Tom LaBlanc
A case-study of Tom LaBlanc, a peace activist, in pursuit of “Oneness”
By Hiroko Akiba - Spring 2005
His oldest memory as a three-year-old child is that a white guy tied him up and beat him because he looked Indian/Japanese.
He felt that he “did not fit anywhere and had no reason to live”.Like his mother who lost her son at birth, he was also desperate and had lost the meaning to live. This emptiness led him to join the war in Vietnam in his mid-twenties. He had nothing to lose. He was not afraid to die. He had no desire to live.
There in Vietnam, Tom LaBlanc, with no desire to live, saw many people killing each other, and saw many Vietnamese children looking for food. He then thought, “They do not even have enough food. At least I had food”. In addition, he did not want Vietnamese children to suffer as an orphan like he had because of the war.
Although he was ready in Vietnam to end his life, he eventually found a reason to live on by looking at the cruelty of war. He started to think about the meaning of his life for the first time, asking himself, “Who am I? What brought me here on earth?” It was this time that he was inspired to start writing poetry.
Peace must be shared, Peace is stronger than war. Peace must be taught, Peace must be the law for all.
(cited from Peace prayer, Tom LaBlanc)
When he came back from Vietnam to Minnesota in 1970
looking for his family root for the first time, he was
asked by an American Indian woman to join a meeting
where he found thousands of American Indians flocking
together for the American Indian Movement (AIM). Since
then, he has realized he is proud to be an American
Indian and to devote his life to American Indians.
Through AIM, he was able to learn in depth about his
root culture of Dakota Sioux Indians.
It was in the year 1978 that he participated in the
Longest Walk with other American Indians. This follows
the 1972 Trials of Broken Treaties, which aimed to
raise awareness about the mistreatments of indigenous
people. The 1972 trails took the same route that
indigenous people were forced to take in 1838 as they
gave away their land in the East to white settlers
(RedHawk, n.d.). The 1978 Longest Walk was a spiritual
walk from San Francisco and Washington, D.C. to raise
the awareness of American Indians. This 3,600 mile
Longest Walk was successful in gathering sufficient
support to halt proposed legislation abrogating Indian
treaties with the U.S. government (Banks, D. &Co.,
n.d.). When they got to Washington D.C., they occupied
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and took away official
documents from the Bureau. The Longest Walk played an
important role in letting these suppressed voices be
heard and in raising their identity as American
Indians.
He was then asked to work for the International Indian
Treaty Council (IITC), a non-governmental organization
comprised of 100 indigenous groups from North, Central,
South America, and the Pacific region. He worked there
collecting data and documents of indigenous people from
different regions. Through this work, he found out that
all the indigenous groups were discriminated against by
their governments and had a miserable life. He listened
to tapes by various indigenous people about massacre
and torture. Through the dialogues with other
indigenous people, he recognized the importance of
letting their voice be heard and raising the awareness
of uniting people of different colors for peace. He was
also assigned to coordinate the Indigenous Uranium
Forum, an international network for indigenous people
affected by the nuclear cycle. This led to the World
Uranium Hearing in Salzburg, Austria, where over one
hundred indigenous representatives around the world
came to give testimony. At the same time, he was also
in charge of helping to build the NGO to represent
indigenous groups at the United Nations. It was his
work at the IITC that brought him to Japan later on.
His first visit to Japan was in 1986 to help the Ainu,
the indigenous people in Hokkaido of northern Japan, to
set up a NGO to represent them at the United Nations.
Since then, he has visited Japan several times to join
the anti-nuclear movement and the peace run while
visiting other countries around the world. It was
during this period that he devoted more time to writing
and reading poetry at different occasions, which was
eventually leading him to quite his work at the ITTC.
His last visit to Japan was in 2002 to have poetry
readings with various local artists across the nation.
Two Japanese artists, Hiroshi Yamaguchi and Hosomi
Sakana, inspired by his poetry, immediately asked him
to put his poetry into music. A three-day session for
recording in Tokyo turned out to be a CD, Eagle Talk,
comprised of his poems that are both political and
personal. He recalled his last visit to Japan by saying
that the collaboration with various Japanese artists
has inspired him to sing and dance with his spoken
words.
Tom LaBlanc has a power to reach a number of people to
make a gradual change to the world of peace, which
Laura LaBlanc calls “Tom’s
magic”.
Like these two Japanese artists, his voice has been
reaching all the way to a musician, Åsmund Gylder, in
Norway. Åsmund Gylder was fascinated by his poetry
book, Dakota (1995), and wrote a letter to him, which
resulted in releasing a single in Norway. Åsmund Gylder
and Tom LaBlanc continue to work together to promote
Oneness through music and other forms of arts, which is
stated later in the next section.
His life and peace work for the last decade has been
inspired greatly by his youngest daughter, Isabella
Star. She was born when he was fifty years old.
Although he has many children through his past
marriages, she has brought another meaning to his life
as being a father again in his later life. He describes
her birth into his life as follows,
“I have developed a philosophy that allows me to be more at peace with others and myself. I look at my daughter and know that I am her link and her children’s link to creating a world where we use options other than war, racism, and classism to solve the problems.”
Her inspiration to the joy of his life is also found in his poetry.She soars around down here
(cited from Isabella Star, Tom LaBlanc)lifts me above it all please, my little one Go to sleep, rest well this very night and many more to come, May the warm winds always surround you with happiness and may God always give you Good Health. I love you, Your Daddy
His life started by being separated from his mother at
birth, and this has affected his family life by being
without a parent role model around him. He went through
several divorces, and suffered a great deal. However,
such personal anger and pain as a person have given him
more power to creating a world of peace through the
arts, which “provide
more insight into root of pain and
suffering”.
Creating
a world of peace through the arts
“Art is another key since it provides a way to communicate that often cannot convey with words.” “Do something better in indigenous way.” “Nurture the spirit, in the ‘Dakota’ way of education.
While the nation is regarded as having a leading role
in creating a world of peace, it is not the only player
in this responsibility. Each of us is responsible for
creating a world of peace in our daily lives, and
transmitting it into the different forms of action, as
Tom LaBlanc might say, into Oneness. I believe that it
is the individuals, rather than the nation, that are
central and crucial actors for creating a world of
peace. His work through the arts will give us some
insight about how the individual can contribute to
creating a world of peace. His work through the arts is
primarily based on poetry, music, and plays.
As a poet
As stated above, he started writing poetry when he was
in Vietnam. The poems were so personal that he did not
intend to share them with others. When he was at
college, his female classmate disclosed his poetry from
his notebook to others. Although he was upset with her,
he has since then decided to write poetry to share with
others. His poetry is both personal and political,
conveying the life power of words that gives the act of
communication a sacred dimension, which is a part of
the oral tradition of American Indians. His words have
spread around the world, and have been translated in
other 17 languages and published internationally
including Norway, Germany, and Japan. One of his
poems, “Songs
of the Revolutions,”
also touched the hearts of indigenous people in
Bolivia, and was used by a labor union of 70,000
indigenous people as a rallying cry.
Some of his poems show anger, hatred, and frustration
towards the world, but his poetry inherits the way in
which the “indigenous
way of creating a peace of world would heal the world
better”.
His poetry, 911, appeals to us to live in and believe
Oneness rather than creating more terror.
(911, Tom LaBlanc)911 Terror Lives in us all. Wake at this moment of time When it’s up all to us. We can heal ourselves. Save the world For, Oneness is a daily manifestation of natural prayer. Living in balance with the original songs of Harmony. One ocean One land One people Oneness In one life.
“Tom’s magic” is not confined to the publication of his poetry books and poetry reading: his words have been also spreading to other fields of arts, music and play, to create a world of peace, Oneness.
As a musician
Music plays a central role in the life of American Indian cultures. Music, being basic to human nature, comes from the center of the heart. American Indians believe that music convey the “power to heal pain, sustain the spirit, and heal individual and societal maladies” (Einhorn, 2001).
The most frequently used beat in the music of American Indians, according to Einhorn, is a four-beat sound that symbolizes the synchronicity of the rhythms of the Earth. Among various musical instruments for American Indian ceremonies, the drum plays an important role in American Indian spiritual life as the drumming, like the sound of our heartbeat, is believed to connect us to the Mother Earth. They believe drums, like pipes and all other things, have a spirit, through which they are able to communicate with the Creator (Robertson & Gunderson, 2003) and “to become one” .
It was in his forties that Tom LaBlanc started to play the American Indian drum. Music is also a part of his work, “more the spiritual waves passed on from the past singing today, the turning of the wheel”. He currently performs in the group, Red, Black, and Blue, in New Orleans. Along with this band, he beats the drum for spiritual ceremonies, such as wiping off the ceremony. This is a Dakota Indian ceremony to cease the violence and embrace all the life (“No more tears,” 2004). During these ceremonies, he beats the drum for world peace.
What he is most excited about right now is the release of a new CD, One People, with his Norwegian friend, Åsmund Gylder. This CD is for peace and harmony in the world in collaboration with artists around the world. This is to be released in Norway in 2006 and then hopefully in the United States. All the lyrics come from LaBlanc’s poems about Oneness and peace. They are also planning to have a trip to Senegal during the summer of 2006 to record the CD with local musicians. One People will be a series of five CDs from around the world to promote peace. Åsmund Gylder has kept this idea for the last decade, and it has finally come true to move towards Oneness through the music of peace and harmony.
What is common between Eagle Talk, released in Japan, and One People, to be released in Norway, is that they both use Tom LaBlanc’s poem, Oneness. These musicians in the different cultures are inspired by Oneness, and have been working together to let his Oneness spread around the world. A visionary lyric of Oneness reminds us about the critical importance of core human feelings such as peace and love. Oneness is such a poem that “reaches beneath the conceptual level, to the heart level, where it touched emotions and values, and energizes solidarity for action” (Ungerleider, 1999).
ONENESS
(Oneness, Tom LaBlanc)The old ones fear that soon there will be No more Indian Language. The old ones fear that soon there will be No more Indian Songs. The old ones fear that soon there will be No more Indian Prayers. The End of the world! Because being Indian is a daily manifestation of natural prayer living in balance with the original songs of harmony. If this we cannot recognize, then we all will have No more language, only noise, No more songs, only sounds, No more prayers, only fears. ONE OCEAN, ONE LAND, ONE PEOPLE, ONENESS IN ONE LIFE. This we all must put into our languages. This we all must put into our songs. This we all must put into our prayers. ONE OCEAN, ONE LAND, ONE PEOPLE, ONENESS IN ONE LIFE.
As an anti-racism workshop facilitator and player
Since he moved down to New Orleans in 2002, Tom LaBlanc has worked as a resource trainer of “undoing racism workshops” at the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. His official affiliation is DOTCOM comprising of three local resource trainers. The objective of the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, since its establishment in 1980, is to build a movement for social justice and equity by undoing racism that has been systematically inherited in the society (the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, 2003).
He recently worked with the Institute to perform the play, the Motherland: Before they came. This was performed at the Institute’s 25th anniversary celebration. It was a powerful play written and directed by a local organizer, Parnell (Herb) Herbert, to trace back the history of the lives of Africans before their capture, and their life in the United States. In the motherland, Africa and the United States, they were passionate to live. They were trying to find a reason to live. It was such a powerful story. This play does not merely intend to show the anger and sorrow of the Africans taken to the United States against their will. It is used as an effective way for us to learn from history that the current racism can be traced back to or linked to a period of genocidal enslavement and racial inequalities that is still prevailing in our society. Although the story of the play itself is powerful and deep in insights, the play captures the importance of creating harmony and peace in our generation by using different forms of arts throughout the play, such as music, singing, and dance. Such combination of the arts helps keep the vision of peace alive and deeply felt. As Tom LaBlanc said, “the United States is the land of racial experiment where people are living together”, this play and the Institute also play a crucial role in enhancing harmony and peace in such a land of racial experiment, which is eventually leading to Oneness.
Oneness for the harmony and peace
As the world becomes increasingly chaotic, losing the
value and reason to live in harmony, each of us must be
more aware of the true value of peace. I believe that
peace is not a goal, but a process for us to live in
harmony with everyone and everything around us. Peace
must not be convenient in favor of some people. Peace
needs to be achieved through the daily contribution of
our deeds to the present moment of life and also
on-going life for our children.
The “Oneness” that transcends in Tom
LaBlanc’s
poetry, music, and plays provides a message for living
in a world where people love, respect, accept, and
forgive. In this way we are all united and
interconnected to creating a world of peace. Despite
his hard life experiences, he has transformed his pain
into the power to create Oneness in the world. Some
might be overwhelmed by his life experience and various
work towards peace. He is an ordinary man like us. He
is a father and grandfather in a big family like us. He
also has problems to consider like us. He gets angry
and frustrated like us. However, he has found his own
way to contribute to creating the world of peace. His
work has been slowly spread around the world, and the
project of Oneness has just started in Norway.
It is said that storytelling in American Indian culture
plays an important role in encouraging readers or
listeners to convey meaning in their lives. I am hoping
that this story of Tom LaBlanc will provide some
meanings to the reader to find a way to contribute to
creating a world of peace as
Oneness.
Acknowledgements
In
developing the paper, I would like to express
appreciation to Tom LaBlanc, Laura LaBlanc, Isabella
Star, William Lewin, Parnell (Herb) Herbert, Åsmund
Gylder, and the People’s
Institute for Survival and Beyond for their support and
encouragement. I have encountered more unnamed people
through this paper. I also thank these kindred souls
for their support. They are all inspiration to this
paper, and my appreciation to you is not enough to say
much in words. I again appreciate Tom LaBlanc for
letting me visit him in New Orleans to share his
personal talks, notes, and files, and for inviting me
to his family gathering in Minnesota during May 2005. I
am hoping that this paper will play a part in bringing
people into Oneness by letting his voice reach as many
people as possible in the world.