[CALIBK12] Dixie Chicks - Not Available for Rental in Waco, Texas

Sun Aug 19 17:43:31 PDT 2007

This is not a political issue, its a censorship issue.  The political bent of the material is not the issue, rather the issue is that commercial (and perhaps other entities) chose to make this material unavailable.  The public library performed its job by making the dvd available to anyone who wanted to see it.  This is a valid point for us as school librarians as it is for public librarians.

  Heather Hartman-Jansen, LMT
  Stockton, CA

Heather McBride <merimac25 at yahoo.com> wrote:
  WHY IS THIS ON OUR LISTSERVE WHEN WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED
TO BE POLITICAL WHEN IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH
CALIB???
I thought this was a No-No!
Heather McBride

--- RichardGuy at aol.com wrote:

> 
> Fabulous!
> 
> Richard K. Moore, InfoSherpa
> Huntington Beach, CA
>
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> > To: 
> From: "GERALD BRACEY" 
> Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 23:34:35 -0400
> Subject: [eddra] Fw: Dixie Chicks - Not Available
> for Rental in Waco, Texas
> 
> This is not specifically about dis-information about
> schools, but censorship 
> of unpopular opinions.
> 
> EDDRA member Richard Moore (a librarian) will be
> especially pleased.
> 
> Dixie Chicks rock!
> 
> Jerry
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: 
> To: 

> Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 9:32 PM
> Subject: Dixie Chicks - Not Available for Rental in
> Waco, Texas
> 
> 
> > Dixie Chicks - Not Available for Rental in Waco,
> Texas
> > Look who avails Chicks' controversial film in Waco
> >
> > By John Young
> > Cox News Service
> >
> > Waco Tribune-Herald (Texas) -
> > Tuesday, August 07, 2007
> >
>

> >
> > WACO, Texas - In the Bible, the vision of a
> burning
> > bush causes Moses to put down everything he's
> doing and
> > to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
> >
> > The charge of which I now speak is not so
> consuming.
> > Still ...
> >
> > Though I had earthly chores aplenty, I felt the
> call to
> > stop everything and open a video rental store in
> Waco.
> >
> > The store wouldn't be big. In fact, it would have
> only
> > one section. Only one film, actually, and one copy
> of
> > it. Low overhead.
> >
> > That film: The Dixie Chicks' "Shut Up and Sing."
> >
> > I was ready to rent it to you and yours.
> >
> > Because, otherwise you wouldn't be able to rent it
> in
> > Waco.
> >
> > I'm not a big Dixie Chicks fan. Never purchased
> one of
> > their CDs. But on PBS I saw the Chicks perform
> pieces
> > from their latest album, "Taking the Long Way,"
> and
> > knew why the CD won five Grammy awards. I also
> knew why
> > it won zero Country Music Association Awards.
> >
> > We all know what this is about: The Chicks'
> > unapologetic opposition to the invasion of Iraq.
> The
> > tempest that ensued, including radio station
> boycotts
> > and death threats.
> >
> > That's what "Shut Up and Sing" is about. The
> subtitle
> > says, "Freedom of speech is fine, as long as you
> don't
> > do it in public."
> >
> > The firestorm started when, with the group
> performing
> > in London on the eve of the invasion, lead singer
> > Natalie Maines said, "We're ashamed that the
> president
> > of the United States is from Texas."
> >
> > You all argue among yourselves about that 'un.
> >
> > My concern was seeing what all the fuss was about,
> and
> > without plunking down $19.95 for a DVD.
> >
> > I kept waiting for "Shut Up and Sing" to pop up on
> the
> > "new releases" marquee at the video rental I
> patronize.
> > When I asked, an employee told me that the store
> had
> > abstained because of the film's controversial
> theme.
> >
> > I tried to confirm this assertion with a regional
> > manager. I found that getting ahold of someone who
> > would confirm or deny this assertion was like
> asking to
> > interview Dick Cheney without Fox News
> credentials.
> >
> > So, I started calling a succession of Waco's video
> > stores, mostly chains. No "Shut Up" for rental.
> Hmmm. I
> > did find two copies for purchase at separate
> retailers.
> > That's the $19.95 I had no intention of
> surrendering.
> > What to do?
> >
> > One problem is that I no longer knew how to
> contact my
> > friend Jerry. He's the one-time convenience-store
> > employee who supplied for me a copy of Martin
> > Scorcese's "Last Temptation of Christ," in a brown
> > envelope, back in 1988.
> >
> > That controversial film was stopped at every port
> in
> > our landlocked city -- not shown in theaters;
> couldn't
> > rent it; couldn't buy it; the cable company
> blocked it
> > on Showtime.
> >
> > Three summers ago when Waco theaters weren't
> showing
> > "Fahrenheit 9/11," I tried to hook Michael Moore
> up
> > with Jerry so that we in Waco could see what all
> the
> > fuss was about. Moore liked my idea but took my
> middle
> > man out of the equation. Sorry, Jerry. He sent the
> film
> > to peace groups who cued it up in the Crawford
> High
> > School football stadium parking lot before some
> 3,000
> > people.
> >
> > Now here we are in 2007 with a similar problem,
> and no
> > Jerry to facilitate. So deeply did I feel about
> the
> > right of people in our community to decide for
> > themselves on matters like "Shut Up and Sing" that
> I
> > said to myself, "OK. I'm going into video rental."
> >
> > I would buy the video for $19.95, and then would
> rent
> > it to you and yours to recoup my investment.
> >
> > I'm so happy to tell you I didn't have to do that.
> I
> > didn't because I made one more call. I should have
> > thought about it first:
> >
> > The public library.
> >
> > The Waco-McLennan County Library has a copy of
> "Shut Up
> > and Sing." It will loan you that copy for free if
> you
> > have a library card. This means I won't have to
> rent it
> > to you. That's a relief. I already had enough on
> my
> > hands leading various tribes out of the
> wilderness.
> >
> > I told reference librarian Sean Sutcliffe about my
> > problems renting the video. We speculated that
> this
> > might be a problem elsewhere in America's
> heartland.
> > Then he did a computer search for the title in
> other
> > libraries in the country. Publicly supported
> beacons of
> > free inquiry popped up on his screen by the
> hundreds.
> >
> > What a country.
> >
> > [John Young is Opinion Page editor of the Waco
> (Texas)
> > Tribune-Herald.]
> >
> 
=== message truncated ===>
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Heather McBride 
Library Media Teacher 
La Cumbre Junior High School 
Santa Barbara School District

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