a blind flaneur

Natacha Atlas recorded a subversive political song on her 2010 album, Mounqaliba. Now Natacha and producer Basha Beats have remixed it with video footage from the Egyptian revolution in Tahrir Square. The original recording of Batkallim included a sample from Barack Obama’s 2009 Cairo speech. The remix, Egypt: Rise to Freedom, switches the sample to an ominous admonition from Hosni Mubarak. The remix was released on Feb.11, shortly before the tyrant stepped down. Singer and producer talk about their motivation on PRI The World’s Global Hit. See the song’s English translation on Natacha’s website.

A furious wave of protest swept Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak from power on Friday after 30 years of one-man rule, sparking jubilation on the streets and sending a warning to autocrats across the Arab world and beyond.

Inspired by the resilience of Egyptian people during their recent uprising, several notable musicians from North America have teamed up to release a song of solidarity and empowerment. The track is fittingly titled “#Jan25″ as a reference to both the date the protests officially began in Egypt, and its prominence as a trending topic on Twitter. Produced by Sami Matar, a Palestinian-American composer from Southern California, and featuring the likes of Freeway, The Narcicyst, Omar Offendum, HBO Def Poet Amir Sulaiman, and Canadian R&B vocalist Ayah - this track serves as a testament to the revolution’s effect on the hearts and minds of today’s youth, and the spirit of resistance it has come to symbolize for oppressed people worldwide.

Today is the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth, an august occasion to be sure. So leave it to Beaver to upset the apple cart. Ron Reagan, irreverent son of the 40th President, says Republicans venerate his old man like a fetish. Ron still thinks of him fondly as “Dad” – the sunny 50s-60s type who could groan like Ward Cleaver when he caught the Beav smoking dope in the bedroom. Now Ron’s making the grand book tour to promote his piece of the legend, My Father at 100.

via AlJazeeraEnglish: “Despite the best efforts of Hosni Mubarak’s government, images of millions of Egyptians protesting on the streets of Cairo, Alexandra and Suez have been beamed around the world. But while the clashes between anti- and pro-Mubarak protestors dominated the airwaves, the journalists covering the fighting became targets themselves. Many were harassed, arrested and beaten while others had their equipment confiscated, but they continued to cover the story. The government pulled the plug on the country’s internet connection, cut the phone lines for a time, poured propaganda out on state-controlled media but the momentum of the demonstrators was unstoppable. We trail the coverage of one of the biggest political protests in Arab history, one that came together online, dominated the headlines and sent tremors all the way from Sanaa to Washington.

This week’s images from Tahrir Square in Cairo give a passionate urgency to the metaphor of the Arab street. Since 9/11, American media have used the phrase widely as shorthand for Arab public opinion. But a researcher at York University in Toronto says its meanings are more nuanced. As it’s used in American media, the term often is associated with Irrationality, volatility, and violence. In Arab media the usage is more affirmative, suggesting “main street” or the will of the people. Arab media also apply it globally, speaking in turn about the American street. Why don’t we say that? I hear it as a metaphor for the public sphere, and the free discourse that sustains it. Where else would a flaneur locate it?

What did we do for yucks before Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert? U.S. Presidents said the darnedest things and preserved it for posterity with secret tape recorders in the Oval Office. So now we can listen to Lyndon Johnson belch and kvetch about his crotch, from nuts to bung hole, thanks to Put This On. And the true beauty of it is this: it’s all in the public domain, available for Rabelaisian mashups, because we the people paid for the office and the tape recorders.

I followed a tweet this morning to Al Jazeera English. As its live stream loaded on my computer, I heard the roar of Egyptian military jets intimidating the crowds of protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. On my radio, in the background, was NPR News. I hadn’t heard anything about the jets from NPR. That’s when I knew that Al Jazeera English was the best source of news from Egypt.

I can’t get enough of Sharon Jones singing “This Land Is Your Land.” It resonated with my mood last week following the shootings in Tucson. When I first posted these clips, I sent them out to “self-righteous Don’t-Tread-on-Me types” who probably failed to grasp the message. So I am re-dedicating them to the spirit of today’s MLK observances. As Woody Guthrie wrote in the song, and as Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us through the example of his life’s struggle, there can be no liberty for one until there is liberty for all.

WhiteHouse.gov: “Last night the President spoke to an emotional crowd at a memorial event in Tucson, Arizona. The grief for the victims of the tragic shooting there was overwhelming, but so too was the admiration for the heroes who risked their lives to prevent even greater loss, as well as the hope for the survivors to see full recoveries. The President asked those in the hall and across America to channel their emotions toward the pursuit of a more perfect union, saying that “If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate — as it should — let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost.” Watch the President’s remarks in full.”