Tidbits - June 11, 2020 - Reader Comments: Military Command Responds to Trump; 2020 - Will Trump Go? Can Biden Win?; Police, Community Control, #DefundPolice, George Floyd; Police and Labor; Nobel Prize for Cuban Medical Brigades;;....more
Re: I Cannot Remain Silent (Carlos L Diaz Gonzalez)
Re: Will He Go? (Shannon Hogan; Thelma Parkinson; Kathleen Katzmark; Erwin Duchesne; Don Washler; Irene Ruiz)
Re: Progressives Have Good Chance to Move a 'Receptive' Biden to the Left, Says Sanders (Felice Sage; Ethan Young)
Re: George Floyd's Death Is a Failure of Generations of Leadership (Joseph Kaye; Guy S. Antoine)
Photos: Black Lives Matter Murals Are Popping Up On City Streets Around The U.S. (Forbes)
Re: New York Police Are Attacking Protesters - They Know They Won't Face Consequences (Eleanor Roosevelt; Sandy Grubb)
Defund Police -- cartoon by Rob Rogers
Re: MPD150: Working Towards a Police Free Minneapolis (Eileen Joyce; Claire O'Connor)
Re: The Answer to Police Violence is not 'Reform'. It's Defunding. Here's Why (Ted Pearson)
Cops and No Counselors - How the Lack of School Mental Health Staff Is Harming Students (ACLU)
#8toAbolition
Re: DeRay McKesson on the 8 Reforms That Could Dramatically Reduce Police Violence (Danny Spitzberg; Holger Hadrich)
Re: What a World Without Cops Would Look Like (Robert Supansic; B Fearn)
Never forget that Commander-In-Bunker Trump threatened his own people this week with military attack -- cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz
Re: What the World Could Teach America About Policing (Capn' Steve Krug)
A message of solidarity to the American Labor Movement in the fight against racial injustice and police violence in the USA (The Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions)
Re: As Protests grow, Big Labor Sides with Police Unions (David S Duhalde; Jeanne Diller; Tom Smucker; Ethan Young; Martí Garza; Addison Goodson; Marc Greville-morris)
Re: The Assumptions of White Privilege and What We Can Do About It (Lennis Longo; Mike Liston)
Re: `Live PD,' `Cops' Pulled from TV Schedules in Light of George Floyd Protests (Eugenio Hopgood Dávila)
Re: Media Bits and Bytes - Trump's War on Free Speech (JoAnne McIntire; Raymond Mendoza Hernandez)
Re: American Exceptionalism May Be Pushing the World into its Most Dangerous Period Ever (Charles Taylor)
Re: Genes May Leave Some People More Vulnerable to Severe Covid-19 (Nigh Eve)
Ten (10) Things I learned this Week that Deeply Touched Me in Different Ways (James E Vann)
Nobel Prize for Cuban Medical Brigades (Florida Africana Studies Consortium)
Resources:
Enough is Enough! -- Stream The Long Shadow and watch the pre-recorded Q&A - through June 14
Announcements:
Medicare for All - Virtual Panel - The Case for M4A: COVID_19 - June 12 (Medicare for All Congressional Caucus)
The Green New Deal(s) the World Needs Now - Planning for Transformation: Visions from China, Southeast Africa, and Western Europe - Webinar - June 16 (Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung)
2020 Virtual Great Labor Arts Exchange - June 19 - 20
Tell This Japanese Beer Company: End Your Partnership With Burma's Army (World BEYOND War)
"While no one should ever condone the violence, vandalism, and looting that has exploded across our city streets, neither should anyone lose sight of the larger and deeper concerns about institutional racism that have ignited this rage.
As a white man, I cannot claim perfect understanding of the fear and anger that African Americans feel today. But as someone who has been around for a while, I know enough-and I've seen enough-to understand that those feelings are real and that they are all too painfully founded."
Carlos L Diaz Gonzalez
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
He should know better than anyone if a reality show isn't getting good ratings it gets canceled.
Shannon Hogan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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The constitution says he must leave if he isn't re-elected!
Thelma Parkinson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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He will one way or another. Walking out or being dragged out in handcuffs and leg irons.
Kathleen Katzmark
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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If he loses he'll quit so that Pence could pardon him, just like Nixon and Ford.
Erwin Duchesne
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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This is why he "inspected" the underground bunker , verify if he could barricade himself in .
Don Washler
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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When Trump melts down, the best place for him is an isolated cell in a federal prison. Just be sure he has a mirror and his orange sunscreen
Irene Ruiz
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: Progressives Have Good Chance to Move a 'Receptive' Biden to the Left, Says Sanders
He's already BEEN moving to the left and besides.... He's not going to run again in his 80s. He's obviously going to be a one termer. The important thing now is to oust Trump, stop the damage, stop the conservative judicial appointments, stop the attacks on voting rights, civil rights of all kinds, stop the deterioration of our relationships with our allies, stop the roll back of every regulation that protects our air, water, global climate, public lands, public health, worker safety, etc. etc. etc. Any Democratic President, including Biden will serve that purpose for the time being, even if we don't take the Senate. This is no time for high horse, purer than thou, rigid ideology. We need to elect Biden now and, once that's done, plan for 2024. Another 4 years of Trump and 2024 will be too late to undo the damage.
Felice Sage
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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A better headline would be "The Ball's in Biden's Court, Sanders Says".
We have no way of knowing if we have a "good chance to move Biden to the left."
Ethan Young
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: George Floyd's Death Is a Failure of Generations of Leadership
Many useful observations regarding policies of the past. But despite the occasional use of the word "systemic," the article's shortcoming is that it does not really go beyond policies to the structure of a system which does not permit of real social justice. To empower the people means to get rid of the source of the power oppressing them -- the source. And the source is the great engines of wealth which control our economic and political system. Without this aim in view and guiding our struggle to advance that aim, all efforts at meaningful change are chimerical.
Joseph Kaye
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We can't let history repeat itself. While flames engulf at least 140 cities across the country, we must create a more egalitarian society out of the ashes by transforming policing. The blueprint was laid out in the 1960s - empowering low-income citizens to change their communities in their own vision, and investing in those alternatives at scale. Today we need the courage to act.
Guy S. Antoine
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Photos: Black Lives Matter Murals Are Popping Up On City Streets Around The U.S. (Forbes)
By Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Senior Contributor, Travel
June 9, 2020
Forbes
Harvey B. Gantt Center (Forbes)
Read full story here / See multiple city pictures here
Re: New York Police Are Attacking Protesters - They Know They Won't Face Consequences
Note the covered shield numbers. They say it's "mourning bands for officers lost to COVID," but it isn't.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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Mourning bands don't cover the badge number.
Sandy Grubb
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Defund Police -- cartoon by Rob Rogers
Rob Rogers
June 10, 2020
robrogers.com
Re: MPD150: Working Towards a Police Free Minneapolis
After the Cuban Revolution they reduced the police force by 80%.
Eileen Joyce
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THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! What a great place to start the conversation. I wish we had similar tools for the other very necessary conversations. THANK YOU
Claire O'Connor
Re: The Answer to Police Violence is not 'Reform'. It's Defunding. Here's Why
The answer to police violence is community control of the police. Nineteen City Council members in Chicago are sponsoring the proposal for an all-elected Civilian Police Control Council (CPAC). It will have control of the police budget.
Ted Pearson
Co-Chairperson, Emeritus
Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
1325 S. Wabash Ave. Suite 105
Chicago IL 60605
office: 312-939-2750
Cops and No Counselors - How the Lack of School Mental Health Staff Is Harming Students (ACLU)
Read full report here
While communities across the country mourn the loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Jamel Floyd, and so many more Black victims of police murder, Campaign Zero released its 8 Can’t Wait campaign, offering a set of eight reforms they claim would reduce police killings by 72%.
As police and prison abolitionists, we believe that this campaign is dangerous and irresponsible, offering a slate of reforms that have already been tried and failed, that mislead a public newly invigorated to the possibilities of police and prison abolition, and that do not reflect the needs of criminalized communities.
We honor the work of abolitionists who have come before us, and those who organize now. A better world is possible. We refuse to allow the blatant co-optation of decades of abolitionist organizing toward reformist ends that erases the work of Black feminist theorists. As the abolitionist organization Critical Resistance recently noted, 8 Can’t Wait will merely “improve policing’s war on us.” Additionally, many abolitionists have already debunked the 8 Can’t Wait campaign’s claims, assumptions, and faulty science.
Abolition can’t wait.
Re: DeRay McKesson on the 8 Reforms That Could Dramatically Reduce Police Violence
in regards to 8CantWait, most of what's being asked for is already happening and the rest is sadly "kill fewer black people." What's more, the spokesperson DeRay is working on his personal brand in ways that compromise the success of reform.
That said, others have dug in deeper than I have.
Have you seen this response, this deep analysis, and the critical alternative 8toabolition?
Danny Spitzberg
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'The idea is that, if police departments adopt eight reforms of when and how they use force, the ensuing data shows a significant drop in killings-as much as 72% if all eight are followed. The policies are as follows:
Ban chokeholds and strangleholds
Require de-escalation
Require warning before shooting
Exhaust all other means before shooting
Duty to intervene and stop excessive force by other officers
Ban shooting at moving vehicles
Require use-of-force continuum
Require comprehensive reporting each time an officer uses forces or threatens to do so
When Campaign Zero began its research, cops were not very willing to disclose what they are or are not allowed to do to citizens. McKesson's hope is that at this moment when national attention is once again focused on police violence, normally skittish and unresponsive local governments might be compelled to take action. When you plug in your city on the 8 Can't Wait website, you'll see how the local police department is handling the eight reforms, and you're given the contact information of your mayor or sheriff.'
Holger Hadrich
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: What a World Without Cops Would Look Like
In 1917, as the Russian Revolution was unfolding, Lenin published "The State and Revolution." Among a number of issues, he took up the question of "the withering away of the state." He argued that, during the transition to socialism, an armed group would be needed to repress the vestiges of capitalism still threatening socialism. But in the period in which communism was achieved, a state would no longer be needed. As for the need for a police force, he wrote this:
"We are not utopians, and do not in the least deny the possibility and inevitability of excesses on the part of individual persons, or the need to stop such excesses. In the first place, however, no special machine, no special apparatus of repression, is needed for this: this will be done by the armed people themselves, as simply and as readily as any crowd of civilized people, even in modern society, interferes to put a stop to a scuffle or to prevent a woman from being assaulted. And, secondly, we know that the fundamental social cause of excesses, which consist in the violation of the rules of social intercourse, is the exploitation of the people, their want and their poverty. With the removal of this chief cause, excesses with inevitably begin to "wither away." We do not know how quickly and in what succession, but we know that they will wither away. With their withering away the state will also wither away."
Lenin seems to be saying that there would be little differentiation between a "police force" and the community at large which would spontaneously arise to enforce generally accepted standards of behavior rather than some arcane and intricate body of law. I have no idea how far we can go along that road. But it seems a good direction to point toward.
Robert Supansic
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"Can we come up with a situation where there are fewer killings, and fewer collateral consequences?" Why are you even asking this question?? Camden has shown dramatic police improvements by changing the aggressive way policing is typically done. Just because most police reject this obvious improvement does not mean that we have to pretend that this reality does not exist.
B Fearn
Lalo Alcaraz
June 6, 2020
Re: What the World Could Teach America About Policing
Excellent article, particularly the Camden NJ experience, which showed how to reduce crime by starting over, getting rid of the existing force. I was talking to a Canadian friend about different policing philosophies and he told me about the concept of Duty of Retreat, here's a link about the policy, in which states it is a law and a comparison to the "Stand your Ground laws". Obviously, for the policy/law to work it needs to be applied to both cops and private citizens. It is a radically different approach to the de-civilizing nature of Stand your Ground and provides a path towards a more humane, peaceful world.
Capn' Steve Krug
The Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU) representing over 700,000 Ethiopian workers strongly stands in solidarity with the labor movement in the United States of America in the fight against racial injustice and police violence. We share the deep concern at the recent senseless killing of George Floyd and other victims of racial violence specifically in the black American community.
An injury to one is an injury to all. We, therefore, unequivocally support the peaceful protests and movements against racial injustice and police violence both of which are issues that affect workers.
We also recognize that anti-blackness is an injustice that must continue to be addressed fearlessly in the United States and around the world. We strongly believe that labor unions have a crucial role to play in this fight. The Ethiopian workers will always support the fight against all forms of injustice including what the world is currently witnessing in the United States of America.
In Solidarity,
Kassahun Follo, President Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU)
[posted on the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists website]
Re: As Protests grow, Big Labor Sides with Police Unions
(posting on Portside Labor)
Can we not use the term Big Labor? That is anti-union speak.
David S Duhalde
=====
This article makes me think of other, powerful unions--the prison guards' unions which have lobbied for more prisons and threatened judges.
Jeanne Diller
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I agree with the larger dynamics and many of the examples this post describes, but disagree with the unfortunate and I hope unintentional use of the phrase "Big Labor" in the headline. This term is used frequently on the right to describe a large and mysterious ominous social institution that supposedly undermines individual and property rights. Organized labor has been under organized attack for at least fifty years and is anything but big.
Again, not to dispute the larger dynamic, but here's the statement from the author's own union, the CWA, signed by the entire executive board and all affiliates, from May 29:
Solidarity,
Tom Smucker,
retired CWA member
=====
Whoever writes headlines for the Center for Public Integrity did a disservice in this case. It's a good article but there's no mention of "big labor" in it. Probably because the term was invented by the right, like "Democrat Party", and flogged it until it came into public usage. As if there's a labor equivalent to big business.
Ethan Young
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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I thought the article made it clear the disconnect between the "bigs" at the top (leadership of the AFL, etc) and the issues and contradictions around solidarity and cop unions?
Martí Garza
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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I remember a sing, "WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?" TIME TO FIND OUT
Addison Goodson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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Marc Greville-morris
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: The Assumptions of White Privilege and What We Can Do About It
It is so true I lived in NYC for a year and I was accepted by most every one Let's see why : I am white and my name is not what USA calls Hispanic My surname is Italian although my family for generations came from the North of Spain I have dual citizenship because I was born in Puerto Rico , I am an American citizen And because my family is from Spain , I am a European citizen Now more than ever know that what you say is true that
Lennis Longo
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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When I first came to China from the US a good twenty years back, I was surprised to be treated as a member of a lesser race by plenty of locals in Beijing. People would react in fear as I approached them on the street, it was automatically assumed that I couldn't speak the language or understand the culture just from looking at my face, and parents would be upset if I dated their daughters which good and broke my heart once. The only advantage people could see in associating with me is that I was assumed to be a rich low caste member of society but definitely low caste.
I mentioned this to a Black friend of mine when I returned to the US after my first couple of years living and working in China and she laughed like hell. "Now you know how it feels!" she said. I remember her words perfectly and boy, was she right.
I can't blame a lot of Chinese for their ignorant behavior. Xenophobic by habit (even suspicious of those Chinese from outside the neighborhood. 'Outsiders' they are called in common Chinese) and even a daughter's children are considered 'wai ren'-that is, outside the family which is delineated from the son and not the daughter. Still for all that, a Black, Native American, Latino or Asian American's position in US society is always worse for way too many Americans who loudly proclaim the US as democratic, fair, and a land of opportunity for all.
Some white Americans understand the real situation for minority, almost majority peoples in the US, but not enough,
stay safe and to your health,
Mike Liston
Re: `Live PD,' `Cops' Pulled from TV Schedules in Light of George Floyd Protests (EXCLUSIVE)
(posting on Portside Culture)
As I have never lived in the USA it was through these COPS series that I began to understand and literally see the culture of police abuse that exists there, and acceptance and support, or resignation to this by much of the population even members of the communities more affected. It seemed to me and it still seems obvious that if the guards behave like abusers in programs they themselves star in and promote, what violence would be like that they don't bring out in the scenes. Well, we've already seen it in the thousands of citizen videos of police violence. And the black and Latin communities there have suffered it forever.
Eugenio Hopgood Dávila
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: Media Bits and Bytes - Trump's War on Free Speech
I think this guy said it well. In my opinion Scrooge MacZuckerberg is just another toxic capitalist who doesn't want to miss out on a single dime. There's not an ounce of integrity behind any of his talk about "free speech". He created his "news feed" to bring in billions of advertising dollars. Take responsibility for what appears there. Demonstrate that you care about the health of your country.
JoAnne McIntire
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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Zuckerberg sucks . He's defending a member of his billionaires club.
Raymond Mendoza Hernandez
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: American Exceptionalism May Be Pushing the World into its Most Dangerous Period Ever
A coward will always blame other's for his failure again and again
Charles Taylor
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: Genes May Leave Some People More Vulnerable to Severe Covid-19
We need much more research.
Nigh Eve
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Ten (10) Things I learned this Week that Deeply Touched Me in Different Ways
1. Eight (8) days after the "live" murder of George Floyd, ten (10) additional unarmed Black men were murdered by White police.
2, Breonna Taylor. a Black EMT worker was murdered while she slept by White police in Louisville, KY. There have been no charges and no arrests.
3. George Floyd was relatively unknown but, like a powder keg, his murder sparked worldwide demonstrations against police brutality and injustice that show no signs of going away.
4. Several of the largest marches and demonstrations have been student-organized and student-led -- indicative of an energetic new approach to movement building.
5. Sign carried by a student demonstrator: "WHEN BLACK LIVES MATTER, ALL LIVES WILL MATTER." This is the most succinct definition of the definitive slogan I have encountered.
6. Last Monday, anti-racism activist Jane Elliott when speaking on the murder of George Floyd, stunned the White audience speechless when she asked twice for a show of hands to the questions: "Who in this audience would be happy to be treated the way Black people are treated in this society?" Elliot followed the silence with the question: "If you would not choose such treatment for yourself, how can you tolerate someone else being treated that way?"
7. Also last Monday, Trump had police use tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a peaceful protest so he could have a "staged" photo-op in front of Christ Church. The Bible held by Trump was upside down.
8. On Wednesday, Trump bragged about a small decrease in the unemployment rate, stating "it was a great day for George (Floyd) who is looking down smiling (because of the decrease in unemployment). The facts showed a slight decrease in unemployment for Whites, while unemployment for Blacks increased.
9. I received a disturbing email video of two White police siccing a K-9 dog on a cuffed and downed Black man. More troubling was my search on the Internet for details which revealed that these types of "provoked" attacks are quite common among various police organizations, with many ending in death of the often innocent victim. A frequent horrendous "under-the-radar" crime that is seldom reported.
10. A disturbing increase in people sleeping on the street. When the Coronavirus Pandemic ends, many localities will register instant huge increases in their homeless populations. Despite the fact that most jurisdictions have enacted "moratoria" on evictions, rent increases, rent payments, and authorized rent delays during the infectious period as protection for many who are laid-off or have lost jobs. In defiance of the laws, unscrupulous landlords are taking advantage of tenants who are ignorant of the protective moratorium laws and are evicting wholesale those who cannot pay the rent. Disgraceful ... Dark clouds ahead.
James E Vann
Oakland, California
Nobel Prize for Cuban Medical Brigades (Florida Africana Studies Consortium)
We add our voices to the many around the world who have nominated Cuba's Henry Reeve International Medical Brigades for the Nobel Peace Prize. Peace between nations is an imperative for the continued well-being of our planet. But, to exist, peace must be supported by the just practice of caring labor across difference and a commitment to the health and well-being of all human beings. These values and actions are exactly what the Henry Reeve International Medical Brigades embody.
These highly trained medical personnel, specialists in disaster situations and serious epidemics have sent 800 teams of the brigades to fight COVID-19 in countries, including Angola, Italy, Suriname, Jamaica, Dominica, Belize, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, South Africa some of them reinforcing existing Cuban medical missions. In cases where countries are unable to pay for their services, the brigades work for free to prevent further loss of life and disablement. Despite the sanctions from the United States against Cuba, Cuban Medical teams have risen to the challenge during the COVID-19 Pandemic to serve anywhere during this century's greatest need. The arrival of the Cuban medical team in Italy was significant in abating the spread of COVID-19 there to the rest of the world. The Cuban Medical Brigades are carrying on the historic and democratized health tradition put in place in their country. They advance Cuba's well-respected and innovative health systems into locations where people experience precarious health conditions. Major services of these doctors have been provided already to Haiti in the wake of the 2010 Earthquake and at the height of the 2014-16 West Africa Ebola outbreak.
We make this nomination as thinking people who understand what their work means to those of us who benefited from their labor. We know that many might not otherwise have survived without their intervention. As we witness this invaluable work, we are eternally grateful for what we have learned about the value of human life even in dire circumstances. Cuba lends regional support in spite of all it does not have and gives from what it does not have to all who need. In the Caribbean, the health brigades have strengthened regional networks in a context in which colonial legacy have left poverty, external dependency and linguistic division. From Haiti to South Africa, from Togo to Italy, from Ebola to COVID 19, the Cuban doctors and nurses of the Henry Reeve Brigade demonstrate that the right to health is a human right that should be defended even in the most difficult conditions. They have taught us that the way humans deal with illness teaches us about the meaning of our humanity, our relationship to each other and the planet and the integrity of our social systems.
The Cuban medical brigades model an example of creative alternatives to conventional flows of resources and knowledge along the lines of age-old North/South inequity. To do this in a world that seems to have forgotten that alternatives to hierarchy and inequality are possible is to work for peace. In spite of the challenges they experience from a longstanding blockade by the US, they continue to inspire and provide lessons the world can learn from their caring work and spirit of solidarity. For all these reasons we nominate the Henry Reeve International Medical Brigades for the Nobel Peace prize. Thank you, Cuba for having put so many of your resources, in spite of crippling sanctions, into building valuable human beings and knowledge systems that you can share with the world and for reminding us that human life and human relationships are the fabric of peace.
Add your name here.
Enough is Enough! -- Stream The Long Shadow and watch the pre-recorded Q&A - through June 14
Extended due to high demand!
With our website crashing due to increased traffic (the best problem to have!) and the incredible amount of emails and comments we’ve received about the film, we’re extending the screening window through Sunday, June, 14th.
Watch and share with your community, and contact us to tell us about your watch party or if you’d like to invite the filmmakers to speak at your event or organization.
A message from Director Frances Causey and Producer Sally Holst:
We are absolutely heartbroken for the African-American community that has been so disproportionately devastated by COVID-19 and now they must grieve the senseless, tragic death of Mr. George Floyd. Our support is behind the protesters all across the country who are making their voices heard in Mr. Floyd’s honor.
The Long Shadow provides much needed and critical background information about the institutional racist oppression and violence against African-Americans that has been perpetuated for 400 YEARS! How much more suffering can the African-American community endure?
In support of vital community discussion, we are making The Long Shadow available for FREE on this webpage so it can be used as a tool to engage in conversation with friends, family, and community. Ultimately and most importantly, we hope the film can be a catalyst for ACTION. WHITE PEOPLE MUST DEMAND CHANGE NOW!
With love for all,
Frances and Sally
Watch The Long Shadow (PBS Version)
CLICK HERE to watch the film with open captions
Thanks to Director Frances Causey, Sharon Hatchett and Amania Drane of The Together is Better Alliance, and all who joined the discussion.
Contact the Filmmakers
Use this form or reach out to the filmmakers directly at thelongshadowfilm@gmail.com
Join a panel of #SinglePayer champions THIS FRIDAY, June 12 at noon Eastern for a virtual panel on #COVID19 and #MedicareForAll. Convened by the Medicare for All Congressional Caucus.
RSVP here:
Tuesday, 16 June 2020, 5 PM CEST / 11 AM EST
Organised by RLS Brussels, RLS Berlin, Transform, TNI
In the current and post-Covid landscape – and with the planet roiled by crises, from climate inaction to soaring inequality and state violence – It is abundantly clear that planning is back on the political agenda worldwide. However, it is still far from clear what sort of planning this will be: authoritarian or democratic, reactionary or emancipatory.
The Green New Deal sets the ambitious goal of comprehensive transformation of production, infrastructure, lifestyle, supply chains, and international cooperation. Its main goals are to live and to work in a climate-neutral way, to preserve biodiversity, to drastically reduce social inequality both globally and in individual countries, granting citizen, workers and communities new forms of democratic control on social economic and political institutions.
A long-term green industrial policy and a revolution in care work together form the cornerstone of the socio-ecological transformation we so clearly need. This is the task for progressive and left forces across the world, and it is a task that must be achieved in a matter of decades.
To address this need, any Green New Deal must include a radical regulatory approach that combines centralisation with decentralisation, long-term planning with smaller-scale initiatives and innovation and the expansion of public ownership and state control on the economy with the strengthening of democratic self-administration and broad participation.
This webinar will discuss the historical experiences, current challenges and diverse approaches to planning for the Green New Deal(s) we need now, with views from China, Southeast Africa and Western Europe.
Speakers
- Jane S. Nalunga (Country Director of the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute, Kampala)
- Qingzhi Huan (Head of the Peking Centre for Environmental Politics Research at the Research Institute of the Institute of Marxism, Peking University)
- Hilary Wainwright (Editor of Red Pepper Magazine and Fellow of the Transnational Institute, Amsterdam)
Moderator
Michael Brie (President of the Scientific Advisory Board of Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Berlin)
2020 Virtual Great Labor Arts Exchange - June 19 - 20
2020 Virtual Great Labor Arts Exchange
Friday, June 19 to Saturday, June 20, 2020
Start: 1:00 pm Eastern (Noon Central/10 am Pacific)
End: 10:00 pm Eastern (9:00 pm Central/7:00 pm Pacific)
In the words of Mother Jones, “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!” And so we shall ~ with cultural expressions of solidarity to lift spirits and inspire action.
We’re ready to go where no GLAE has gone before! Enjoy 2 days of the Great Labor Arts Exchange, including workshops, and the Annual Song/Poetry/Spoken Word Contest!
This year we’re going digital, using Zoom video conferencing and live streaming. You’ll be able to listen, sing-a-long and most importantly, share the communal joy of being together in these difficult times. Just download the Zoom App, register and pay for the conference, and you’re in.
So, stay safe, stay well and stay tuned!!!
Registration is on a sliding scale. Choose the option that works for you.
For more information: phone (202).637.3963, info@laborheritage.org • www.laborheritage.org
Mark your calendars: We will celebrate the Great Labor Theatre Convergence next year, June 17-20, 2021
Tell This Japanese Beer Company: End Your Partnership With Burma's Army (World BEYOND War)
Tell This Japanese Beer Company: End Your Partnership With Burma's Army
A petition will be delivered to Kirin Holding Company President and CEO Yoshinori Isozaki.
Sign the petition to demand Kirin end its partnership with Burma's army!
Kirin is a Japanese conglomerate, best known for its flagship Kirin Ichiban beer and its ownership of many other notable beer, spirit, and beverage companies worldwide. Through its Lion Beverages subsidiary, Kirin has been expanding through its acquisition of craft breweries in North America, Europe, and Australasia. Its investment in global brands make Kirin highly vulnerable to our consumer boycotts and social media pressure.
In addition to its flagship brand, Kirin Ichiban beer, Kirin's brands include: the Coca-Cola Company of Northern New England, Four Roses Distillery in Kentucky, San Miguel Brewery of the Philippines, Brooklyn Brewery, and Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing. In Europe and Australasia, Kirin's owns brands including: Fourpure Brewing (UK), Magic Rock Brewing (UK), Tooheys (Australia), Speight's (Australia), Panhead Custom Ales (New Zealand), Emerson’s Brewery (New Zealand).
In Burma, Kirin is in joint ventures, Myanmar Breweries and Mandalay Brewery, with the Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), a Burmese military-owned conglomerate. Through its joint ventures, Kirin is legitimizing and funding the Myanmar military as it faces charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Moreover, Amnesty International has revealed that Kirin’s subsidiary in Myanmar (Burma) actually made three donations to the Burmese military during the army’s offensive in 2017 that forced over 700,000 Rohingya civilians to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. The head of the Burmese military who directed the atrocities against the Rohingya was filmed receiving one of these donations from Kirin's affiliate and explicitly noted that it was for the security forces.
The United Nations-mandated International Independent Fact-Finding Mission urged the international community to "sever ties with Myanmar's military and the vast web of companies it controls and relies on" as "any foreign business activity involving the Tatmadaw (military) and its conglomerates MEHL and MEC poses a high risk of contributing to, or being linked to, violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. At a minimum, these foreign companies are contributing to supporting the Tatmadaw's financial capacity."
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The Kirin Holding's investment with Burma's military is part of Japan's plans to invest in Myanmar while downplaying the Burmese army’s egregious attacks on civilians. The Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO) has organized several investment seminars about business opportunities for Japanese companies, including one focused on investments in Rakhine State.
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