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Books•Surmountable

Remembering Todd Gitlin

February 25, 2022 by briangruber No Comments
 

I was greatly saddened to read of Todd Gitlin’s recent passing. I interviewed Dr. Gitlin in his Columbia University office for Surmountable, co-authored with Adam Monier Edwards, in 2019. It was a memorable experience and an advanced education in the art of effective activism and citizen engagement in a liberal democracy.

Gitlin will have missed the current Russian incursion into Ukraine but his counsel for protestors and activists remains potent and relevant. He and I shared intense opposition to U.S. military incursions like Vietnam and Iraq — then and now — and as such had no hesitation condemning imperialist behavior by Russia or any malevoTodd Gitlinlent player on the world stage.

Here, in tribute to a great American, are excepts from the book.

Gitlin’s office is a stone’s throw from Columbia University’s Low Library administration building and Hamilton Hall, both occupied by student protesters in 1968. He is serving as professor and as chairman of the Ph.D. program of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, considered one of the world’s preeminent academies of the craft. Gitlin is a prolific author, having penned eighteen books, and is both a public thinker on the matter of protest and public assembly, and, from an early age, a front-line activist, having served as third president of Students for a Democratic Society in 1963–1964. He organized the SDS march on Washington in March 1965.

Were the freedoms codified in the Bill of Rights revolutionary ideas in their time?

“They were absolutely revolutionary,” according to Dr. Todd Gitlin, professor and Ph.D. program chair at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. “And before the American Revolution, before the overthrow of the crown, a number of the colonies adopted guarantees of the freedoms.”

The American colonies derive most of their constitutional and legal systems from England, including the selective freedoms granted to white male landowners. Most of the original colonies include a declaration of fundamental rights and liberties in their constitutions.

“When you ask people what’s in the First Amendment, they’ve heard of freedom of speech, of the press, of freedom of religion,” Gitlin says. “They don’t know the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances.” Gitlin, author of numerous books on the history and dynamics of protest, refers to his emphasis of the issue in Occupy Nation. “There is so little jurisprudence, there’s so little even legal discussion either in the courts or among the law schools about this phenomenon of the right to assemble, it’s really quite extraordinary. I mean, it’s like it there’s an actual collective forgetting.”

The idea of petition comes from the Magna Carta, a charter of rights agreed to by King John of England in 1215. Heavy burdens in blood and treasure were imposed on barons to fund foreign wars and they revolted, capturing London and forcing the king to negotiate at Runnymede. The most famous clause, still codified in English law, gave “free men” the right to justice and a fair trial, though most citizens were unfree peasants, chattel lorded over by landowners.

“I don’t think there’s anything in the Magna Carta about assembly,” points out Gitlin. “There is about petition. The law professor Ronald Krotoszynski, of the University of Alabama, wrote a smart, important piece about petition; the nobles, and eventually the commoners, had a right to actually go and deliver the petition to the king. It’s a face-to-face operation.”

“When cities hosting political conventions started sequestering demonstrations like in Boston — a compound was set up far away from the (2004 Democratic National Convention) arena — he stated that should be held unconstitutional, that defies the spirit of petition. Petition is like serving you with papers. And if you put me in a cage a mile away, that won’t pass muster. A very interesting notion. And we don’t have much conversation about this.”

For Gitlin’s full interview and that of other thought leaders and activists across four continents, read Surmountable: How Citizens from Selma to Seoul Changed the World.

Assessing Impact

When asked for an assessment of impact of Columbia University’s highly publicized stretch of building takeovers, student demands, and police intrusions in 1968, Professor Gitlin changes the subject.

“I’m going to dance to the side of your question. What is a protest? What is it we’re talking about? Is a protest a picket line or a sit-in; or is a protest an element in a long-running campaign whose scope outreaches the immediate goal or the immediate professed goal, or what some people who organize the event think is the professed goal, but then enlarges and rolls into something else? It all depends on the time-frame we’re asking about.

“So, was the Montgomery Bus Boycott a success? Rosa Parks got arrested on the day after. I don’t know what she felt. But some people probably understood that this was a moment in a campaign, and others might have felt like, ‘God, they just did it again. They threw the black lady off the bus,’ and so on.

“It wasn’t clear for more than a year that the bus boycott would succeed in costing the bus company so much money that they would end up caving in, and even when that was achieved, can we say that the campaign was a success? Yes, one bus line was integrated. Others had been quietly integrated without anybody really noticing around the South. But we think of that as a benchmark, because it takes its place within this whole sway of activity that we call the ‘civil rights movement.’

“If you go around and you find people who were at this or that demonstration, and you ask them, ‘What do you make of it after this time?’ it’s going to depend a lot on who you’re asking. Are you asking somebody who was in it for the duration, or somebody who just came in, went to an event, came to a certain conclusion about it, and then went away? You’re going to get very different takes on the experience. That’s the first element. It’s sort of elementary.

“Let’s think about the movement against university investment and other investments in South Africa in the ’80s, which I was involved in as a faculty member at Berkeley and as an alumnus at Harvard. There was a lot of clamor, a lot of activity for a year or two, depending; it was a national movement. Did it accomplish the goal of getting university and some other funds to divest from South Africa investments? Partially.

“Did it end apartheid? No. Did it contribute to a process, which did undermine apartheid and help end it? Yes.

“You can actually trace a trajectory, which starts on a modest scale on a campus like this one or Berkeley, and then it snowballs. That’s a very typical kind of protest that you could say, yes, it does succeed, but not in the first instance. That is to say, it’s rare that somebody protests something, and then the next day, a change is made.

“Part of what you will find is that your sense of the meaning of the event or events is contingent on your sense of the time span. Are you playing a long game? How impatient are you? So, most protests, in the short run, fail.

There were massive protests against the 2003 Iraq War. There was and is a widely held belief that money has so saturated American politics that elected officials pay more attention to their funders than to their constituents. Thus, Bush and Cheney went ahead and did what they were going to do. Why were those protests ineffective?

“I think that analysis is very shallow,” argues Gitlin. “As you suggested in the second part of your question, Bush was going to go to war. Everything was riding on it. His balls were riding on it. His daddy was riding on it. His ‘weak in the knees’ after September 11 was riding on it. I can’t imagine a scenario that would have truncated that war or even nipped it in the bud.

“All wars are political situations, and had a different administration been in power, had there been wiser judgments on the part of many politicians, then the war, which was unnecessary and stupid from the beginning, as well as sinful, would not have materialized, but there was no way that war was going to be blocked.”

Gitlin has a handy answer when queried what he would say to a young activist — his full-length book on the subject, Letters to a Young Activist, perhaps a political homage to the Rainer Maria Rilke classic Letters to a Young Poet. Gitlin has loads of copies lining an upper shelf of his office and, in a dangerous act of generosity, stands on the verboten upper step of a small ladder to fetch one. Apparently, the professor had some choice words for former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, which were not well received. So, Nader, finding the book on remainder, buys a thousand copies and ships them to the author as a sort of spite purchase. Gitlin takes a moment to sign a copy with the inscription, “In the ecstatic search for decency.”

The book’s conclusion neatly tracks the author’s reflections on the Vietnam War.[i]

Each challenge is unique and each is identical — to do what’s possible by finding out what’s possible and, in the process, overcome what seemed possible.

Some borrowed wisdom.

From Samuel Beckett in Worstward Ho: “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

From a civil rights song: “Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.”

 

You can order Surmountable: How Citizens from Selma to Seoul Changed the World here.

Subscribe to co-author Adam Monier Edwards’ innovative Surmountable project newsletter by visiting https://www.surmountable.co/. Yes, that’s .co. The initiative tackles citizen engagement on issues ranging from affordable housing to zero waste.

For information on Brian Gruber’s five published books, go here.

[i] Gitlin, Todd. Letters to a Young Activist (Art of Mentoring) (p. 170). Basic Books.

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Books•Full Moon over Koh Phangan•Koh Phangan

Full House for “Full Moon” Book Launch at Orion

February 16, 2022 by briangruber No Comments
Thanks to Orion’s Daliah Barkan, Ari Barkan, and team for launching Koh Phangan’s first full-length nonfiction book on what people seek and find on our magic island. A well-appointed full house thanks to Nadia Villaverde with readings from Daliah, Michal Ora, and Charlie Solares. Also the “unveling” of the original abstract painting by Panyavee Adler that illuminates the book’s cover.
 
Uniformly excellent reviews for Full Moon over Koh Phangan: What Adventurers, Dancers, and Freaks Seek and Find on Thailand’s Magic Island are already coming in during launch week. Book excerpts will be published on Conscious Community, Medium.com, and Sharon Kahati‘s Phanganist.com. You can purchase the ebook for only $4.95, priced for easy access and enjoyment.

https://amzn.to/3B75ssb

An early review from Tim Cutting:
 
“Multi faceted book, multi faceted island Koh Phangan is the Thai island of the notorious/beloved full moon parties. But of course it is so much more. In this book Gruber gives us the perspectives of 25 people who know the island well, many of them since the early days of the full moon festivals. And although the focus of the book is on the party culture, the stories told by them include the historical, social and cultural background that provided the fertile ground in which that culture germinated and flourished. Gruber’s long experience as interviewer and journalist has given him the skills to bring authenticity to the wide variety of voices found in these pages. I happen to know one of them quite well and can hear the tones, inflexions, and speech patterns, and even see the facial expressions they use, in the written word. I am also familiar enough with the hippies, travellers and ravers who populate these stories to recognise a remarkable feat of writing that Gruber has achieved here. Some of his respondents show a profound understanding of the spiritual searches that have been and are ongoing in this community, whilst others have lost their way either temporarily or into one or other of the many rabbit holes that beset those on this journey. And you can take your pick as to whom you find yourself resonating with! A wonderful read, and, in my opinion, an important social document. Recommended!”
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Books•Full Moon over Koh Phangan•Koh Phangan

My Fifth Book FULL MOON OVER KOH PHANGAN is Published

February 14, 2022 by briangruber No Comments

This first-ever full-length nonfiction book on Koh Phangan’s characters, communities, and magnetic appeal is an oral history, with stories gathered from 25 diverse perspectives.

This first edition will be an ebook, available for $4.95 at https://amzn.to/3B75ssb. Later this year an expanded edition will be published in print and ebook formats, with stories from Phangan’s neighborhoods, temples, beaches, waterfalls, and iconic landmarks.

What attracts Phangan’s eclectic range of adventurers? What makes this island so uniquely interesting and attractive to visitors seeking a new life, transcendence, restoration or, simply, a memorable, gorgeous respite from the world? There are many beautiful islands and tropical beaches. But there seems a special dose of magic in the island’s coves and mountains. People come for three weeks, then stay 13 years.

These 25 longtime residents share their answers to those questions.

Participants in the book include:
Gill Beddows, The Sanctuary
Joe Cummings, Lonely Planet Thailand
Daliah and Ari Barkan, Orion Healing Centre
Phra Olarn, Buddhist monk, Loyfa resort owner
Nathan Parker, Why Nam beach
Hinch, Twisted Village. Chaloklum
Prapan Daewwanich, Koh Phangan Phuiyaiban (village chief)
Robin Vos, Bubba’s Roastery
Ara Willeke, Haad Khontee
Sarana Kursakul, Coral Bungalows
Nattakit Libprapakorn, Sand & Tan
Karine and Melanie, L’Alcove
John Fitton, EcoThailand
Charlie Solares, SAGE Land and House
Suriyan Boonya, nephew of monk who established Phangan’s national park
Michal Ora, founder, Green Gallery Srithanu
Robert Van Dam, Jam Bar
Jintamard Sinlapaprommard, eco activist
Tomas Krocka, Safari Boat
Michael Doyle, The Sanctuary
Marc Guede, Kupu Kupu resort, Echo Beach
Sahajo
Oliver Benjamin, The Tao of the Dude
Joe Ling, Ling Sabai Bungalows
Yuval “Fluke” Birman, Wonderland Healing Center

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Billy Cobham•Books

Yes and King Crimson Legend Bill Bruford Picks Cobham Book as Best on Drumming

December 3, 2021 by briangruber No Comments
The legendary Bill Bruford, drummer for Yes, King Crimson and his own jazz band Earthworks, includes my Cobham book in his “The best books on why drummers do what they do.” In a personal note, he told me the book was “Unputdownable.” As a Yes fan from way back, high praise.
 
Six Days at Ronnie Scott’s: Billy Cobham on Jazz Fusion and the Act of Creation
By Brian K. Gruber
 
Why this book?
 
Many of the best drummers write, or otherwise initiate, their own music for the very best reason: because they have to. This book is an oral history of Panamanian drummer Billy Cobham at the height of his powers, preparing his oeuvre for a 17-piece big band engagement under the guidance of British arranger and trumpeter Guy Barker. The gig is a 6-night run at London’s Ronnie Scott’s Club. Author Brian Gruber hangs out with the band for the duration to capture the verbal and musical fruits of an improvised series of encounters with elite performers. While the story pivots around the drummer, it is nevertheless an excellent multi-viewpoint guide over six decades as to how musicians collaborate and survive in an ever-changing music landscape.
 
The full article can be found here. 
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Koh Phangan•Writers of Koh Phangan

Writer Night to Resume 28 November at Orion

sand scribes
by briangruber No Comments
Writers of Koh Phangan kicks off Year 5 of Write Night on 28 December 7pm at Orion’s Wellness Lounge. In addition to hundreds of tall tales, hundreds of hours of literary toolkit development, and innumerable new friendships, our island tradition has spawned books, blogs, poetry collections, and refreshed writing avocations.
 
Write Night is always free. Half the group are commonly non-native speakers, very few are professional writers, all come with the conviction that storytelling is our birthright.
 
Please join us. Our hosts, Orion proprietor Daliah Barkan and detox nutritionist MariaRoza Rainboe, offered us the cozier, writing-friendly Wellness Lounge, right behind the Beach Shala. Nine comfy bean bags are surrounded by chairs, hammocks, and other seating options for a quieter, more intimate creative space, easily allowing for 10-20 writers.
 
We will also have our very own Tom Vater back on the island to lead our weekly creative toolkit session. Welcome back to the asylum, Tom!
 
We will go back to our original 7pm start time with no competition from evening yoga classes.
 
Facilitator Brian Gruber will have a new slate of author videos ready to roll.
 
If you have written a letter or posted your views on the web, you are a writer. And if you have made the journey to Koh Phangan, you surely have stories to tell. No experience necessary. All writing levels welcomed.
 
Time to tell some stories.
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Guatemala•War: The Afterparty

A Guatemala Love Letter

October 11, 2021 by briangruber No Comments

Doing political travel writing on Kickstarter crowdfunding budgets offers modest economic returns. But emails like these, years after the publishing of “WAR: The Afterparty,” makes the effort sweet and worthwhile. The books opens with my two week visit to Guatemala, interviewing witnesses, professors, politicos and an exiled ex-president about the 1953 CIA overthrow of democratically elected Jacobo Arbenz, and the cycles of violence it spawned.

Subject: ARBENZ & my Father GONZALEZ JUAREZ

hi, enthralled with the ARBENZ & GONZALEZ article with my brother Julio. my name use to be: marion gonzalez hofstetter,

recently changed to my artistic name. i’m fascinated when i can find an article about my family. Julio is truly a statesman , i love very much. we returned to the USA, Chicago, met my Dad, 16yrs age. sophomore year, 17 Sr. yr. he was kidnapped and assassinated, compliments of the CIA

Brian , thank you sir, for honoring my Father & Brother Humberto, by my brother Julio. Julio is an extremely brilliant politician. a unique breed, he has honor, dignity, highest ethics, no compromise there. true love of Guatemala, the people & the land ,his love, his mistress! LoL!

thank you so much. i felt an abundance of pride!
beautifully written!!!so grateful!

God Bless, any other articles please send me a link.

jinx
i’m the youngest, 68
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Coaching•The Vision Project

Sue Phipps on her Vision Project

September 24, 2021 by briangruber No Comments

Thanks Sue Phipps for this wonderful review of your experience with Vision Project coaching.

A few months ago my mom passed away.  I was a nurse and had spent much quality time with her, and my father.  When they were gone, I was at a loss.  In my “4th quarter, maybe overtime” I wasn’t sure what my next steps should be.  I knew Brian well, saw how he embodied the tools and guidelines he brought to the Vision Project and saw the growth in my friend who worked with him in her own vision.  It was truly amazing!  I took the plunge, started the process and Brian guided me on my own path. 

Brian was a supportive mentor, helping me through the work, always keeping me focused and on track.  Because of it, I have a clearer vision in my own life and I’m passionate about the choices I’ve made.  The Vision Project gave me the tools, but it is Brian’s skill, kindness, and expertise that showed me how to steer my own course to the life I want.  I’m so grateful and would strongly recommend Brian and The Vision Project highly.

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Billy Cobham

Mike Tiano Praises “Six Days” as a New “Benchmark for Oral Histories”

by briangruber No Comments

Music blogger and longtime Yes digital media manager Mike Tiano releases this fresh review of “Six Days at Ronnie Scott’s.” Mike interviewed Billy and I during the initial launch of the book. 

 

Beyond Ronnie Scott’s, a history of Billy Cobham’s journey through popular music
 
The title of Brian Gruber’s astonishing book doesn’t come close to describe what is encompassed in this fascinating work. The jumping point might begin with Billy Cobham’s six nights at Ronnie Scott’s but actually dives deeply into a number of oral histories, including facts about the legendary drummer—make that musician–that might surprise all but the most fanatical Cobham follower. While Cobham-philes will devour the results of Gruber’s astounding conversations with the articulate artist the book will captivate anyone fascinated in the history of popular music from the 1960s forward from Billy’s viewpoint.

While the title event is well-documented, the influential musician’s life story is meticulously discussed by Cobham himself along with the perspective of those who interacted with him during their lifetime (including band mates past and present), along with those who were greatly influenced by him (e.g., Bill Bruford’s first encountering Cobham when the Mahavishnu Orchestra were the opening act for Yes). We learn about Billy’s musical journey where he performed with legends that included the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, and Muhammad Ali, leading to his involvement with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and launching his own solo career of releasing many memorable albums, and the foibles of eking a living as an innovative musician who can at the same time remain relevant to modern audiences.

Brian’s herculean efforts in assembling this wonderful tome goes beyond Cobham and includes info that centers on Ronnie Scott himself, and how the club came to be. This book sets a benchmark for oral histories and has much to digest; the consumer will find much to revisit time and again.

Whether you’re a casual fan of Cobham’s musical output or think you know all there is to know about the exquisite musician this is a must read, and Gruber’s musical knowledge coupled with his deft organization of the various elements contained herein is nothing short of dazzling.

And trust me, that is no hyperbole.

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Brian Gruber is an author, writing coach, and marketing consultant living on the Thai island of Koh Phangan. He has spent 40 years studying, leading, and founding new media companies and projects.

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Remembering Todd Gitlin

Remembering Todd Gitlin

February 25, 2022
Full House for “Full Moon” Book Launch at Orion

Full House for “Full Moon” Book Launch at Orion

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My Fifth Book FULL MOON OVER KOH PHANGAN is Published

My Fifth Book FULL MOON OVER KOH PHANGAN is Published

February 14, 2022

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