[1973]
Album “A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America”, Paredon Records.
Con Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto e "Charlie" Chin.
Prodotto da Barbara Dane

“This song was written for a friend, sister Ibidun, and for a nation, the Republic of New Africa.
They say "free the land," as it captures a key concept in their struggle: land and sovereignty for blacks within the U.S. But we see this phrase as significant for all people who have worked and struggled in, and been oppressed by, this country. The land must be freed so that those who live and work on it will live in freedom. We will win! In the name of Malcolm, free the land…”
[nota introduttiva al brano dal libretto che accompagna l’album]

Diversamente da quanto può apparire dall’introduzione, questa canzone non è dedicata alla lotta dei neri sudafricani contro l’apartheid ma alla Republic of New Afrika... (continua)

[1973]
Album “A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America”, Paredon Records.
Con Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto e "Charlie" Chin.
Prodotto da Barbara Dane

“The tactic of dividing the people in order to conquer them is a tactic which capitalism has used in this country very effectively. It has not only kept different races apart, it has kept sexes, religions, ages, occupations, just about everything divided. People have been taught we must compete against one another, and that we threaten each others interests. It has even affected us personally in feelings of alienation from each other and ourselves, so that we are isolated and alone. We are not alone - our interests are the same as all people fighting against the common oppressor. Our struggle for unity is a critical struggle, and it is vital for victory.”
[nota introduttiva al brano dal libretto che accompagna l’album]

[1973]
Album “A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America”, Paredon Records.
Con Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto e "Charlie" Chin.
Prodotto da Barbara Dane

Una canzone dedicata alla lotta di liberazione vietnamita.
“People's war has shown that small, oppressed nations can defeat the most highly technological military machine in the world - the U.S. This song is a celebration of that truth and to those who have shown us, in the belly of the monster, that truth.”
[nota introduttiva al brano dal libretto che accompagna l’album]

[1973]
Album “A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America”, Paredon Records.
Con Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto e "Charlie" Chin.
Prodotto da Barbara Dane

“In Chicago in the summer of 1970, we met with some Indian brothers and sisters who were squatting for decent housing for their people. They told us of an old Indian legend (we don‘t know which nation it came from). The legend said that for 5.000 years the world would be ruled by evil followed by 5.000 years of good, that change would be brought about with the coming together of warriors of all colors of the rainbow, and that the time for that change is now…”
[nota introduttiva al brano dal libretto che accompagna l’album]

Quella dei “guerrieri dell’arcobaleno” è una profezia dei nativi americani appartenenti alla nazione Hopi, Arizona, ma leggende simili sono riscontrabili anche tra Cree e Cherokee. Il... (continua)

[1973]
Album “A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America”, Paredon Records.
Con Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto e "Charlie" Chin.
Prodotto da Barbara Dane

“This is another another first songs we wrote. It only touched on our people's plight and experiences in this country. We've heard that sisters and brothers in Hawaii and other places have added verses to it. We say right on -- it is your song.”
[nota introduttiva al brano dal libretto che accompagna l’album]

[1973]
Album “A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America”, Paredon Records.
Con Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto e "Charlie" Chin.
Prodotto da Barbara Dane

“When we hear about revolutionary heroes like Jonathan Jackson (who was shot at San Marin Courthouse trying to free his brother George), we tend to put them into some superhuman category. What we want to say is that Jonathan Jackson, like Nguyen Van Trol, like Che Guevara, was first a human being like us; a human being with feelings, joys, and fears, and that we all have that revolutionary potential. Jonathan Jackson is not separate from us, but part of us and what he stood for, is us.”
[nota introduttiva al brano dal libretto che accompagna l’album]

Sui fratelli Jackson si vedano anche George Jackson e Uncle George.

[1973]
Album “A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America”, Paredon Records.
Con Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto e "Charlie" Chin.
Prodotto da Barbara Dane

“As the struggle against U.S. imperialism around the world intensifies, our task here is to give the people in America a better understanding and fuller awareness of what U.S. Imperialism is, what it does, and what we must do to combat it. Our purpose in writing “imperialism" was two-fold; One, to help break down the "mystique" of words like imperialism which the governments propaganda has injected into the minds of the people -- to equate imperialism with everyday concepts so people feel more at ease with hearing it and talking about it; two, to help us break down our own dependence on rhetoric so that we may better be able to communicate with those we are trying to serve.
Obviously, that is a tall order... (continua)