i wrote an email to the guy from FuelTV asking him some questions and telling him about my hesitations. He wrote me back a really nice message explaining that the people at Fuel aren't directly affiliated with the people at Fox News, even though they are under the same umbrella. he told me that 80% of Fox's contributions in the last election went to the democratic party. he said that Fuel donates to environmental charities and to charities to find a cure for breast cancer. he told me that they just really love my song and told me that they really want to use it in the piece. the storyboard for the piece is beatiful and the artist, nathan reifke, is AMAZING.

i asked for advice here and on myspace and 95% of the replies i got told me to go for it.

but i decided not to.

i decided that it is not an issue of "selling out" or not. and it has nothing to do with money. i just don't want my art connected to a network logo. if they asked me to be on the soundtrack of a fox searchlight film i might say yes. if they asked me to have a song in the background of one of their skate shows i might say yes. but a network ID for a fox owned network seems to cross the line of what i can consider okay for me. it's just how i feel in my gut.

thanks to everyone who told me what they thought about the situation. i read every single reply twice. and took every reply to heart. but i was sad that there weren't more people telling me to fuck the man.

i think that is another reason i decided not to do it.

i got a sense that most people feel like there is nothing we can do and these corporate media "giants" have already won, so i should take the money and run. that idea hurts my soul. it felt good to write to the guy and tell him honestly how i feel. it felt good to be a little speck of dust in a great big universe standing before something so much bigger than me and saying "i'm sorry, but this makes me feel bad."

so, in a roundabout way, you all made me realize what is important to me.

-to love and be loved
-fighting the good fight
-recognizing the value of being true to myself
-communication and communities
-using my voice
-being someone panda can be proud of

i really believe my choices make a difference.

thanks for trusting me and loving me and helping me.

you should all read the article in the seattle weekly about the band dead moon.

it's really appropriate and inspiring.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0638/deadmoon.php

(Post a new comment)

	bouncingfizgig 2006-09-21 09:10 pm UTC (link)
	here I am, a big beefy guy at work and i'm about ready to cry because you're so amazing... (Reply to this)

	planetdracula 2006-09-21 09:18 pm UTC (link)
	yeah but Kimya I told you, I met the Fuel TV people. they're not "the man." they're a tiny-ass UHF station staffed by cool people. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - kimya_dawson_, 2006-09-21 09:29 pm UTC

(no subject) - planetdracula, 2006-09-21 10:13 pm UTC

(no subject) - kimya_dawson_, 2006-09-21 10:16 pm UTC

	on_a_hill 2006-09-21 09:19 pm UTC (link)
	I don't think it's always about giving up and just letting the man take over......I think sometimes it's about different perspective and different priorities. Not better or worse, just different. Fucking way to go! I KNOW you made a difference. (Reply to this)

believe what they're feeding, you're eating it up hero_marauder 2006-09-21 09:20 pm UTC (link)

good for you! i hestitated to comment, because i would have been one of the "fuck the man" teamsters. for whatever reason it seemed inappropriate to say when you presented it in such a positive light. but it DID get me to thinking! i came to a very similar conclusion. if one has to think that much, than obviously one is just cardstacking excuses to get rid of that weird, illogical voice that says "you work for people who wear suits and hurt kids. i have nothing to do with you.". good for you, kimya. there are too many word acrobats performing with both harness and net nowadays. if you don't buy into their excuses you're made to look stupid, ill informed, or stubborn. trusting your gut is a hard thing to keep after puberty, and it's really amazing that you're able to stay so aware of what is right! GOOD FOR YOU, KIMYA! we love you. (Reply to this)(Thread)

Re: believe what they're feeding, you're eating it up - (Anonymous), 2006-09-22 12:02 am UTC

Re: believe what they're feeding, you're eating it up - hero_marauder, 2006-09-22 12:27 am UTC

	sunfireshine 2006-09-21 09:21 pm UTC (link)
	i love you. (Reply to this)

modestmary 2006-09-21 09:22 pm UTC (link)

It takes a lot of guts to turn down money for principles and its not something most would do, especially after recieving so much support from others to do it and go for it..most would have felt justified to do so, but you didn't. I feel so cheesey telling you this,but anytime anyone asks me who I look up to most or what person I would want to model my life after, I always say you and explain about what an amazing person you are, not just because of all the stands you take but for the little things too. You played a show here in Odessa TX at EARLS II I believe and you were waiting to play or go in or something and someone had a flat..or broke down or something to that effect across the road and you went and helped them, I was a huge fan and I just thought to myself, "this lady is the most amazing person, if I can be 1/4 of what she is I would be satisfied" Ok..dumbcheesefest over. I'm glad you made a decision that you and your lovely panda can be proud of. (Reply to this)

	tackylacky 2006-09-21 09:25 pm UTC (link)
	if only i would have read your entry earlier, i would have told you not to give into the man nor the mans minions. you're an inspiration, and i respect your choice. peace.erica. (Reply to this)

	zombie_funk 2006-09-21 09:26 pm UTC (link)
	this journal post has just changed my life. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - audrawilliams, 2006-09-21 10:27 pm UTC

(no subject) - bouncingfizgig, 2006-09-21 10:42 pm UTC

(no subject) - audrawilliams, 2006-09-21 11:30 pm UTC

(no subject) - bouncingfizgig, 2006-09-21 11:38 pm UTC

	geeveecatullus 2006-09-21 09:27 pm UTC (link)
	You are awesome. (Reply to this)

	samurai_jenn 2006-09-21 09:27 pm UTC (link)
	I'm glad that you did what made you happy. In the end, that's all that matters. (Reply to this)

	jettison 2006-09-21 09:34 pm UTC (link)
	I'm really glad that you decided to not do it. It can be so defeating to plug along year after year, denying the "big check" or whatever, but maintaining your independence from a system that seeks to brand, package and sell us AS their brand is totally important. Also yes yes yes to Dead Moon. Fred Cole! (Reply to this)

	kcjo6789 2006-09-21 09:43 pm UTC (link)
	hooray! thank you for existing, you are a fancyhearted person. it's good that you had a nice correspondence with him. god knows that people can be bitches about stuff like that. (Reply to this)

	word booty guttertrash 2006-09-21 09:44 pm UTC (link)
	ah man, im so relieved, cause damn i was about to be soo sad. i didnt wanna say nothin cause i beleive in people doing what they wanna do, and its not like we are friends or anything. anyway yeah. thanks. (Reply to this)

la_wilk 2006-09-21 10:00 pm UTC (link)

I'm glad you thought hard about your principles and made your own mind up. I voted for 'go for it'. I guess I'm pretty jaded because I've spent a lot of time and effort 'sticking it to the man' single-handedly over the years and it's got me less than nowhere. I'm a nobody and no-one listens to me. You, on the other hand, have an audience, people who listen to you, and it's amazing that can and do use that position to reinforce your principles. There would have been very little protest if you had chosen to do this, in fact we encouraged you, but you decided to do what you feel is most important and that's inspiring. Too many people are 'all talk and no trousers' these days. They have principles and talk about what's right and wrong but their actions don't follow. Good for you. How the hell do you find time to be a crusader in between all the boob juice and pooping?! I hate you!!;) (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - kimya_dawson_, 2006-09-21 10:02 pm UTC

(no subject) - mlklm_rollick, 2006-09-21 10:13 pm UTC

droptheleash622 2006-09-21 10:14 pm UTC (link)

I didn't reply to the last post because you had alot of replies and because I figured you knew what you wanted to do already, anyway. As I see it, a musician's job is to perform and to use their music to make a living (some call it selling out, I don't). Regardless of what I think about musicianship, I'm glad that you did what you thought was right, because if you don't care about what you think, you might as well not think at all. (Reply to this)

beastwith5hands 2006-09-21 10:22 pm UTC (link)

hey kimya. im glad you made that decision. it reminds me of a local band from here in tennessee. they got signed to a major label, then the label wanted them to cover "all you need is love" for a credit card commercial, so they walked away. it really inspires me that people still stand up for what they KNOW is right even when they could get a bundle of cash here is an article about that band if you are interested. you are amazing (Reply to this)

	luv4shojo13 2006-09-21 10:50 pm UTC (link)
	*hugs* Good for you Kimya, you are an amazing strong women, and I strive and hope that I might mature into half the kind of women you are. (Reply to this)

	charmingtedious 2006-09-21 11:17 pm UTC (link)
	tight call kimya! especially on the inevitability front. the idea that the big media companies controlling and coopting culture is inevitable is totally a pervasive and frightening trope that we have to resist. (Reply to this)

	musical_ladders 2006-09-21 11:54 pm UTC (link)
	i really love and i hope that someday, if i'm ever a mother, that i can be as amazing as you are. or even if i never have children, that i can inspire youth and be a role model in the same way that you've been mine. (Reply to this)

	myappletree 2006-09-22 12:05 am UTC (link)
	YES great I am glad you went with your gut I was going to post a comment yesterday that said "i think you should go with your initial gut instinct... which I am guessing is to refuse" and then I forgot and this morning I was like oh no! i hope she didn't say yes go you (Reply to this)

	(Anonymous) 2006-09-22 12:09 am UTC (link)
	I love you even more now. I wish I was technologically savvy enough to know how to do this right like evryone else so I wouldn't have to log in annonymously. I'm always 10 years behind so I'll get it together in a few! Enjoyed your NPR show today, thanks. whip it out! (Reply to this)

tucumcari 2006-09-22 12:20 am UTC (link)

I really wanted to leave you a comment and say "Go for it Kimya! It's the best thing to do for you, Panda and the people watching!" After all, it's awesome when more people get introduced to Kimya Rockin' Dawson. But I hate Fox... and advertising for Fox affiliates just seems a little dirty. And I didn't really like the idea of Kimya's voice associated with the type of organization that plays that bastard O'Riely's voice. That's not how you spell O'Reily, I don't think, but that's okay. Anyway, I didn't want to say "Don't do it!" because that didn't seem like the best thing to do for you... but I didn't really want to fake an opinion to try to pursuade you to do what I thought would be most beneficial. I feel like now's a good time to letcha know what I thought. Even though it's basically irrelevant. (Reply to this)

	sirjumpsalot 2006-09-22 01:41 am UTC (link)
	you are awesome. fuck the man!! (Reply to this)

	scribblemania 2006-09-22 01:52 am UTC (link)
	You are an inspirational soul. (Reply to this)

	slanted_lemony 2006-09-22 02:07 am UTC (link)
	i have so much respect for you. (Reply to this)

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