Peace and Freedom Party voters in the June 8, 2010 Primary election may have two or more candidates to choose from for the party’s nomination for Governor of California. Stewart Alexander has already announced his bid for the nomination. Unconfirmed reports indicate Carlos Alvarez of Los Angeles may also run.
Inland Valley Activists Charge Border Patrol
Posted by on July 2, 2009
Inland Valley Activists Charge Border Patrol
July 2, 2009
Almost 150 activists rallied today at the office of the Border Patrol in Riverside to protest the increasing harassment and illegal, law enforcement tactics aimed at people of color. An impressive contingent from Warehouse Workers United were present in their distinctive blue t-shirts. The crowd’s home-made signs promoting family and justice clashed decisively with the clean, corporate signs of a handful of Minutemen engaging in a counter demonstration.
It appeared that the half-dozen Minutemen got about equal time with the press corps, probably because their vile spitting and outrageous statements are so alluring when viewed through a camera lens. These puppets of racism demanded that the crowd go back to Mexico, though I didn’t actually see anyone wearing buttons that said they were originally from that nation. And, in my own case, the demand should have been that I move back to the Italy of my great-grandparents. There was also a demand, just one, that we ‘move back to Africa’. But I suspect that the one who shouted that was at the wrong rally, wearing the wrong costume or simply confused from standing out in the hot sun too long (as measured in moments).
It was a less dour, more enjoyable rally than the ones I’m more used to. Music was everywhere, though sporadic. The crowd, prompted by rotating conductors, broke out in spontaneous chants. And numerous activists held hands or crossed arms to form long circles to block the Minutemen, who were obviously desperate for the attention denied them by their parents (or spouses), as they tried to disrupt the speakers.
“Obey the law!” shouted one woman carrying a sign against illegal immigration. Yet I doubt she was speaking of those laws that the Border Patrol feels comfortable in ignoring (the right to assemble, the right to free speech and the rights against illegal search and seizure, to name just a few).
While the main event was peacefully contained in the building’s parking lot, toward the end there was a quiet call for Warehouse Workers United to move and an orderly throng of those distinctive blue t-shirts charged the Border Patrol office, blocking the door with bodies and spirited chants. “No Justice; No Peace!” and “We’ll Be Back Soon” were among my personal favorites.
All along, probably unnoticed by the press and maybe even the organizers, a small group of landscapers stopped their scheduled maintenance chores and, under a shade tree, watched and listened.
Cashing In on Climate Change
Posted by on July 2, 2009
The upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine looks at the role Goldman Sachs has played in creating economic havoc over the last two centuries. As the favored financier of President Obama’s career, the heavyweight of capitalism is now positioning itself to capitalize on yet another Ponzi scheme: carbon-market trading. Using taxpayer funds from the banking bailout scandal it in large part caused, Goldman Sachs is prepared to take advantage of this golden opportunity to cash in on the climate change crisis.
On Its Head
Posted by on July 1, 2009
The assumption of lineal progress limits our conceptual appreciation of what is the most dynamic aspect of human evolution in the world today. While tribal governing entities have relied on conservation, cooperation, and reciprocity to maintain internal stability for millenia, they have now extended these values into network society. Pan-tribal global solidarity in confronting the anti-indigenous axis of state institutions, markets, and transnational criminal enterprise has emerged with support from civil society. The new alliances and organizing strategy of the indigenous peoples’ movement may turn much social theory on its head.
White Power Tripping
Posted by on June 29, 2009
In an article on the Blacklight website, author Sidney Brinkley writes:
It’s a new century with a new president elected on the promise of change. However, in the Gay movement it’s the same White people with the same message to Black Gays: We lead. You follow.
Here’s my 21st century response: Fuck That!
To read the full article, go to http://www.blacklightonline.com/powrtrip.html.
