Blog
Announcing Phoenix & Dragon
During the time I spent in Washington, DC with the Remove Trump / Swarm the Senate movement, I had the good fortune to connect with many wonderful activists and artists.
One such activist is Dragon, lead singer of the band The Resistance Company. We instantly recognized one another as musical forces of nature, only to discover that we are also both Latinx Jews who like Star Trek and baseball.
Needless to say, we felt the need to team up.
Our first release is the arrangement of Sara Bareilles’ “Brave” that I was playing when I was arrested in the Senate’s Russell Rotunda on January 15.
We’re working on more new music now, so stay tuned.
====
Be Resilient. Be Ready. Be Brave.
I spent the first five weeks of 2020 in Washington, DC trying to get any Republican who would listen to understand that Donald Trump is a danger to us all. Only one (Mitt Romney of Utah) listened.
On February 5, 52 Republicans voted to let Trump off the hook, and look where we are less than two months later: an incompetent, willfully corrupt response to a pandemic that will kill hundreds of thousands if not millions of Americans and as many as 100 million people around the world.
This video is a bicoastal love letter from me and Dragon of The Resistance Company to all of America, especially those brave souls who uprooted our lives, went to DC, and did what we had to do.
I hope you enjoy it. I hope that you’ll share it.
On Twitter:
Republicans stay complicit, whether 45 is inviting foreign election interference or mismanaging a pandemic.
We stay brave.
I made this w/ @resistcompany with β€οΈ for #SwarmtheSenate & @Remove_TrumpNow
Full video: https://t.co/PJ4obUO0UR#GeneralStrike #RentStrike #ShutItDown pic.twitter.com/t6GZbMiv4u
— Tae Phoenix π π₯π©Έ π¦· π½ (@TaePhoenix) April 1, 2020
On Facebook:
On Instagram:
We made musical visits to McConnell’s house and Romney’s office
Dear WordPress friends,
It’s been awhile since I posted on here about my activities in DC, and I apologize for the delay in sharing the news with you all. I update my Twitter feed most frequently, so if you use Twitter and you want to follow me, you can do so at @Taephoenix.
Tomorrow is going to be amazing
Tomorrow is a huge day of action organized by dozens of groups including the Poor People’s Campaign, MoveOn, Women’s March, and Center for Popular Democracy (Action) – as well as our original Remove Trump crew who have been making office visits and staging protests every day since January 6.
Program
9am Volunteer Training – St Mark’s Episcopal (301 A St SE, Washington, DC 20003)
10amΒ Action Training – St Mark’s Episcopal (301 A St SE, Washington, DC 20003)
12pmΒ Action – Hart Senate Office Building Atrium (120 Constitution Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002)
3pmΒ Break
5:30pm – Poor People’s Campaign National Tour Meeting (Facebook event here)
If you want to help make it possible for folks to converge on the Capitol, donate to the Center for Popular Democracy here: http://bit.ly/cpdfightback
Musical visits
On Friday, we paid a visit to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s house. We wrapped his door in crime scene tape and sang to him.
π¨π¨@Remove_TrumpNow went to LEADER MCCONNELL'S home to sing about his CORRUPTION in the Senate. They also brought their CRIME scene tape! #AmericansWantWitnesses pic.twitter.com/wM6hOEqQUq
— Peter Morley (@morethanmySLE) January 25, 2020
πΆπΈ
Every law you break
Every oath you fake
Every deal you make
Every step you take
We are watching you
Every single day
Every word you say
All these games you play
With the USA
We are watching you
And I can see your contempt for me
But I’m here to say this is not okay
πΆπΈ
Melody & Chords: Sting
Lyrics: Me & The Resistance Company
Video credit: @ker_dc on Twitter –Β https://twitter.com/ker_dc/status/1220812410405126151
Yesterday, we visited the offices of Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) with a musical message: “we want to see you be brave“… and vote for witnesses and documents.
As we sang, the front office staffers were visibly touched, while Romney’s chief of staff and the rest of his aides stopped their daily all hands and came out into the hall to listen.
Weβve been to many offices in our time, but @TaePhoenix singing Brave in @MittRomneyβs might be the all time best! His staff was (rightly) floored Cc: @Remove_TrumpNow @IndivisibleTeam @MarchForTruth17 @by_the_ppl @justinhendrix @ezralevin @Leahgreenb @es_indivisible pic.twitter.com/M2WFE3mJt3
— Indivisible NationBK (@bkindivisible) January 27, 2020
Afterwards, we had a very positive exchange, which you can watch below. Office visits are sometimes a frosty affair, but bringing music to the process has changed the atmosphere on more than one occasion. I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish with the power of music.
I also want to thank Mason, Khayah, Deanne, Laura, Kristen, Alison, Michael, Kevin, Susan, and Patricia for their financial support of my stay in DC. Their contributions have paid for four additional, much-needed nights in a hotel convenient to the Capitol, which has allowed me to have a place to rest between actions and conserve my limited energy for the work itself.
If you would like to join them in helping me pay for housing, groceries, and transportation, I would very much appreciate your support.
http://paypal.me/taephoenix
Venmo @TaeTaeTVK
CashApp $tvk47
Finally, I want to apologize for an incomplete version of this post that I mistakenly hit publish on before it was ready to go. It has been deleted and replaced with this one.
Love always,
Tae π