Where was the police brutality at the tea party rallies? Or at the Westboro Baptist Church standing outside soldier's funerals with "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldier" signs...
What's happened at UC Davis was horrible, and has set the wheels in motion across the UC system. Walking to lecture today I passed a large group of protesters walking through Kresge who were marching in solidarity with the student at UC Davis and Cal. It's inspiring to see these actions take place, and I feel that there is no better time to take this course in relation to the events taking the nation by storm, both the Occupy movement and the other movements within the UC system that is more personal to us. The police are trying to defend their action saying that it is 'routine procedure'.
From reading Di Prima's Revolutionary Letters it is so interesting to look at the historical context with regards to our current polemic of police brutality to UC students. Published by City Lights in 1971 just as Nixon was beginning the strategies of 'Vietnamisation' there has rarely been a more intense period of US citizens mistrust in their government. The growth of a new left and a hippie counterculture that screamed to end the war in Vietnam is something that certainly developed from the beat sentiments of Ginsberg and Kerouac. In this sense Di Prima can be considered post beat. One final point i picked up on is De Prima's use of anaphara (repetition of the same word at the beginning of each line) which is also seen in Howl and gives a powerful effect when the poem is delivered. Im sure this will be shown in class tonight but here is a video with the sound of De Prima reading her letters. It is a powerful delivery certainly. ENJOYYY
What's happened at UC Davis was horrible, and has set the wheels in motion across the UC system. Walking to lecture today I passed a large group of protesters walking through Kresge who were marching in solidarity with the student at UC Davis and Cal. It's inspiring to see these actions take place, and I feel that there is no better time to take this course in relation to the events taking the nation by storm, both the Occupy movement and the other movements within the UC system that is more personal to us. The police are trying to defend their action saying that it is 'routine procedure'.
ReplyDeleteannabel, b girls :)
ReplyDelete(think i was meant to blog last week Trey sorry)
ReplyDeleteFrom reading Di Prima's Revolutionary Letters it is so interesting to look at the historical context with regards to our current polemic of police brutality to UC students. Published by City Lights in 1971 just as Nixon was beginning the strategies of 'Vietnamisation' there has rarely been a more intense period of US citizens mistrust in their government. The growth of a new left and a hippie counterculture that screamed to end the war in Vietnam is something that certainly developed from the beat sentiments of Ginsberg and Kerouac. In this sense Di Prima can be considered post beat. One final point i picked up on is De Prima's use of anaphara (repetition of the same word at the beginning of each line) which is also seen in Howl and gives a powerful effect when the poem is delivered. Im sure this will be shown in class tonight but here is a video with the sound of De Prima reading her letters. It is a powerful delivery certainly. ENJOYYY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PvEaSLY5L0
Lorne St Clair