John Sinclair (anarchist)
John Sinclair (born October 2, 1941 in Flint , Michigan ) is an American poet and writer and was the manager of MC5 and chairman of the White Panther Party .
Life
In July 1969, John Sinclair was sentenced to 9.5 and 10 years in prison, respectively, for selling two joints to undercover drug agents.
At the Woodstock Festival in 1969, activist Abbie Hoffman interrupted the performance of British rock band The Who while trying to make a protest speech against Sinclair's capture. Who guitarist Pete Townshend chased him off the stage; Townshend later said that he actually agreed with Hoffman about Sinclair's capture.
In prison he wrote the books Guitar Army and Music & Politics . Rob Levin was a co-author of the latter . His books have made him a national symbol of the struggle for marijuana legalization . On December 10, 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono led the Free John Now Rally in front of 15,000 people at the Chrysler Arena in Ann Arbor , singing the song John Sinclair in his honor, which contained the following text, The Freedom of Sinclair demanded:
- It ain't fair, John Sinclair
- In the stir for breathing air
- Won't you care for John Sinclair?
- In the stir for breathing air
- Let him be, set him free
- Let him be like you and me
- They gave him ten for two
- What else can the judges do?
- Gotta ... set him free
Three days later, the Michigan Supreme Court dismissed Sinclair and reversed the ruling in his favor.
Sinclair was instrumental in founding the anarchist underground newspaper Fifth Estate in Detroit .
In March 2006 the American rock band The Black Crowes played three concerts at the Paradiso in Amsterdam . On March 22nd, Sinclair enriched the jam passage in the piece Nonfiction with the recitation of his poem Monk in Orbit . Two days later he appeared in the same place to add the poem Fat Boy to the psychedelic sounds of the song How Much for Your Wings? to perform.
Web links
- John and Leni Sinclair Archives, 1957–1999, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
- John Sinclair's blog
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://crowesbase.com/tapelisting.cfm?TapeID=1813
- ↑ http://crowesbase.com/tapelisting.cfm?TapeID=1815
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Sinclair, John |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American poet and writer; former manager of MC5 and Chairman of the White Panther Party |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 2, 1941 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Flint (Michigan) |