John Sinclair
John Sinclair (born October 2 1941 in Flint, Michigan
, United
States
) is a Detroit
poet,
one-time manager of the band MC5, and leader of
the White Panther Party — a
militantly anti-racist countercultural group of white socialists seeking to assist the Black Panthers in the Civil Rights movement — from November
1968 to July 1969.
1960s activism
Sinclair was involved in the reorganization of the Detroit
underground newspaper,
Fifth Estate, during the
paper's growth in the late
1960s. Fifth Estate
continues to publish to this day, making it one of the longest
continuously published
alternative
periodicals in the United States. Sinclair also contributed to
the formation of Detroit Artists Workshop Press, which published
five issues of
Work magazine.
Involvement with the MC5
Sinclair managed the hard-edged
proto-punk MC5 from 1966
though 1969. Under his guidance the band embraced the
counter-culture revolutionary politics of the
White Panther Party, founded in answer
to the
Black Panthers' call for white
people to support their movement. During this period, Sinclair
booked "The Five" as the regular house band at Detroit's famed
Grande Ballroom in what came to be
known as the
"Kick out the Jams"
shows.
He
was managing the MC5 at the time of their free concert outside the
1968 Democratic National
Convention in Chicago
. The
band was the only group to perform before baton-wielding police
broke up the massive
anti-Vietnam war rally,
calling it a riot. Eventually, the MC5 came to find Sinclair's
politics too heavy-handed.
He and the band went their separate ways in
1969[117604] but they are still friends and he has spoken
at their recent reunion concerts, including Massive Attack's 2008 Meltdown at London's South Bank
.
Arrest and imprisonment
After a series of convictions for possession of marijuana, Sinclair
was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1969 after giving two
joint of
marijuana to an undercover
narcotics officer.
This sentence inspired Abbie Hoffman to jump on the stage during
The Who's performance at Woodstock
to protest. It also sparked the landmark "Free John
Now Rally" at Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena
in December 1971. The event brought together
a who's who of left-wing luminaries, including pop musicians
John Lennon (who recorded the song,
"John Sinclair" on his
Some Time in New York City
album),
Yoko Ono,
David Peel,
Stevie Wonder,
Phil
Ochs and
Bob Seger, jazz artists
Archie Shepp and
Roswell Rudd, and speakers
Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman,
Rennie Davis,
David
Dellinger,
Jerry Rubin, and
Bobby Seale.
Three days after the rally, Sinclair was
released from prison when the Michigan Supreme Court
ruled that the state's marijuana statutes were
unconstitutional. These events inspired the creation of Ann
Arbor’s annual pro-legalization
Hash Bash
rally, which continues to be held as of 2009, and contributed to
the drive for decriminalization of marijuana under the Ann Arbor
city charter (see
Marijuana laws in Ann
Arbor, Michigan).
Performances, writing and poetry
On March 22, 2006, John Sinclair joined
The Black Crowes on stage at the
Paradiso in Amsterdam, and read his poem "Monk In
Orbit" during the instrumental break in the song "Nonfiction". Two
days later, he went back onstage at the Black Crowes show in the
Paradiso, reading his poem "Fat Boy" during the long instrumental
jam following the Black Crowes' song, "How Much For Your
Wings?".
On Saturday 17 May 2008 John Sinclair performed 3 poems as part of
the 100th weekly improvisation
online video, with in London.
In 2008, John Sinclair became editor-in-chief on the apolitical
anthology series Headpress from the independent publishing house
Headpress, a collaboration that continues
with It's All Good: A John Sinclair Reader + CD, and live
appearances and events.
On 20 January 2009, to mark Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th
President of the USA, Sinclair performed a series of his poems
accompanied by a live band at Cafe OTO in Dalston, East
London.
A day later, on 21 January 2009 he returned to the weekly
improvisation to take part in yr3wk32 (the 3rd year, the 32nd week)
online video
with in London.
On March 12 2009, he performed two pieces - including The Delta
Sound - at
The Oval Tavern, Croydon; backed by Charles Shaar
Murray on guitar and Bill Smith on harmonica.
On April 15 2009 John played a show to launch his new book IT'S ALL
GOOD at Filthy Macnasty's Whiskey Cafe in Islington.Accompanying
him were Charles Shaar Murray, Gary Laminn and Buffalo Bill Smith
on Harmonica.
In September and October of 2009, John Sinclair had two surgeries
in Detroit, MI USA to repair a hammer toe problem. He plans to
return to Europe in November after recovering.
As of late November 2009, John is serving as "High Priest" at the
22nd Annual Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam.
References
- >
- Agis Salpukas, "15,000 Attend Michigan U. Rally to Protest
Jailing of Radical Poet," New York Times, 12 December 1971, p.
76.
- http://www.crowesbase.com/tapelisting.cfm?TapeID=1813
- http://www.crowesbase.com/tapelisting.cfm?TapeID=1815
- CMSounds news item may 2008 CMSounds
- http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/programme/JOHNSINCLAIR.shtm
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81MQc4NghEA
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