Five states have abridged early voting this year, including Florida, which canceled voting on the Sunday before the election. This directly targets black voters; black churches have traditionally helped increase turnout in a “Souls to the Polls” effort that, according to Time, resulted in African Americans accounting for one-third of the early votes cast on Sundays.
The organized right justifies its draconian policies toward the poor with moral arguments. Right-wing think tanks and blogs, for instance, ponder the damaging effect on disabled poor children of becoming “dependent” on government assistance, or they scrutinize government nutritional assistance for poor pregnant women and children in an effort to explain away positive outcomes for infants.
The willful ignorance and cruelty of it all can leave you gasping—and gasp was all we did for decades. This is why we so desperately needed a movement for a new kind of moral economy. Occupy Wall Street, which has already changed the national conversation, may well be its beginning.
The willful ignorance and cruelty of it all can leave you gasping—and gasp was all we did for decades. This is why we so desperately needed a movement for a new kind of moral economy. Occupy Wall Street, which has already changed the national conversation, may well be its beginning.
“Give him a nickel, sweetheart. After all, you made a couple of million on the war.”
A. Redfield was New Yorker cartoonist Syd Hoff’s pseudonym for work published in The Daily Worker and New Masses in the 1930s. Check out more cartoons here.
War profiteers should be boiled alive. I have absolutely no compassion for them.
At Occupy Camps, Veterans Bring the Wars Home
We’re in a coffee shop near McPherson Square, the location of Occupy DC, and Michael Patterson, 21, and I are having hot cocoa on a cold November night. He’s wearing an Iraq Veterans Against the War sweatshirt and baggy shorts. It’s freezing outside. “I’m from Alaska,” he offers as an explanation. He’s been sleeping in a tent in D.C. for over a month now. I’ve traveled to five Occupations in two countries. In every demonstration (including the one in Canada) I’ve found a vet to talk to:
In Zuccotti Park, Army Specialist Jerry Bordeleau, 24, was sitting next to a table of IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) literature. On his sweater were two buttons: an Iraq Campaign metal and one from the IWW. He served two tours in Iraq and now says he’s unemployed and can’t find work for over $10 an hour. And he can’t live on $10 an hour. When I asked him why he’s at Occupy Wall Street he says, “I went and fought for capitalism and that’s why I’m now a Marxist.” Read more.
The early 90s were packed with events that riveted and shocked young people, like the Rodney King trial and decision, the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, Clarence Thomas’s confirmation to the US Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court’s decision on Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, which upheld mandatory 24-hour waiting periods and other restrictions to abortion. What did all of these events have in common? They were about pressing issues that affect young women: sexual harassment, rape, race in America, reproductive health, economics, and class.
And yet, when you turned on the television, read the news, or listened to the radio, no one was talking or listening to young women. The pundits and experts were almost always white men discussing the ramifications of various legal arguments, not the reality of these issues, not the impact they would have on young women’s lives.
cynicalpink: Just a little visual to remind us exactly who is sponsoring the “It’s Not Rape if You’re Not Bruised and Bleeding” Bill.
Last month, I saw an incredible photo of an older woman being led away by two cops in front of a Chase Bank in downtown Los Angeles. I waited a few days thinking I’d hear more about her in the media, but it never happened. So I called her.
Her name is Julia Botello. She’s an 85-year-old immigrant from Mexico. She and 22 others were arrested for blocking the doors of the Chase bank. Over 200 people, including many homeowners facing foreclosure, took part in the action.
Julia told me she found her voice 10 years ago, at the ripe age of 75. It happened after she fell and hurt her knee on a routine walk home. She lives in South Central LA. Her neighborhood was often dark because the street lamps rarely worked.
So she went to City council meetings and raised her voice. Her neighborhood hasn’t been dark since. And since then, Julia hasn’t stopped. If there’s an action focusing on an issue she cares about, she’ll do whatever it takes to be there. She says, “I still have time and I want to keep going.”
Now imagine if an 85-year-old tea partier was photographed being led away be two cops at an action attended by 200 people. It would be all over the cable shows and Julia Botello would probably be inundated with interview requests. But because she was standing up for people who are losing their homes, she’s only been contacted by two other reporters.
In addition to the Chase gathering, several other grassroots actions failed to receive the attention they deserve.
On December 9, thousands of inmates in George state prisons began a six-day strike to demand decent living conditions, a living wage, and an end to cruel and unusual punishment. It was the largest prison strike in U.S. history, but the New York Times was one of the few corporate outlets to cover it.
On December 11, a group opposing NAFTA gathered in Waterville, Maine to call attention to President Obama’s decision to bring the Korea U.S. Free Trade Agreement to Congress. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the deal will cost 159,000 jobs within the first seven years after it takes effect. Congress is expected to vote on the deal next month.
On December 15, workers, union activists, and community supporters took part in more than 40 actions at Rite Aid stores in 11 states to raise awareness about low wages and health insurance cost increases.
On December 16, 131 veterans and their supporters were arrested for chaining themselves to the White House fence to demand an end to the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. The action was completely blacked out by the corporate media.
And on December 20, six people were arrested in front of Bank of American in Clayton, St. Louis for calling attention to foreclosures. Some 80 people attended the action.
These actions, no matter how small, should not be discounted. Let’s hope these voices become too loud to ignore in 2011.
The Activist Beat By Rose Aguilar - uprisingradio.org
Her name is Julia Botello. She’s an 85-year-old immigrant…
