I am very disappointed in Chicago Indymedia. Used to be the "open forum" that it claims to be. I posted two announcements for an Obama rally and both of them got deleted within hours. How are you any different than the mainstream press if you are going to control what is being said here? Does that make you any better than Bush's corporate media centers? I think your actions could be viewed as racist. You might not like the Democrats, but America is about to make history with the first black president, and you choose to turn your back on that.

Obama's skin color is irrelevant. He still is Goldman Sachs's candidate for president.

OK, but, isn't that just your opinion. There are a lot of other people who feel like the election of Obama is Martin Luther King Jr's dream. What is irrelevant should be your opinion when it comes to deciding what is allowed to be posted in an "open" forum. You should express your opinion by posting comments to the announcement, not by censoring it. Practice what you preach.

Sorry CJ, but if you post Democratic or Republican campaign fundraising ads they're gonna get hidden as a matter of policy in the IMC network. And in case you missed it, neither candidate has difficulty accessing the corporate media. IMC is not a unrestricted free speech site - but a fair use site with an editorial policy. If you're unhappy with that, set up your own website, blog, news aggregator or whatever. It's a big Web.

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People fought and even died during the late sixties and early seventies for this moment to come to fruition. Those civil rights leaders were the indymedia of its day. Let us hope, forty years from now, the rewards of YOUR labor are not ignored.

So they "fought and died" so the Big Bankers can appoint a lackey with a denser skin pigmentation?

Fuck, at least support Cynthia McKinney if you have to vote for a black candidate. She hasn't been endorsed by Obama's master-puppeteers in the financial industry.

If you think that Obama represents the legacy of MLK Jr. and those who were involved in the civil rights struggles , you haven't been paying attention at all.

The problem is that CJ just focuses on skin color. Obviously, he gives a rat's ass about actual ideology.

Wow. So much shit. I know for damn sure that last time around there was all sorts of stuff on here about Howard Dean (white Democrat), and I'm pretty sure I found information about Ron Paul (white Republican) here and even went to a rally and had the pleasure of being exposed to a different way of thinking because of it. We had a little poetry reading for Obama and raised absolutely nada money but you guys act like I'm the man for supporting it. It is no wonder why nobody shows up to the protests anymore. You guys have isolated yourselves. It's fine that you have this editorial policy as described above, but that policy doesn't make for an "open publishing forum", why not call it a "publishing forum open only to those who think the way we think." I haven't posted here in years for this reason, I don't like to be told how I'm suppose to think, and I see nothing has changed here, still a bunch of nasty insulting confrontational guys bitching about everything but offering no solutions.

Jesus, Laity, what a crock.. Use the search funchtion and look for any post advertising a fundraising benefit for John Kerry, or Ron Paul on this site's newswire.

You wil however find info on alternative and third party campaigns -- including Cynthia McKinney (the former Georgia Congressional rep who just happens to be a Black woman and a Green ) as well as commentary skewering electoral participation as a dead end. A pretty wide range of opinions and news items you won't find in the Trib Sun-Times, the Reader, or New City.

Still, if you are looking for a site that offers uncritical support for Barack, try Daily Kos, or Democratic Underground. You'll feel right at home.

BTW, pack the house, did you?

See, this is what I'm talking about. "pack the house, did you?" What a mean little shitty thing to say. A lot of people who believe in something worked on a grassroots level to put together the Poets for a Better Country reading despite people like you hoping that it would fail. Why do you have to be so god damned insulting. How do you ever propose to reach people and expose them to your point of view with your Indymedia Love It Or Leave it attitude? All you are doing is preaching to the choir, and what good does that do? You push anyone else out before you even have a chance to convert them. Other than Kucinich (and I know damn well I've seen stuff about Kucinich here, even though you have deleted it all I guess with your new policy), and putting Obama aside for the moment, Ron Paul was probably the only candidate with some original thoughts, and he was shunned by the mainstream media, and shunned by guys like you too I guess, so it is no wonder we never see any real change in this country. What gall you have to speak for the civil rights leaders of the 60s and tell us what their goals were. So you believe if Martin Luther King Jr. was alive today he wouldn't support Barack Obama???? Wow.

Would MLK support Obama? I'm more inclined to think he would have supported McCain. Unlike you, MLK was able to see past skin color.

I'm not sure what you are saying, are you saying if we put skin color aside McCain is the better candidate? Those who were part of the movement in the 60s, those who helped to create civil rights, those who are still alive, DO support Obama. I was just in the room the other day with Haki Madhubuti, who was actually there in the 60s and wasn't just talking shit like you are, and he supports Obama. I suppose if you are so far out there in outer space, Obama and McCain would look the same, but those of us who actually live on planet earth know how important it is that McSame doesn't get into office, and we also appreciate the historic moment of the first black president being elected.

No, both candidates are horrible. But MLK was, ideologically closer to McCain, than to Obama.

In any case, I am happy for you that you endorse Corporate America's candidate.

Your bizarre opinion about MLK's ideology is perplexing to say the least. Perhaps you might be so kind as explain the similarities between McCain and MLK for the rest of us idiots.

So how many folks actually showed up, CJ? Don't duck the question - it was your event.

We threw the event together in three days and had about twenty-five people there, many of whom wrote poems especially for the event. Quraysh Ali Lansana, one of the greatest African American voices of our time, even came and read for us. I don't understand why you are trying to insult our efforts with your snide comments about how many people showed up. Is it because I made mention of the fact that not a lot of people show up for protests anymore, and if so, how can you take THAT personally? I show up to protests, so I was criticizing myself as much as anyone else by saying that. I'm not ripping on protests when I saw few people show up, I'm saying MORE people SHOULD show up. But you are pointing to this Obama reading with near joy that there wasn't a thousand people there. Now, since I've honestly answered your question, please, tell me, HOW THE FUCK IS MCCAIN LIKE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR???? Don't duck the quetion.

One would think the time is ripe for an explosion of protest music.

Bruce Springsteen performs during a rally Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008, on the campus of Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio. Springsteen was in town to encourage Barack Obama supporters to register and take advantage of Ohio

We're witnessing what pundits are calling a historic presidential race at a time when even the party holding the Oval Office admits that a big dose of change is needed. We've been at war on two fronts for years with no end in sight, while there's less than a month to go in the election. The economy appears to be in free fall. The race is close, and the rhetoric is heating up fast as each side lobs verbal grenades at each other almost daily.

So where are all the protest songs, calling for one brand of change over the other?

Protest music is rare from conservative artists, but even the liberals songwriters seem to be sitting this one out.

"People are overwhelmed by the corruption of our government," says Paul Kantner, a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, who just released a new Starship record, "Jefferson's Tree of Liberty. "They don't think their vote counts "... people don't have enough faith."

In other words, even if we have two new candidates promising change from an outgoing and unpopular administration, it might just be that musicians aren't feeling they can make a difference, especially after the outpouring of activism in 2004.

That was the year John Kerry had the support of Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews, among other big-name artists, performing on the "Vote for Change" tour. Linda Ronstandt was grabbing headlines for speaking out in the face of open hostility at many of her shows. It was the year that gave us songs like Ani DiFranco's "Animal," the Beastie Boys' "It Takes Time to Build," and the Roots' "Why (What's Goin' On?)," among others.

Even two years later, just in time for midterm Congressional elections, there was still an echo of the outrage, most notably in Neil Young's "Living With War" record and his passionate summer tour with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Some of the stalwarts are still around, such as Bruce Springsteen, doing benefits for Barack Obama. And bands that are almost always political, like Bad Religion, are still addressing the issues. Punk singer-songwriter Ted Leo just wrote and recorded a four-song EP after witnessing the treatment of protesters at the Republican convention, the timing of which made it only available on his Web site. And people like John Legend and Billy Joel have also appeared at events.

But all in all, the desperation that was apparent among artists willing to sing protest songs four years ago is largely absent at this year's political crunch time.

"There's baggage to becoming a protest singer," says Chris Walla, guitarist for Death Cab For Cutie and an admitted political junkie, whose band has played Obama rallies. "Because of the media portrayal of the protests, nobody wants to be associated with it. I don't think it would work with our audience all that well."

Plus, Walla says, there's a strong perception that, unlike Kerry in 2004, Obama doesn't need the help. And there's no George W. Bush in the race to focus on.

"When your candidate is a rock star on his own, why does he need Death Cab for Cutie?" Walla says. "What Obama needs is 'Rednecks for Obama.'"

Nathan Berg, a professor of economics and sociology at the University of Texas at Dallas, is the singer for the Halliburtons, one of the few bands out there continuously making political music.

"It's noticeably more quiet regarding the musical discourse this year," he says. "I think there are those of us who thought 2004 was important and thought things would change. It's hard to see strong rebuttal for pessimism."

Berg speculates that Kerry's loss deflated musicians. They're getting change one way or another this year, which de-focuses years of targeting President George W. Bush.

"My band played at Dealey Plaza on the anniversary of the Iraq war, but I'm feeling my time is better spent speaking as an economist and social scientist," says Berg, whose band has toured Ireland and Germany. "There's actually much more of an anti-Bush and anti-war scene in Europe." There's also some low-level recorded activism, coming at a lower profile from groups like metal band Testament and bluegrass group the Del McCoury Band, an indication of big names laying low this year. McCoury's new record is called "Moneyland."

Kanter says that with each passing year, technological distractions and a corporate media unwilling to take chances make it more difficult for musicians to make a difference.

"People are overwhelmed by modern times," he says. "There's an overflow of information and they become confused. In the '60s we thought we could change the world - and we did change some of it," he says. "People today don't have that hope."

Honestly, I'd guess it's because now most mainstream artists aren't typically as artisitic and intelligent as they were back in the 60s. I think it's because of the homogenized nature of corporate music. Most of the protest songs are written by indy artisits. I've seen a growing number of them coming out! That's brief, but I don't have time to explain. haha, sorry.