On Earth Day the Atrium at Lincoln Center presented Susie Ibarra and Roberto Rodriguez's Electric Kulintang. Both of these well-known Downtown musicians have been involved in researching the indigenous culture of the Philippines, and have been working on a film about their efforts called "Song of the Bird King." I had tried to find examples of Filipino "roots music" a number of years ago with very little success, and in this film (a fragment of which was presented that night) I heard some spine-tingling stuff, so I am really looking forward to the film's completion and getting the full immersion! The film focuses not only on the challenges of keeping a culture alive in the face of globalization, but on the physical degradation of the ecosystem that has supported life on the island, affecting man, fauna and flora.

Electric Kulintang call their music "Eco-Electronica." Rodriguez is the partner percussionist, programmer and beatmeister, while Ibarra plays drums and various xylophones as well as the Kulintang, a traditional Philippine instrument comprised of a series of gongs, and reminiscent of those found in an Indonesian gamelan. The concert debuted material from their forthcoming CD "Drum Codes" which Ibarra describes as "musical stories and dedications to ancestors and the environment." This video is of "Drum Code #3," which they presented toward the end of their set. Ibarra says "I play on the Philippine Kulintang gongs, Taggungo style. This traditional Southern Filipino Maguindanaon style is performed in respect to spirits and used in healing."

Electronica, as Rodriguez composes it, contains an invitation to trance that is an appropriate matrix for the shamanistic meditations inspired by the Kulintang. One could focus on the musician's performance, but the experience was also interactive with the Atrium itself. Rodriguez' digitally generated sounds resonated into and off the various surfaces of the hall, creating a cocoon for Ibarra's percussive, minimalist motifs, and I could easily imagine the music as an installation piece. I have brought many architectural images from the Atrium itself into the video, as this seemed the best way to convey the experience as a whole , including one of the Green Walls (living tapestries of plants) that adorn the Atrium. I recommend listening to this video with headphones, to get the full effect, as there are some subtle electronic sounds that are fairly low in the mix.

Rodriguez and Ibarra are engaged citizens of our planet whose music attempts to express how our inner and outer worlds relate. Electric Kulintang's merging of ambient/shamanistic/experimental music was a singularly appropriate programming choice for Earth Day.

Tuesday, December 7th, in downtown Cancun, thousands of locals, NGOs and community groups took to the streets, mobilizing for climate justice in the wake of the UNFCCC negotiations. People carrying large banners, beating drums and chanting in unison, marched through busy streets filled with curious onlookers for almost two miles to draw attention to various issues surrounding climate change and its impacts. Countless local and state groups from Mexico and other parts of Latin America joined together, including the Mexican Action Network on Free Trade, the Indigenous Group Tepehuano of UNORCA (National Union of Autonomous Regional Peasants Organizations), and the Indigenous and Ecological Federation of Chiapas. Mexican chapters of organizations like Friends of the Earth, 350.org, Oxfam, and Greenpeace were also present and adding to the commotion.

While the nuances of their causes varied, the tone of the people gathering was clear: urgent action on climate change is vital. Perhaps the most vocal of the groups present at the march were the Mayan community members, who were teamed up with the International Forum on Globalization (IFG) and the Organization of Forest Producers' Cooperatives of the Zona Maya (OEPFZM), to express their dissatisfaction with the Mexican government for withholding compensation owed to them for an extreme decade-long drought, which has devastated corn crops, food security, and Mayan livelihoods.

The Mayan community is calling for drastic cuts in greenhouse gases by industrial countries, and immediate assistance for adapting to impacts of climate change, like the drought. Some feel it is possible that come Friday, when the UNFCCC talks come to a close, negotiations will establish a fund that will adequately help vulnerable communities cope with their changing climate. State Secretary Emiliano Ramos, felt fairly optimistic that progress could be made on issues that affect the world's poorest (he gauged his level of optimism at a "5" on a scale of one to ten), but others were not so hopeful. A man representing an indigenous group of UNORCA, had lost all faith in negotiations and just wanted emergency help of some kind for his climate-related hardships.

Victor Menotti, Executive Director of IFG, felt what was needed most from developed countries was real commitments, not just pledges. He expressed hopes that there would be "goodwill and cooperation [in talks] and that governments would come to their senses" but that it would take "a lot of noise on the street to make that happen."

As we marched with the people through the avenues of downtown Cancun under the hot midday sun, the energy of the group seemed endless. Our final destination was the Palacio Municipal where we expected people to disperse, or at least sit down to rest. But upon arriving, there was a stage set up complete with live music and MC, and giant house-sized corn cob structures illustrating (with a touch of humor) the plight of the indigenous Mayan farmer. The crowd was instantly reinvigorated and the mobilization continued on for hours.

With Friday's outcome still hanging in the balance, the fate of the Mayan farming community and many other vulnerable areas around the world that are most heavily affected by decreases in rainfall and other environmental changes, is unknown. Hopefully Tuesday's noise on the street caught the attention of negotiators not far down the road at the Moon Palace conference center.

Watch the documentary Waiting for the Revolution online!

For over 500 years the indigenous people of the Andes have had to endure racism and discrimination. Now, with democracy on their side, the time has come for a change. Following two newly elected indigenous leaders from the campaign trail to their first year in office, filmmaker Rodrigo Vasquez journeys into the heart of the democratic revolution in Bolivia.

It takes more than a Che Guevara t-shirt to be a revolutionary - and Waiting for the Revolution proves this. It wasn’t branded images of rebellion that inspired Che – it was experiences traveling around in Latin America and Africa and observing the realities of rural poverty. The living conditions of the destitute convinced him that radical change was necessary. Today, billions of people still live in poverty, without access to adequate healthcare, clean water and food. The world’s ecosystems are under tremendous strain from human impact. Corruption and human rights violations still impact large parts of the human population. Is there a way to change these negative trends? Don’t say it’s a t-shirt. What would make you start a revolution?