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Reporting from the Allied Media Conference
We wanted to create a world for you, a world that looks back a decade and to the beginning, that looks forward a decade and beyond imagination. We wanted to create a world beyond the media of now where a voice speaks at you and you can’t respond –- tonight you will hear many voices from all around you, from those not in the room, from those who are never heard. Speak back, revel in the experience of each other tonight, this is the world we will be heard in, the world we will create, the world we must be ready for.
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Pro-Tibet Protests: Sports Lovers Meet Torture Victims
UPDATE: We've been holding the corner of Embarcadero and Washington streets since 10 a.m. this morning in San Francisco together with Tibetans, Students for a Free Tibet, Darfur activists, and then of course pro-China folks have been right here with us. Intense emotions abound as sports lovers meet torture victims.
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I'm sitting with a mix of folks from Students for a Free Tibet, Ruckus, RAN and others at the jail where the seven Tibetan rights activists who pulled off the stunning Golden Gate bridge action have been held since being whisked off the bridge yesterday.
Our latest news is that they're coming out any minute now -- that's been the word for two hours. I think of them through the labyrinth of halls and walls beyond the door so sleepy, sore, with perhaps no idea of just how far reaching their tremendous action has been for two days.
This isn't the first action on the Golden Gate Bridge, but a good friend pointed out that its probably the biggest action since 9/11. But the actions in this campaign so far have all been big -- Mt. Everest, the Great Wall, the Eiffel Tower. Well, almost the Eiffel Tower. Police presence in Paris was too high for the action to get going, so they defaulted to a nearby bridge over the Seine whose name escapes me now, writing this on my phone from the waiting room of this jail.
The demands -- no torch run through Tibet, an end to human rights abuses, and ultimately the liberation of Tibet -- are on the front page of newspapers worldwide.
The victory in many ways is already complete for the campaign on the torch. The Olympics were supposed to herald a new China. Thing is, the Chinese government thought it could get the symbolic stamp of approval without actually changing its behavior. As Tibet has escalated their campaign for international attention, China's government has shown its unwillingness to improve their violent history.
The activists are released one by one, first the women, then the men, swamped by journalists and then enveloped by loved ones.
They are free! Tibet is next!
Pro-Tibet Protesters Climb San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge
I write right now with the utmost pride. Three activists, including one of our beloved Ruckutistas, are climbed up the suspension cables of the Golden Gate Bridge in an action to support Tibetan independence.
San Francisco is the only city hosting the torch in the United States, and Students for a Free Tibet responded. The message is clear and visionary: FREE TIBET!
Actions in Paris and London have already shown one of the ugly truths of standing up against injustuce -- the bravery of nonviolence is met with the cowardice of violence. This is true in Tibet, where 180 people have been slaughtered since March in their attempts to send a message to the world through the layers of repression of Chinese rule.
As the climbers pulled themselves higher and higher, I meditated on what this struggle is about. It is as fundamentally a fight against inequality and tyranny as the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa...it is the old world of imperialism and inequality against a new world of sovereignty and spiritual wealth.
As the banners scooted across ropes strung between the three climbers, the news media gathered four helicopters, two vans, eight photographers. The news poured in: "traffic is stopped", "five people detained on the bridge", "two diversion teams". The story ran live on CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC. A cameraman next to me finally said it: "They've brought the city to a stop. It’s amazing!"
And then the banner unfurled, white and black against the iconic red Golden Gate Bridge, and was gorgeous. "One World, One Dream: Free Tibet"
This was a huge, beautiful and strategic action; the people of Tibet have this brief window, when the whole world is watching China, the whole world is speaking of "One Dream," the whole world is waiting for the Olympics.
The Tibetan dream of independence is our common dream, and we're asking you to do one thing if you are moved by the strength and perseverance of the Tibetan people and Tibetan-led Students for a Free Tibet: donate to StudentsforaFreeTibet.org to support this action and the actions to come.
And check out these two links for a couple of visuals on the banner hang:
Obama Gets Real, and Reflections on Take Back America
I'm at the Take Back America conference this week, seeing the event with the dual eyes I have been using for viewing this entire election season thus far.
This is the most exciting election of my lifetime and most of the folks I know have to say the same, whether they want to admit it or not. everyone's talking about it, the speeches and debates are water cooler conversation for more than the usual (political nerd) suspects.
Our next president will be a black man, or at the very least a white woman, according to the masses at this conference (nicknamed the "progressive convention"); the passion is in people's eyes, their bodies aquiver with the idea of advancing progressive ideals. it's been a while since we had a national moment of victory.
The speakers here are talking about green jobs, healthcare for all, workers' rights, Martin Luther King -- things/ideas/people I take seriously, believe in, need. and more than ever before, the speakers and participants here are referring to a history of nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, the idea of protecting our democracy with actions that make our words mean something. So that makes me happy.
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Heavy Rotation: The Rise of Filipino Radio Representation
Cassie, that one Asian guy from the Neptunes, the other producer who did that skateboard track for Lupe Fiasco, that main girl from the Pussy Cat Dolls, they're all at least part Filipino, right? Walk into a workshop focused on Filipino-American media representation, and this thin list of musicians would likely be all that the group would generate.
Though, the lack of talent in mainstream music is a result of the Filipino American community getting shafted by clueless A&Rs, radio broadcasters, and all the other corporate types who attempt to dictate what music gets heard. Enter Heavy Rotation, a new online radio show aimed at showcasing Filipino-American talent not given the opportunity by the likes of Clear Channel.
Already two shows recorded since its inception, Heavy Rotation is building itself to be a strong monthly medium exposing listeners to the deep musicianship in the Filipino community. Operating under the mantra, "The rise of Filipino Hip-Hop and R&B," there is an implied attitude that the presence of Filipinos in American pop culture will soon reach a tipping point. Who better to break folks off with the coverage of what could be a new cultural renaissance than a group of youthful individuals who have been working in the industry for some time?
DJ Marlino, nineteen-years thick in the DJ game, decided to set up shop in a small studio in San Diego as a base of operations. Along with co-hosts, Rich, Diane, and Jeff, the crew hopes to use the music to make the show. With much untapped talent yet to be heard by many music fans, the selection of music won't likely get dry any time soon.
Tuning into the two-hour program, sounds of boom-bap resonate from the Upstarts and Son of Ran, bullet-riddled political lyrics from Bambu and Kiwi (members of the now defunct Native Guns), and jazzy grooves from Freddie Joachim and Choice 37 can be heard, along with a hand picked selection of other artists found from Myspace and various cultural festivals. For some, listening to a show can incite thoughts of, "Oh, snap, these cats are actually Filipino?"
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The Golden Age of Global Warming
I'm visiting Detroit and it's January and balmy. A week ago there was snow on the ground and the air hurt my cheeks. But now I bundle up inside the house and then strip on my way to the car cause it's too hot for a hat, for long underwear and scarves; and snow boots just look silly.
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New Orleans' Activists Stop the Bulldozing of Their Homes
The good news is pouring in from all over -- New Orleans activists, with the support of a national community, were successful at stopping the demolition of three out of four public housing complexes pending approval from the City Council at next Thursday's meeting.
Senator Vitter and the New Orleans City Council still needs to hear from more of us. They need to know that residents need to have more access to the decision making process and that a 1:1 replacement of public housing is a necessity.
Contact Senator Vitter:
Washington D.C. Office (202) 224-4623
New Orleans Office (504) 589-2753
Contact New Orleans City Council Members: Arnie Fielkow - (504) 658-1060
Jacquelyn Clarkson - (504) 658-1070
Stacy Head - (504) 658-1020
Shelley Midura - (504) 658-1010
James Carter - (504) 658-1030
Cynthia Hedge-Morrell - (504) 658-1040
Cynthia Willard-Lewis - (504) 658-1050.
The victory is not in the salvation of projects, or an expectation that the projects are saved for all time. Residents and organizers want to see better housing for all. Today's victory is against poor federal planning, a housing crisis, and the mistreatment of the low-income residents of New Orleans. Today's victory is about collaboration, however imperfect; about centering local voices; about elevating a struggle to create the kind of movement moment that can sustain a tired community through a long battle.
The questions that need to be resolved before any demolition continues:
-Where do residents go in the meantime? Tent cities and FEMA trailers are housing homeless communities and displaced families, and both of those spaces are being threatened now in what many believe is an overt push to get black and poor folks out of downtown New Orleans.
-What guarantee do residents have that they will have access to the mid-income housing being built in place of the current projects?
-In what ways is New Orleans addressing the issues of poverty and inequality that led to unlivable conditions in these projects before the hurricane hit and the levees broke?
This is a big step on the road to seeing New Orleans as a space of opportunity in crisis, rather than our abandoned legacy. This is a victory that shows what people united and dedicated and supported can do to shift the power and demand a seat at the table in their city!
Your support is still needed -- please visit Katrina Information Network at KatrinaAction.org or Peoples' Hurricane Relief Fund's website to stay in the loop.
Wiretap will report on the City Council meeting and more news on Friday, Dec. 14. You can also find pictures and updated action insights at Ruckus.org.
Hey Buddy, Spare a Euro?
Dollar bills are set to start appearing on shelves at your local Dollar Tree, in rolls of four, as the next uncomfortable single-ply toilet paper.
Since the American dollar has slowly become the new Mexican peso, its not just Ahmadinejad and OPEC dismissing its value, as rappers are taking notice too.
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Cause Hipsters Are People Too...
Of course, so are Republicans. Just like Republicans, "hipsters" might be a part of your own family, and so, you just have to grin and bear the asinine things that they follow and the reasons why they follow them.
Hipsters even engage and take pride in micro-aggressive acts of racism, as well, through their pretentious attempts at seeking irony (see: Kill Whitey Parties). So while I might be annoyed with them and might even dread the sight of them, I have to acknowledge that their existence is just part of the diverse spectrum that exists within our society, and until they learn the error of their ways, I should be sensitive to them. Shit, I guess my counseling training has begun to take more shape than I actually thought.
In my last post, I hinted an internal guilt at noting the approval of something that might be categorized as being hipster. I don't think I should feel guilty though, many things that have manifested themselves into hipster culture isn't all bad. Take for instance, Flight of the Conchords, it's a quite funny and well written show. Fixies, I can appreciate some of the ill tricks that bike messengers are able to pull. And of course, some of the music that exists under the hipster umbrella can be very enjoyable.
I can get down to some their shit. On a given moment, you might even catch me bumping Chromeo, LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, etc. Allow me to share a few tracks containing varying degrees of hipster elements:
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Eat Something!
I began fasting 5 days ago, along with 1,150 other people, to call attention to the Climate Emergency. Most people did the fast for one day. I signed on indefinitely, for a few reasons. I've been wanting to do a deep cleansing fast for a while and the time was never right. I also just turned 29, and I've been wanting to start off my 30th year in a new way: not drunk, not high, not chainsmoking, not stuffed to the brim with amazing food..present, focused, even disciplined. But I'll get to that.
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memory and wonder: thoughts on martin luther king, jr
The memory is such an amazing and deceptive tool. I was just on KALW's Your Call discussing the legacy of Martin Luther King, JR and the state of non-violent resistance and protest today. The question was posed - wouldn't a modern-day MLK be disempowered and kept from having an impact. Moreover, the host wanted to know if marches today had any significance.
I realized that in the last year, history has shifted again, that we have collectively started forgetting the real political climate of MLK's era.
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Christmas morning thoughts
I grew up with heaven, somewhere better to aim for, above this place, cloud based, made possible by a life of good behavior defined by sins.
I grew up with Jesus; he had died for our sins. I ate his body, drank his blood -- I was only a child. He was born of a virgin, crucified at the age of 33, buried behind a big rock, returned to leave again. I remember when I learned he might be 'of color'. Yay, Jesus!
I grew up with Christmas, wreaths, stockings, Santa Claus, shopping, trees and tree-skirts, cookies, magic, abundance -- at least once a year. I didn't have an analysis around consumption; I had an expectation for magic and joy. My parents were the ringleaders of this -- they allowed enough innocence to abound for moments of discovery that showed you someone was paying attention ... Santa knew your favorite color, singer, and all your needs.
When I am with my family, we slip back into this place which each of us carries to some degree.
We have Christmas, none of us ready even in adulthood to give up Santa or each other, no one having crossed the line yet to add an outsider to the process of our ritual. Some things are too awesome.
We have Jesus, a sprinkling, this time in the sleepy, pretty tradition of midnight mass insisted upon my youngest sister, our newest and only Catholic. And it is good to remember Jesus, champion of the poor (or as we now say the disenfranchised, marginalized, the people of color, the global south, the impacted, etc, etc), humble man of the streets with savior and sacrifice running through his young veins.
But most of all, we have heaven as a point of comparison for when the five of us are aligned, not angry or passive aggressive, not regressing into old familiar roles, but laughing together and present and completely alive, over breakfast, cherishing our precious time together -- no harps, my mom on the short list for possible angels in the flesh.
As we grow up and develop our long list of ways the world is conspiring against us and call it an analysis of oppression, I sometimes want to show people the inside of my family's Christmas, with its relative abundance as we all give each other what we can. With its portion of Jesus, implications of heaven ... this adoration of each other, and the certainty that this world and each person in it contain, it must be said, multitudes.
Chapter Sean Bell (continued): the nation of the dispensable
After reading my piece earlier this week about Sean Bell, a friend of mine in Detroit hipped me to the open-and-shut case of 18-year-old Chon Buri Xiong, 18, who was in his bed at home when police unleashed 27 shots on him on September 17. In light of the growing controversy around Sean, the 23-year-old bridegroom murdered on his wedding day in a moment of gun madness, it is important to take a moment to explore the slippery slopes of blame and justification. I have a few questions, and I wanted to share them:
Chon Xiong, Police said, was armed with a handgun and threatened the officers before he was fired on.
1. In Chon's case, the Hmong youth has been cast as a criminal who was engaged in violent behavior his whole life. This begs the question: does a violent history (real or alleged) justify his death? Would 27 -- or 50 -- bullets be understandable if Chon or Sean had been brandishing a gun?
2. What are the ways in which we allow the concept of a dispensible population to take hold in our minds? How do we learn to shrug off an unacceptable act of violence and can we deprogramme ourselves?
3. What are the ways in which we perpetuate the myth of wild superhuman men of color that must be gunned down like animals 10 times their size?
4. In a current sparsely political youth landscape, bookended on one side by increasingly violent media and video games and on the other end by national leadership infested with warlust, how are young people supposed to navigate their development as non-violent individuals?
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Why Action? To make sure our votes count...
On November 7, so much hard work will pay off. People have done an amazing job continuing the always hot trend of successful new voter organizing. I am so excited to look around and see all the youth organizations that are all over this election, especially at the local level. In my new hometown of Oakland its ALL about Aimee Allison, it's SOOOO exciting. {If you or anyone you know has friend in District 2 please text them to go vote for bi-racial, post military, pro-environment, pro-youth, pro-Oakland Aimee tomorrow!!!}
Unfortunately the reports are already starting to pour in, from the Secretary of State in Missouri to early voters in Ohio: absentee deadlines and early voting dates are wrong, early voting poll times are wrong, poll workers are asking for the wrong ID or demanding ID when the law says it's unnecessary. And so it begins, this crazy dance of coincidences that pile up until, strangely, those most likely to vote for a progressive agenda in this country are silenced.
Organizations are coming together like never before to figure out ways of defending the vote. Many options are below.
At Ruckus we've partnered with mad folks to put out a call to action if voters get silenced, and we've created an easy action called Voters Silenced Here.
0. Realize you're the kind of person who is down to take action on Election Day, no matter much voter organizing you've ever done. Go no to www.ruckus.org/electionprotection and sign up to be part of the team and text PROTECT to 30644 to get on the list of folks who can be called to action tomorrow. It's like a Civil Rights Reserves.
1. Find out that something is going down which will adversely effect election results! We'll alert you through our texts based on your geography, but you have your ear to the ground and will no doubt be hearing things as well!
2. Cover your mouth with cloth, scarf, bandana, anything to show the image of silenced voters. Have enough for multiple people to cover their mouths so you can recruit folks to join you in action!
3. Then, download the sign from Ruckus on Election Day that says 'Voters Silenced Here.'
4. If you have time and resources, we'll have an Election Day Guide to Making a Bedsheet Banner up on our site as well!
5. Identify one spokesperson who can explain to media and anyone else on site how voters have been silenced at your polling station or County Board of Elections. {Can also help to make small flyers that explain it!}
6. Email adrienne@ruckus.org and let us know you're doing the action, and we'll post it on our site so folks looking for actions can join you. Send pictures if you can!!
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Adrienne Maree Brown is the executive director of The Ruckus Society and an advisory board member of WireTap. A co-founder of the League of Young Voters, Adrienne is obsessed with learning and developing models for action, community strength and movement building.