this “shining city on the hill” has greatly benefitted from stealing the land of Native people, and then importing and enslaving Black people from Africa. Fact: The real wealth of this nation was built on stolen land and stolen labor. Native people were banished to reservations, and Black people, after being “freed,” were further discriminated against and redlined out of family wealth. Nope, can’t talk about that. Over and over, authoritarians seek to control the culture and historical narrative.
The rapid rise of an authoritarian state is a stunningly produced everything-all-at-once strategy. There is a tendency to have it become normalized, unchallenged. Arrests and deportation of students and workers? Threats to and arrests of judges? Ignoring the Supreme Court? Ignoring the Constitution? Trashing DEI and decrying empathy? Executive order piled on executive order. They claim an emergency, but THEY are the emergency, and we are just starting to resist in the last month on any significant level. I am heartened by the fight back from Harvard and other universities, people in the streets, more and more legislators joining AOC, Bernie, Murphey, Stansbury, and Crockett. And I’m kind of glad that MAGA types may be feeling the pain soon from the tariffs affecting imports. There’s only so much right wing media can spin the effects of these changes. Meanwhile, so much has been destroyed … USAID, science and humanities funding, regulatory bodies. There will be real consequences.
All of us have personal challenges we face in our lives. I recently was at a burial out at Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, had another valued friend just pass, and a couple serious illnesses in people close to me. They pale in comparison to what others are going through. I just saw “No Other Land,” the Oscar-winning, but suppressed, film about Palestinians in the West Bank, and also recently saw “Encampments,” about the campus protests over the Netanyahu genocide in Gaza. The all-out assault on the Palestinian people is powered by illusions, too … for some people as if fulfilling Bible prophecy. Every day it is a drumbeat of death, and make no mistake, Gaza is this period’s Viet Nam, especially for the young. The world can see their suffering, read and hear about it every day, and everyone can see the complicity of the U.S. government. This is yet another stain in our history that won’t be washed away, however they try.
The mighty strive to perpetuate the illusions that they believe in. The people the mighty are oppressing will continue to try and make a better world — in their communities, their states, and in the nation. This coup will not go away on its own; the resistance will grow in many forms. Will some Republican legislators flip, say “No!” to all this unconstitutional power grab? Will lawyers and judges stand up and resist? Will the economy start to hurt so many people that they rise up and say “No!”? How will Canada, Mexico, and other nations react?
Support each other, let’s work together and turn this around. No Kings. No Dictators. Reclaim Democracy and actually, for real, do it better. But first, we must get there. Preserve elections, support independent media, support local organizations and businesses, and stay sane and healthy. The fight has just begun.
