John Sinclair (1941-2024) Last of the Beatnik Warrior Poets and Cultural Revolutionary has passed away at 82. The work must go on

“Rock N Roll music is a weapon of cultural revolution. There are not enough musicians around today who are hip to this fact” John Sinclair is best known as the Sixties "marijuana" activist who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for giving two joints to an undercover policewoman. He was eventually freed when John Lennon and Yoko Ono spoke out on his behalf. Less understood is his role as the founder and chairman of the radical anti-war group, The White Panther Party, an offshoot of the Black Panthers. The Black Panther Party was a militant political organization formed after the brutal murders of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Robert…

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John Sinclair – Renegade Poet, Beatnik and Cultural Revolutionary

Immortalized by John Lennon’s 1972 song that bears his name, Sinclair is an iconic figure of ‘60s counterculture, famous for, among other things, having co-founded the anti-racist White Panther Party and for managing Detroit’s legendary proto-punk outfit MC5 early in its history. Following a highly publicized two-year stint in prison for marijuana possession (Lennon’s song was a protest against his incarceration), Sinclair has stuck to his guns as an advocate for marijuana reform. “Living Euro to Euro, sleeping on the couches and extra beds of friends, a man without a country and a post office box in New Orleans for a permanent address.” That's how spoken word poet John Sinclair describes…

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John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop

Not many people can say that John Lennon wrote a song about them, but John Sinclair is among that select bunch. Viewed by the powers-that-be as a dangerous revolutionary for his involvement with the White Panther Party, Sinclair was handed a ludicrously harsh sentence – “they gave him ten for two” – for marijuana possession after a police sting. In 1971, Lennon, along with Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Phil Ochs and Archie Shepp played a freedom rally in Michigan and three days later Sinclair was freed. Sinclair is probably best known in the music world for managing riotous proto-punks The MC5 and imbuing them with a radical zeal. But Sinclair is…

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Sinead O’Brien – European Tour 2022

“You have seen nothing yet”, asserts Sinead O’Brien in single Girlkind – and you are inclined to believe her. Building on her arresting releases since 2018, the multifaceted Irish poet, songwriter and performer is ascending into new territory with her debut LP, Time Bend and Break the Bower, released via Chess Club Records. Demanding a visceral response from her audiences, O’Brien issues a challenge to those who would box her music inside a notion of tradition. Instead, the artist’s poetry – a constant, active absorption of how people speak, communicate and clash in the era we are living through – is an essential clarion call heard in the future. Communing at…

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50th Anniversary Celebration of the John Sinclair Freedom Rally, Detroit, 10th December, 2021

Beatnik Youth Ambient by John Sinclair (Detroit, November 20, 2021)—Former Michigan marijuana prisoner John Sinclair, his family and friends will celebrate his release from Jackson Prison 50 years ago with an early evening party at the Ralston Holistic Healing Center at 19730 Ralston Street (near State Fair) from 6:00-10:00 pm on December 10, 2021, exactly 50 years after the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor where John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Seale, Phil Ochs, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Seger, Commander Cody and a host of others gathered to speak, play and protest the imprisonment of their friend John Sinclair following a sentence in Detroit Recorder’s…

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50th Anniversary Celebration of the John Sinclair Freedom Rally to be held at Ralston Center in Detroit on 10th December, 2021

Beatnik Youth Ambient by John Sinclair (Detroit, November 20, 2021)—Former Michigan marijuana prisoner John Sinclair, his family and friends will celebrate his release from Jackson Prison 50 years ago with an early evening party at the Ralston Holistic Healing Center and Stonehouse Bar at 19730 Ralston Street (near State Fair) from 6:00-10:00 pm on December 10, 2021, exactly 50 years after the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor where John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Seale, Phil Ochs, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Seger, Commander Cody and a host of others gathered to speak, play and protest the imprisonment of their friend John Sinclair following a sentence…

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Update from John Sinclair September 20th, 2021

Beatnik Youth Ambient by John Sinclair THE JOHN SINCLAIR FOUNDATION First things first: On Saturday, October 2—if I live that long—I’ll make 80 years old and plan to celebrate in the city of my birth, Flint, Michigan, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm at the Genesee County Compassion Club, 6340 N. Genesee Rd. Everyone is welcome, donations and contributions will be dedicated to the John Sinclair Foundation, and I believe Steve The Fly will be hosting an intergalactic video broadcast of the event. More details will be announced very soon. Our original idea was to throw another big party like the one we had 5 years ago when I turned 75, returning…

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Bringing The Inside Out – Words and poems of people living in, working in and visiting care and nursing homes

'I would urge Health and Wellbeing Boards, Clinical Commissioning Groups, NHS memory clinics, social care services and charities, along with the rest of us, to please listen and consider how poetry and other art forms can positively impact the wellbeing and quality of life for those with a dementia and the people who care for them.'  Paul M. Camic, Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health Bringing The Inside Out 2020 Hear the real lived experience of carers, people experiencing a dementia living in care homes, and relatives about their experience of the pandemic. "Bringing The Inside Out" is a publication which includes the powerful words of people with a…

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John Sinclair – Time Line from 1941 to 2018. A Life’s work to date…..

1941-1959 Born October 2 at Women’s Hospital, Flint, Michigan Parents: John Sr. (Jack) and Elsie Sinclair Sister Kathleen born 1943, brother David born 1945 Attended Davison Public Schools, Davison, Michigan 1959 1959-1964 Attended Albion College, Albion, Michigan, 1959-61 Attended Flint Junior College, 1961 Attended University of Michigan-Flint College. 1962-64 Editor, The Word, UM–Flint President, UM—Flint Cinema Guild Graduated UM-Flint, January 1964, A.B. English Literature 1964-67 Attended Wayne State University, Detroit, Graduate School of English Master’s Thesis: William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch Convicted of Marijuana Possession, Detroit Recorders Court, Sentenced to two years probation Co-Founder & Director, Detroit Artists Workshop Founder & Director, Detroit LEMAR (Legalize Marijuana) Editor & Publisher, Artists Workshop Press…

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John Sinclair – The Music & Activism that define his Revolutionary life

In Episode 26 of Essential Conversations, Ann Delisi spoke with John Sinclair about the music and activism that define his revolutionary life and career. This is one of the best interviews with John Sinclair I've heard to date. If you are an artist, writer, poet, musician or performer of any kind, give this a good listen. Turn off the Television, put your phone away. You may learn something. John Sinclair is an activist, poet, and writer whose life and work is connected by one theme – resistance. Sinclair co-founded the White Panthers, managed the MC5, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the possession of two marijuana cigarettes. His imprisonment…

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Wub Wainwright – Toutes Directions released on Iron Man Records 29th May 2020

IMB6051 Wub Wainwright – Toutes Directions – Digital Release (2020) All songs written, recorded and performed by W. Wainwright Recorded in Bristol 2013 Released on Iron Man Records 29th May 2020 The third of three more releases from Wub Wainwright. Hewn from the dark earth of the Black Mountains, Iron Man Records has managed to bring these archive recordings back into the light. Wub Wainwright is a composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music explores arcane, rural and dark earth experiences, both inside and outside the mind.

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Wub Wainwright – Those We Remembered released on Iron Man Records 23rd May 2020

IMB6050 Wub Wainwright – Those We Remembered – Digital Release (2020) Written, recorded and performed by W. Wainwright Recorded in Bristol 2012 Released on Iron Man Records 23rd May 2020 The Second of three more releases from Wub Wainwright. Hewn from the dark earth of the Black Mountains, Iron Man Records has managed to bring this archive recording back into the light. Wub Wainwright is a composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music explores arcane, rural and dark earth experiences, both inside and outside the mind.

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Wub Wainwright – Orcop Poor released on Iron Man Records 23rd May 2020

IMB6049 Wub Wainwright – Orcop Poor – Digital Release (2020) All songs written, recorded and performed by W. Wainwright Recorded in Herefordshire 2014 Released on Iron Man Records 23rd May 2020 The first of three more releases from Wub Wainwright. Hewn from the dark earth of the Black Mountains, Iron Man Records has managed to bring these archive recordings back into the light. Wub Wainwright is a composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music explores arcane, rural and dark earth experiences, both inside and outside the mind.

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Wub Wainwright – Pressed Flowers released on Iron Man Records

Wub  Wainwright is a composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music explores  arcane, rural and dark earth experiences, both inside and outside the  mind. All songs written and composed by W. Wainwright. Recorded by A.M.P in the Golden Valley, Herefordshire and various  locations in London during 2006-2007 by M. Kirkpatrick, J.C. Herbert,  and M. Song Produced and arranged by W. Wainwright, J.C. Herbert and M. Kirkpatrick. Guitar/Vocal – W. Wainwright Percussion – M. Song Saxophone – C. Richardson Violins – T. Andrei / A. Bowmer Double Bass – M. Fitzpatrick Flute – M. Kirkpatrick Field recording – J.C. Herbert Vocals – L. Austin / N. Chalkley Released on Iron Man Records 2020…

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Wub Wainwright – Haloes & Sundogs released on Iron Man Records

Wub Wainwright is a composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music explores arcane, rural and dark earth experiences, both inside and outside the mind. All songs written and composed by W. Wainwright Additional instrumentation: C. Richardson, J. Burton, J.C. Herbert, and M. Kirkpatrick Recorded by A.M.P at Goldsmiths, New Cross, London and Golden Valley, Herefordshire 2005-2006 Produced by J.C. Herbert, M. Kirkpatrick and W. Wainwright. Mixed and Mastered by M. Kirkpatrick Released on Iron Man Records 2020 IMB6045 Wub Wainwright – Haloes & Sundogs – Digital Release (2020) Iron Man Records seeks to provide a cultural outpost for musicians, writers and travellers in the arts. An Embassy for the Imagine Nation committed…

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