When The Drums Stop

“The flag bearers!” Sergeant Loyod pointed down the line as three Confederate battle flags made it to the top of the berm, waving erratically back and forth. “Shoot’em down! Don’t let them rally!” For two years, the terrible and bloody Civil War raged in the United States of America, tearing at the very fabric of its glorious founding. In the midst of utter turmoil a young boy, Anderson Roach, longed to join his brother as part of the famed Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry. With his brother gone fighting for nearly two years, Anderson was now ready to leave the farm and prove himself by joining the ranks of men on the battlefield. Little did Anderson know that his dreams of adventure and heroism would soon be met with the harsh reality of soldiering in the Union Army. With each step, he would walk hand in hand with death and experience the physical and mental anguish of war.

In this vivid ethnography of social movements in the barrios, or poor shantytowns, of Caracas, Sujatha Fernandes reveals a significant dimension of political life in Venezuela since President Hugo Chávez was elected. Fernandes traces the histories of the barrios, from the guerrilla insurgency, movements against displacement, and cultural resistance of the 1960s and 1970s, through the debt crisis of the early 1980s and the neoliberal reforms that followed, to the Chávez period. She weaves barrio residents’ life stories into her account of movements for social and economic justice. Who Can Stop the Drums? demonstrates that the transformations under way in Venezuela are shaped by negotiations between the Chávez government and social movements with their own forms of historical memory, local organization, and consciousness. Fernandes portrays everyday life and politics in the shantytowns of Caracas through accounts of community-based radio, barrio assemblies, and popular fiestas, and the many interviews she conducted with activists and government officials. Most of the barrio activists she presents are Chávez supporters. They see the leftist president as someone who understands their precarious lives and has made important changes to the state system to redistribute resources. Yet they must balance receiving state resources, which are necessary to fund their community-based projects, with their desire to retain a sense of agency. Fernandes locates the struggles of the urban poor within Venezuela’s transition from neoliberalism to what she calls “post-neoliberalism.” She contends that in contemporary Venezuela we find a hybrid state; while Chávez is actively challenging neoliberalism, the state remains subject to the constraints and logics of global capital.

Bass player and rapidly aging punk rocker Underend Vicodini is an unlikely hero. He loves New York City like nobody's business but does it still love him despite his lack of affluence and influence? His former band, The Gutter Astronomers, was riding high in the 1980s, releasing albums and touring across the country playing to packed nightclubs filled with eager fans, but the Great Recession finds the band members middle-aged and struggling not to drown in the seas of gentrification and disillusion. When lead singer Mickey gets an offer to reunite the band, he jumps at it. But can the old bandmates overcome their acrimonious break up? Can they get back into it without shredding their lives? Can Underend Vicodini find inner peace and, more importantly, a reasonably priced apartment below 14th Street or in Brooklyn? Steven Wishnia is a New York-based musician and journalist. Born on the Lower East Side, he grew up in Brooklyn, New England, Edinburgh, and Long Island. He has played in numerous bands, including the False Prophets, an eclectic punk group that recorded two albums released by Alternative Tentacles. After the False Prophets broke up in 1987, he earned an MA at New York University's School of Journalism, writing for failing newspapers before working for many years as news editor at High Times. Recipient of two New York City Independent Press Association awards, he currently works as a freelance writer and editor, most often for AlterNet.org and Junior Scholastic, and often performs musically with artist Mac McGill.

"The flag bearers!" Sergeant Loyod pointed down the line as three Confederate battle flags made it to the top of the berm, waving erratically back and forth. "Shoot'em down! Don't let them rally!" For two years, the terrible and bloody Civil War raged in the United States of America, tearing at the very fabric of its glorious founding. In the midst of utter turmoil a young boy, Anderson Roach, longed to join his brother as part of the famed Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry. With his brother gone fighting for nearly two years, Anderson was now ready to leave the farm and prove himself by joining the ranks of men on the battlefield. Little did Anderson know that his dreams of adventure and heroism would soon be met with the harsh reality of soldiering in the Union Army. With each step, he would walk hand in hand with death and experience the physical and mental anguish of war. This is the large print edition of When The Drums Stop, with a larger font / typeface for easier reading.

"The flag bearers!" Sergeant Loyod pointed down the line as three Confederate battle flags made it to the top of the berm, waving erratically back and forth. "Shoot'em down! Don't let them rally!" For two years, the terrible and bloody Civil War raged in the United States of America, tearing at the very fabric of its glorious founding. In the midst of utter turmoil a young boy, Anderson Roach, longed to join his brother as part of the famed Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry. With his brother gone fighting for nearly two years, Anderson was now ready to leave the farm and prove himself by joining the ranks of men on the battlefield. Little did Anderson know that his dreams of adventure and heroism would soon be met with the harsh reality of soldiering in the Union Army. With each step, he would walk hand in hand with death and experience the physical and mental anguish of war. This is the large print edition of When The Drums Stop, with a larger font / typeface for easier reading.

"The flag bearers!" Sergeant Loyod pointed down the line as three Confederate battle flags made it to the top of the berm, waving erratically back and forth. "Shoot'em down! Don't let them rally!"For two years, the terrible and bloody Civil War raged in the United States of America, tearing at the very fabric of its glorious founding. In the midst of utter turmoil a young boy, Anderson Roach, longed to join his brother as part of the famed Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry.With his brother gone fighting for nearly two years, Anderson was now ready to leave the farm and prove himself by joining the ranks of men on the battlefield. Little did Anderson know that his dreams of adventure and heroism would soon be met with the harsh reality of soldiering in the Union Army.With each step, he would walk hand in hand with death and experience the physical and mental anguish of war. This is the large print edition of When The Drums Stop, with a larger font / typeface for easier reading.

"The flag bearers!" Sergeant Loyod pointed down the line as three Confederate battle flags made it to the top of the berm, waving erratically back and forth. "Shoot'em down! Don't let them rally!" For two years, the terrible and bloody Civil War raged in the United States of America, tearing at the very fabric of its glorious founding. In the midst of utter turmoil a young boy, Anderson Roach, longed to join his brother as part of the famed Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry. With his brother gone fighting for nearly two years, Anderson was now ready to leave the farm and prove himself by joining the ranks of men on the battlefield. Little did Anderson know that his dreams of adventure and heroism would soon be met with the harsh reality of soldiering in the Union Army. With each step, he would walk hand in hand with death and experience the physical and mental anguish of war. NOTE: This is the large print edition of When The Drums Stop, with a larger font / typeface for easier reading.