In response to the recently passed Arizona Immigration Law AZ SB1070, a newly charged version of Woody Guthrie’s “Deportees” has been recorded by Outernational featuring Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman. The song is available to the public at no cost and it is the band’s hope that everyone who hears it will spread it far and wide by posting and re-posting online, and that radio and other media will pick up on it as well.

Download MP3 or Stream: “Deportees”

“As sides are being drawn over the issue of immigration, I’m honored to join with Outernational on Woody Guthrie’s “Deportees”. Prejudice and ignorance are at the core of Arizona’s recent immigration legislation and Woody Guthrie’s “Deportees” was written to combat just that sort of prejudice,” voiced Tom Morello.

Woody Guthrie wrote “Deportees” in 1948 some days after a plane crash occurred in the Los Gatos Mountains, near the farms of the California central valley. The crash took the lives of several Americans and 28 migrant, Mexican workers. Guthrie was taken by how the reports of the crash only mentioned the names of the Americans and referred to the Mexican workers as just deportees.

An airplane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon

Like a fireball of lightning it shook all our hills

Who are these friends all scattered like dry leaves?

The radio says, “They are just deportees”

Outernational will be on the ground, in Arizona on May 29th in lock step solidarity with the thousands of people protesting this law. They believe that taken together, SB 1070, along with House Bill 2281, the new legislation which targets and dismantles ‘ethnic studies,’ represents officially sanctioned white supremacy and American chauvinism.

Some of us are illegal and some are not wanted

When contract is out, we’ve got to move on

Its six hundred miles to the Mexican border

They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves

Outernational has been touring non-stop for many months and began to revitalize “Deportees” on stage as they played shows on their way out west from their home in New York City. The band is known for its revolutionary message and electrified genre bending rock sound; it’s no wonder their version of the powerful folk song became an up-tempo and rousing celebration of Mexican culture complete with accordion and eventually a classical guitar solo courtesy of Morello.

“We recorded Deportees with Tom Morello and are going down to Arizona on May 29th to stand with all the people courageously fighting back against these unjust and immoral laws. Outernational is about a whole new world, a world without borders and nations. Todos somos illegales. We are all illegals,” expressed Miles Solay of Outernational.

With roots directly planted in the original bohemian Greenwich Village, NYC’s Outernational has assembled an arsenal of blistering rock and roll, defiant lyrics and an infectious sense of rhythm that is reminiscent of both The Clash and Rage Against The Machine. In fact, Tom Morello of RATM thought so much of the band that he produced 17 superb tracks with Outernational, six of which have been released on their EP Eyes on Fire.  College radio has had a field day with the new EP, keeping the record in the top 100 of CMJ for many weeks. In addition to the band’s genre-bending rendering sound on record, their live performance is truly a face melting, foot stomping, fist pumping roller coaster. Guitarist Leo Mintek and bassist Jesse Williams complete the front line of the band, dancing and singing while providing the engine of the band’s “Future Rock” sound. Dr. Blum, a singular personality on and off the stage serves as the band’s one-man orchestra section, with duties including trumpet, organ, harmonium, accordion, tin-whistle and singing. Then there’s Miles Solay: militant revolutionary politics unleashed and a romantic fervor with his heart on his sleeve. You can’t help but want to follow this band down the path of revolution rock and into a future where music is boxed-in no more; a world of people working in common for the common good. Outernational has performed at such events as Vans Warped Tour, Bamboozle Festival, Bonnaroo Festival, South By Southwest, CMJ and have supported the likes of Tom Morello, Chris Cornell, Gogol Bordello, The Pogues and Shooter Jennings.

For more information including upcoming tour dates:

• www.outernational.net
• www.facebook.com/outernationalmusic

No doubt you’ve heard about the British Petroleum oil spill disaster that seems certain to become one of the great environmental catastrophes of modern times.  It will cause great destruction to the environment, wildlife, and people who live along the southern (and possibly eastern) coast of the US. What can you do? We’re going to copy some suggestions from the Huffington Post for how you can donate your time and money to help contain the damage, and possibly help prevent future calamities like this one.

• Oxfam America is working to help affected communities with financial assistance, as well as protect local wetlands and marshes. Make a tax-deductible donation to Oxfam America.
• You can register through OilSpillVolunteers.com to volunteer or join a cleanup organization.
• The BP Volunteer Hotline has set up numbers if you need to report injured wildlife or damage related to the spill. You can also request volunteer information at 866-448-5816.
• The Oiled Wildlife Care Network is providing volunteer information, though help from private citizens is not being requested at this time.
• Global Green plans to spend the coming months working to protect injured wildlife and to lobby Congress to enforce tougher regulations on the oil and coal industries. Volunteer with Global Green or donate to support these efforts.
• The National Audubon Society is asking concerned citizens to donate or volunteer. Sign up to get trained and volunteer to help local birds.
• CrisisCamp set up a conference call for Friday afternoon — follow the notes of this meeting, containing volunteer information with nonprofits and information from government organizations. You can also follow the CrisisCamp oil spill Twitter list for updates.
• The National Wildlife Federation has a message you can send to President Obama to urge restoration of Louisiana’s Coastal Wetlands. They’re also asking for residents to upload photos to flickr and tag them SPILL_NW10.

Other resources:

• Alabama Coastal Foundation
• City of Biloxi official site
• City of Ocean Springs
• Coalition To Restore Coastal Louisiana
• Mississippi Emergency Management Agency
• Mississippi Governor Barbour
• Mobile Bay National Estuary Program
• National Animal Health Emergency Response Corp
• Oil Spill Crisis Map
• Pascagoula River Audubon Center
• State of Louisiana’s Emergency web site

Despite spending more money on health care than any other nation on Earth, the United States ranks #41 when it comes to mothers surviving the birth of their own children. The rate of maternal death has doubled since 1987. In addition, African-American women are four times more likely to die in childbirth than are white American women.

The causes of this horrible trend are a complex intersection of health insurance, poverty, and racism, the details of which can be found in the new report by Amnesty International called “Deadly Delivery”. In it, they argue that these deaths are not just a public health crisis, but a human rights crisis.

You can learn more about the issue and how to get involved here.

Or you can take action online here.