Call It What It Is, Or Be Complicit

Terrance Heath Campaign for America's Future
Reasonable people cannot deny that the Charleston shooting was a racially driven act of terror. To deny the connection between Roof’s actions and extremist rhetoric that tells young people like him that black people are inherently violent and criminal is to be complicit in the actions that such rhetoric inspires.

Pope Francis’ Call for a “Bold Cultural Revolution” to Save the Earth

Ian Angus Climate & Capitalism
Pope Francis’ long awaited and controversial encyclical on the environment repeatedly challenges the reliance on capitalist market forces to address climate change, and links the root causes of the environmental crisis to the causes of global inequality and “human and social degradation.” According to Ian Angus, editor of Climate and Capitalism, Pope Francis has now positioned the Catholic Church as an ally in “fighting the number one crisis facing humanity today.”

Germany Doesn’t Want A Grexit; It Wants Regime Change

Mark Weisbrot Al Jazeera
Despite the hype and brinkmanship, Germany doesn’t want to Greece to leave the Eurozone. The true objective is to undermine popular support for the Syriza government to get a new more compliant regime, a “slow-motion coup d’etat.” Germany, the other EU countries, and the U.S., will try to give Greece enough oxygen to avoid default and exit, which they really don’t want, but not enough for an economic recovery, which they also don’t want.

George Soros: ‘Puppet Master’ Behind Ukrainian Regime

F. William Engdahl New Eastern Outlook
The hacker group CyberBerkut has recently published online letters allegedly written by New York billionaire George Soros that expose him as a puppet master behind the US-backed Ukraine government, involved in the minutest details of the workings of the Kiev regime. They also reveal his machinations with the US Government and the officials of the European Union in a scheme where, if successful, he could win billions through the plunder of Ukrainian assets.

A Remembrance: Dr. Ossian Sweet’s Black Life Mattered

Heather Bourbeau JSTOR
Ossian Sweet rose from humble beginnings and became a doctor who tried to help the poor. His story is admirable. In a better world, it would be fairly unremarkable. But Dr. Sweet was African American in the 1920s, and his life tells the story of race struggles in this country—then and now. Unfortunately, his life also shines a light on issues still facing black Americans today: not just segregation, but also injustice at the hands of those meant to keep the peace.

Friday Nite Videos -- June 19, 2015

Portside
Nightly Show Panel - Shooting in South Carolina. Bill Would Remove Confederate Flag in South Carolina. Neil Young: Rockin' in the Free World. Lacey Schwartz Talks 'Little White Lie.' Movie: Black and Cuba.

Neil Young: Rockin' in the Free World

Donald Trump used Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" to introduce his candidacy for President this week. So why play it on Portside? Funny story. The Donald evidently had no idea what this song is about (or that Neil Young supports Bernie Sanders). 

Lacey Schwartz Talks 'Little White Lie'

Filmmaker Lacey Schwartz talks about growing up white and Jewish in Woodstock, discovering at the age of 18 that her father was Black, and making a documentary film about this discovery and how it changed everything for her family. Screening and other information here.