Intrepid Classroom

I have been meaning to write one of my musical exposés on this next artist since last year, but when I discovered the contest his was administering, I knew that the time had come for you to meet Michael Franti and Spearhead.  As always, I will leave you to read his bio here and check out his website for yourself. What I want to do is to try and explain why I find him significant and give you an entry point to his music.

I first discovered Franti after being impressed by his powerful, insightful, and hard-hitting lyrics in the song Light Up Ya Lighter off the Body of War soundtrack. I urge you to listen to the album, watch the film, and read more at the website.

It was lyrics like…

The war for oil is a war for the beast
the War on terror is a war on peace
Telling you they’re gona protect you
Telling you that they support the troops and
Don’t let ‘em fool you with their milk and honey
No, they only want your money
One step forward and 2 step back
One step forward and 2 step back
Why do veterans get no respect
PTSD and a broken back
Take a look at where you money’s gone (seen)
Take a look at what they spent it on
No excuses, no illusions
Light up your lighter, bring ‘em home

…that first attracted me to Franti. Here was someone singing a vital social studies lesson in a feel good anthem. After some research, I found myself awash in the many great projects that make up Franti orbit. First there was the album Yell Fire that featured Light Up Ya Lighter and thirteen other hard hitting lessons. Yell Fire was the soundtrack to the film that Franti had produced himself: I Know I Am Not Alone, is a low budget documentary that follows Franti and his guitar into the streets of Baghdad and the Israeli/Palestinian territories. The film is a perfectly poignant glimpse into the realities of war zones and the power of the human spirit and music to survive despite the worst of out human traits. This is a much watch film for any music lover interested in the peace movement.

The more I waded through Franti’s work, the more I realized what a truly important artist he is. In addition to his rebellious, intelligent, sociological stance on a broad range of topics such as war, racism, and poverty, Franti likes to have a good time. He is a loving, peaceful man determined to unite people through his music. He focuses on what humanity has in common, not on what separates us.

His latest album All Rebel Rockers is a perfect blend of feel good summer jams, tender pleas for peace, as well as vintage Franti calls to rebellion. I think I can best describe this multifaceted artist best by mentioning that my two-year old daughter asks for his songs by name. His blend of rock, reggae, and hip-hop strike a chord that is innate in the human spirit. He makes us feel good, dance, all the while educating the listener to the state of the world.

I have embedded a video from the Yell Fire album, but you can find many more of his videos on his youtube channel FrantiTV and listen to more of his song on our ning. While he has several albums, I would recommend starting with Yell Fire and All Rebel Rockers.

In addition to being a musician, film-maker, children’s book writer, Franti also runs an annual music festival in San Francisco called Power to the Peaceful. in addition to the festival this year, he has orchestrated a video contest. I would love for members of IntrepidClassroom to get involved and submit a few videos. Don’t worry about winning the prizes. It is not important whether you will be able to attend the show or not, what is important is for you to think about his intentions and to create some truly powerful videos. I think this contest is a perfect match for us here at IntrepidClassroom and a great way to kick off the year. We have been given clear instructions and a quickly approaching deadline. So waste no more time. Read the instructions and get started. I will leave you with a feel good jam to get you motivated.

Here are the instructions:

CALL FOR ENTRIES:
Power to the Peaceful Online Film Festival 08

WHAT EMPOWERS YOU TO BE PEACEFUL?
WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO CREATE CHANGE?
WHAT DOES PEACE MEAN TO YOU?

Got something to say?
Enter a short film, animation, music video, web works or just film yourself expressing how you feel. Winners will be announced on September 6 2008 at this year’s Power to the Peaceful Festival and featured on our website on FrantiV for the whole world to see!
Watch the entries as they come in and comment!

http://www.youtube.com/pttpfilmfest

SUBMISSION DEADLINE:
September 3, 2008

WINNERS WILL RECEIVE:
2 Backstage VIP passes to PTTP Festival*
2 After Party VIP passes*
10th Anniversary PTTP T Shirt
Signed PTTP poster*

Winners residing outside the country or state of California will receive 2 tickets/backstage passes for a headline MFSH show (festivals not included) in the city nearest you

HOW TO SUBMIT:
Quicktime file under 100 mgs
Length not to exceed 5 minutes

UPLOAD INSTRUCTIONS

MAKING VIDEOS
You’ll need to have a device that can capture digital movies—this could be a camcorder, digital camera, or even your cell phone! You copy the movies to your computer, and then you can either upload them as-is or edit them with software such as iMovie or Windows Movie Maker to add titles and special effects.

Acceptable video file formats include .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG transferred from most digital cameras, camcorders, and cell phones.

UPLOAD INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Go to www.yousendit.com

2. Login as
user: carla@powertothepeaceful.org
password: peace

3. To: carla@powertothepeaceful.org
Subject: PTTP ONLINE FESTIVAL
Enter Message: YOUR NAME AND CITY HERE + brief description
Select a file: Click ‘browse’ and choose your file

4. Click ‘Send it’

QUESTIONS?
carla@powertothepeaceful.org
aenoch@aenoch.com

Good luck and let’s see what you can come up with. Please also post your videos on our wiki page.