white panther Archives - Iron Man Records

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

2 April 2024Mark

“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…

John Sinclair – Renegade Poet, Beatnik and Cultural Revolutionary

2 April 2024Mark

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…

John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop

1 December 2022Mark

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…

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

8 December 2021Mark

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…

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

1 December 2021Mark

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…

RETROPOPIC 435 – Poet John Sinclair Talks: Freed By A John Lennon Song & Other Life Stories

3 April 2020Mark

Alongside the music of Gil Scott Heron, MC5, John Lennon, Charlie Parker, The Clovers & John's own words set to music, in this 59 minute podcast The Saint of RETROPOPIC RADIO talks with the legendary poet John Sinclair. How does John remember his childhood? Why did he move to Detroit? What was so different about the music of MC5? How did he receive a prison sentence for possessing dope? What were the circumstances that lead to John Lennon campaigning for his freedom? How does he regard the 'John Sinclair' song that appeared on Lennon's album 'Sometime In New York City'? What relationship did he have with Lennon after his release? Why…

John Sinclair – I Just Want To Get High And Fuck (Limited Edition T-Shirt)

18 July 2019Mark

This is the third design in a series of Limited Edition T-shirts featuring a quote from John Sinclair, the last of the Beatnik warrior poets…..a cultural revolutionary, pioneer of marijuana activism, radical leader and a political prisoner by the end of the 1960s. In 1966-67 the jazz poet, downbeat correspondent, founder of the Detroit Artists Workshop and underground journalist joined the front ranks of the hippie revolution, managing the “avant-rock” MC5 and organizing countless free concerts in the parks, White Panther rallies and radical benefits. Buy John Sinclair - I Just Want to Get High and Fuck T-shirt here The T-shirts are Gildan Extra Tees. Black shirt with a White print…

Cultural Revolution through a Total Assault on the Culture

11 June 2019Mark

Our program is Cultural Revolution through a total assault on the culture, which makes us use every tool, every energy and any media we can get our collective hands on. We take our program with us everywhere we go and use any means necessary to expose people to it. Our culture, our art, the music, newspapers, books, posters, our clothing, our homes, the way we walk and talk, the way our hair grows, the way we smoke dope and fuck and eat and sleep — it is all one message, and the message is FREEDOM! We are the mother country madmen in charge of our own lives and we are taking…

John Sinclair – Demand The End Of Money (Limited Edition T-Shirt)

10 June 2019Mark

This is the second design in a series of Limited Edition T-shirts featuring a quote from John Sinclair, the last of the Beatnik warrior poets…..a cultural revolutionary, pioneer of marijuana activism, radical leader and a political prisoner by the end of the 1960s. In 1966-67 the jazz poet, downbeat correspondent, founder of the Detroit Artists Workshop and underground journalist joined the front ranks of the hippie revolution, managing the “avant-rock” MC5 and organizing countless free concerts in the parks, White Panther rallies and radical benefits. Buy John Sinclair - Demand The End Of Money (Limited Edition T-Shirt) here This run will be limited to 50 Shirts. When they're gone, they are…

Kick Out The Jams – John Sinclair – Limited Edition T-shirt has arrived

1 March 2019Mark

The T-shirts arrived today, they look fantastic. Gerv at Mission Print has done a fantastic job on the printing as usual. Big thanks to Russ at Shockproof-Design for putting it all together and Steve Fly for researching and proposing the John Sinclair quote. Here are a few pictures to show you what the finished design looks like. I have started posting orders already so look out for delivery from next week. This is the first in a series of Limited Edition John Sinclair T-shirts featuring a White Panther design on the FRONT and a quote from John Sinclair on the BACK. Strictly Limited to 50 Shirts including a download code for…

John Sinclair – Kick Out The Jams Limited Edition T-shirt

17 February 2019Mark

This is the first in a series of Limited Edition John Sinclair T-shirts featuring a White Panther design on the FRONT and a quote from John Sinclair on the BACK. Strictly Limited to 50 Shirts including a download code for Beatnik Youth. When these T-shirts are gone, they're gone. The T-shirts are Gildan Extra Tees. A black shirt with a white print on the front and back, with a Green Cannabis Leaf design. The T-shirt is a heavy weight shirt, available in Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large and Extra Extra Large. Also available in Ladies Small. When you buy or pre-order this shirt you also get a download code for John…

Beatnik Warrior Poet John Sinclair in the News

25 January 2019Mark

January 22, 2019 A group of citizens and NGOs led by Michigan poet John Sinclair and including a physician, a pharmacist, a medical marihuana patient, together with MINORML and the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association have sued the Michigan Board of Pharmacy and its chairperson Nichole Cover seeking to declare void the Board’s continued listing of marihuana as a controlled substance under state law. Under Michigan law, the Board of Pharmacy is charged with the duty to schedule, re-schedule, and de-schedule substances based upon their medical benefits, relative harm and potential for abuse. Notwithstanding the passage of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act and the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, the Board continues…

John Sinclair – Beatnik Youth (Double CD) 2018

4 February 2018Mark

John Sinclair - “Beatnik Youth" on Double CD Released 2018 by Iron Man Records. All Press enquiries to Sean Newsham Catalogue Number: IMB6032 Release date: 2018 Label: Iron Man Records Distribution: Cargo Disc 1 Testify (9.10) Good Stuff (4.32) Everybody Needs Somebody (7.09) Change My Life (5.14) Ain't Nobody's Business (3.36) My Buddy (5.13) That Old Man (3.53) Disc 2 Brilliant Corners (11.29) Culture Cide (11.38) Red Dress (Ruby My Dear) (6.25) Sitarrtha (6.16) Do It (6.16) War On Drugs (6.18) Read a brilliant review of Beatnik Youth by Gus Ironside for Louder Than War here Saby Reyes-Kulkarni interviewed John Sinclair and Youth and wrote a fantastic piece for Bandcamp here…

John Sinclair – Mohawk – Press

20 February 2015Mark

ARTIST: John Sinclair TITLE: Mohawk LABEL: Iron Man Records FORMAT: CD Double Gatefold Sleeve / Digital Release too RELEASE DATE: 24th March 2014 FILE UNDER: Rock Cat No: IMB6022 John Sinclair - “Mohawk” CD out now on Iron Man Records. Distribution by Cargo Works in Progress: Beat Poet John Sinclair 10/15/2013 By: Tom Porter - The Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Poet John Sinclair has been described as a pioneer in the counter-cultural movement that began in the 1960s. He's been at the forefront of the underground publishing movement, he's managed rock bands, organized concerts, and was also founder of the White Panther movement - a group of white left-wing activists united…

John Sinclair – Mohawk

12 February 2015Mark

John Sinclair - “Mohawk” CD Out Now on Iron Man Records, Birmingham. Distribution by Cargo John Sinclair, the renegade poet, scholar and cultural revolutionary released his latest album in March 2014. John, has been described as an Archetype of the 1960's art, music and literary synthesis, and who today, is still kicking with both feet on his trajectory for cultural transformation. His record features ten tracks from his book of verse: always know: a book of monk. Twenty poems planted firmly in a single-shot session, and carefully trimmed down to ten exhibits for this album. Beatnik poems, great odes and personal reflections of the Be-Bop jazz persuasion, all flowering together. First…