Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown
Date: 02-07-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
9:00-9:01 Billboard:
First Lady Laura Bush Cancels Poetry Gathering Fearing Anti-War
Poems: Democracy Now! hosts its own poetry slam with Def Poetry
Jam stars Staceyann Chin, Suheir Hammad, Steve Colman
North Korea Threatens a Pre-emptive Strike on U.S. troops,
and Reactivates Its Nuclear Reactor: We talk with Korean expert
Bruce Cumings
9:01-9:20 FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH CANCELS POETRY GATHERING
FEARING ANTI-WAR POEMS: DEMOCRACY NOW! HOSTS ITS OWN POETRY
SLAM WITH DEF POETRY JAM STARS STACEYANN CHIN, SUHEIR HAMMAD
AND STEVE COLMAN
First Lady Laura Bush has canceled a White House symposium
on poetry because she feared the invited poets would recite
poetry against war.
Laura Bush defended her actions citing her freedom of speech.
A spokesperson for the First Lady said, "While Mrs.
Bush respects and believes in the right of all Americans to
express their opinions, she too has opinions and believes
that it would be inappropriate to turn what is intended to
be a literary event into a political forum."
Poets around the world have cried foul. Two former U.S.
poets laureate Stanley Kunitz and Rita Dove have criticized
the cancellation.
The controversy started when invited poet Sam Hamill asked
friends to send him antiwar poems for the symposium. To date
he has received 3,600 responses.
The symposium was to celebrate the work of Emily Dickinson,
Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman, three celebrated American
poets who likely would have added anti-war voices of their
own if they were still with us.
Take Whitman for example. Not exactly Laura Bush's
type of poet. He was gay. He was a radical. He was an environmentalist.
He once wrote that the presidency and other offices were "bought,
sold, electioneered for, prostituted, and filled with prostitutes."
In response to the symposium's cancellation, a National
Day of Poetry Against the War has been called for February
12.
Today Democracy Now is going to hold its own poetry special.
We are joined in our studio by some of the most acclaimed
young poets in the country from the Broadway hit "Def
Poetry Jam." The show features Staceyann Chin, Poetri,
Georgia Me, Beau Sia, Steve Colman, Mayda del Valle, Lemon,
Suheir Hammad, and Black Ice.
They tackle issues of racism, multiculturalism, music, love
and war.
We will let their work speak for itself:
Guest: Steve Colman, a member of the 1998 national-champion
Nuyorican Poet's Café (NYC) Slam team. He was also
the winner of the 1999 Fresh Poet of the Year prize from the
Nuyorican Poets Café. His television appearances included
winning the first-ever BET soundstage Slam and being profiled
by CNN's Entertainment Weekly, which proclaimed him "one
of the best slam poets in the country."
Guest: Staceyann Chin, a resident of New York City and a
Jamaican National, she has been a practicing poet since 1998.
From the rousing cheers of the Nuyorican Poets' Café
to one-woman ,shows off-Broadway, to poetry workshops in Denmark
and London.
Guest: Suheir Hammad, a Palestinian-American from Brooklyn.
Suheir's appearance on the debut episode of HBO's Russell
Simmons Presents Def Poetry, hosted by rapper Mos Def, merited
generous media praise. She is the author of "Born Palestinian,
Born Black." Her poetry has been featured on BBC World
Service and National Public Radio and she has also appeared
at Rutgers University, Yale University, Harvard University,
the Globe Theatre (London) and Paradiso (Amsterdam).
9:20-9:21 One-Minute Music Break
9:21-9:45 Def Poetry Jam, Cont'd
9:45-9:46 One-Minute Music Break
9:46-9:58 NORTH KOREA THREATENS A PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE ON
U.S. TROOPS, AND REACTIVATES ITS NUCLEAR REACTOR
North Korea is warning that it will launch a preemptive
attack on U.S. troops if the Bush Administrations increases
its military presence in the Pacific region.
North Korea also warned that any US strike against its nuclear
facilities at Yongbyon would trigger a "full scale war".
The threats come a day after North Korea announced it has
reactivated its nuclear power reactor. North Korea says the
reactor will be used for peaceful purposes including electricity
production but the US and nuclear analysts say the reactor
could help mass produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. The
site had been mothballed since 1994 as part of a non-proliferation
deal with Washington.
The preemptive warning comes after the US threatened to
send more aircraft carriers, bombers and troops to the Pacific
Ocean as a deterrent against North Korea.
Guest: Bruce Cumings, professor of History at the University
of Chicago and author of 'Korea's Place in the Sun: a Modern
History.'
9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today's program, call 1 (800) 881 2359. Our
website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie
Karran, Ana Nogiera and Alex Wolfe. Mike Di Filippo is our
engineer and webmaster.
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