About a year ago, I wrote a column for *Pitchweekly* about the connections between musicians and music writers. Those of us who survive keep going without a lot of encouragement, in fact despite countless blows to discourage us. The only thing that matters long term is that we do our work for the love of music and the satisfaction of seeing it blossom and thrive for moments at a time, although we see the death of little pieces of our dreams far more often. If we only think in terms of traditional forms of success, there is a 99% chance that we will be beaten into despair by an industry that only exists to turn a profit in the simplest way possible. We have to think in terms of what drives our loyalty to our music and what are the ties that bind musicians and artists together. Over the past year, these ties have shown that we can come together in ways we never have before and that the shining transformative potential of our music is only just beginning to peak above the horizon.

Paradoxical as it might seem, what we need to effectively bring us together is something outside our obsession with music. Fortunately, it's already here. It's the March of the Americas, the month-long 350-mile walk from Washington, D.C. to the UN in New York that began when hundreds of families gathered in Washington on October 1. The March is bringing together poor people's organizations from the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Europe to call attention to massive violations of economic human rights and to insist that there's no reason for anyone to be poor on a planet choking on its own abundance.

The March is also designed to be a continuous cultural festival. Bands will be playing every night and musicians from as far away as Australia who can't get there are sending in tapes to be played on a truck-mounted PA as people walk. Under the leadership of Chicago's Steve Darnall (Uncle Sam), 42 comic book writers and artists from the U.S. and England are creating a 64-page anti-poverty comic for the March. There will be puppeteers and graffiti writers doing their thing along the route. Support has come from music journalists at a wider range of publications than have ever united before: Gospel International, Crossroads (folk), Rap Pages, Al Borde! and Rocketeria (rock en espanol), Z Magazine, AFIM Indie Music World, San Francisco Chronicle, and Performing Songwriter. DJs from Miami, Toronto, and Santa Barbara have thrown down, too.

The strongest support has come from hundreds of musicians. Fund-raising concerts are being held in Chattanooga, Los Angeles, Camden, NJ, and Ventura, CA. Steve Earle, Mos Def, Ani DiFranco, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, and Jackson Browne are on board, as is 77--one of Portugal's top punk bands. There's Bruce Hornsby and Orbit, along with Philly rappers the Mountain Brothers and gospel singer Mary Love Comer. There's Shawn Colvin, Wayne Kramer, and the Boxing Gandhis, along with the heavy metal of Dead Society and Pittsburgh rappers Strict Flow.

Many talented but unknown musicians will get needed exposure since the entire March is being broadcast live on the website of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (www.libertynet.org/kwru). The March is also linked to NetAid, the October 9 anti-poverty project that will webcast stadium concerts from three different countries.

But the fun really begins after the March, when all kinds of artists who never would have met each other under normal circumstances will be in a position to collaborate artistically and politically. Musicians and music journalists in California are already planning a mid-November "creative council" to discuss next steps.

The March of the Americas isn't just the latest in popular music's endless stream of good works. That was made clear at a recent support meeting in Los Angeles that attracted both well-known and unknown musicians. Someone made the eminently logical suggestion that, rather than focus on a march taking place 2,500 miles away, they hook up with similar local efforts. But the local efforts, no matter how worthy, are currently limited to picking at some small scab of poverty, while the March proclaims its goal in terms of global transformation: the end of poverty itself. The discussion at the LA meeting quickly went back to the March.

To find out how you can get involved, no matter where you live or what you do, contact: Kensington Welfare Rights Union, Box 50678, Philadelphia PA 19132; 215-203-1945; kwru@libertynet.org; www.libertynet.org/kwru. In the Kansas City area, if you would like to see the incredible Outriders, the hour-long documentary that profiles the movement that built the march, please contact me at this address, and or call (913) 371-0703. Several musicians and music lovers from the Kansas City area will be attending the March in Philadelphia for Music Day, October 16. Please let me know if you would like to be a part of a caravan of area supporters making that trip.

At Rock & Rap Confidential, we know first-hand how hard it is to make a living as a music writer. That's why we have a special $12 one year subscription rate for music writers. Send to: RRC, Box 341305, Los Angeles CA 90034 or just email rockrap@aol.com and you will be billed with your first issue.

--Danny Alexander
danny@thezone.org