Re: Blocking Deportation With Your Life: A Conversation With Arizona Activist Maria Castro

 

"On January 20 everyone woke up in Arizona. We have been living with a legislature that is constantly defunding education and prioritizing its residents for deportation. We live in a city, in a state and in a county where the sheriff did as he pleased and dismissed the federal government, dismissed the Constitution, dismissed our basic human rights."

 

Beth Emma Goldman

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

 

Re: Sanctuary Cities Have Historical Roots in Slavery-Era US

 

The next time you wonder what it would be like now if the South had won the war, just imagine Trump's America.

 

Patrick Inniss

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

Re:  The Long History of Deportation Scare Tactics at the U.S.-Mexico Border

 

They have always done it. They have deported and placed in interment camps American CITIZENS, so you can imagine what they can do to undocumented immigrants.

 

Angel Quinones Cuadrado

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

 

Re: Trump Needs to Recuse Himself From the Presidency

 

O come on are you now such a light weight?

 

Deborah Nagle-Burks

 

 

 

 

Angela Davis on Trump - Trying to Make America White Again

 

Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report

National Edition

Produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg

 

Socialist, iconic scholar, and activist Angela Davis takes on Trump in this stirring call for protest linking his victory to America's history of racism and capitalism. She builds bridges between  numerous issues and ongoing movements for social change starting with support for Native Americans, black lives matter, ending mass incarceration and the death penalty, feminism, labor, immigration and the environment. She calls for a robust reaction not organized by the elite but based on community and workplace activism to fight not only Trump but also a system built on racism and the capitalism. And she notes that Clinton's enthusiasm even among women was at best tepid because she adhered to a bourgeois or middle class feminism that played down the needs of working class and women of color.

 

 

To Download or listen to this 29 minute program, Pacifica Stations, click here; all others, click here; or here. 

 

Building Bridges is regularly broadcast live over WBAI, 99.5 FM in the N.Y.C Metropolitan area on Mondays from 7-8pm EST and is streamed, and archived cast at www.wbai.org

 

Building Bridges National, Edition is distributed to over 40 broadcast and internet radio stations. Building Bridges National Edition is regularly broadcast over radio stations: 

 

WGOT - Gainesville, Florida; WUOW - Oneonta, N.Y.; WWUH, - West Hartford, CT; WVJW- Benwood, WV; KRFP - Moscow, ID; KCSB - Santa Barbara, CA; WXOJ - Northampton, MA; KSOW -Cottage Grove, Oregon; WKNH - Keene, NH; CKDU - Halifax, N.S., Canada; KRFC - Fort Collins, Colorado; WRPI - Troy, New York; WNRB - Wausau, WI; KRBS - Oroville, CA; WHLD - Buffalo,NY; Radio Free Olympia - Olympia,WA; KQRP - Salida, California; East Hill Radio - Snoqualmie, WA; KSKQ - Ashland, Oregon; as well as internet stations: Radio Veronica -West Point, PA; The Journey Radio WXXE - Seattle; Radical Radio; Radio for Peace International; Radio Labourstart; AmericanFM.org; RadioDriftless.org; Grateful Dread Public Radio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Re: Trump and Russia - Readers Respond to Recent Portside Posts

 

This is what Trump and Putin are up to:

 

Exxon Mobil, under Rex Tillerson, brokered a deal with Russia in 2013 to lease over 60 million acres of Russian land to pump oil out of (which is five times as much land as they lease in this country), but all that Russian oil would go through pipelines in the Ukraine, who tax the proceeds, and Ukraine was applying for admission into NATO at the time.

 

Putin subsequently invaded Ukraine in 2014, secured the routes to export the oil tax-free by sea, and took control of the port where their Black Sea Naval Fleet is based, by taking the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine by force. This was Hitler style imperialism that broke every international law in the free world.

 

After Obama sanctioned Russia for the invasion, Exxon Mobil could only pump oil from approximately 3 of those 60+ million acres.

 

But now Rex Tillerson is our Secretary of State, and there's information circulating that Donald Trump will likely unilaterally remove all sanctions against Russia in the coming days or weeks.

 

The Russian government's oil company, Rosneft, will make half a trillion (500 Billion) dollars from that much untapped oil, all pumped tax-free through Crimea, stolen from Ukraine, now owned by Russia.

Putin has subverted our government just for this deal to go through.

 

This is it. This is so big, it's scary. Powerful people, corporations and countries are afraid to acknowledge these facts. Russia can be ruthless in its retribution. The networks, our congress, possibly our courts want to stay protected from this..they do not to be the ones to tell you about this. They need, probably want you to tell them about this.

 

The only way we can fight this is public knowledge and pressure. It will have to come through a swell of public understanding that we are being played, for money, by tillerson, trump and putin, and quite frankly thousands more Americans and Russians who stand to profit from these agreements.

 

If 2 million of us connect these dots and understand this is what is going on, then the networks will acknowledge and another few million will understand, then more. Please spread your understanding of this criminal breach of our country to the people you know and it will start there.

 

If someone wants to fact check, a good place to begin is a 2 year old article from a pro-oil site (FuelFix.com (Houston Chronicle)) 

 

Neil Alan Bufler

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

 

Trump & Russian Oligarchs - Trump's Bagman

 

check this out - The Rachel Maddow Show - March 22, 2017

 

New Commerce Secretary at nexus of lucrative Trump Russian deal

 

With a line that runs through newly confirmed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Rachel Maddow connects the dots between a billionaire Russian oligarch and a Donald Trump deal worth tens of millions of dollars. (Duration: 21:44)

 

Joel LeFevre

 

 

 

 

Re: Trump and Russia: Shortest Reset Ever

 

How about treason?

 

David Spodick

 

    ====

 

Thought Feffer would be more skeptical of the Russophobe narrative, but he's bought it hook line and sinker.

 

Mike Munk

 

    ====

 

Thank you for this. Well researched. Well reasoned. Well written. Solid.

 

Lu¡s Torres

 

 

 

 

Re: It's Only My Health

 

Every point of view (such as being FOR the continuation of  Obama care) is NOT  a result of  "being on the  LEFT".

 

Since the very word "Left" has been and is presently overly vilified, and it is time to RE-PHRASE. somehow.

 

When writing about the demise of the so-called "Obamacare" it  may be more USEFUL  to call the citizens who do NOT want repeal...something along the lines of "Those wanting to protect their fellow citizens' health care coverage" ....blah  blah.

 

Or "Those citizens who want to protect  our soil".... from death or infertility  by toxic  dumping ......blah blah (also using the word "our"  instead of "the" whenever possible

 

It may be time to stop- within the articles themselves  -  incessantly calling the   Portside publication  "left" and substitute   words such as  "informative" +'highly observant" WHENEVER possible...so that if/ when  the articles get QUOTED, the word "left" is not pounded into any reader's brain.

 

The crisis of the present government may  be  that people are unnecessarily  divided  into  a  mere   TWO  camps....too chicken to be daring to state how they actually  feel or think  , less they  be labeled ...a Lefty.

 

The word has been disparaged  long enough.....time to at least  lessen the word's employment.

 

Hope this makes sense.

 

Thank you,

 

ML Myers

 

 

 

 

Re: Strategic Thinking and Organizing Resistance 

 

Thank you for your article on Portside (reproduced from Green Social Thought). I'm just curious: Are you proposing the establishment of a new progressive party someday? You seem to be saying that you want to coordinate with Democrats in various states. How would that be different from simply getting involved in sundry Democratic clubs in various cities, running progressives for Democratic county and state committees, and so on? If you do want to help establish an independent party (in the long run), why the need for coordinating with Democrats?

 

Please advise, if you care to. Thanks!

 

Jerry Kann

 

    ====

 

Some great ideas here. It's thinking like this that keeps me optimistic, thanks Kim. By the way, there's been some noise in the corporate press pooh poohing an announcement from the People's Congress being held this week in Beijing that the party/state intends to switch North China from coal primarily to natural gas. I've lived here in Beijing since 1999 and I'm old enough to have lost a tan under sunny skies in New York City when I was nineteen and have seen the yellow skies of  Germany's Ruhr Valley back in the late sixties when I was fifteen. I've been saying for years now that China would clean up it's act-it has to-and if you don't think they can't do big things (at what? Two billion US?) by October, you haven't seen these folks in action, 

 

all the best from Beijing, 

 

Mike Liston

 

 

 

 

 

Re: Tom Perez is New Democratic Party Chair

 

So the Dems. have chosen Tom Perez.

This is a choice more for the party establishment and less for the winds of change blowing through US politics. The Repubs. did not get their inside candidate, won the election, and are now adapting painfully.

The Dems. got their inside candidate, lost the election, and refuse to recognize the other big story of 2016 symbolized by `uge.

 

 

Jeffrey R. Kerr-Ritchie

Professor; Director of Graduate Studies

Howard University

 

 

 

 

Re: The Democratic Party Seems to Have No Earthly Idea Why it is so Damn Unpopular

 

I am not sure who wrote this long rant, or why he would draw  huge crowds like Sanders supposedly still does, but he is totally wrong...and his survey is ridiculous.

 

First, he totally dismisses the 3.5 million votes that were registered for Hillary Clinton on November 8th.  And as to his Bernie worship, the man has NO Chance of ever winning a national office, and he forced our Democratic Party to allow him to run as a Democrat which did nothing but fail.  Plus he repeated some of the hateful garbage that was spread about Hillary...without a thread of truth.. And as a long time leader in our REAL Democratic Party, I assure him that we won't ever fall for a snake oil salesman again. 

 

And our Party is out on campuses, in rallies, protests, and 'town halls' against every single REPUBLICAN bill and Trump Executive Order.  Here in my State, the ACA repeal is going to cost over 200,000 people to lose health insurance.  We have marched against our 2 Senators and Representatives who are ALL supporting the REPEAL.  We have had daily and weekly forums, that the REPUBLICANS are too cowardly to attend about this and other issues critical to our people.

 

And we do have MANY IDEAS how to rid this country of the piece of crap that won't even live in the White House.   

 

Mary L. Wilson,

A Dedicated Democrat 

 

    ====

 

Huge grassroots movements, made up of millions and millions of people, are fueling the fight for a $15 minimum wage, fighting back against fossil fuels and the Dakota Access Pipeline, fighting to end fracking, fighting to remove lobbyist money from politics, fighting to end senseless wars and international violence, fighting for universal healthcare, fighting for the legalization of marijuana, fighting for free college tuition, fighting against systems of mass incarceration, and so much more. But mainstream Democrats aren't really a central part of any of those battles, and, to be clear, each of those issues have deep networks, energized volunteers, and serious donors, but corporate Democrats virtually ignore them.

 

Ted Mccabe

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

    ====

 

"We have no idea as to why our condescending, elitist, dismissive and victim-blaming attitudes are so wildly unpopular. We do polling, but we only poll Nate Silver and other people that already like us."

 

Ben Eli Osterberg

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

    ====

 

No love for the DNC establishment here, but "our attitudes are wildly unpopular" might be overstating the case against someone who won the popular vote by a very healthy margin.

 

Devon Belcher

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

    ====

 

Republicans are much more reviled. It's just that Dems don't have much fight, are too polite, defer to reason and other inconvenient truths--and this is a problem. The fight ahead is going to be brutal, a fight for nothing less than western civilization, decency, compassion, culture, tolerance against the forces of greed, hatred, intolerance...

 

Alastair Gordon

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

 

Re: Robert Reich: Why We Need a New Democratic Party

 

A friend sent me your "talking points" and this is what I sent back:

 

Interesting piece but I doubt Robert Reich wrote it.  I think he is too smart.

 

I was actually offended by it.  Neither I nor anyone I know "bought it" as this piece claims.  We did everything we could to keep Trump from winning. We voted for Hillary whether we liked her or not, which frankly, I didn't like her for many reasons. I guess you could say I disliked her less than Trump.

 

This piece, regardless of who wrote it, shows the mentality of the leadership of the Democratic party and why Trump will be reelected in 4 years if they don't change their ways.

 

They made sure Bernie didn't get the nomination, which he would have gotten if they hadn't interfered.  The polls show that Bernie would have beaten Trump because, among many other things,  the Millennials would have voted . There was some excitement about  Bernie that Hillary could not inspire.  He showed up as a decent man who strived only for the best we can do for people in this Democracy.  He has no interest in becoming wealthy off the job of President, which we couldn't say for either Trump or Hillary.

 

Bernie should be the leader of the Democratic party, yet the idiots in charge do whatever they can to de- legitimize him. Pelosi is nasty and unlikeable, and Schumer is just an obstructionist.  Where is a true leader?

 

Democratic leadership figured they could count on women voters simply because Hillary is a women.  It implies that women are one issue voters who can't think for themselves. Yet, they didn't vote for Hillary.  Neither did the African Americans, the Hispanics, or Labor, which Democrats sat back and thought they had by entitlement.  None of these groups liked the Candidate enough to get out and vote.  She is sooo flawed.  The Democrats didn't listen.  They decided that Trump is so bad that he couldn't win.  They didn't LISTEN.

 

Hillary was such a flawed candidate.  She was business as usual--we would have no change such as Washington suddenly listening to ALL the people--whether left or right.  They just laughed and made fun of Trump supporters as uneducated rednecks.  They didn't court any voters except the ones they figured they already had.

 

They should take a page from Jared Kushner's play book about how he won the election for Trump--interesting article in Forbes December issue.

 

The Democrats complain that the Republicans don't listen to the Left.  Well, show me anything that indicates the Democrats listen to anything voiced by Right leaning voters.

 

Even now, the Democratic leadership does nothing but piss and moan about Trump. No attempts (no matter how likely they are to fail) to work together with the Right or to even find any common ground with the opposition.   They are dedicated to obstructionism just as the Republicans were dedicated to obstructing Obama.  I didn't want this type of government.  Petty.  Know it all.  They are all of them--both parties--not PATRIOTS.  Where are the statesmen we used to see?  Both parties act like Tea Partiers.

 

Marilyn Kopp

 

 

 

 

Re:  Florida Poised to Strengthen `Stand Your Ground' Defense

 

This will mean you HAVE TO kill the other so there is no witness to your "I was afraid for my life" claim. You cannot be found guilty once you utter those words and there is no witness. License to kill...unless , I'll bet, unless you are a woman defending yourself against a husband or boyfriend....or black and defending yourself against an aggressor.

 

Karyne Dunbar

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

 

Re: From Bad to Worse for Puerto Rico

 

US colonialism is alive and well.... not such a good thing for our brothers and sister citizens in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. HELLO!!!!!!

 

Larry Aaronson

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

==========

 

Re:  Zionism, The Nakba And Feminism

 

the true face of Zionism and ain't very pretty.

 

Ghassan Bishara

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

    ====

 

I am writing to suggest that Portside's absolute rejection of Zionism is ultimately flawed and shortsighted. Yes, horrible things are happening in Israel/Palestine and I am not trying to justify the injustices being committed against Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line.

 

However, I believe there should be room for the proposition that one can support the idea of a homeland for the Jewish people, one founded on principles of prophetic and universal justice, and maintain a sharply critical stance toward how that vision is and has been implemented. Historical actors need not irrevocably erase the universalism of Zionists such as Martin Buber who advocated for a humanistic vision and protested against the dispossession of Arab lands.

 

I believe that there is enough room in and heft to a progressive vision that it can accommodate a both/and stance toward Zionism and other progressive ideologies instead of having this be an either/or proposition.

 

Thank you,

 

Justin David

 

 

 

 

Re: Remembering Martin Luther King's Last, Most Radical Book

 

An opportunity to turn the tide by taking the time to read WHERE TO FROM HERE: CHAOS OR COMMUNITY?

 

Josefina Vazquez

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

 

Re:  Communing with Dr. King on the 50th Anniversary of his Beyond Vietnam Speech

 

Delivered to an overflow crowd at the Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967, Dr. King's challenge to engage in a radical revolution of values encountered ferocious opposition.

 

Stephen Smith

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

 

Re: Emerging Feminisms: Organizing Political Rage

 

A very thoughtful comment...on Portside, on a very important and difficult topic.  One of the earlier, but still relevant, contributions, was:

 

The Problem of Violence and the Radical Opposition

Herbert Marcuse, 1967

 

The debate was very much more in the open in that period than it is today.

 

Peter Marcuse

 

 

 

 

Re: Standing Rock Is Burning - But Our Resistance Isn't Over

 

The Sioux Nation should take its case as an oppressed national minority to the UN and the World Court !

 

Aaron Libson

 

 

 

 

Re: Union Sues Over Iowa's New Collective Bargaining Law

(posting on Portside Labor)

 

 

The brotherhood is needed if for no other reason than to talk back to the boss. If someone wants to live in the early 19th Century and not have representation, let them negotiate everything by themselves. There is strength in the brotherhood. Former Stewart 9588 CWA retired.

 

Al Cline

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

    ====

 

Well, now it starts again ! To make things work out for all people, EVERYONE must stand with the UNIONS ! Even if you are not a member the UNIONS Will still give all people great BENEFITS ! Without unions our middle class will disappear and we will find ourselves back in the 1930 again ! Also remember you don't have to cross a picket line at your work place. If you are fired for this, you can Sue the company, stating fear of crossing the line ! Check it out with the union. Children that attend school can insist to be taught about unions ! Parents can push for this teaching also. When your children learn about the unions, and what our people went through the blood and pain and deaths they will be so amazed ! Don't let anyone tell them any different, stand up for the truth ! THIS IS WHAT HAS MADE THIS COUNTRY G R E A T !!!!

 

Louis C Forni

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

 

Re: NAACP Calls for International Boycott of North Carolina

 

How does an outgoing governor make it so an incoming governor can't do anything that's got to be against the law

 

Barbara Watson

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

 

It's Time for Science, Not Silence

 

When I was 25 years old, I knew we had to do something to restore our deeply polluted environment. I picked up the phone, wrote letters to anyone who would listen, assembled a crackerjack staff, and before we knew it, we had our country's attention. The first Earth Day in 1970 mobilized twenty million concerned citizens to demand federal action, spurring the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of landmark laws that guide environmental policy to this day.

 

Now, nearly five decades later, the EPA - and science itself - are under assault.  That's why we're standing up once again. Tens of thousands of supporters like you have already pledged to make your voices heard at the March for Science on April 22nd. But we need your help, too.

 

Just like the first Earth Day in 1970, the 2017 March for Science is a transformational moment for our planet. Will you stand with us? RSVP to the March for Science on April 22nd. 

 

Lab coats in the streets are not a common sight. But with a new administration stocked with climate change deniers and the specter of devastating cuts to basic scientific research, scientists and all those who cherish good science are stepping forward to be heard.

 

We can no longer wait on the sidelines as politicians politicize science and undermine the evidence-based policies that safeguard our planet. Not with climate change accelerating and critical agencies facing massive cuts.

 

Those who treasure sound science will no longer be silent. We are speaking out as one to stand for reason and facts. Join us right now in your city on April 22nd to stand up for science. 

 

Together,

 

Denis Hayes

Founder, Earth Day Network

 

 

I'm in - Click here. 

 

 

 

 

Re: Paul Robeson's Songs and Deeds Light the Way

 

 

 

How could "Ballad for Americans" have been omitted from this article.  That's a travesty! 

 

Elizabeth Karan

 

    ====

 

Paul Robeson: `The artist must elect to fight for freedom or slavery' - Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

 

Old but still interesting, particularly the video about Peekskill, a warning of relevance to today.

 

Harry Targ

 

    ====

 

When I was a boy growing up in Los Angeles,Paul Robeson came to sing at the Firth Unitarian Church of Los Angeles. This was one of the few venues he could perform at. The First Unitarian Church was a haven for the left in the days of the Cold War, anticommunist hysteria of the time. It was thanks to the Reverend Stephen Fritchman that the church opened its doors to the likes of Pete Seeger, and Earl Robinson, as well a hosting a famous cellist from the Soviet Union during that time. 

 

The government carried on a battle against the church and tried to take away its tax exempt status which they fought in court. The church and Fritchman I believe have never received their full recognition. I never forgot hearing Robeson and shaking his hand....it had a profound effect on me and my life. Truly one of the great figures of the 20th century.

 

Lincoln Smith

 

    ====

 

Sing, Baby Sing...our Voices of Resistance Matter

 

Katarina Del Valle Thompson

Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

 

 

 

Re: Bank Workers Will Protest to Form Their First US Union - And The Whole World Is Watching

(posting on Portside Labor)

 

 

Why do you continue to say that the bankworkers organizing presently are the first to do so in the USofA? Bank worker union locals in the Pacific NW, especially in Washington the State have been in existence at least for the last 25 years. They are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers, AFLCIO. I was there.

 

Ross K. Rieder

 

 

 

 

The Long Ride: New Documentary on the Immigrant Rights Movement - Oakland - March 20; and at the Oakland International Film Festival April 7 followed by the (In)Justice For All Film Festival in Chicago, Illinois  - April 20-29.

 

The Long Ride: new documentary on immigrant rights To premiere Cornell University hosts first community screening. Premieres at Oakland International Film Festival followed by (In)Justice For All Film Festival.

 

Cornell University is hosting the first community screening of The Long Ride, a timely new documentary film that follows the historic 2003 Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride which sparked the birth of the new Civil Rights Movement for immigrant workers in the United States.  The screening kicks off Union Days, an annual series of events sponsored by The Worker Institute at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Monday, March 20 at 7:00pm at Cornell Cinema Willard Straight Theatre.  A discussion will follow with the film Director Valerie Lapin and Rigo Valdez, Director of Organizing, United Food & Commercial Workers International Union, Local 770, who were both Freedom Riders.

 

The International Film Festival Premiere of The Long Ride takes place at the Oakland International Film Festival April 7 followed by the (In)Justice For All Film Festival in Chicago, Illinois April 20-29.

 

Alarmed by increasing workplace abuses, in 2003, more than 900 immigrants and allies boarded buses in 10 US cities and traveled across America to focus public attention on the plight of immigrant workers and to call for reform of the broken immigration system. They were inspired by the 1961 Civil Rights Movement Freedom Riders who risked their lives fighting to end segregation. The film chronicles the journey taken by 106 Freedom Riders from Northern California and the on-going fight for immigrant rights to this day.

 

Some Freedom Riders risked arrest and deportation by merely participating in the Ride.  Nevertheless, they bravely spoke publicly about their immigration experiences and the difficulties they face in their adopted homeland.  The Riders confronted the immigration system head-on while demonstrating at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, and were met by angry, anti-immigrant counter-protesters.  They faced their inner most fears when they learned the fate of their fellow Riders traveling from Los Angeles who were detained in Texas by the Border Patrol.  The Riders were joined by 1961 Freedom Rider and Civil Rights icon, Congressman John Lewis and delivered their message to Washington lawmakers.

 

The genesis of efforts to enact Comprehensive Immigration Reform occurred as the Riders advocated for introduction of legislation to: create a pathway to citizenship; reunite families; ensure equal rights in the workplace for all immigrants; and guarantee civil rights for all.  The Ride culminated with an immigrant rights rally of 100,000 people -- at the time, the largest such event in history.

 

"In the darkest hours of our nation's history, protest has been used to right wrongs," says Valdez. "As we fight back against the President's attacks on immigrant and other communities, it is useful to reflect upon earlier efforts of resistance."

 

"The Long Ride serves as a primer for how to move forward during the Trump Era and forge meaningful solutions to the broken immigration system," says Lapin.

 

Bilingual Spanish and English sub-titled version soon to be released.  Production funding for The Long Ride was provided by the Fleischhacker Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Puffin Foundation West, Ltd., Yip Harburg Foundation and individual donors. San Francisco Film Society provides fiscal sponsorship.

 

 

 

 

Video: Voter Suppression is Alive: Selma Town Hall Meeting

 

Please feel free to distribute this excellent video from the Selma Celebration and Reconsecration Weekend this past weekend.

 

 

Thanks.

 

Al McSurely, Communications Chair, NC NAACP

 

 

 

 

US Worker Cooperatives: A State of the Sector

 

Worker cooperatives have increasingly drawn attention from the media, policy makers and academics in recent years. Individual cooperatives across the country have been highlighted, and substantive studies have been conducted of the worker cooperative experience in other countries, including Spain, Italy, France, Canada and Argentina.  But what do we know about worker cooperatives in the US as a whole? 

 

Given the limited data available, the Democracy at Work Institute conducted a national survey of worker cooperative firms to start to answer some basic questions and lay the groundwork for future longitudinal studies. To our knowledge, this is the first nationwide survey to solely target worker cooperatives. We used publicly available data to identify basic information about 256 worker cooperatives operating in the US in 2013 (due to lack of a central registry and recent rapid growth, this is likely an undercount). 109 of these cooperatives then submitted substantial responses to our survey questions. 

 

The data set represents a combination of these two sources. For each survey question the exact number of cooperatives with available data varies, as the response rate for each question differed. Below are some key questions addressed by their responses. How Big Are US Worker Cooperatives? Most worker cooperatives are small businesses, though several worker cooperative firms do employ more than 250 workers each and produce revenue in excess of $10 million per year. Some of the smallest worker cooperatives are fairly new and were start-ups in 2013. Altogether  worker cooperatives represent a small part of the national economy. However, there may be a greater impact at the local level in areas where they are more concentrated (e.g., San Francisco Bay Area, Bronx, NY, Madison, WI).

 

View full report here. 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Movement's In Action - A Schedule You'll Want to Know About!

 

The Trump Administration has been up-front about one thing: they're prepared to cut programs for human needs to feed military greed...the world depends on the peace movement to reactivate, reorganize, and recommit ourselves to stopping Washington's endless wars for profit.

 

This part of the year is always especially busy for antiwar organizing and movement building. It's a time when we come together to mark the tragic anniversary of the illegal, immoral, costly, and ongoing U.S. War in Iraq, a time when.war and military oppression become a focal point. But that's not all that's going on in coming weeks. Now more than ever, it's incumbent upon us to protest, vigil, lobby, sit-in, and take creative nonviolent action to dismantle the war machine and build a culture of peace with racial, economic and social justice for our people, our communities and our planet.

 

 

 

 

 

We've put together a list of some the dates we're mobilizing for. We hope you will participate in these actions as you can and will add your local events to the UFPJ calendar. 

 

 

March 20: Host a Protest to Stop Endless War on the 14th Anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq 

 

No matter how many times we're told "mission accomplished" the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq continues to this day. Many other conflicts in the region are a direct result of the 2003 invasion. Host a protest, vigil or meeting to mark the 14th anniversary. Resist endless war. Add your events to our calendar.

 

 

April 4: "Breaking the Silence": 50th Anniversary of MLK's "Beyond Vietnam" Speech , Launch of National Council of Elders campaign

 

In confronting the deeply rooted racism, militarism and materialism of his home country, Dr. King described the United States as the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. Delivered to an overflow crowd at the Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967, Dr. King's challenge to engage in a radical revolution of values encountered ferocious opposition. Join or organize a reading of the "Beyond Vietnam" speech in your community to fuel your efforts for social justice and Add your events to our calendar.

 

 

April 15-28: Make Plans for Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) http://demilitarize.org/gdams-2017/

 

This Tax Day, April 15, join or host a demonstration in your community. Unite around new priorities, protest the war-economy, and promote policies based on peace, diplomacy, and  funding human needs. This year's Global Days of Action Against Military Spending span U.S. tax day to the release of the annual world military expenditure figures by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).  Add your events to our calendar.

 

 

April 22: March for Science-Earth Day

 

The mischaracterization of science as a partisan issue, which has given policymakers permission to reject overwhelming evidence, is a critical and urgent matter. It is time for people who support scientific research and evidence-based policies to take a public stand and be counted. The March for Science is an international movement with marches being planned in Washington, DC, across the United States and internationally. Find a march near you - 395 Satellite Marches (as of March 13) 

 

 

April 29:   People's Climate March

 

Throughout the first 100 days of the Trump presidency, the People's Climate Movement is organizing a country-wide arc of action, culminating on April 29th in Washington DC in a powerful mobilization to unite all of our movements. Prepare to attend the mass mobilization in DC or attend a sister march in your area. We must remind the world that the U.S. military is one of the biggest carbon emitters in the world and greatly contributes to climate change.

 

 

 

 

 

A Call to Organize: Technology and Revolution Convergences

 

 

 

 

At its yearly meeting last year, May First/People Link's membership called for a year of convergences to discuss "Technology and Revolution".

 

This is the most ambitious campaign in our history and we have started implementing it. We've had a meeting of partners, prepared some documents to help people organize and run their convergences and build a website. Now we're turning to you.

 

We're proposing that people gather in groups -- from a dozen to hundreds...based on where people live, work or often meet -- to talk about the intersection between technology and revolutionary change, technology's role in a strategy for revolution and what we should be doing about it.

 

It's a huge topic and we have no set idea about what's going to come out. Even the terms technology and revolution are open to definition and there are probably going to be a lot of different definitions. This is just a first step in this critical conversation.

 

But we are sure it's critical. We think that technology has been instrumental in creating the collapsing society we live in and can be central in creating the world we want. Nothing we can imagine is impossible now and the democratic control of technology is the key to our future and our survival.

 

We also know that our movements, now facing a pitched battle against horribly reactionary forces (including fascism) as capitalism collapses, don't have unity around a strategy. We think that a conversation about technology plays a central role in starting to discuss that strategy.

 

This conversation is badly needed right now and, as a technology organization, we have a role in getting it started. We've held a meeting of "partners" and formed a kind of "sponsoring committee" which we'll be working with on this campaign.

 

We have a website at https://techandrev.org

 

That site has everything you need to start working on a convergence including the form you use to let us know you're planning one. And we are asking to you to consider doing that. Just click on "participate" on the website and then on the words "sign up to organize a convergence now".

 

We'll immediately be in touch to support you.

 

If you have questions, email me -- alfredo@mayfirst.org

 

And thanks for all you do!

 

Abrazos,

 

Alfredo Lopez

May First/People Link

237 Flatbush Ave, #278

Brooklyn, NY 11217

United States

 

 

 

 

For Those Who Came After: Songs of Resistance from the Spanish Civil War

 

Barbez & Velina Brown releasing collaborative LP (check out their cover of protest anthem "L'Internationale")

By Bill Pearis

February 24, 2017

Brooklyn Vegan

 

 

 

Brooklyn-based avant rock ensemble Barbez will release this spring new album For Those Who Came After: Songs of Resistance from the Spanish Civil War, which is a collaboration with Bay Area singer Velina Brown. For an early taste, here's their cover of traditional anthem, "L'Internationale."  The song, which began as an 1871 French poem (and set to music in 1888), has long been used as a protest anthem and rallying cry for socialist movements. (Billy Bragg covered it in 1990.) Barbez and Brown recorded it to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the end of the Battle of Jarama during the battle against fascism that was the Spanish Civil War. That battle was the first to include the American soldiers known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, who Barbez pay tribute to here.

 

We've got the premiere of the song and its video, which was created by filmmaker David Pym and made possible by generous support from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA), a non-profit organization that seeks to preserve and teach the anti-fascist legacy of the Lincoln Brigade as well as promote human rights around the world. Watch below.

 

Barbez have a couple shows coming up, both related to this:

April 16 at The Museum of the City of New York which is the 81st Annual Celebration of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade;  and

May 20 at Joe's Pub which is a performance of Songs of the Spanish Civil War featuring Velina Brown and Dafna Naphtali.

Ticket info for both shows is still to come.

 

 

Listen here. 

 

This recording features:

 

 

 

 

Activist Resources for Federal Workers

 

 

 

There are over 2.5 million federal civil servants in the United States.

 

Many want to know how their jobs may limit their activism. Others want to know what options are available if they are ever asked to take unlawful or unconstitutional actions, or witness fraud, waste, or abuse.

 

Please share this  "Activism Resources for Federal Employees". 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating the Life of Henry Foner - New York City - April 4

 

CALLING UP HENRY

 

 

 

 

Tuesday April 4, 2017    6 to 7:30 PM

 

1199 SEIU Penthouse  33rd Floor

330 West 42nd Street  New York City

 

 

Celebrate the life of songwriter and champion of labor and the left Henry Foner (March 23, 1919 - January 11, 2017) with  LaborArts, Jewish Currents, the New York Labor History Association, and NYU's Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. 

 

RSVP to info@LaborArts.org