Hand of Fire, Hand of Creation<br/>Moshe Dekel (age 5)
Hand of Fire, Hand of Creation by Moshe Dekel (age 5)

Welcome to the 5th year of 100,000 Poets (Musicians, Artists, Mimes…) for Change, and the 2015 edition of The BeZine Online 100TPC Event! If you’ve done this before and you know the score, skip to the comments or Mister Linky at the bottom of the post and begin. If you are wondering, hey, what are you folks up to then check out some serious non-fiction here:

Our mission here today as poets, writers, artists, photographers, musicians and friends is a sort-of fission for change—a burning with and expression of the desire for peace, environmental and economic sustainability, social justice, inclusion, equity and opportunity for all. We seek through our art to do a bit of old-fashioned consciousness raising, to stimulate thought and action leading to the kind of change that is sustainable, compassionate and just, and to engage in the important theme of the issues facing humanity today—but all with a goal to alleviate suffering and foster peace. We don’t want to just “talk about it,” we want words, art and music that help us take action in some way for positive change wherever we are in our lives, in our world.

We see a complex inter-woven relationship between peace, sustainability, and social justice. We all recognize that when people are marginalized and disenfranchised, when they are effectively barred from opportunities for education and viable employment, when they can’t feed themselves or their families or are used as slave labor, there will inevitably be a backlash, and we’re seeing that now in violent conflicts, wars and dislocation. Climatologists have also linked climate change, with its severe weather changes and recent droughts, to the rise violence in the world, and even contributing to inequities in areas – like Syria – where a severe drought destabilized food production and the economy, contributing to the unrest that led to the civil war, according to one study.

Jerusalem in an unprecedented dust storm that engulged much of the Mideast, linked by one climate scientist to the Syrian civial war and ISIS conflict
Jerusalem in an unprecedented dust storm that engulfed much of the Mideast, linked by one climate scientist to the Syrian civil war and ISIS conflict

There are too many people living on the streets and in refugee camps, too many whose lives are at subsistence level, too many children who die before the age of five (as many as four a minute dying from hunger, according to one reliable study—more info), too many youth walking through life with no education, no jobs and no hope. It can’t end well…

Syrian refugee camp, photo: The Telegraph
Syrian refugee camp
photo: The Telegraph

More than anything, our mission is a call to action, a call to work in your own communities where ever you are in the world, and to focus on the pressing local issues that contribute to conflict, injustice, and unsustainable economic and environmental practices. The kind of change we need may well have to be from the ground up, all of us working together to create peaceful, sustainable and just cultures that nurture the best in all the peoples of this world.

Poverty and homelessness are evergreen issues historically, but issues also embedded in social and political complexity. They benefit the rich, whose economic system keeps most of the rest of us as, at best, “wage slaves,” and all too many of us in poverty, without enough to provide for basic needs or housing (including the “working poor,” who hold low-paying jobs while CEOs are paid record-breaking salaries and bonuses in the global capitalist system). We are united in our cries against the structures of injustice, where the rich act as demigods and demagogues. We have to ask of what use will all their riches be in the face of this inconceivable suffering and the inevitable backlash from the marginalized and disenfranchised. We need fairness, not greed.

So, with this mission in mind, and with the complexity of the interrelationships of social justice, sustainability and peace as a framework, we focus on hunger and poverty, two basic issues and major threads in the system of inequality and injustice that need addressing throughout the world.

We look forward to what you have to share, whether the form is poetry, essay, fiction, art, photography, documentary, music, or hybrids of any of these—and we want to engage in an ongoing conversation through your comments on all of the above as you not only share your own work here today but visit and enjoy the work of others, supporting one another with your “likes” and comments, starting or entering into dialogues with writers, artists and musicians throughout the world and online viewers, readers, listeners.

Think globally, act locally, form community.

—Michael Dickel, Jerusalem (with G. Jamie Dedes, California, USA)

DIRECTIONS FOR PARTICIPATION

Share links to your relevant work or that of others in a comment or by using Mister Linky below. To use Mr. Linky, just click on the graphic. (Note: If you are sharing someone else’s work, please use your name in Mister Linky, so we can credit you as the contributor—we will give the author / artist name in the comments, from the link when we post the link in a comment.)

You may leave your links or works in the comment section below this post. If you are sharing the work of another poet or artist, however, please only use a link and not the work itself.

In addition to sharing, we encourage you to visit others and make connections and conversation. To visit the links, click on Mr. Linky (the Mister Linky graphic above) and then on the links you see there. (Some Mr. Linky-links can be viewed in the comments section after we re-post them.)

Thank you! 

All links will be collected into a dedicated Page here at The BeZine and also archived at 100TPC.

Thank you for your participation. Let the conversation begin …

173 thoughts on “100TPC Event Today … Link in your poems, art, stories, film, music, videos for peace, sustainability and social justice with an emphasis on poverty and hunger”

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  7. Refugees

    Everyone lines up
    where fences stand tall
    between life and death,
    heaven and hell’s call.
    Scrambling to get
    to the other side–
    you know of whom I speak—
    they are the “refugees”–
    leaving their last treasure,
    as their homes they flee:
    their crumbling piece of earth,
    driven by their own
    on foreign soil to roam.
    Welcomed they are not;
    no hosts standing by–
    they face the barbed fence
    and hostility’s shrill cry.
    They are cold where they stand,
    but colder is the hand
    that shoves them aside
    and pushes them back.
    It is that tall fence, you see,
    that marks the line
    between who can live
    and who must fight to survive.

    © Neetu Malik 2015

    Liked by 1 person

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    2. Refugees of the world are a special breed of people…can’t stay in their homeland and yet turned away by so many other countries; where is there sanctuary? A powerful poem, Neetu.

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  8. – When I Was There –

    When I was there, I was unaware of far away lands where children laughed and played,
    and had food to share

    I never had any to spare, I was too hungry to move
    So I would just stare

    When I was there, I was unaware of televisions or video games or cell phones
    And even if I knew, I just wouldn’t care

    There was no water to spare
    So I would just stare

    When I was there, I was unaware of lush green lawns and forests with trees
    I only knew starvation and disease
    I was down on my knees

    Suffering too much to bear
    So I would just stare

    When I was there, nobody came to take care of me
    But sometimes a stranger would stop and stare at me
    Why didn’t anybody care about me?

    There was no food or water or shelter for me
    Nobody came to help me

    The spark of Life faded away

    Now I’m no longer there

    © brian crandall 08/31/2015

    the photo I post with the poem gives the message more impact @

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. A writer friend and I met at the library this afternoon to share some works and I showed her this event and we sat and read many of the offerings together. She and I both were very impressed and touched with the heartfelt emotion and depth that was shared on behalf of our fellow “men” who are struggling to survive. My hope is that a changing shift will awaken the consciousness of people everywhere and we can eradicate something that should not even be in existence…poverty. Certainly there are more than enough resources on this planet (if used wisely) to house, feed and nurture all 7+ billion of us.
    Gayle ~

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    1. I think – or at least I like to think – that there is a growing groundswell that will eventually (hope sooner than later) make the diference, turn the tide. We don’t hear as much about how people feel and what so many are doing to make things better. Popular media doesn’t offer fair and complete coverage. That’s why we need events such as this one. They’re necessary. Vital.

      And, to your second point, when we read Francis Moore Lappe’s more recent books and articles, we find that scarcity is not the issue. The issue is will and true democracy. I think there’s hope.

      Thanks for your reading here today, Gayle, and your contributions to the discussion. Warmly, Jamie

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. I like to think that too, Jamie. We absolutely get shortchanged by the media…they have their own agenda. I would be interested to know just how much events, such as this one, make an impact with measurable results.

        You’re very welcome, Jamie. I was happy to contribute and add my voice to the others gathered together.
        Hugs,
        Gayle xo

        Liked by 1 person

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  11. It’s shocking to see reports of homeless people beaten, even set on fire, so I wrote;

    – Helplessly Homeless –

    Ragged Clothes. Need sewn. I haven’t a home.
    Dark night. No sight. I cower in fright.

    Confused. Misused. A life of Abuse.
    Sought help. Refused. Beaten and Bruised.

    Starvation. Malnutrition. I have no real food.
    Recession. Deep Depression. A sorrowful mood.

    Cold rain. Disdain. Nowhere to retreat.
    My pain. In vain. No shoes on my feet.

    Angry people. Stare at me. They see me as dead.
    Desparation. Condemnation. I only want bread.

    Apprehension. Foreboding. Danger is near.
    Exposure. No closure. I tremble in Fear.

    I’m freezing. They’re teasing. They punch me and kick.
    They leave. I grieve. Wish death would come quick.

    © brian crandall

    https://www.facebook.com/EmpathyGloballyPainfulPortraitsofPoetry

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  12. Just in from the world-famous anon … a truly enlightening video … so to whomever – “thank you!”

    La Via Campesina (The Farmer’s Path)

    It’s about 17 min. Has English subtitles and includes commentary from farmers in tunisha, Senegal, Bengladesh, Palestine, Chile and the U.S. of A.

    “We are happy to release a new Video by La Via Campesina , the international peasant movement. In this video, men and women, leaders of La Via Campesina member organizations in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe share their struggles and fight for food sovereignty, social and climate justice.

    Again, in the film (shot during the 2015 World Social Forum in Tunisia), we hear peasant’s experiences about solidarity, women struggles, land, seeds, water, etc…

    La Via Campesina brings together over 200 millions members through 164 organizations in 73 countries. Over the past 20 years, La Via Campesina has become one of the world’s biggest social movement – a fertile ground to nurture struggles and solidarity.”

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  16. I want to thank everyone for your amazing contributions (so far)!

    It is 12:30 AM here in Jerusalem, and now 27th September here. However, in many places in the world, including all of the Western Hemisphere, the 26th still rolls on.

    So keep posting, commenting, linking!

    And as I sign off, Jamie Dedes will take over as MC.

    Thank you so much. It has genuinely been a pleasure and very heartening how much people care, how brilliant and deeply felt the words burn, how engaged everyone has been.

    Goodnight (for me, but the blog keeps rolling!)

    Before I go, though, I leave you with a poem of my own:

    Circulating Language Manifesto

    “…the New Economy as convention is language itself, language as means of production and circulation of goods.”
 —Christian Marazzi, qtd. by Joshua Clover

    An unrealized hunger chews against ribcages of ravens in flight
    as flash floods erode history in the Wadi, flushing it to the Salt Sea.
    There is no food on the table and the poet goes unpaid.
    These words fill an empty plate, overflowing commerce,
    an exchange rated for evaporation and condensation, loss
    and replacement. This moment transforms nothing into labor.
    Rising water drives thirstiness to drought even as it races forward
    to parched bitterness that holds ordered tourists on its surfaces.
    Order falls away with things, things lost in dreams, dreams
    foretelling futures past. Electrons drove the Philosopher’s Stone,
    golden silicone in bits and bytes flying past geographies of object,
    flowing with subject, absent verb. What is it we pay for in this life?

    Red anemones contradict drenched grasses. A small blue iris sways.
    Hot dust storms coat the machinery that has frozen to our city streets
    as the poet peels potatoes and pauses to reevaluate golden hues.
    Sentences collapse under the weight of real prisons, unfolding
    the crusty earth’s constant over turning—geological composting
    as surfaces rise up and bury themselves back into the hot mantel.
    Potato skins skim vodka from decay; hungers twist into shadows.
    Too many dimensions in set space reduce everything again.
    Orbits drop toward gravity, the strength of the iron fist clamping
    down on tomorrow. Poets remain unpaid; still words overflow
    into nothingness with no value placed upon added desire or its
    lack. Well-written banknotes are not poems;
    poems are not without a price.

    “Rather, there is before us the flight to a new capital, the brutal work of tearing apart and reassembling the great gears of accumulation and setting them in motion once again—if such a thing is still possible…Or there is the flight to something else entirely.” —Joshua Clover

    —Michael Dickel

    Clover, Joshua. “Value | Theory | Crisis.” Publication of the Modern Language Association of America. 127.1 (January 2012). 107-114.

    Dickel, M. (2013). Circulation Language Manifesto. Diogen pro kultura magazin / pro culture magazine. No. 32 (February). Print and Online. p. 96. http://www.diogenpro.com/2-seeking-for-a-poem-international-poetry-competition-2012.html#PhotoSwipe1360743266491

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    1. Michael, thank you for your selfless service this day, especially generous considering childcare, holy days, and the hours in. How generous as well for you to share this poem with its insight and power. “Hunger twists into shadows” … points (for me anyway) toward what we are saying about poverty, hunger, early death, lack of education and healthcare as ultimately costing everyone. So those who are so self-involved and so deluded that they think they don’t have to care, that they are safe, should sit up and take note. Of course here you are speaking “to the choir.” And what a powerful ending: ” . . . Well-written banknotes are not poems;/poems are not without a price.” Many blessings, Michael. Wishing a good night … and a quiet one in that place “surrounded by war.” Shalom!

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