

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.


Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
George Randt is a doctor of internal medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.
He's also a supporter of a single payer national health insurance system.
Randt was in downtown Cleveland last month at a rally to protest cuts to public services.
At the rally, Randt heard Jonathan Blackshire singing.
What caught Randt's attention was a song that Blackshire wrote for the Occupy movement.
The song?
99 to 1.
Randt liked the song.
George Randt is a doctor of internal medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.
He's also a supporter of a single payer national health insurance system.
Randt was in downtown Cleveland last month at a rally to protest cuts to public services.
At the rally, Randt heard Jonathan Blackshire singing.
What caught Randt's attention was a song that Blackshire wrote for the Occupy movement.
The song?
99 to 1.
Randt liked the song.

Blackshire said -- no he hadn't.
"What's holding you back?" Randt asked.
"I'm a musician," Blackshire said. "I don't have any money."
Randt forked over $200.
And Blackshire went to Suma Recording Studios and did the deed.
On his web site, Blackshire describes his music as folk, acoustic, and indie.
But it's a country song in the true sense -- it defends the country from corporate attack.
"We're not from the left or right," Blackshire sings. "We're from America."
"Our issues are not black and white. They are American."
"We won't let them divide us anymore. And if we stay united, we can be a nation once more."
After writing the song last year, Blackshire wanted to make sure he got the Occupy movement right.
He test drove 99 to 1 to a group of Occupiers in Cleveland in September.
"It was just my interpretation of what is going on," Blackshire said. "So, I took it down to Occupy Cleveland. It was midnight. There was a long line of tents. I had just finished a show. Everyone was quiet inside their tents. Somebody steps out of a tent and talks to me. Then more people came out and started talking to me. I played the tune. And they gave me the thumbs up."
Blackshire has written a number of other occupy songs -- including We Will Not Stop, We Shall Rise Up, We Need a Hero, Non Violence, and Consensus.
But if there is an Occupy album, 99 to 1 will be the title song of the album.
And maybe of the movement.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
George Randt is a doctor of internal medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.
He's also a supporter of a single payer national health insurance system.
Randt was in downtown Cleveland last month at a rally to protest cuts to public services.
At the rally, Randt heard Jonathan Blackshire singing.
What caught Randt's attention was a song that Blackshire wrote for the Occupy movement.
The song?
99 to 1.
Randt liked the song.

Blackshire said -- no he hadn't.
"What's holding you back?" Randt asked.
"I'm a musician," Blackshire said. "I don't have any money."
Randt forked over $200.
And Blackshire went to Suma Recording Studios and did the deed.
On his web site, Blackshire describes his music as folk, acoustic, and indie.
But it's a country song in the true sense -- it defends the country from corporate attack.
"We're not from the left or right," Blackshire sings. "We're from America."
"Our issues are not black and white. They are American."
"We won't let them divide us anymore. And if we stay united, we can be a nation once more."
After writing the song last year, Blackshire wanted to make sure he got the Occupy movement right.
He test drove 99 to 1 to a group of Occupiers in Cleveland in September.
"It was just my interpretation of what is going on," Blackshire said. "So, I took it down to Occupy Cleveland. It was midnight. There was a long line of tents. I had just finished a show. Everyone was quiet inside their tents. Somebody steps out of a tent and talks to me. Then more people came out and started talking to me. I played the tune. And they gave me the thumbs up."
Blackshire has written a number of other occupy songs -- including We Will Not Stop, We Shall Rise Up, We Need a Hero, Non Violence, and Consensus.
But if there is an Occupy album, 99 to 1 will be the title song of the album.
And maybe of the movement.
George Randt is a doctor of internal medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.
He's also a supporter of a single payer national health insurance system.
Randt was in downtown Cleveland last month at a rally to protest cuts to public services.
At the rally, Randt heard Jonathan Blackshire singing.
What caught Randt's attention was a song that Blackshire wrote for the Occupy movement.
The song?
99 to 1.
Randt liked the song.

Blackshire said -- no he hadn't.
"What's holding you back?" Randt asked.
"I'm a musician," Blackshire said. "I don't have any money."
Randt forked over $200.
And Blackshire went to Suma Recording Studios and did the deed.
On his web site, Blackshire describes his music as folk, acoustic, and indie.
But it's a country song in the true sense -- it defends the country from corporate attack.
"We're not from the left or right," Blackshire sings. "We're from America."
"Our issues are not black and white. They are American."
"We won't let them divide us anymore. And if we stay united, we can be a nation once more."
After writing the song last year, Blackshire wanted to make sure he got the Occupy movement right.
He test drove 99 to 1 to a group of Occupiers in Cleveland in September.
"It was just my interpretation of what is going on," Blackshire said. "So, I took it down to Occupy Cleveland. It was midnight. There was a long line of tents. I had just finished a show. Everyone was quiet inside their tents. Somebody steps out of a tent and talks to me. Then more people came out and started talking to me. I played the tune. And they gave me the thumbs up."
Blackshire has written a number of other occupy songs -- including We Will Not Stop, We Shall Rise Up, We Need a Hero, Non Violence, and Consensus.
But if there is an Occupy album, 99 to 1 will be the title song of the album.
And maybe of the movement.