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CURRENT ISSUE: MAY 2012
Lizz Winstead
“The media was supposed to be the watchdog for the regular folks, and now comedians have to be the watchdog of the media,” says the creator of The Daily Show.
On the Trail with Elizabeth Warren
| “The banks broke this economy one lousy mortgage at time,” says the populist Senate candidate.
June issue | What’s at Stake in Wisconsin
| After a year and a half of historic protests and unprecedented citizen activism, the recall is a referendum on whether grassroots, democratic action can overcome the power of money in the Citizens United era.
The Spoken Word and Progressive Politics
Howard Zinn, the beloved people's historian and longtime Progressive columnist who died on January 27, 2010, was a brilliant storyteller. He told the stories "not of the heroes and achievements of traditional history, but of all those people who were the victims of those achievements, who suffered silently or fought back magnificently": the labor radicals, the early feminists, the anti-war soldiers. Zinn also believed in people telling their own stories in their own voices. He believed in the power of artists to reshape the larger political narrative towards social justice and solidarity.
Today, a new generation of artists and activists has emerged, using their words as weapons for radical discourse and political empowerment. Coming out of the era of Reaganomics and gentrification, in the traditions of Amiri Baraka and Lenny Bruce, a movement of spoken word artists is speaking up. They combine elements of free verse, hip-hop, stand-up comedy, and soap-box preaching, but connecting them all is a diverse, democratic art form that demands participation. Spoken word is about the call and response, re-definition and self-determination, the street corner and Capitol Hill.
In this series, we are going to present a range of spoken word artists, musicians, and storytellers, all of whom are using their voices to rewrite the American narrative -- one story, many people at a time. As Howard would say, "Let the people speak."
— Josh Healey
Spoken Word Editor for The Progressive
Ed Show: Walker's Economy Worst In The Nation
Come to Progressive Talks and Events
June 4, Madison, WI
Terry Tempest Williams on "The Power of Voice"
Ruth Conniff and Matthew Rothschild on
"What's at Stake in the Recall."
5:30-7:30 pm at the Lakeside St. Coffee House, 402 W. Lakeside St, Madison.
It's a fundraiser for The Progressive. Contributions are tax-deductible.
If you can't make it but would like to contribute anyway, please send your check to The Progressive, 409 E. Main St., Madison, WI 53703.
