The Power Of Words

Lo and behold, just a few minutes after my last post, the Sun did shine....

Zen, The Temple and an unscripted Convo on the N Train

Today I returned to the Shaolin Temple to Train. Blood sweat and tears as usual, there's nothing like pushing yourself to the limit and surviving. I trained for an hour and a 1/2 on nothing but 2 bananas and an apple, talk about risilience and shear will power. After class I hopped back on the train home, pulled out my book on Zen buddhism. I actually started reading it today. Uncanny.. because, the author uses a 25 year old as an example in one of his chapters, I've had the book for years and just started to read to it now that I'm.... 25..Coincidence? IDTS LOL.. A fine young starlet sat next to me on the train at some point, for some reason I was compelled to share what I was reading with her, so I did, we had a brief philosophical conversation which turned out be enlightening for the both of us. Earlier that day, I decided to share some wisdom I had picked up from the book like a cherry from a tree, I shared it with one of my peers at the Temple. I stated, according to Zen buddhism Enlightenment is not something that is present, but rather, it is the absense of something, for instance, if you are sad, enlightenment would be the absense of sadness, as opposed to the presence of happiness, because every moment is a lucid shift of perceptions and feelings....So happiness could elude you in that moment. So as opposed to embracing the happiness, embrace the moment, regardless of the feeling, because every moment is enlightenment, regardless of what is present or absent...accept the moment....It's been raining all day, but thats okay, the sun will shine soon..

Warrior Code and Beyond The Age

My Friends Love to express themselves in so many ways, Checkout these poems by a good comrad, codename Erock....


WARRIOR CODE
My pen has become sturdy
I sit and gaze at the ripples
Caused by the audible breeze
The wind writes my floetry

Struggles and huddles
Washing in puddles - Follow me
Undoubtedly, with faith and self assurance
I won't coddle Thee
but solidly, we join, both, we
With insurance, you go half way
I the rest
Our booty call,
A pirates chest, not plunder
but wonder, work before reward
Integrity and trust,
our Samarai sword.

BEYOND-AGE
Never has my mind been so free
Like a childs 1st ocean of memory
I swim in anticipation & drown in ecstacy
The break tickles my nose with a wave
Of mind flipping giggles, then wiggles them away

Each grain of sand an experience
Strengthening my soul, molding my appearance
I'm not without being empty in my cup
When I draw from within, I'm drawing from up
The sand my page, my mind a cage
Each day blows an experience
To begin a new age
Beyond me....
Finally.

Unconvention Magazine interviews AVISION

Article Link- copy and paste--- http://readconvention.com/2009/Pages/PerformingArtist_010_Avision.html



So the Great Andrew Fennell the CEO of Unconvention Magazine and his wonderful partner Driven Brooke, (Visit her blog here---http://jealouzee.blogspot.com/) have allowed me the honor of being featured in their online magazine, which will soon be one of the leading online entertainment magazines in the industry!

The way this opportunity unfolded is quite interesting as life usually is. I was in the casting process for the new ''Sail Away'' music video, Eric Tippenhauer a friend of mine was in charge of casting . He sent out a casting call, we received a few head shot submissions which were all considerable, but, one person in particular stood out of the crowed as she always will, the phenomenal, Model, Actress, Diva and Entrepreneur! Driven Brooke as her title is superbly fitting! It turned out that Brooke is dating the CEO of Unconvention Magazine Andrew Fennell, WOW! Andrew had decided to drop in one night while we were filming! The rest is history, in the making! Check out Unconvention Magazine and the article! it's a good way to get some insight into my craft! Love Peace and Blessing!

Native Nation, Crazy Horse and The Black Hills

Growing up, I listened to the words of my elders, be they through the mouths of those in the pow-wow circuit, in the writings of Native American newspapers, or from the writings of those such as Lame Deer, Black Elk, and others of note, and I try to keep my mind and heart along the lines of those who were long before myself.


read More---
http://www.nativenotion.com/search/label/moral%20issues

The Lakota Foundation Invokes Response to Suicide Rates Among Teenagers on Pine Ridge.

The Lakota Foundation Invokes Response to Suicide Rates Among Teenagers on Pine Ridge.


Huntington – LI, New York, Oct. 4th, 2009 – The “standing room only” capacity at the Cinema Arts Centre’s

early Sunday morning audience were treated to a rare event, “First Voices: Listen We Must”. The 4-hour special included music by the group Ghosthorse, Lakota dance, WOUNDED KNEE

a film by Stanley Nelson – followed by a discussion including a “meet and greet” breakfast. The panel of Lance White Magpie, Christine Rose

and Tiokasin Ghosthorse

gave examples of the conditions on Lakota reservations in the South Dakota with life expectancy, health, housing conditions and homelessness, transportation, water contamination, federal-state-tribal relations, scenarios of racism in what is now being called the “Mississippi of the North".


“People came from Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey as well as New York. The music had people connected completely. The film [Wounded Knee] was something we all should see and the discussion afterwards was uplifting”, said Jim Krivo, one of the organizers of WBAI-NY

.
0A
“There has never been an attendance like this, as far as I’ve seen, at the Cinema Arts Centre”, many people were either “awakened” or “I couldn’t believe it” were more of the comments made by the pubic in attendance.


The benefit shed light on the Lakota adults and elders who are deeply concerned for youth living on the reservation today, with the High School drop-out rate at 73% and the teenage suicide rates at an “Alarmingly,... 10 times higher than the national average” among northern reservations, “90% all Indian teens who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental illness” said Senator Johanns of Nebraska, who testified at the S. 1635 – 7th Generation Promise: Indian Youth Suicide Prevention Act of 2009

on September 10, 2009.


Lakota youth face tremendous obstacles in their life. 90% of the population on the reservation lives below the federal poverty level and there is an unemployment rate between 85% and 92%. One-third of the homes are severely substandard, without water, electricity, adequate insulation, and sewage systems (Source: Indian Housing Authority). The Pine Ridge Reservation is home to approximately 40,000 persons, 40% of which are under the age of 18.

Tiokasin Ghosthorse, said=2 0during the panel discussion “children as young as 5 years of age commit suicide, which brings to mind the barriers of education which forms the backbone of a child’s mind. The education Lakota children receive within the presence of the American system is almost completely lacking in Lakota cultural education on those same reservations. While most reservations have suicide prevention grants, they offer a minimally oriented band-aid approach, which has not stemmed the rash of suicides since I was a teenager in the 70’s. A holistic cultural approach is needed that cuts through the barriers of generational trauma and goes to the root of the problem rather than the symptom.”



The Lakota Foundation Director Lance White Magpie, MFA, from the community of Wanbli on the Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation agrees that20one of those approaches to healing the problem is the approach of building cultural esteem through Lakota culture. The accessibility to art and dance “will address a problem that has existed in desperation for many, many years... even though we are a people that are trying to adapt to the ways that have been placed upon us, along with psychological scars, but what is important is what has been passed down to us through the Lakota culture.”


In addition, Changing Winds

, a non-profit organization based in Connecticut, seeks to raise public awareness of these and other unique situations facing Native peoples throughout the country.


Story
By Christine Rose

At 9:30 on Sunday morning, people came together at the Cinema Arts Center to lend their support to The Lakota Foundation. In attendance was WBAI radio talk show host, Tiokasin Ghost Horse and his band Ghost Horse, who last year played as Pete Seeger’s opening act at Madison Square Garden. They gave a rousing performance that included traditional Native American dancing by Lance White Magpie. The audience gave a full standing ovation after the performance. Afterwards, the group made their way into the cinema=2 0to watch a documentary entitled Wounded Knee, which explored the misdoings of the corrupt tribal government of the 1970s, and the terrible effect it had on the people of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

After the film, there was a panel question and answer period with Tiokasin Ghost Horse, Lance White Magpie who is originally from the Pine Ridge Reservation and Christine Rose, of Changing Winds, which is an organization that has been working for over a decade to bring attention to the problems on all of the Indian Reservations in South Dakota. Each year, WBAI’s First Indigenous Voices hosts a Warm Clothing Drive for the impoverished children on those reservations.

The reason for CAC’s event was to raise funds for the repair and construction of Community Centers on these reservations. The importance=2 0of these Community Centers cannot be underestimated, as many of the reservations most impoverished residents are homeless. Statistics were stated, during the panel discussion, explaining the reasons that 90% and more are unemployed, causing 85% of the Reservation’s children to live way under the poverty level. Many family incomes only amount to $17 a week per person, which must feed, clothe, house and heat a family. These and many other reasons cause the Reservation children to suffer tremendous depression resulting in suicide rates that are 150% higher then any other group with 350% more attempts at suicide then any other group.

The purpose for these community centers are multifold and will serve to alleviate many of the social ills that exist among both the children and the elderly, neither of which are in a position to change their situation or better their lives. For the children, the centers are places where they can learn within their own cultural milieu. Public schools do not provide enough support for the culture of Native children, and because of the criteria of the No Child Left Behind Act

, schools must now focus their funding solely on academics. The Community Centers are able to provide ongoing learning resources taught by elders with support and love for their own cultural ways. Native children say how important it is for them to feel pride in their culture, and when cultural support is notoriously missing from curriculum and there are no Native role models within the schools, Native children feel ignored. Love and acceptance are necessary for any child to succeed, and when these needs are dismissed, the children drop out, raising their level of hopelessness and the rates of suicide.

Besides educational, artistic, and cultural support for the children, these community centers also provide shelter, food and warmth during times of emergency, which is all too often on the reservations served by Changing Winds and the Lakota Foundation. Last year was the worst winter in over2080 years. Twenty foot snow drifts left people starving and without heat, and the inability to reach towns for supplies. In these times, families come to the Community Centers to ride out the worst of the storms. Because of record snow falls last winter, roofs collapsed on several community serving organizations, opening the door to black mold, dampness, rot, and cold, making them uninhabitable for a population that has no where else to turn.

Unless these buildings are repaired, this winter will see even more problems and deaths of the Reservation's most vulnerable. This year, we are trying to make a concerted effort to get three of these Community Centers back in serviceable condition in order to support the children, the elderly, and the homeless veterans throughout the worst winter months. This winter has begun earlier then ever, and the residents of the reservations anticipate an even snowier winter then the last one. Please help us help the people that are forgotten and ignored by America’s mass media. With record snowfalls and temperatures reaching 80 below zero, it is terrible that these situations receive no coverage except by the smaller groups such as WBAI and the Cinema Arts Center.

Your donations are tax deductible and go into a fund that will used to repair these buildings, NOT for salaries and high administrative costs. You can make a donation by going to www.Changingwinds.org

and clicking on Warming Hearts for more information about how to make a financial donation or how and where to send goods directly, or call 203-256-9720 for more information.

The event sponsored by The Lakota Foundation, Long Island Friends of WBAI, the Cinema Arts Ce ntre of Huntington, and Loma Kachi.
- END -

--
Tiokasin Ghosthorse
Oyate Tokaheya Wicakiye

FIRST VOICES INDIGENOUS RADIO
Thursdays 1Oam-11am
www.firstvoicesindigenousradio.org


212.209.2800 switchboard

WBAI NY 99.5 FM
120 Wall Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10005
Streaming: www.wbai.org


Pacifica Radio Network

REBROADCAST:

WJFF 90.5 FM Jeffersonville, NY
RADIO CATSKILL
Streaming: www.wjffradio.org



WPKN 89. 5 FM Bridgeport - New Haven, Conn.
Streaming www.wpkn.org



WPKN 88.7 FM Montauk, NY
Westerly, Rhode Island
New London, Conn.
Streaming www.wpkn.org



KNBA - 90.3 FM Anchorage, AK (AAA)
A SIGNAL OF CHANGE
Streaming: www.knba.org



Please visit: www.Ghosthorse.biz


www.myspace.com/ghosthorseksa


SKYPE: Tiokasin


CRAZY HORSE (His Horse Is Enchanted) 1877 said thi s smoking a pipe with Sitting Bull 4 days before his assassination. "Upon suffering beyond suffering: the Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again. I see a time of Seven Generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again. In that day, there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom. I salute the light within your eyes where the whole Universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am that place within me, we shall be one."

Help THE LAKOTA FOUNDATION STOP CHILD SUICIDE

South Dakota has one of the largest populations of Native Americans on reservations particularly a Tribe called the Lakota . They have the highest rate of poverty in the world despite aid from the government, which has never been sufficient. Children are committing suicide at an alarming rate, one of the highest percentages of suicide in the world, next to Japan. Lakota people live on less than 7 dollars a day. They need cloths, school supplies, resources. If you would like to help, contact the Lakota Foundation:

212-802-8681 ask for Lance White Magpie

You can also contact WBAI radio for more info:

First Voices Indigenous Radio
120 wall st,
NY, NY 10005

Or visit---
www.firstvoicesindigenousradio.org

You can also contact:

Tiokasin Ghost Horse For more Info
Tiokasin@gmail.com

Call the studio directly: 212-209-2800
or 212-209-2979
ask for Caroline Rose Or Tiokasin Ghost Horse

Peace, Do Something, Anything.

Wounded Knee and the Cinema Arts Center

I was fortunate enough to have attended the launch of the Lakota Foundation On the morning of Sunday, Oct 4th 2009, The Lakota foundation is group that advocates for Native American efforts, such as distributing resources to impoverished Native Americans On reservations throughout the Country. On the morning of Sunday Oct 4th, about 100 people mostly adults, the elderly and myself witnessed a Native American Ensemble complete with 2 acoustic guitartist, a Cello, 2 drummers, and World renown Tiokasin Ghost Horse on flutes and various instruments. Tiokasin was present at Wounded Knee in 70's and had been involved in Lakota efforts for independence in the early 70's as well. After the show, rather, I would say it was a ritual not a show. after the ritual, we were ushered into the nearby Theater where we watched the film ''Wounded Knee'', after the screening there was Q&A, Lance White Magpie who had participated in the Ritual also as a Shamanic Dancer and healer also founder of The Lakota Foundation Spoke about his initiatives. I him and the other panelists how we would go about curtailing the suicides on the reservations, Tiokasin Answered, and I paraphrase ''help us get our land back''. I was so deeply moved by the experience. I drove about an hour out to Huntington long Island to show my support. I had been up the night before working a Remix for hours and on into the morning, I didn't get any sleep. I was up till about 6am, figured If I had to be there by 9:30am, might as well not sleep, so I didn't. At about a quarter to 7am I decided to shower and be on my way. It was quite a scenic drive, I went through the thickest of Fog and the curviest and densest of forest roads, saw many an ostentatious house while driving through Woodbury. The Sun eventually peeked up over the horizon at about half passed 8, it's golden rays pierced the tops of the trees and shimmered off of my car windows. It turned out to be a wonderful day. I'll add more details about the experience soon.

A little bit about the history of ''Wounded Knee''.
On the night of February 27, 1973, fifty-four cars rolled, horns blaring, into a small hamlet on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Within hours, some 200 Oglala Lakota and American Indian Movement (AIM) activists had seized the few major buildings in town and police had cordoned off the area. The occupation of Wounded Knee had begun. Demanding redress for grievances—some going back more than 100 years—the protesters captured the world's attention for 71 gripping days.

With heavily armed federal troops tightening a cordon around meagerly supplied, cold, hungry Indians, the event invited media comparisons with the massacre of Indian men, women, and children at Wounded Knee almost a century earlier. In telling the story of this iconic moment, the final episode of We Shall Remain will examine the broad political and economic forces that led to the emergence of AIM in the late 1960s as well as the immediate events—a murder and an apparent miscarriage of justice—that triggered the takeover. Though the federal government failed to make good on many of the promises that ended the siege, the event succeeded in bringing the desperate conditions of Indian reservation life to the nation's attention. Perhaps even more important, it proved that despite centuries of encroachment, warfare, and neglect, Indians remained a vital force in the life of America.