Jail solidarity, convergence space, workers rights, globalization, totalitarianism, the consensus process, a very democratic, not republican procedure, affinity groups, posting memes --- a self-replicating idea, violations of civil rights, lexicons, press releases, spin, riot police, spokes council. This is the lingo of the movements. The nomenclature. I am learning fast. There is a revolution happening in America now. I will relay it all by reviewing the events of last night. the day of the actual march.

It was 2am. We were meeting at Transcendence to brief each other on the day’s events and to plan the next days events. It is almost completely dark in the room and we are all lying around very exhausted. Many people cry. many people just let out big sobs and sighs at what they have seen. So many of us gassed or shot at for no reason. Running running running from these monsters in riot gear who probably don't even know what the FTAA is or why we are protesting. The police who are here just are doing their jobs.

[Little do they know that we are here to fight for their rights as much as anyone’s else's. But this is an irony of being human. We are not just fighting for the plugged in and aware people of the earth, we are fighting for the ignorant people too. we are demonstrating and protesting for HUMAN RIGHTS. All humans, even the rights of the ones who are chasing and shooting at us. they just don't know it yet. maybe they never will. They have no idea that the reason why they have overtime pay, minimum wages, salary increases every few years, retirement packages, etc etc is because at some time and some where in the last century people went to the streets to demonstrate and protest and earned us all these rights. This is an irony that is not lost on me. I am amazed that the police, who so often complain about low wages and poor benefits, are not on the protestors side, but rather fighting against the protestors. How many of them have friends here in Miami or in other cities around America who have lost their jobs because “the job went South” to some other country. a lot of these cops have no idea that that is precisely why all these unions and labor groups are protesting the FTAA [for many other reasons as well obviously.]] 

We are the lucky ones to have made it out without getting beaten up or arrested. Each one of us goes round the room and shares for a minute just to be able to process. For a moment I feel like breaking down. So I let out a few sobs. I cannot believe that I saw all these innocent people getting shot and gassed for no reason. But on a deeper level than that I share with these people that for three years now, ever since demonstrators stopped the WTO meeting in Seattle I started to veer more and more away from personal and philosophical matters and I started to madly study and research social and political issues. These were things I pretty much ignored for the most of my life, focusing more on matters of the spirit and heart. But for the last few years I could tell that there was something happening in America that was very very big. This is when I wrote the song the journey from rise and shine. There was a revolution happening in America and it was happening not just in my generation. But in younger and older ones too. my whole life changed and I wrote and created the album Rise and Shine inspired somewhat by this revolution that I felt coming. I shared with everyone how moved I was that I have met them all. that I wasn't crazy after all. that this is really happening. And that there were tons of people between the ages of twenty to forty who were actually here doing all th is work for social and political change. I really couldn’t believe it. but felt very relieved and excited.

[It is a strange dichotomy that is at work. I have bonded with these people. We have become one. group. One coalition. But I am still a capitalist. And because of that I am separate from them. And sometimes I get the feeling that some of them are kind of anti-capitalist.] Many of the girls that work with us have hair under the arms. And many have hair on their legs. This is very strange I think to myself. I wonder what that is all about.]