{"id":48686,"date":"2011-11-13T20:20:17","date_gmt":"2011-11-14T01:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=48686"},"modified":"2011-11-13T20:58:33","modified_gmt":"2011-11-14T01:58:33","slug":"update-from-the-yeslab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/politics\/update-from-the-yeslab\/","title":{"rendered":"Update from the YesLab"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"335\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H-M07v8N_eU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Editor&#8217;s note: the following press release landed in my inbox today. <a href=\"http:\/\/snipurl.com\/2nmxxf\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Use this link to Google the Yes Men<\/strong><\/a> for a little background. -amanda<\/em><\/p>\n<p>November 13, 2011<br \/>\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"www.yeslab.org\/APEC \">APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied<\/a><br \/>\nWithin secure zone, musician sings on behalf of the many<\/p>\n<p>Honolulu &#8211; A change in the programmed entertainment at last night&#8217;s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gala left a few world leaders slack-jawed, though most seemed not to notice that anything was amiss.<\/p>\n<p>During the gala dinner, renowned Hawaiian guitarist Makana, who performed at the White House in 2009, opened his suit jacket to reveal a home-made \u201cOccupy with Aloha\u201d T-shirt. Then, instead of playing the expected instrumental background music, he spent almost 45 minutes repeatedly singing his protest ballad released earlier that day. The ballad, called \u201cWe Are the Many,\u201d includes lines such as \u201cThe lobbyists at Washington do gnaw&#8230;. And until they are purged, we won&#8217;t withdraw,\u201d and ends with the refrain: \u201cWe&#8217;ll occupy the streets, we&#8217;ll occupy the courts, we&#8217;ll occupy the offices of you, till you do the bidding of the many, not the few.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those who could hear Makana\u2019s message included Presidents Barack Obama of the United States of America, Hu Jintao of China, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, and over a dozen other heads of state.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt first, I was worried about playing \u2018We Are The Many,\u2019\u201d said Makana. \u201cBut I found it odd that I was afraid to sing a song I\u2019d written, especially since I&#8217;d written it with these people in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The gala was the most secure event of the summit. It was held inside the Hale Koa hotel, a 72-acre facility owned and controlled by the US Defense Department; the site was fortified with an additional three miles of fencing constructed solely for the APEC summit.<\/p>\n<p>Makana was surprised that no one objected to him playing the overtly critical song. \u201cI just kept doing different versions,\u201d he said. \u201cI must\u2019ve repeated \u2018the bidding of the many, not the few\u2019 at least 50 times, like a mantra. It was surreal and sobering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Makana\u2019s new song is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has taken root in cities worldwide. Last Saturday, eight protesters were arrested when they refused to leave the Occupy Honolulu encampment at Thomas Square Park. Occupy Honolulu has joined other groups, including Moana Nui, to protest the APEC meeting, and while Makana performed, hundreds of people protested outside.<\/p>\n<p>After facing large-scale protests in South Korea, Australia, Peru, and Japan, APEC moved this year&#8217;s event to Hawaii, the most isolated piece of land on earth. In preparation for the meeting, homeless families were moved out of sight and millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on security\u2014including over $700,000 on non-lethal weapons for crowd control. In a bitter twist, the multi-million dollar security plans backfired when a local Hawaiian man was shot and killed by a 27-year-old DC-based federal agent providing security for dignitaries.<\/p>\n<p>Makana\u2019s action was assisted by the Yes Lab and Occupy the Boardroom. In recent weeks, Occupy protesters have been showing up at corporate events, headquarters and even on the doorsteps of those in power. \u201cMakana really raised the bar by delivering the Occupy message inside what is probably the most secure place on the planet right now,\u201d said Mike Bonanno of the Yes Lab.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy uncle taught me to feel out the audience and play what my heart tells me to,\u201d said Makana. \u201cThat\u2019s what I did tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Contact:<br \/>\n    Mike Bonanno: music@yeslab.org, 917-209-3282<br \/>\n    John Sweeney: hawaii@yeslab.org, 808-230-0799 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editor&#8217;s note: the following press release landed in my inbox today. Use this link to Google the Yes Men for a little background. -amanda November 13, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied Within secure zone, musician sings on behalf of the many Honolulu &#8211; A change in the programmed entertainment at &#8230; <a title=\"Update from the YesLab\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/politics\/update-from-the-yeslab\/\" aria-label=\"More on Update from the YesLab\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[762],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48686"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}