The Protest Song is the tune which opens this episode of TMSOG. It was written and performed by Beans on Toast, which is the stage name of British folk-punk singer Jay McAllister, who frequently writes topical, protest-style folk music. The song has an anti-capitalist and pro-social meaning. The track takes direct aim at corporate greed, corrupt politicians, and globalism, advocating instead for a “people over profit, love over greed” ethos. It’s a call to action as the tune concludes that if enough ordinary people unite, they actually have the power to stop the status quo and change the world.
ICE pepper sprayed a sitting US Senator… yes, a Senator! And they still want us to believe that this is “normal” and not a government spiraling into straight up lawlessness. Do not shut up about this. Protest. Call your representatives. Push your city to stop cooperating with ICE! That was from a post on Threads on May 26th 2026 which referred to the incident involving Senator Andy Kim who was trying to keep the peace at Delaney Hall, which is an immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey where the conditions are horrific. There are reports of inadequate medical care, food shortages and mistreatment of those being held there. Governor Mike Sherrill was denied entry into the facility as protests occurred outside. NJ Senator Andy Kim got caught in the middle when ICE began to pepper spray protestors, and they also sprayed an unknown chemical into the air. ICE fired rubber bullets into the crowd, hitting protesters. We have had many dark times in American history, but what we are going through now is nothing I could have ever imagined. Our country is now under authoritarian rule, and it is quickly diving into fascism. This is all happening in plain sight, and from within our own government. The rule of law has disappeared. As the post on Threads said, this is not normal, and we cannot shut up about it. While we need to go about our daily lives, we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to what is going on in front of our faces. We need to take action, we need to resist, we need to pay attention, we need to do our civic duty and we must use our power. I literally cannot sleep at night, as the chaos and anguish is taking its toll on not only me, but millions of Americans who see the daily dismantling of democracy. There is strength in numbers, it’s time to take our country back!
Joining us on this episode of TMSOG is Bennett Burke who is a Catholic Priest working with PRICE: Pima Resists ICE -a volunteer group working to keep the abuses and lawlessness of ICE out of Marana and Tucson, AZ. He is a life long Social Justice Activist and Co-Founder of Matthew 25:34, a mutual aid group feeding, clothing, and advocating for people experiencing homelessness. Matthew 25:34 welcomes volunteers of all faiths and philosophies uniting around service to the marginalized and vulnerable with this tag line: “We’re not a church, we’re a movement for the marginalized.” Also on the program is Yolanda Nava a Mexican American pioneer renowned for her contributions to media and civil rights. She is the creator and host of “Do You See What I See” on You Tube. She was the first Latina on KNBC/TV and is an Emmy Award-winning journalist. Yolanda shattered barriers and illuminates stories and her career is a testament to her unwavering commitment to justice and empowerment. George Polisner also joins us. He is the founder of Civ.Works and is our resident political analyst, environmental guru and curmudgeon.
For more info from George Polisner go to https://civ.works/defend and find his articles on Substack -Leadership Matters. Also please go to https://www.priceaz.org/ to help keep the detention center out of Marana AZ.
To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to: https://www.aclu.org/ https://www.brennancenter.org/ https://libertyjusticecenter.org/
To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org and https://action.nrdc.org/ Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/
To listen to past TMSOG shows go to: https://hudsonriverradio.com/ https://malcolmpresents.com and https://themanyshadesofgreen.com/ Follow The Many Shades of Green on FB, Threads and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen and on Blue Sky @tmshadesofgreen.bsky.social. Listen to TMSOG podcasts on all major podcast apps.#RaiseYourEco&SocialConsciousness.
A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.