We need all the Whos down in Whoville,
the tall and the small
to tell this short sighted kangaroo that
We Are Here
Once and for all.
She cannot see beyond all of her weapons of warfare
or her smokestacks and factories
that we really are here.
She cannot see beyond her buildings and highways
She can't see beyond all her money and ashtrays
She can't hear with all of this memetic destruction
She can't hear with all of this corporate corruption.
You must shout 'We are Here!'
at the top of your lungs.
You must shout 'We are here!'
and just stick to your guns.
Because if you do not, the moment might come,
when our dustspeck Earth will be a lost cause.
So don't give up the fight!
Put aside all your fear,
and scream with all your might
WE ARE HERE!
WE ARE HERE!
WE ARE HERE!
Please visit www.humanrightsactioncenter.org
Hello everyone! My name is Jacob Hey, I am the executive director of Organization for Inspiration. Welcome to our third Art Not Apathy Event this year. Tonight’s event is all about ecological awareness. But before I get to that, let me explain who we are to you newcomers. Organization for Inspiration is a new collective organization that is not for profit. We are entirely composed of the creative talents of artists, filmmakers, musicians, poets and all other creative peoples. We are locally based here in Milwaukee, and our long term goal is to open a public arts recourse center with a recording studio, photography studio, art studio, computer lab and other assets for members of the community. But we are starting this vision by organizing these events which we call Art Not Apathy gatherings. Why do we call them art not apathy gatherings?
Well to start, we like to think of ourselves as an activist-oriented arts organization. We artists tend to have beliefs as colorful as our canvas’s , and at times we can feel alienated by our beliefs, which is why at times some of us need to see and hear what others feel about these issues in order to properly express our own beliefs. This is why we organize art not apathy gatherings. We choose an important issue like tonight’s topic, Ecological Awareness, and come together to voice our opinions through our personal art forms. It is the eve of the year 2010 and most of us already think on a daily basis about the fact that our systems of global trade and disposable consumerism are detrimental to our ecosystem. Many of us know global warming is a real and looming threat to our very existence, and that the earths recourses from which we attain all of the things we purchase and take for granted on a daily basis are in a very finite supply. Decisions we make every moment of every day are actually determining whether or not we or our children will be able to exist due to mass consumerism and over consumption based on a monetary system that is based on lies. Sometimes it can be hellish to go on through the day because we feel apathetic. We say to ourselves that we cannot undo the damage that has been done. We feel that we cannot make a true difference in the world.
But some of us have already found that we most certainly can. For one, the very systems of trade that are destroying our mother planet are not run by the heads of giant corporations, but by us. By every buying decision that we make at the supermarket, the mall, and the grocery store. When we purchase a product, no matter how benign it may seem at the time, we are actually practically screaming an advertisement to the world. Statistics are held for every product, and naturally, the people “On top” of the pyramid are not concerned with ethics, if their product expends resources that will one day have catastrophic results on our ecosystem, but people still purchase it, they will continue to produce it, whether or not it ends up murdering their grandchildren or for that matter, children enslaved today in order to produce said product. However, if people begin to purchase the more ecologically and socially sound version of the product, the companies will have no choice but to begin marketing the more ecologically sound product. If people follow in this knowledge, we can switch to a completely green economy in no time.
Ecological issues of today need constant vigilance and awareness if we are to save this planet from global catastrophe.
In the 1950s corporate America began rationing through grocery stores, processed canned and boxed foods with preservatives in them. This mass production of processed foods was ironically called “The Green Revolution”. This is when the American public stopped eating actual food. This has wreaked havoc on both the human body and the world. The original reason food was being preserved with these additives was because we were in anticipation of a nuclear holocaust. So we eat fake food today, that is as detrimental to our health as it is to our world, because of the nuclear scare. And we have been conditioned to believing that this stuff is food.
People are waking up to the fact that what really matters is what we do locally, here and now. People are taking up planting victory gardens in their front yards and growing their own foods, and buying locally from food co-ops that sell all natural, organic real foods that are as beneficial to the body as they are to the environment. And riding bicycles whenever they can.
There are thousands of issues in the world that need our attention right now. And the best thing to do is do whatever you can locally in order to inspire a better global society. Our planet is not composed of dead matter, on the contrary, ask any scientist, Earth is a living breathing organism flourishing with life. No different from you and I. Within the human body, many living thing exist. These beings have feelings and perceptions just as you and I. And as they are to us, we are to our planet. Will we give back to her the life she has given to us, or will we be as a disease to her and cause our own demise? These are real things we have to consider here and now. Not at some distant time in the future, but right now.
I’d like you to think about that for the night.
Today, when sometimes claustrophobia and fear is a major part of life, more people are finding a need for an effective voice. We need an environment in which we know we are not alone in our beliefs in order to speak out. At a grassroots level, our Art Not Apathy gatherings do precisely this, we bring up a topic such as unity, and allow people of all backgrounds to make their voice heard. We do this in the hopes that maybe we will inspire you to have similar gatherings, meetings, or even discussions with family and friends. We do not want war, greed, poverty, or hate crimes. These things are devastating! We can have understanding, equality and cooperation. We do not need misunderstanding or miscommunication, because we do not want to create a meaningless dispute. At the core of our being we want to exist harmoniously. We don’t want to be misunderstood. We can communicate with just about anybody and just about anywhere. We have the technology. We can cooperate with our global family instead of blaming them. In this Organization we would like to try to reduce misunderstanding between us. Or The conflicts of this world will never be solved on a global, or grassroots level. We can use the networking systems that we have built as the human race to share this understanding with the world in the hopes that one day not too far away, we can begin to respect each other for our differences. In a way we are all like snowflakes on this planet because no two of us are alike. But will you willingly melt alongside our fellow snowflakes when the seasons change, and can you be naturally different? We, Organization for Inspiration are a spark, and you are the flame in which we can ignite a world peace.
our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves;"Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous." Actually, who are you not to be. You are a child of God; your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
- Nelson Mandela.
One of the main points of O4I is that we are not trying to support any one single side of the picture in any respect. We are trying to listen to what Inspires YOU. We want YOU to share your life. O4I does not have a bias. Come to our shows, and sign up to share your art. We are not here to make political or Religious commentaries we are here to give another space for your creativity, we want anyone to participate, and if we are not your cup of tea, move on. If you do like us, come stay for awhile. We are not here to try and make a big statement, that's up to you.
Above Pictured, Mama Nomusa, African storyteller, performing at the first "Art Not Apathy" Gathering.
Art Appreciation
Art and creativity lie together, unnoticed, but vibrant in the souls of their creator. most the message from its maker. They don’t realize how much the inspired pieces actually affect the world we live in, no matter what the actual piece is. Art is everywhere and everything.
Of course, when many of us hear the word art, we don’t think of true art. Most think of the colors on the paintings of different walls in places they’ve been, or the dance show they saw last night. However, this is not the real art that many of us think of. True art is emotion and how it is conveyed. Love is a type of art. The art of love is when you feel the connection you have with a friend, partner, or close family. You show it with the smile on your face or the smile you’ve given someone else. Happiness is an art in the way that most can’t keep it there because of the worries that they have about the outside world. A cherished smile is an inspired piece that shows on your face and is embedded in your soul, and therefore is art, but not artwork.
These emotions are what inspire beautiful accomplishments of artwork. The hard days of labor put into a message are what make the artwork. When the dancer takes emotion and turns it into the steps they use to make a performance, that’s artwork. When the artist splashes a million different colors onto the canvas or whatever they may use; this is artwork! They feel their artwork, they are their art. They hope that their audience might feel the same way, or maybe feel some other way in their translation, as long as they touch the viewer.
Yet much of this goes without translation or emotion by the audience. Many people don’t realize that the way they live, walk, talk, and feel is a way of art. Not one person is exactly the same, yet many are too caught up in their world to appreciate anyone else’s, whether it is visual artwork or not. Emotion often becomes confusing when you don’t understand the art of yourself.
Art needs appreciation. Art needs inspiration and creation. You, as well I, are art. Every one of us is an artist, all part of a bigger piece. So I challenge you to ask yourself this question. What can I do to make my creation better? What can I do to be better and to make things around me better? When these questions are answered, all of our colors will be brighter.
-Twick
Above pictured, Misty Grey and Jacob Hey, Executive Directors of O4I
Hello, my name is Jacob Hey, co-coordinator of Twick and Jake’s Organization for Inspiration. For years I’ve have wanted to do something like this without the inspiration and willpower to pull it off. This inspiration and willpower was manifested into my life in the form of my dearest friend Misty Gray AKA Twick. We met at MIAD and we originally collaborated on her organization concept “Twick’s fund for Peace and Love”, but now with T&Js O.I. We are both collaborating together along with many other people, and have a lot more momentum and potentiality. Our goal is to inspire and be inspired, we wish for people to become active, and voice their opinions, even if no one else is ready to listen to them. This will be an experiment in the creative intellect of the human spirit. I am greatly looking forward to the years to come for our organization. It doesn’t take much effort to look around at our world and see we need help. Spirituality is at an all time low, war and profits is the only seeming concern of the rich, the number homeless people are growing rapidly, global warming threatens our lives and the life of our mother Earth, and the art and musical world seem to be taking a major turn for the worst, new popularized violent music scenes seem only to be interested in money and sex, giving a major shift of the populaces energy, and more and more artists are being left behind owing to the new technology utilized by the art industry, and a lot of inspirational positive art seems to have hidden away. So many confusing aspects of our modern reality are taking place on a moment to moment basis. People seem not to understand what the quantum hologram theory is trying to say to us, and that is the fact that every positive or negative feeling you have is contributing to the worlds positive and negative thoughts and feelings on a major scale through a network of energy that connects us all. This is not some new age bullshit, it is a proven FACT. Every act we make is affecting the world at a deep level for better, or for worse. If more people could find the heart to understand this within themselves, we would probably have more organizations, musicians, politicians, artists, and thinkers dedicating themselves to increasing the positive within them and around them. That is why we are holding these shows. We hope to bring positivity and creativity to our troubled city of Milwaukee. Milwaukee is known to be one of the most segregated city in the united states. We also have a very high crime rate. I once heard that thousands of volunteers from around the world came to Washington DC to collectively Meditate. The FBI predicted at least a 25% decrease in crime rate in DC after the Meditation, based off of previous studies made in other cities. The DC Police chief came on TV in regard to this prediction saying “Look, it’s gonna take over two feet of snow to reduce the crime rate in this city.” But to the police department’s surprise the crime rate indeed did drop over 25 percent after the meditation, and the police department actually ended up helping to fund future projects for the organizers of the meditation. This is why we are here. The collective consciousness of this city needs more love, more positivity, and more creativity if we are to live together more peacefully in Milwaukee. This is what our Art not Apathy gatherings are for. This is what I will dedicate my life to. But it is YOU who will be able to make a difference. Each one of you. With ever act of kindness, every word of good will, every painting you paint, every song you sing, every positive word you write, you are changing the entire world with that singular act. Whether you know it or not. I hope you will join us at many of our future gatherings to come. -Jake
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE MOTHER OF US ALL
I pledge devoted allegiance
to the living spirit of mother Earth
and to the countless life forms she sustains.
One planet under Universal Law - Like attracts Like;
indivisible; commited to the principle of Doing No Harm;
absolutely dedicated to Truth, Peace, Compassion, and Integrity;
with real Freedom and Justice for everyone; scrupulous
respect for the fundamental right of everyone to
self determination: and equal opportunity
through fair and equitable Sharing
of Earths resources by all.
I believe in saying YES to YES. What does this mean? Well, it is simple. I believe in positive energy being put toward something good in the world. Personally I will always say YES! to Love, Faith, and Inspiration. You can always say Yes to something that makes you happy that affects you in a good way. If you think in this way, then you will benefit yourself in every way. If you focus on something you truly believe in, or something that makes you really happy, or something that you want so bad, then that is what type of energy you will draw to yourself. So my friends, if you agree, if you believe me; tell me: What do you say YES to?
-TWICK
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