Newsic Release: Think Humanity

"This world has room for everyone, the good earth can provide for everyone" - Charlie Chaplin

(SALEM) - The powers of art, courage, music and humanity collide in this new Newsic release by Agron Belica or 'Ace', Think Humanity. The simple concept that benefits all people is simply lost on far too many. All human beings are born with the capacity to love and aid others, yet the powers of fascism and racism and polarization are strong and determined, which is why we must meet those challenges with an equal amount of strength and inflexible dedication.

The piece begins with one of my absolute all time favorite quotes, Mario Savio, an activist at Berkeley University in the mid 1960's, sets it into motion.

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There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!

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What is different about Newsic?

Music is entertainment and Newsic is positive entertainment. We are not singing about rejected lovers or senseless gang violence.

The themes of our songs are comments on the social, economic, and political problems of our day. They point out wrongs and encourage us to work for a better, more just world. We want to oppose the degrading forces of individual and corporate greed, militarism, and racism that give us nothing in exchange for the misery and horror they inflict upon mankind.

We sing against forces such as the biased media that tacitly condone the torture and assassination used as expedient tools by the new imperialism. We sing about the suffering of the so-called "little" people, the individuals who are crushed by a soulless system. We sing for a better world of Truth, Justice, and Peace. - Agron Belica

The power from those words resonates throughout the entire production. Salem-News.com Newsic is a concept, as Agron explains, that transcends all of the meaningless clutter of songs that exploit ego, women, and misguided notions of self-indulgence. Our songs are about saving lives and educating people - as to what is really going on in this world. We take on no easy subjects.

Savio's priceless words from 1964 are mixed with the incredible famous anti-war speech of a great American named Charlie Chaplin. Hardly a clown, Chaplin's political views landed him in hot water time and time again. He had courage that millions today clearly lack. He could see the military industrial complex for what it was in the first half of the 20th Century. After all, the United States supplied the Third Reich with plenty of backing, lest we ever forget. There are people on this earth who want war and they need to be dealt with severely.

The raw, memorable words of Savio and Chaplin are balanced with the present day through the inclusion of the exquisite humanitarian activist and writer, Ken O'Keefe, who coined the term 'TJP' (Truth, Justice Peace) - and has made world headlines time and time again for his advocacy of the Palestinian people, and Siraj Davis in Occupied Palestine, who founded Collective Consciousness. Siraj is currently rallying for a young man named Ziyad Yaghi who was taken away by U.S. authorities under the dreaded anti-American legislation known as the NDAA, or 'National Defense Authorization Act' which allows the United States to arbitrarily arrest and detain Americans without granting them due process, the NDAA is a torch hovering near our Constitution which guarantees protection from such diabolic actions.

Anyone familiar with the Holy Qu'ran knows exactly what Agron is saying in these lyrics.

Pray, cry, ask the Lord on high,
The greatest reply; I'm rebel-authorized;
Mission clear, serve humanity!
Fear the One God, testify, and keep the loyalty!

The clay, the human, the fashion, the mold
A story of old: the angels, the fold;
One rejected, haughty and bold,
The warning foretold, your children his goal!

Threat is real; no, I'm not mistaken.
My words for Satan—forever keep it blatant:
Knowledge with wisdom, soul ever richer,
I'm Khidr in scripture; don't question, I’ll hit ya!

The man, the pen, with purity begin,
The oral, the written, what’s memorized within;
The heart—it’s core, the mind, the glore;
The soul will soar forever more!

Salem-News.com Writer/Author/Musician Agron Belica, faced many challenges growing up as a rootless street youth, situations so intense that they threatened to destroy him- that is until he rediscovered his Muslim roots a few years ago and turned his life around.

In 2008, Agron Belica published his research article The Revival of the Prophet Yahya, and has caused quite a stir in scholarly circles. In 2009, a new theory was born, The Crucifixion: Mistaken Identity? John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ.

With no formal advanced education, he offers new interpretations of certain key words in the Quran along with his challenging theories about the role of John the Baptist in the Crucifixion and has attracted the attention of well-known scholars in the field of comparative religion, such as Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar, the first American woman to translate the Quran into English, the noted university professor, Dr. Mahmoud Ayoub, and the author and translator, Dr. Jay R. Crook.

When it comes to comparative religion, Agron has the ability to go up against the most studied religious scholars and few come calling. They fear his logical interpretations based on historical record, and they should.

With almost 25 years of experience on the west coast and worldwide as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor, Tim King is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine who follows stories of Marines and Marine Veterans; he's covered British Royal Marines and in Iraq, Tim embedded with the same unit he served with in the 1980's.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from traditional mainstream news agencies like The Associated Press and Electronic Media Association; he also holds awards from the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs; and was presented with a 'Good Neighbor Award' for his reporting, by the The Red Cross.