The Road Home Founder, Gabrielle Jones-Price presents : The Refreshment Center
The Road Home Music Project began as a house concert series in 2009. Its mission was to provide a venue for local and national independent artists to perform in a quiet, focused setting in Indianapolis and to raise funds and support for two national music charities. But it was so much more. It had reached a high point where it moved into a larger, historic house [with an incredibly interesting story of its own]; complete with a ballroom for shows, a planned photography gallery to showcase local photographers and a collaboration with a local internet radio station. The project was met with excitement from many but with fear from others close to it. (Sometimes, fear of success is just as debilitating for some as fear of failure.) As a result, drama llamas insisted on spreading rumors, molehills were made into mountains and this particular incarnation The Road Home was not meant to be.
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| The ballroom |
Not one to give up, I booked a few shows at a local yoga space and co-produced a Haiti benefit, all the while busy behind the scenes retooling the idea and the focus of the project. Internet radio was a recurring theme throughout.
As a writer and activist, my focus was always on economic and social/political issues. Politically active before the music project came to life, my first blog was birthed during the Bush years. I shared information and my concerns for what I saw happening to this country and its constitution. This led to a trip to DC to document and photograph the (then) largest anti-war protest since Vietnam. My concerns grew deeper as this amazing protest garnered little to no media attention...but I was heartened by the wonderful people I met that day in our nation's capital. A day I will never forget.
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| January 27th, 2007 - over 100,000 strong |
I noticed something terribly wrong with media during Katrina; then with little or no coverage of the protest, I decided to dive deeper. My research over subsequent years proved it was worse than I had ever imagined; which prompted my exodus from politics and embracing The Road Home project. The media problem seemed too huge for one radical chick from the cornbelt. Was Obama's inauguration moving? Absolutely. It turned my state blue for the first time since the year I was born. Did things actually change? No.
In fact, they were made much worse.
In fact, they were made much worse.
For those of us who like to be kept informed during wartime, corporate press has become frighteningly unusual without an independent 'free press' to keep it in check. Corporate media is not a free press. It is PR for a war machine that has continued unabated since before the invasion of Iraq.
I maintained The Road Home presence in social media after its first road bump, using those tools to continue to share independent music, trending economic, social, and energy news and analysis. It was the BP disaster that pushed me further down the rabbit hole. Research led me to discover the Peak Oil and transition movements. This prompted The Refreshment Center's return to the web. I traveled during Occupy and joined forces with other researchers and bloggers; spending the better part of the last 7 years honing my research skills. My comment on the Occupy movement was featured in a 2-year Occupy anniversary book release, alongside notable supporters like Chris Hedges, Noam Chomsky and my former mentor, Michael C. Ruppert [RIP, Scout]. My intent has been to share 'news you can use' to prepare for the coming paradigm shifts. These shifts are becoming all too clear in the US as they occur in Europe and points East now with energy costs rapidly skyrocketing...along with food, goods, housing.
What goes up, must come down. Infinite growth is the ideology of cancer cell. Tyranny is the malignant cancer that must be removed.
History is upon us. Mainstream media continues to ignore it, government spins it and democratic principles have suffered. With this current administration, it is up to all of us to record it, report it and reclaim those principles -- unapologetically. The truth cares nothing for politics and PR, and good journalists should be non-partisan, if not coldly detached from corporate dictates. That's what makes a free press 'free' -- it takes public demand to keep it that way. After this last election, I can say there's a hint we may be headed in the right direction.
[My OWS interview on PressTV, 2012]
The Refreshment Center's mission is to share information that allows patrons to read/hear 'news they can use': independent news with a wide variety of wise and passionate thinkers, writers and activists. It does not and has never looked like a mainstream outlet and we do not do 'click bait' or troll for viewership with inflammatory headlines. TRC will have a donate button and other ways to give moving forward. Your contribution receipts will always read The Road Home.
One thing that will be very important as we move forward together is sharing transition stories from those who have paid attention to the reality of the situation we all face. For those starting out, it is never too late to begin to glean knowledge from those who are savvy about the pitfalls of gardening, food storage, security and other topics that are likely to change as these shifts continue to occur more rapidly. Our friend, Michael Ruppert used to have a 'Lighthouse Directory' of over 800 such savvy folks -- unfortunately, that directory has gone missing since he passed. We'd like to help keep that lighthouse on however we can.
The Refreshment Center's name was derived from a love of American drive-in movie theaters, so there will be plenty of pop culture, art, and laughs. It is important to remember our humor is a big part of our humanity...and our healing. It is a priority to find our own 'refreshment' during these times. With historic changes come social and cultural change, which has always reflected vibrantly in the arts. We encourage all artists to heed that call.
Another type of 'refreshment' we offer is spiritual discussion. Radical change is scary and effects us at our core. The Refreshment Center honors this by focusing on radical solutions to healing, rather than political and language manipulation. That old paradigm is dying and we would like to put it to rest by empowering people, not institutions who benefit from fear-based propaganda.
We can no longer kick the can down the road for future generations to trip over. Let's pick it up and recycle the thing! We're building content for podcasts, NEW exclusive book and audio excerpts from Crossing the Rubicon, and ongoing analysis. Any gift is generous to support a free, independent and woman-owned outlet. Sharing links and commenting is also a welcome way to support this outlet.
We can no longer kick the can down the road for future generations to trip over. Let's pick it up and recycle the thing! We're building content for podcasts, NEW exclusive book and audio excerpts from Crossing the Rubicon, and ongoing analysis. Any gift is generous to support a free, independent and woman-owned outlet. Sharing links and commenting is also a welcome way to support this outlet.
After 7 years, I see now that The Road Home was about a journey. A long road or a short road, a smooth or bumpy road, no matter where you are The Refreshment Center hopes you will make us a frequent media stop on your journey. We're all on the road to a simpler and more regenerative future. Let us all work to make that future a wiser one as well.
Love, solidarity and rock n' roll,
Mitakuye Oyasin.Gabrielle
