Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Voices for Change

Dear All,

In September 2011, some people started a global initiative called "100 Thousand Poets for Change." The idea behind: creating positive change in this world through poetry - and arts in general.

I think this initiative was an excellent starting point and would therefore like to invite you all to continue the project and use your voice - in combination with your heart, your body, your brain, and your imagination - to make a positive difference in the world. The world - and each individual who becomes happier and/or healthier thanks to you - will be grateful to you!

Thank you!

gudrun

8 comments:

  1. contact me at walterblue@bigbridge.org and visit the 100 Thousand Poets for Change website at www.100tpc.org if you would like me to sign you up or if you have any questions. Best, Michael Rothenberg

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    Replies
    1. Hello Michael,

      Thanks for contacting me. I think I have signed up last fall for your website already (though with a different email address: gudrun@haidagwaii.net). I'm using this blog for one of my English classes at UBC this term and told my students about your project, which I find very inspiring. I wanted them to start thinking about change as well. They don't need to post until the end of March - it's one option for a portfolio assignment I gave them. I am still hoping that many of them will want to be part of a global change for the better but it is difficult to motivate people at an academic institution: many people seem to be very preoccupied with their grades and career....
      Anyway, I better check if I really have signed up. I would love to get information from your organization but don't recall having received any messages lately.

      Thanks again,

      gudrun

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  2. **We Change for Good**

    We change for good,
    like we change with age.
    We change for good,
    so we can change others better.
    We change for good,
    for our own hearts to settle;
    but if we do not change like this,
    then no one will change for you.

    We change for many reasons:
    We change for a better world,
    We change to protect our loved ones,
    We change to honour those who look after us,
    We change to hope,
    We change to survive,
    We change because if we don’t,
    Everything will be the same,
    Forever,
    And ever,
    And ever.

    So how do we change?
    Do we change with ongoing revolution?
    Do we change with the changing rule of political parties?
    Do we change with genocide?
    War?
    Suffering?
    Guns?
    Weapons?
    When our lives are at stake?
    When our loved ones are threatened?
    When you’ve almost lost all sense of honour?
    NO!
    No one can change from violence,
    they can only induce evil within them,
    and that is not change.
    That is surrendering,
    not to darkness, but to evil.

    We know we cannot evil overcome us.
    We can be better than that.
    We can show what it is to be a good citizen of Earth.
    We can show how a positive change,
    affects anyone, and everyone,
    in a good and better way.
    We change for good,
    so we can change for good.

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  3. Becca Tsai (Wan-Tien)

    Why we need the positive change

    Born with innovations that help us advance,
    More like changing us to become an avalanche.
    Building up in large expansions,
    Only to compete like rodents that rampage.

    Money and money that buys it all,
    Only to be money that breaks our faults.
    Worth the sheds of hunger? Creation of tears
    Washed by millions of blood stains.

    Broken idea’s formed to start the ending.
    Born to live life but false to life lived.
    Embrace and cherish the quite times,
    Just sit and wait for the sound of chimes.

    Stop the rights to the fights,
    For many willing to flight.
    For love and meaning to life,
    We all try not to bite.

    Money replaced with time,
    Time replaced with experience.
    Experience replaced with memories.
    And Memories formed
    for a lifetime of experiences.

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  4. Human Nature

    The tidal waves of change will come,
    The world’s washing will arrive,
    For greed and ignorance must be swept away,
    If we are to act together as one
    May a Tsunami rise

    The ground shakes mightily as the time is near,
    The people break their shackles,
    Dictatorship and slavery shall crumble,
    We will vanquish fear
    An Earthquake will flex

    The wind blows heavy as the clock strikes the hour,
    New ideologies have taken shape,
    Now no one man keeps it all,
    It is time to share the power
    A Tornado forms

    The clouds roar as the gentle walk hand in hand,
    The change has now arrived,
    For the wicked have been thrown down,
    And thus forms a brighter land
    Lightning has struck

    The mist falls calmly to heal each scar,
    The world is now a better home,
    Laughter, smiles, and joy emanate from each being,
    High above, a shining star
    The Rain falls

    The light has shone upon the new Earth,
    A vision has been fulfilled,
    A revolution begun by man,
    Ending in a new rebirth
    The Sun has risen

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  5. Light Pollution

    Dim orange light spreads,
    Creeping towards us.
    Choking out the peaceful darkness,
    Illuminating the soft black.
    The peace, the mystery is gone.
    Do they ever sleep?
    The people of the
    Dim orange light
    That spreads ‘til dawn.
    Then the yellow light conquers,
    Driving out the night.
    The darkness can never win
    Always pursued by the brightness.
    This was not how it was
    Before electricity.
    The world could rest,
    Wake up with a new day.
    Now the day is never ending.
    Day into half day into day
    Never true night,
    At least in the cities.
    The wilderness usually gets a respite
    From the onslaught of the
    Dim orange light.
    Unseen by the people
    Only the newcomers, the dreamers
    Who look at the stars and can't find them
    Obscured by the
    Dim orange light,
    That stealthily steals the breath from the night.
    Chokes it, squeezes it.
    Not the same as true pain
    Not physical pain
    But it still hurts.
    Those patches of
    dim orange light
    That creep, slither, and slide
    Closer and closer together.
    Until there will be no darkness left
    Until the night is gone
    Until we live in an eternal day
    Imagine Las Vegas covering the world
    Can you guess the moral of this story?
    Turn out the lights.

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  6. Speech

    Political Failures

    Hello, my name is Kevin Xu and I will be doing my presentations on how the political system is failing us as a society in both the United States and in Canada. I will be talking about the inadequate amounts of time politicians have for policy change, one of the core reasons behind why politicians become outlandish liars and finally, ways in which we may be able to fix these problems.

    One major flaw in our current systems of government is the deceit that each political figure must say in order to get elected. Slowly, but surely our image of politicians was changed from a benevolent figure trying to change our society for the better to images of thieving mongrels trying to gain as much power and money through the loopholes of their words. My personal belief is that these politicians have gained this new image due to the very rules that society have set on them. It is impossible for politicians to say, “ I will fix the economy,” or “ I will reduce taxes,” because in the long run it is impossible for them to do, however we as citizens wanting a better tomorrow, will want these kinds of change. This forces the politicians to either tell the unpopular truth and unquestionably lose in the elections, or for them to tell outlandish promising lies. Under the current government terms of government are limited to 4 years before a session of voting. If these politicians had more time in government, say 10-12 years projects not even imagined could take place. Under the rule of a singular co-coordinating government projects of grandiose scale were able to be performed, and massive social projects such as the Hoover Dam.

    One of these grandiose projects was held under Canadian airforce research and development. The promise of the government was to join with NORAD and SAGE, North American defence projects, and to develop the Avro Arrow. Thousands of engineers and designers crowded into Canadian businesses to develop these new technologies, and the company Avro Canada, became the third largest company in the country. Unfortunately, the government changed from Liberal to Progressive Conservative and their plans for Canada differed in a number of different ways. One change was to discontinue the development of the Avro Arrow. Historians often mark that moment in 1958 as one of Canada’s greatest mistakes. The Avro arrow would have become one of the greatest fighter jets in the modern era and the contracts were already out to construct them for both America and Britain. With the complete cancellation of the project, the engineers, fresh with the schematics and revolutionary designs of the Avro arrow in their mind promptly left Canada for the United States and Britain to continue their work.
    This failure caused,
    1. The loss of thousands of brilliant engineers
    2. The loss of the Avro Canada company
    3. The loss of revenue from Avro Arrow sales to Britain and America
    4. The loss of air superiority to America,
    5. The pacification of the entire Canadian army.

    It is my belief that with a major social change, such as extending the number of years a government is in power, or to somehow increase the power of minority governments or for coalition governments to stay together for a longer period of time, we will be able to make the necessary changes to both stop politicians from lying as much and to allow for more grandiose social projects benefitting the entire country to bear fruit. These changes of course, would take decades but would be worth it in the end.

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  7. The Analysis

    The strategies that I used in this speech were to be straight forward and to not wander with my thought process. I believe that a speech that does not get its point across quickly is not able to convey the ideas that it contain. I attempted to use ideas that are not too far off, I had ideas of using examples from early history, such as the Roman and Greek systems of government, however I decided that since my audience would be first year English students that I would have to use something that they can identify more with, something that they have learned before in the past. I knew that all grade 12s in BC have learned about the Avro arrow in detail from the history 12 curriculum and therefore I chose that as my example.

    I also attempted to show that the social norm of painting politicians as lying inhumane people was an inevitability, that we as the public are one of the sources and underlying reasons behind why lying politicians become who they are. I use this in order to allow my audience to critically think about what I am saying in order to keep their interest.

    Over the course of my entire speech, I attempted to use hand gestures, and changes in tone in order to make my speech more fluent, and to keep the energy in the speech in order to make a more engaging and thought provoking speech.

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