Either I'm really into the organizing, or I'm really into the music. As I've been going, I've been able to figure out ways to even it out a little more.
Because of my politics, I don't necessarily think that the independent capitalist is that much better than the multinational capitalist; it's just that the independent capitalist hasn't grown as big yet.
I've gotten stopped for reckless eyeballing, for staring too hard. These officers think they're Tarzan and this is a jungle, that all the animals need to be tamed.
The point is, is that when you elect a politician, it has nothing to do with their personality. Politicians perform a function, a role in government. And the role of city government is not one that serves the people, unless the people make them do what the people want.
Many people feel that unions aren't militant enough for them and don't do anything.
We're told, 'If you want to change the world, vote.' And really, if you want to change the world, there's a lot more things that you can do.
People want things that address their everyday reality, and that goes for stuff that isn't political - with singer-songwriter music, people want things that touch them.
I think I'm a little superstitious.
I was born in Chicago. I moved to Detroit until I was six and moved to Oakland at that point. And then we had a couple years in Stockton and Pasadena. And by the time I was 13, I was back in Oakland.
I was in an organization called Progressive Labor Party and International Committee Against Racism. And I was - I started out helping to organize a farm workers' union in Central California.
I try to find creative ways to put ideas out to make the ground fertile for organizers.
My father joined the NAACP when he was 12, in the '50s. He was part of the organizing efforts that led to some of the first sit-ins in North Carolina.
I think it's important for us not just to edit the culture that capitalism creates but to create the material basis for a culture that we want.
A lot of us don't get a sense of our personal power. I know the vast difference that one person can make in changing things.
A lot of organizers tell me that while they are making signs or doing whatever they do, they are listening to the Coup.
I just make music based on what I believe.
The goal with a show is to push forward the passion in a visual and sonic way. It all comes out in a trance-like way, fast and pulsating. Then people can go home and think about the lyrics later.
Rarely, someone comes around that is influenced by so many things but is looking for a new way to do something.
If people come to a record store, and they can't find your album, they buy something else.
I'm not a classically trained composer, and I can't sing very well.
