[Vision2020] Jon Fromer, Activist/Songwriter, Passed Away January 2nd

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of Roy Zimmerman's newsletter

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Our dear friend activist/songwriter Jon Fromer passed away on January 2. A great hoper of hopes, and a lifelong worker for Social Justice, Jon wrote songs of power and purpose. Here’s his “Gonna Take Us All”. His was a voice to bring down walls and yet, as Rick Burkhardt observed, he was “almost radically modest.” I’ll hear him forever in the back of my ear, rocking "Down By the Riverside," at the SOA in Fort Benning, Georgia, making the razor wire quiver in fear, and reminding me that it’s not just how a song goes, but what it DOES.
I’d encourage you to take a moment to get to know Jon.

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That’s Jon Fromer on the far right (not in life, just in this picture). I was privileged to be a part of the musicians contingent a couple years ago at the School of the Americas Watch. 10,000 or more people gather every year at the gates of Fort Benning, GA to protest the School of the Americas where the US trains Latin American soldiers in psychological warfare, counterinsurgency, intelligence gathering and torture. Can a song make a difference? You tell me.

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"Gonna Take Us All" by Jon Fromer
http://youtu.be/0ZQRRkf7jog
 
"We need the immigrants and the unions, the greens and the gays
The hip hoppers and be-boppers, and women for equal pay
Farmworkers out in the sun, homeless out in the rain
The seniors and the soccer moms for a world that is humane
Gonna take us all to make a change
Take us all to win the peace
It's gonna take us all in the streets
Gonna take us all
Little one, I will change the world for you
I will do all I can and there's so much to do
Take the poison from the water, the bombs from the sky
Treat the earth with all the tenderness I feel for you tonight
I will change the world for you, little one
Welcome. Come on into my land
It's your land too now, I want to shake your hand
Want to know your story, the journey you've been on
Want to hear your language, want to learn your songs
The earth knows no borders, just one sky above
And friendship has no fences, no walls can stop the love
I wanted to ask you how your mama was
And where your brother Billy's gone
I wanted to ask you was there anything I could do
But the light turned green and I moved on
Would it hurt your pride to be recognized
looking for food in the trash?
Living your life in the lost and found
I still remember your laugh
Give us the peace of the mountain
Give us the patience of a tree
Give us the open arms of the heavens
Give us the passion of the sea."

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Rest well, Jon.
 
Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
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