Wednesday Coffeehouse: Songs of Justice & Freedom

On my first day of orientation to Eden Seminary way back when I was  38 years old, I met the Reverend Takiya Nishizawa—“Takie (Taa-key)” for short. Takie had already graduated from seminary. He was associate pastor of a church in Nishinomiya, Japan, and was at Eden for two semesters as “pastor in residence.” Takie and I became fast friends and spent much of those two semesters learning about each other and our respective nations. (I really must tell some Takie stories in this blog).

During one of our conversations he told me of a work camp (doing volunteer work for others without remuneration) attended by the teenagers of his congregation. They traveled to Thailand (I supposed that’s sort of like me going to Brazil) and helped renovate a small school in a village near Bangkok.

Just outside the village was a building (compound) that had a sign on it advertising sex with young girls and boys—for a price, of course. Takie was not shocked by the open advertising of prostitution, but he was disturbed that, among the various languages that were displayed upon the sign, there was Japanese, right below English.

When Takie returned to Japan from Thailand, he did a bit of research (this was back in the early 1980s, pre-Internet, if you can believe that there was such a time) and learned that one of the leading tourist attractions being promoted in Japan was “sex tours” to other lands, mostly in SoutheastAsia but also including the United States. He also learned that child prostitution was a big draw and most of these children seemed to be literally slaves. 

I was then too busy surviving seminary follow-up on these insights I learned from Takie. However, I later remembered what I had gleaned from him and in the early 1990s did some research of my own. I was appalled by what I learned, especially about child slavery throughout the world. I joined a couple of organizations that worked actively to put an end to slavery, wrote letters to governments, and was happy when I learned that several countries had passed laws prohibiting child prostitution, although not always slavery.

Note the good news: 

"All tours are currently suspended until further notice"

But now, over ten years later, I must state that the battle against child slavery and prostitution is far from over. There are also the child soldiers—children carrying and killing with weapons that are almost as large as they are.

So, to bring child slavery to your attention, Nick’s Coffeehouse presents the artists below. Please enjoy—and carry the issue of child slavery with you. Perhaps even share the issue of slavery in 2009 with some other folks. Thanks.

Now, on with the show!

A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall ~ Bob Dylan 

I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

No More Auction Block for Me ~ Paul Robeson

No more auction block for me
No more, no more
No more auction block for me
Many thousands gone

Harriet Tubman ~ Holly Near

Singing: Come on up, mm mm mm, I got a lifeline
Come on up to this train of mine
Come on up, mm mm mm, I got a lifeline
Come on up to this train of mine.
She said her name was Harriet Tubman
And she drove for the underground railroad.

When You Gonna Wake Up ~ Bob Dylan

Do you ever wonder just what God requires?
You think He's just an errand boy to satisfy your wandering desires.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?

Ally Ally Oxen Free ~ Kingston Trio

Time to let the rain fall without the help of man

Time to let the trees grow tall. Now, if they only can

Time to let our children live in a land that's free

Ally, ally, ally, ally, oxen free

Amazing Grace ~ Arlo Guthrie

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see.

One Man’s Hands ~ Chad Mitchell Trio

One man's hands can't tear a prison down
Two men's hands can't tear a prison down
But if two and two and fifty make a million
We'll see that day come round
We'll see that day come round.

Note: Please feel free to appropriate and use any of the graphics that I have created for this post. OK? 

A Few Links to Resources

 ECPAT International

UNICEF: Child trafficking—the 21st century slave trade

Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers

Stop Child Slavery

Help Stop Child Slavery

Antislavery

Children Living in Slavery in Haiti

Fighting Slavery Today

Slavery in West Africa

Child Slaves in South Asia

The Modern West Africa Slave Trade

International Trafficking in Children

Odalisques: the Modern Slaves of North Africa and the Middle East

Child Hierodulic Servitude in India and Nepal

Prostitution, Sex-Tourism & AIDS in Thailand

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Child Soldiers

BBC: Children of Conflict

Invisible Children Movement

USDJ/CEOS: Child Sex Tourism

Fighting Slavery Today: What YOU Can Do

Click on graphic to enlarge for much better view.

ALL AUDIOS AT NICK’S COFFEHOUSE

ARE FROM NICK’S CD COLLECTION

 

PREVIOUS COFFEEHOUSES

Leonard Cohen

Bob Gibson & Bob Camp

The Kingston Trio

Carmen McRae, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Steve Allen, Dave Brubeck, Del Close & John Brent

Judy Collins & Arlo Guthrie

Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel

Theolonious Monk & Lenny Bruce

Carly Simon

Summer of Love (1967)

Holly Near & Ronnie Gilbert

The Kingston Trio Returns

Miles Davis & Jack Kerouac

The Satire of the Mitchell Trio

John Denver

Louis Armstrong

Arlo Guthrie

Christmas Eve Jam Session

New Year’s Eve Jam Session

Charlie Parker, Jack Kerouac & Steve Allen