Mighty Mercury

Photographer Richard Peterson worked down the street from City Lights Books in 1976 when the punk revolution first hit San Francisco, and loved hanging out there. "It was a magical place, the Beat history." Self-made publisher V. Vale worked at City Lights then. "Vale always used to direct me to the newest, hippest magazines," Peterson remembers. After receiving a check for $100 from Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and another in the same amount from City Lights'

owner, poet and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Vale founded San Francisco's first and still best-known punk zine Search and Destroy in late 1976, and took Peterson on as photographer."My first assignment was a band called the Weirdos." Among Peterson's friends on facebook is Richard Lloyd of punk pioneers Television, stars of the burgeoning scene at New York's CBGBs, which included Blondie, the Ramones, Talking Heads, and others. "San Francisco and New York were sort of like trading centers for punk, the major poles of that scene." He spoke recently at Denver's Photo Martini Club, narrating a history of his time as a photographer for punk zines including Search and Destroy during that city's first experience of the punk revolution. Said Denver poet Carson Reed "What a history lesson-I had no idea how dynamic that scene was, and you made me sorry I missed it." "It was cool to hear the stories from someone who was actually in it and sees it differently than the history books' perspectives," said independent Denver fashion designer, Mona Lucero. "And the photos are so evocative of the era."

Vale says the way he sees it, all the motivations in life that do anything are emotional, they aren't intellectual. He was inspired by Andy Warhol's Interview magazine, known for its impromptu interviews and sharpened attitude. "Since I was such a huge Warhol fan, I wanted to imitate him. And you had the rise of punk rock at the same time, and I said this is where it's at. This needs to have an authentic voice right from the get-go, right from the very beginning." Punk attitude has always been dedicated against the societal trend toward emotionless commercialism, spawning countless D.I.Y. (do it yourself) endeavors like Vale's Search and Destroy, my own zine the Gut, or Boston's Alternating Current. For that matter, MightyMercury itself and partner site Dscriber both grew out of a D.I.Y. Denver citizen journalism project called Mile Hive. With the Court's recent ruling granting corporations personhood, effectively legalizing corporate control of our politics, our environment and our culture, indie upstarts like this seem at first to have lost the battle. Says Peterson, "People feel like the corporations are sort of telling them what to like, and people are fed up with that." On the other hand, maybe it mandates independence for those unwilling to be homogenized. "Once they see they're capable of doing it for themselves, they won't settle for anything less." In light of the recent SCOTUS ruling delegating the rights of personhood to corporate bodies, independence from conglomerates is more so than ever a question of personal liberty, not merely creative license.

OVERRULE THE COURT

The Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United is just the latest - and most blatant - example that corporations have hijacked our government. The ruling leaves ordinary citizens little opportunity to participate in making the fundamental decisions that our lives. Corporations are using our legal system against us.

IT'S TIME FOR A PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT

We must amend the U.S. Constitution and end the illegitimate legal doctrines preventing the American people from governing themselves.

Riki Ott will facilitate a community dialogue on how our community can join the movement to abolish corporate personhood.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

6:00 p.m.

Crescent Grange Hall

7901 W. 120th Ave

Broomfield

$5 suggested donation

www.democracyUnincorporated.com

http://www.movetoamend.org/take-action

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