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“Out
of the streets and into the sheets” was the slogan plastered across
billboards, buildings and basements nationwide. A previously unknown queer
anarcho-matrimonialist neo-christian movement billing itself as
Auntychrist has claimed responsibility for the pending shutdown of the
federal government.
Information
about the amorphous organization first came to light in recently released
wikileaks documents. NSA analysts were first alerted to this new
subversive organization when searches for references to Tea Party turned
up the cumsensus based Tea Baggers caucus of Auntychrist.
Taking
heed of the dire warnings from televangelists that the gay marriage would
spell dewm for the country, the group changed its tactics from direct
action to indirect action. “We suspected that if the state sanctioned
gay marriage, that would spell the end of the state,” said M.A.
Goldmyn.“Thus we fought for the gay marriage. And it turns out we were
right.”
In
the latest bull from the vatican, Pope Frances the Last, wearing his
tiara, issued a closet rule for the whole catholic church. “We just
won’t talk about these things.”
From October 25th -28th, 2013 in Oakland, California, Urban Shield - a
trade show and training exercise for SWAT teams and police agencies - will bring local,
national and international law enforcement agencies together with
“defense industry contractors” to provide training and introduce new
weapons to police and security companies.
In addition to police, fire, and sheriffs’ departments from all over
the bay area, the exercises will involve more than two dozen state and
federal agencies, colleges, school districts, and armed forces from
Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, Brazil, Norway, Switzerland, France, Jordan and
Singapore.
More than 20 local peace and justice organizations,
including LAGAI and QUIT!, are organizing to oppose this further
militarization of our communities. There
will be rallies, teach-ins and direct actions.
For info http://facingteargas.org/facing-urban-shield-action-network
by George
At the sf pride membership meeting on September 15,
six of seven candidates from the San Francisco Pride Members for
Democracy, Accountability and Transparency (PMDAT) slate were elected to
the pride Board.
A few days prior to the election, pride CEO Earl
Plante was forced to resign, after release of an email in which he
threatened PMDAT candidate Jesse Oliver Sanford with prosecution for
assault if he did not resign as a candidate. The alleged “assault”
occurred at a cancelled Board meeting that was to address the issue of
pride’s removal of Chelsea Manning as a grand marshal. Numerous
witnesses have denied that there was an assault. The Bay Area Reporter
stated that in a September 6 letter to the "SF Pride Community,"
Plante had said that his decision to resign was based largely on the
"racist politics of personal destruction" and "unrelenting
public vilification" "over the past four months" due to
"the erroneous nomination and selection of Chelsea (Bradley) Manning
as a Pride parade grand marshal."
Lisa L. Williams, the board president, has taken
over as the interim CEO. In her capacity as board president, Lisa L.
Williams had been the spokesperson for preventing Chelsea Manning from
being a grand marshal, stating:
“Bradley
Manning is facing the military justice system of this country. We all
await the decision of that system. However, until that time, even the hint
of support for actions which placed in harms way the lives of our men and
women in uniform -- and countless others, military and civilian alike --
will not be tolerated by the leadership of San Francisco Pride.”
Despite massive protests, community meetings, a
flash-mob dance group, and questions from members of the sf board of
supervisors, sf pride never reversed their stance, or even tried to
attempt a compromise. As spring wore on, many people saw the decision on
Chelsea as further evidence of the corporatization of pride, and there was
a lot of discussion among individuals, groups, and in the queer press.
 As
the day of the parade approached, people who were still angry about the
decision and the arrogance of the pride officers and board, adopted
various strategies. Some people in the ad hoc coalition advocated for
people to become members of pride, so that they could vote in the board
election in September. The coalition decided the main strategy would be to
keep the focus on Manning’s trial and build the largest possible
contingent, wherever pride chose to place it. Various groups targeted the
pride media party, which took place on the Thursday before pride at the
posh Hotel W. Members of LAGAI and QUIT! and other radical queers
disrupted the party, went on stage with a banner, and read a statement.
Code Pink staged an action in the hallway at the entrance to the party,
while the coalition held a small demonstration outside.
On the day of the parade (which used to be a march,
and didn’t have a CEO) our wildcat contingent of about 70 radical queers
from LAGAI, QUIT!, ACT-UP, Workers World, Gay Shame and WORD, broke into
the parade in front of pride’s lead banner, getting a great response
along the route. We also set up a booth directly across from the clear
channel cameras on Market so that a bunch of different banners, produced
and orchestrated by Dean, were on display and appeared on camera as
various contingents passed on the march. Support signs for Manning were
seen in over a dozen other contingents.
Meanwhile, although the national guard and other
military and police contingents had prominent placement in the march, the
official Bradley Manning Support Network contingent was placed near the
very end of the parade, and didn’t step off until almost 1 p.m.
Nonetheless, it was the largest contingent in the parade, colorful and
loud. In a public vote after the parade, the contingent won the awards for
“Most Fabulous Marching Contingent,” and “Most Fabulous Overall
Contingent.”
The strategy to change the membership of the pride
board was also successful. Although pride initially considered not
honoring the September 15th vote, on September 18, a recount
was held, and the election results were confirmed. The slate candidates
elected were Joey Cain, Gary Virginia, Marsha Levine, Jesse Oliver
Sanford, Jose Cital, and John Caldera. Kevin Bard, the only African
American on the slate, was the only PMDAT candidate not elected. Incumbent
Justin Taylor was re-elected. Four incumbents were not up for election
this time.
This is not the first time that progressive people
have tried to change the corporate course of pride. Back in the 1980’s
Larry Burnett, who had been active in LAGAI, Black and White Men Together,
and other progressive groups, became the parade co-chair. Although he was
able to move the position of progressive contingents forward in the
parade, he was not able to accomplish any structural change. Now that the
pride board has a majority of “reformers,” we look forward to seeing
how many of the shots corporations will continue to call.
Free Chelsea Manning
Lisa L. Williams’ statement was issued just as
Chelsea’s trial was to begin. Chelsea had been initially charged with 34
criminal violations, the most serious of which was “aiding the enemy.”
She was also charged with six violations of the Espionage Act, nine counts
of violating lawful orders or regulations, as well as violations of the
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and Embezzlement and Theft of Public Money,
Property or Records.
What Chelsea actually did was provide to Wikileaks
for publication over 700,000 computer files, some documenting u.s.
military killings of civilians and human rights abuses, including
activities in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo prison. Specific
information included a video of a 2007 helicopter attack on Baghdad in
which the u.s. army killed civilians, including two journalists. Other
documents in the release showed the collusion of foreign governments with
the u.s. and helped inspire Arab Spring protests in Tunisia and in Egypt.
Others revealed the role of the u.s. embassy in opposing raising the
minimum wage in Haiti.
Military judge colonel denise r. lind found Chelsea
not guilty of the charge of aiding the enemy, but found her guilty of most
of the other charges. On August 21, lind sentenced Chelsea to 35 years,
with credit for 1294 days which included actual time served, and
additional time credited for the 112 days of “mistreatment” (read –
torture) she endured prior to trial. Chelsea is expected to serve her
sentence at the fort leavenworth military prison. She will be eligible for
parole in approximately 8 years. Even the New York Times Editorial Board
commented on the harsh sentence, saying:
“But 35
years is far too long a sentence by any standard. In more than two weeks
of hearings, government lawyers presented vague and largely speculative
claims that Private Manning’s leaks had endangered lives and
“chilled” diplomatic relations. On the other hand, much of what
Private Manning released was of public value, including a video of a
military helicopter shooting at two vans and killing civilians, including
two Reuters journalists. By comparison, First Lt. Michael Behenna was
sentenced to 25 years for the 2008 killing of an unarmed Iraqi man who was
being questioned about suspected terrorist activities. Lieutenant
Behenna’s sentence has since been cut to 15 years. Private Manning has
already been held for more than three years, nine months of which were in
solitary confinement.”
After her sentencing, Chelsea released a statement
saying “I only wanted to help people…If you deny my request for a
pardon, I will serve my time knowing that sometimes you have to pay a
heavy price to live in a free society.”
On August 22, the following statement from Chelsea
was read on the Today show, “I want to thank everybody who has supported
me over the last three years. Throughout this long ordeal, your letters of
support and encouragement have helped keep me strong. I am forever
indebted to those who wrote to me, made a donation to my defense fund, or
came to watch a portion of the trial. I would especially like to thank
Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network for their
tireless efforts in raising awareness for my case and providing for my
legal representation.
“As I
transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the
real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel,
and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as
possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also
request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the
feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility). I
look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the
opportunity to write back.”
Catherine T. Wilkinson, speaking on behalf of the
department of “defense,” told ABC news that “there is no mechanism
in place for the U.S. military to provide hormone therapy or
gender-reassignment surgery for inmates."
The American Civil Liberties Union has said that
they will support Chelsea to receive hormones and other medical
intervention. “The official policy of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and
most state agencies is to provide medically necessary care for the
treatment of gender dysphoria, and courts have consistently found that
denying such care to prisoners based on blanket exclusions violates the
Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. The ACLU stands with Chelsea
Manning, and will support Ms. Manning's pursuit of appropriate healthcare
and lawful treatment while at Fort Leavenworth.” The Transgender Law
Center and the National Center on Transgender Equality have made
statements supporting Chelsea’s right to transition.
 Even
the human rights campaign supported Chelsea’s right to appropriate care:
“Regardless
of how she came to our attention, Pvt. Chelsea Manning’s transition
deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. As she requested in
her letter, journalists and other officials should use her chosen name of
Chelsea and refer to her with female pronouns. Using the name
Bradley or male pronouns is nothing short of an insult. Media,
having reported on her wishes, must respect them as is the standard
followed by the AP Stylebook.
As Pvt.
Manning serves her sentence, she deserves the same thing that any
incarcerated person does – appropriate and competent medical care and
protection from discrimination and violence. The care she receives
should be something that she and her doctors – including professionals
who understand transgender care – agree is best for her. There is
a clear legal consensus that it is the government’s responsibility to
provide medically necessary care for transgender people and the military
has an obligation to follow those guidelines.”
The hrc went on to clarify which side of the
military-industrial complex they were on:
”What
should not be lost is that there are transgender servicemembers and
veterans who serve and have served this nation with honor, distinction and
great sacrifice. We must not forget or dishonor those individuals.
Pvt. Manning’s experience is not a proxy for any other transgender man
or woman who wears the uniform of the United States.”
On September 3, Chelsea officially applied for a
presidential pardon. A previous on-line petition at the white house web
site, that many people have signed, expired without achieving the
threshold of signatures that requires a response.
We are inspired by Chelsea Manning’s courage in
continuing her fight for justice, by publicly coming out and demanding her
rights as a transperson in prison. Free Chelsea!
Photos: Rick
Gerharter. Please do not use without permission.
The federal government of Mexico recently ordered a
police and military crackdown on a demonstration in the main square of the
capital, Mexico City. This
demonstration of tens of thousands of teachers and their supporters was
preceded by massive demonstrations across the entire country. Teachers,
and their supporters, are protesting recently passed and proposed laws
that would, among other things, eliminate whatever local control there is
of education in poor, rural, and indigenous areas.
The current national government is controlled by
the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) which was in control of the
country for decades and, after losing electoral power for 12 years, once
again controls both houses of congress and the presidency. PRI spent much
of its time in power quashing dissent. The national teachers union has a
decades-long relationship with the PRI and is supporting the neo-liberal
changes that have been and are being made.
These demonstrations and protests and actions are
being driven by a rank-and-file caucus of the teachers union coming out of
poorer areas of the country. Media outlets in the country and in the u.s.
are pro-government. Teachers have been portrayed as caring only for
themselves. This caucus, the CNTE (National Education Workers Committee)
believes that change is needed, but not these changes. These teachers and
their supporters are also opposed to the privatization of the country’s
oil company. They are opposed to tax laws that benefit the rich. It has
been the policy of PRI to “marginalize, corrupt, threaten, and
repress.” If these protests were led by lazy teachers concerned only for
themselves, they would not be so big, and so everywhere across the entire
country. And they wouldn’t have prompted a military crackdown.
By Lisa
Let’s just go back to the beginning for moment,
why do we queer folk care how our local municipal utilities and the
behemoth public utilities keep the lights on and the cell phones charging
or where the gas comes from for our cars, trucks, motorcycles and
lawnmowers? Because we love
our blue-green living planet! And,
although some of us also love to read those post-apocalyptic novels with
great queer characters, we really rather would prevent an environmental
apocalypse from occurring, sea levels rising to engulf our homes, and
other disasters linked to global warming and climate chaos.
Fossil fuels cause carbon dioxide emissions;
specifically, burning coal, oil, gas, and even wood has released so much
carbon dioxide since the “industrial revolution” that humans have
changed the atmospheric balance of chemicals radically and swiftly (by
geological standards). We are
now past 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide and already on a course
for at least a 2 degree Celsius overall global warming in the next
100 years—and it could be more, a lot more.
This rapid change is already affecting the relatively consistent
weather patterns that have prevailed for thousands of years.
And that is one big reason why over the past few
decades, many have been calling for a shift to cleaner fuels and an end to
coal mining, tar sands mining, the pipelines for the tar sands (Keystone
XL and Enbridge), and an end to fracking.
There are other reasons to oppose these processes that relate to
how each of these fuels is taken from the earth. For example: Strip mining
coal in Appalachia by blowing up mountains and burying streams under the
“waste” rock; strip mining tar sands in Alberta destroys thousands of
acres of the boreal forests and both uses and pollutes massive amounts of
water. Fracking and other gas and oil well projects release “waste”
methane (a short-lived but powerful green house gas that is 56 times more
warming potential than carbon dioxide), fragment and devastate large areas
of land, and pollute ground water with toxic chemicals, and pollute lands
and surface water with “waste water”, sludge and other noxious
by-products of these processes.
As Ultraviolet has reported before, tar sands are a
particularly dirty type of fossil fuels because it uses large amounts of
energy and hot water to separate the “oil” from the rock and sand even
before it can be shipped out and more energy used to refine it into usable
“oil”. While Ultraviolet
does not endorse politicians, it is worth checking out this
silly but true video from Raul Grijalva about Keystone XL if you have
a minute—tar sands are really rocks! (best line: “I’m not a
scientist, but I look like one in this borrowed lab coat.”)
So What’s
New?
This week Gov Brown (who always takes more than he
gives), signed a bill that he says will regulate fracking in California,
but it really won’t. What started as a bill that included a badly needed
moratorium on fracking until full disclosure is made by industry and
environmental review is completed, wound up as a bill that allows fracking
to continue while the agency sets “regulations” for disclosure and
undertakes an after-the-fact environmental review of the fracking that is
already occurring and will come on line during the time it takes the
agency to do the review. While
it is important to get disclosure of the fracking chemicals and techniques
(including acidization), overall the bill is a gift to the industry and a
slap in the face to environmental activists who raised these issues
publically and pushed for regulations shedding light on a practice that
has gone forward in California for decades with virtually no oversight
from government agencies tasked with protecting our air and water.
Fracking even threatens our newest national park at
Pinnacles which is home to the California Condor and other rare and
imperiled wildlife. Recently,
a proposal for steam injection wells was approved less than 10 miles from
the park and it is not subject to the new regulations.
Meanwhile, Canadian tar sands continue to be mined
and shipped to the US in existing pipelines and Canada is pushing hard to
get the Keystone XL pipeline approved that would take more of this dirty
oil all the way to the gulf coast.
This past summer, occupy, 350.org activists and many activists
across the country engaged in “summer heat” with creative civil
disobedience and demonstrations against the Keystone XL pipeline approval,
including one at the Chevron oil refineries in Richmond California which
have a terrible history of fires, explosions and leaks that poison local
residents, and several demonstrations by native Americans whose lands in
Canada are being destroyed by tar sands mining and in the US whose lands
the pipleline would cross. Check
out some of the reports on these and other actions to “draw the line
on keystone.”
And we need to worry about more than just the
Keystone XL pipeline (which gets all the media). As usual, the
corporations that will make money from devastating the planet have other
proposals that will let them achieve the same results by cobbling together
a set of existing and smaller proposed pipeline segments (see map
accompanying this article).
Is there any antidote to all this bad news? Getting
out and protesting with friends can be invigorating or you can always try
lying on the couch and reading post-apocalyptic queer fiction.
For three years, Marie’s feet have only touched concrete and her view of
the sky has been obstructed by wire mesh.
She faces another 18 years in these conditions for
defending the natural world that she is now being denied.
Marie Mason is serving nearly twenty-two years in federal prison for
environmental related vandalism in which no one was injured. After being
threatened with a life sentence in 2009, Marie pled guilty to two acts
committed nine years earlier: damaging an office where Genetically
Modified Organism research data was held and destroying logging equipment.
The federal judge, having applied the “terrorism enhancement”
provision, gave her almost two years longer than the longest sentence the
prosecution asked for, making it the harshest punishment of anyone
convicted of environmental sabotage to date.
For reasons known only to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Marie is
locked up in the special administrative housing unit at FMC Carswell in
Fort Worth, Texas, far from her family and friends. This high security,
highly restricted unit is justified by the government as necessary only
for inmates they deem the country’s most violent, dangerous prisoners.
Marie’s
gymnasium-sized unit houses up to 20 female prisoners, but this space has
been cut in half due to a new wall; a restricted unit inside a restricted unit.
Prisoners are only allowed to leave this building for medical treatment,
which comes after a protracted wait and fierce advocacy on the part of the
prisoner.
Many of the women in Marie’s unit suffer from untreated, debilitating mental
health issues which are manifested in violent behavior, self mutilation,
screams and sobs throughout the night, and unpredictable actions. The
constant barrage of cries and pleas from people in emotional pain
constitutes psychological torture. There is no rest or calm.
Marie is allowed to exercise in a small, fenced-in, concrete, outdoor
area topped by wire mesh. There is no room to run or engage in physical
activity. The recreational room has one exercise bicycle and is rarely
staffed.
Marie is frequently and unpredictably locked down for hours on end due
to inmates fighting, attacks on guards, and acts of self-sabotage by some
of the women. This greatly limits her access to recreation, work, and the
small outdoor cage.
Mental health counseling and educational classes are not provided.
Most inmates know what they have to do to be transferred from this
unit, but not Marie. The BOP has never given her any instructions as to
what she must do in order to be transferred out of this unit. Currently,
she has no hope of ever being moved unless we advocate for her.
The continual assault of a sterile environment, the lack of access to
exercise and mental stimulation, the constant destructive outbursts from
inmates who are not receiving the treatment they desperately deserve, and
the impossibility of attaining freedom from this unit without outside
intervention is inhumane.
It is urgent that we do everything within our power to get her out of
this place immediately.
Every day that Marie is forced to live in these conditions takes a toll
on her mental and physical health. Marie has never violated any prison
rules and is obviously being targeted for her political beliefs. We demand
that she be removed from this restrictive unit and transferred to a
federal prison near her family and friends.
You can help!
Please write respectful letters to Director Charles E. Samuels, Jr.,
Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 First St., NW, Washington, DC 20534.
You can find sample letters and more info about Marie’s
case at www.supportmariemason.org.
 On
July 8th, 30,000 California prisoners across prison-imposed racial lines,
began a hunger strike and work stoppage, a true feat of inside prison
activist organizing against a brutal system which should be abolished.
In 2011, 12,000 prisoners participated in statewide hunger strikes
protesting the inhumane conditions in the “Secure Housing Units,”
where prisoners are held in long-term isolation.
After one prisoner died from starvation, the 2011 strike ended with
a promise from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to
reform the procedure for condemning inmates to the SHU, and modify the
conditions there. After two
years with no changes forthcoming and only 208 of over 12,000 being
released to general population, prisoners announced they were renewing the
strike.
Over 12,000 prisoners are still held indefinitely,
FOR YEARS, in solidarity confinement, in small windowless cells, unable to
touch people they love, have pictures, phone calls, community with others
or even access to the outside fresh air.
Prisoners are confined in the SHU (Security Housing Unit) at the
slightest whim of the prison officials, if they are considered to be part
of a gang. Prisoners in the
SHU spend 22 and a half hours a day in their cells.
The only way to leave solitary confinement is to snitch on other
prisoners, a process known as debriefing.
The prisoners presented five demands
1. End Group Punishment & Administrative Abuse
2. Abolish the Debriefing Policy, and Modify
Active/Inactive Gang Status Criteria
3. Comply with the US Commission on Safety and
Abuse in America’s Prisons 2006 Recommendations Regarding an End to Long-Term
Solitary Confinement – CDCR shall implement the findings and
recommendations of the US commission on safety and abuse in America’s
prisons final 2006 report regarding CDCR SHU facilities as follows:
-
End Conditions of Isolation.
Ensure that prisoners in SHU and Ad-Seg (Administrative
Segregation) have regular meaningful contact and freedom from extreme
physical deprivations that are known to cause lasting harm.
-
Make Segregation a Last Resort.
Create a more productive form of confinement in the areas of
allowing inmates in SHU and Ad-Seg [Administrative Segregation], the
opportunity to engage in meaningful self-help treatment, work,
education, religious, and other productive activities relating to
having a sense of being a part of the community.
-
End Long-Term Solitary Confinement. Release
inmates to general prison population who have been warehoused
indefinitely in SHU for the last 10 to 40 years (and counting).
-
Provide SHU Inmates Immediate Meaningful Access
to: i) adequate natural sunlight ii) quality health care and
treatment, including the mandate of transferring all PBSP- SHU inmates
with chronic health care problems to the New Folsom Medical SHU
facility.
4. Provide Adequate and Nutritious Food – cease
the practice of denying adequate food, and provide wholesome, nutritional
meals, including special diet meals, and allow inmates to purchase
additional vitamin supplements.
5. Expand and Provide Constructive Programming and
Privileges for Indefinite SHU Status Inmates.
Examples include:
-
Expand
visiting regarding amount of time and adding one day per week.
-
Allow
one photo per year.
-
Allow
a weekly phone call.
-
Allow
two annual packages per year. A 30 lb. package based on “item”
weight and not packaging and box weight.
-
Expand
canteen and package items allowed.
-
Allow
TV/Radio combinations, or TV and small battery operated radio
-
Allow
Hobby Craft Items – art paper, colored pens, small pieces of colored
pencils, watercolors, chalk, etc.
-
Allow
sweat suits and watch caps.
-
Allow
wall calendars.
-
Install
pull-up/dip bars on SHU yards.
-
Allow
correspondence courses that require proctored exams.
Support for the hunger strikers stretched across
California communities. Weekly
vigils were held in downtown San Francesco and near weekly demonstrations
at Oscar Grant Plaza in Oakland.
We in LAGAI-Queer Insurrection and many other
queers were among the 500 people who drove four hours to corcoran prison
in the insecticide-and-manure-smelling barren inhospitable Central
California desert. There was a
militant multicultural rally representing a diverse range of political
groups. Aztec dancers
performed, a wall of pictures of prisoners and their writings was
assembled on a chain link fence, former prisoners told of their
experiences and the core demands were explained.
Then there was a march and a car caravan along the empty country
road to the prison in the 103 degree blazing heat.
LAGAI carried our QUEERS FOR THE ABOLITION OF PRISONS banner.
A wilted demonstrator speculated that surely there must be
air-conditioning inside the concrete evil looming prison. I knew from past
prison visits to corcoran that it is oppressively hot, no air-conditioning
and starkly institutional inside only dirt concrete, not a blade of green
and run by arbitrary and posturing guards always watching.
I left feeling a mixture of the insidious crush of
the prison industrial complex and the excited exuberance that such a
massive demonstration against this malevolent system was happening inside.
We chanted INSIDE OUTSIDE WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME SIDE.
In August the Anti- Repression Committee (an off
shoot of Occupy Oakland) had a Queer-focused demo in support of the hunger
strikers who were by now in the news because the prison administrators
wanted to force feed those remaining on the strike, a practice
internationally condemned as torture.
This particular demonstration highlighted the oppression of queer
prisoners.
Janetta Johnson, representing the Trans
GenderVariant Intersex Justice Project, spoke: “Transgender prisoners
are placed in the SHU based on the fact that they are transgender. It’s
punitive.” We then hit the
streets in the traditional Occupy Oakland style Fuck the Police rowdy
march to the police station, chanting “CLOSE THE JAILS! FREE THEM ALL!
TEAR DOWN THE PRISON WALLS!”
On September 5th the hunger strike ended
after 60 days of intense solidarity and organizing.
When the strike ended, over 100 people were still participating and
40 people had been on it the full 60 days.
The prison system put out specious propaganda that prisoners were
coerced into this monumental action by gang leaders, but everyone knows
that’s not true.
The Pelican Bay Short Corridor Collective, which
initiated the call for the strike, issued the following statement
“suspending” the hunger strike.
To be clear, our Peaceful Protest of Resistance to our
continuous subjection to decades of systemic state sanctioned torture via
the system’s solitary confinement units is far from over. Our decision
to suspend our third hunger strike in two years does not come lightly.
This decision is especially difficult considering that most of our demands
have not been met (despite nearly universal agreement that they are
reasonable). The core group of prisoners has been, and remains 100%
committed to seeing this protracted struggle for real reform through to a
complete victory, even if it requires us to make the ultimate sacrifice.
With that said, we clarify this point by stating prisoner deaths
are not the objective, we recognize such sacrifice is at times the only
means to an end of fascist oppression.
From our perspective, we’ve gained a lot of positive
ground towards achieving our goals. However,
there’s still much to be done. Our
resistance will continue to build and grow until we have won our human
rights.
State legislators, led by Tom Ammiano, have agreed
to public hearings on the issue of long term solitary confinement which is
a progress as the 2011 hunger strike produced only evaluation of
individual cases of solitary imprisonment.
We will see. The
struggle continues and we remain ready to demonstrate again at corcoran.
by
Tory
The evil empire just doesn’t quit. It’s
happening again, a repeat performance at the Albany Bulb.
Come October the city of albany, california is busting up an
encampment of 70 otherwise homeless people who have made a home and
community on the bulb. The
Albany Bulb is a spit of 30 acres of landfill begun in 1963 as a dump for
housing development debris, concrete slabs rubble and rebar.
It was an unwanted place that over the years returned to a sort of
urban wild, complete with odd plants that came with the construction
dumping, garden roses, palm trees and the like.
Early September the albany city council voted 4-1 to get rid of the
encampment and turn the bulb over to the state park.
The land is already part of the east bay regional parks who were
planning to tidy it up (make it sufficiently bourgeois), pave the paths,
etc., in 2003-4 after the last community living there was summarily
removed. But the budget crunch
came and nothing was ever done and the bulb remained a free place with
off-leash dogs, strange art and graffiti and tent communities among the
fennel groves, looking out over the bay.
 No
doubt the new interest by the state is driven by desire for coastal luxury
development on the former racetrack property adjacent to the bulb.
The bureaucrats don’t want the encampments, free dogs, unruly
weird vegetation, found art sculptures and graffiti interfering with the
anticipated foo-foo developments
In 2004 I did a story about the then-struggle to
keep the Albany Bulb a place for people.
I interviewed Osha Neumann, a radical lawyer and one of the artists
of SNFF who made fantastic art all over the bulb.
Osha defended the people evicted from the bulb in 1999,
highlighting that albany has never had a single shelter or accommodation
for homeless people, something that remains true today.
The people currently living on the bulb are
continuing the tradition started in the nineties encampments of community
building. They hold meetings,
improve the paths, helped in cosco-busan oil spill clean up, remodeling
the old library, make art and care for each other.
Recently I went out to the Albany Bulb, something I
do every so often. I was greeted by two huge city dumpsters at the top of
the path leading into the wild part of the bulb, signaling the impending
state intervention. I had not
been to the bulb in a long time, so at first was distressed, but then I
was transfixed by all the activity in evidence.
People were hauling water on wagons attached to bikes or bringing
supplies in shopping carts. There
were signs on trees advertising community meetings.
New art was in evidence at the shoreline and graffiti on concrete
slabs. There were signs
announcing that the library would be reopened and tents squirreled in
thickets everywhere. I was so excited by this indomitable new wave of
taking the peoples space.
It is a revolutionary act, the claiming of unused
land, buildings, taking over, making our own place.
State authority has become increasingly freaked out about this,
rightly identifying the power of such space claiming.
They couldn’t stand Occupy Oakland.
So they made damn sure it went.
The mere sight of a tent sends the police and politicians into a
frenzy in Oakland. The direct
action encampment at the Berkeley Post office protesting the selling of
the much loved community landmark was raided August 28th after
a month of a tent city on its steps. The
city of fresno raided three encampments built by hundreds of homeless
people on August 2th. The
police in new york routinely patrol Zuccotti park to make sure no pesky
activists setup any new tents.
The Albany Bulb is an industry-created dump that no
one wanted. Now that nature
and people reclaimed the land and made it beautiful, the city wants it
back. The evil empire wants to
destroy this important spontaneous community.
Rather than help this community flourish they want to tear it down,
forcing the residents back to dangerous streets fighting for the lousy
non-existent crumbs of services. Dogs
will be leashed and the art destroyed and the wildness exchanged for
manicured park paths, no doubt paving the way for condos.
PEOPLE RISE UP
Queer Community: We live, we exist, and all our
hopes and dreams involve Love. If others cannot understand this truth, it
is their loss and ours. I cannot stop being who I am, because Compassion
is the biggest part of me. All that I see is a reflection of my inner
convictions, and echos of passion never lost energy! Meditate and imagine
a world in-sync, ONE and in-phase like a laser (our light would be
magnified)> My boyhood friend and later love, Kyle, was brutally
attacked and tragically killed by gang members because they deided that
they alone held the power of life and death over one so fragile and
Beautiful. Had they known how loving, kind and free he was, would they
still decide to crush him (and me) forever? I hope not. Why, in a world so
violent and chaotic, would not everyone relish ANY opportunity to
experience the joy that can come from ANY source – regardless of
Cosmetic manifestation? It has been 6 years and my pain seems to have no
end. I want only one more embrace, one more kiss. Please friends, be
loving to each other, and Compassionate to even those which you perceive
as ‘different’. We all need each other like the Earth needs rain.
Your friend, Stanley King
#121539, CUCF, PO Box 550, Gunnison UT 84634
People currently or formerly imprisoned, victims of
state and personal harm, activists, advocates, artists, academics,
journalists, professionals, along with others from around the world are
invited to take part, in person or by proxy, in ICOPA 15 on Algonquin
Territory in Ottawa Canada on June 13-14, 2014.
Proposals for individual submissions and sessions
are welcome. Proposals can
address any theme related to imprisonment, the penal system, other forms
of state control and the prison industrial complex.
Write to ICOPA 15 c/o Justin Piche, Dept. of Criminology University
of Ottawa, 120 University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5
or email icopa.canada@gmail.com
for more information.
Sent in by Dr. Cathy Marston, Gatesville TX
When the choice to die of hunger ---------Strike!
Is better than to live------- because there is no Rehabilitation!
Where the Valley blows of Virus ------------Disease!
In a prison that men can’t leave ------------thwart
the hope of Rehabilitation!
If their livelihood is based upon a prisoner’s
return -------------Complex!
On the outside or the inside with those whom the authorities scorn
---------they really don’t want
Rehabilitation!
There is sex without condoms and rape surmounts
without a sound -----------Silenced!
And the prisoners share needles with drugs as common as the clouds
------------don’t speak of
Rehabilitation!
Oh, Governor Brown, be of, by and for the People
--------------- Please!
For the people include the Prisoners and you are so Chief Justice Supreme
-------------- so stop touting
Rehabilitation!
Why do they keep saying “Rehabilitation?”
They’re starting to make a fool of the word, “Rehabilitation”
-----------
And “Revolution!” may
soon take its place.
A Ramirez – California State Prison
I have been in five years now and have worked most
every day of the last four on proving my innocence. Recently I returned to
Court on papers I wrote and filed myself and it appears I have presented a
convincing enough argument that my sentence is going to be overturned. I
have never been in trouble before and the crime was non-violent yet I was
given an extremely long sentence (13 years) and placed in Maximum Security
even though my points and case factor score only qualified me for Minimum
Security. I believe this was done solely because of my real or perceived
sexual orientation and gender identity. I was immediately raped and beaten
so many times I lost count. I reported it to the Officers but the first
one just laughed and none of the rest ever did anything about it for
almost a year. Then they started an investigation and said there was no
evidence to collect because too much time had gone by.
The crazy thing is all of this has made me a better, stronger
person than I have ever been in my whole life.
I am able to quickly determine if someone is a user/abuser or not
and take measures to eliminate or minimize their involvement in my life. I
know what my goals are and I am able to obtain them. I finally learned not
to sweat the small stuff and that all of it is small stuff. And I learned
that happiness is in the people around you and comes from within, not from
anything outside of yourself. These prisons are a desolate, empty,
hateful, hostile place especially for a member of our community. Innocent
or guilty – We Are Family! We need to stick together in here and out
there. Be a light to each other. Pink. Purple. Violet. UltraViolet. Just
be a light.
Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice
Everywhere!
Always, Shane, Lanesboro CI, North Carolina
Rain
Not here
Where rain is clear
Where oceans wane
And wax
The queer inside my soul reacts
As if by ear
Upon my brain, in…
Sane?
I fear
This chain, my tear
Leaves a stain
And woe
The year I’ve lost but even though
They disappear
My wounds remain, in
Vain.
Benny G, 2013, CA State Prison
Transformation isn’t an occurrence, performance or
pronouncement of conduct. It is not some foreign perspective that will
immediately present inevitable great expense or riches.
No, transformation is rather a daring experience with
polarizing results that illustrate emotion. An adventure that is provoking
and depressing, opposing but compensating. Useful and advantageous at some
conditions in life while crippling and destructive at others.
Transformation is a driving power which is
constructive and destructive, resulting in your being unsafely exposed
with uncertainties and impoverished by usual and habitual social
conventions carried on by tradition. Nevertheless, strength is developed
with achievement and defeats. The self-determination to persevere and
subdue bestowed accomplishments.
To endeavor to see one’s self for the first time;
not exclusively the individual in the mirror, but as well as the
individual behind it. To perceive the meaning of what it is that you see
and have the innate qualities to direct and regulate what you expose. That
is devoted transformation.
Transformation is approval pursued by
refusal, in an orchestrated dance with fate, arranging knowledge
and understanding into actuality, while disassociating actuality from
illusion.
Are you prepared to transform your character?
By Al
Cunningham, San Quentin CA
The NJ4 Are Free!
Patreese Johnson, the longest imprisoned of the
New Jersey 4, who served eight years for self-defense, was released in
August. Congratulations
Patreese!
Thanks to everyone who donated to support the NJ4.
We hope they will all have a great life from now on.
By Chaya and Deni
MOVIE REVIEWS
Elysium
This
latest movie from South African director-writer Neill Blomkamp continues
his interest in sci-fi themes combined with current social issues. We
didn’t see District 9 (about the treatment of peaceful aliens stuck in
South Africa as refugees) but we had high hopes for Elysium since it
starred Matt Damon and dealt with class, race and immigration issues in a
post-apocalyptic society. It starts with an interesting premise: Elysium
is the space station where the rich white folks live, while down on earth
everyone else is struggling for survival. It takes place in a repressive,
bombed-out Los Angeles. Unfortunately, things went downhill really fast in
the movie due to mediocre writing and story developments, and frequent,
endless stupid fight scenes. We also had to endure Jodie
Foster as co-star.
Chaya said how could their version of ‘paradise’ include hideous
houses and palm trees? Can’t we at least have forests in paradise? Or
was such an artificial-looking environment part of the point? We were
quite worn down by the end, which devolved into a Jesus metaphor for Matt,
and a Madonna with child metaphor for the other female character in the
film (played by Alice Braga, daughter of Sonia). Too bad they didn’t
write her part as a rebel.
Blue Jasmine (review by
Deni)
Despite
great critical aclaim, I found this Woody Allen film unremarkable. It was
mean-spirited and left me with a “who cares” feeling about the pampered
New York society wife (well acted by Cate Blanchett). The movie was set in
SF, but the distortion of neighborhoods and locales was irritating (like
characterizing a spacious and well-furnished apartment as a run-down
Mission
flat.) Especially annoying were the strong NY accents of supposed
San Francisco
main characters, and a
San Francisco
that was barely recognizable in real people and places. Skip it.
Hannah Arendt (review by
Deni)
Though I
wanted to really like this movie, I found the beginning slow and some
parts cloying. I liked seeing a movie about a progressive political woman
and the historical context was informative. But I found an excerpt from
her essay “Zionism Reconsidered” far more interesting than this film:
“Only folly could dictate
a policy which trusts a distant imperial power for protection, while
alienating the goodwill of neighbors. What then, one is prompted to ask,
will be the future policy of Zionism with respect to big powers, and what
program will Zionists have to offer for a solution of the Arab-Jewish
conflict?” A very astute
comment, given the current state of Palestine/Israel
“peace talks” amidst Israel’s ever-expanding settlements and
international isolation (oh yeah, except for the U.S.). I’ve never read
Arendt – perhaps this is a good time to start. It also seems like I
should see more work by this film’s renowned director, Margarethe
von Trotta.
Twenty Feet From Stardom
(review by Deni)
This
film about black women back-up singers in the 1950s and beyond was filled
with fantastic music. It has been widely praised, which makes the
Racialicious review by Tamara Winfrey Harris even more important: “While
the commentary each singer provides is illuminating, it would be
inconceivable for a retrospective on white male singers to feature
virtually all black women musicians, historians, technicians and producers
as subject experts on their careers. However, this is the “benign”
structure that 20 Feet sets up. For nearly two hours the women appear
through the eyes of their mostly white male employers
– rock and pop superstars like Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen,
Sting and Chris Botti – and
assorted white male subject experts. Presumably [belle]
hooks, Angela Davis, Patricia Hill Collins, Michele Wallace, Joan
Morgan, Tricia Rose and scores of other black feminist scholars and music
historians were unavailable to critically contextualize these women’s
experiences.” How ironic that the recognition and opportunities that the
back-up singers were denied is replicated in the film’s choice of
talking heads. See the film for the amazing music and the few times women
are able to provide their own reflection and analysis in telling their
stories.
The Spectacular Now
Sutter
Keely (played by Miles
Teller) is a high school senior with great social skills, big unresolved
family issues, a drinking problem, and no plans for post graduation. After
his girlfriend dumps him, he unexpectedly gets involved with outcast,
good-girl Aimee
(played by Shailene Woodley). This
movie had very good acting, especially by Woodley, and not bad writing,
but the predictable plot developments weakened it considerably.
The East (review by Deni)
Kate and
I saw this film the night before the last newsletter was sent out. I
almost felt compelled to put stickers on every issue saying “DON’T SEE
IT!” But hopefully most of you missed it anyway. It was a “leftist
political revolutionary anarchist” political thriller with an
eco-anarchist-activist-direct action plot line. Unfortunately it was
saddled with really bad writing, bad politics, bad acting (even Patricia
Clarkson’s small part couldn’t save it) and such contrived scenes that
we squirmed our way through it. Hard to decide which scene was the worst:
when the radical commune members had to wash each other, feed each other,
or when we had listen to them plan a major political action with 2 minutes
of discussion. There were some good politics injected in the beginning
about corporations and capitalist greed driving devastating environmental
decisions, but this was quickly lost in the drek of the annoying
characters and storyline. Oh, did I mention it turned out the main
radicals’ actions were fueled by anger at their parents? Did I mention
the racism and sexism? Aaaaggghh – so sad to have to revisit this awful
film 3 months after I had gotten it out of my mind! But I have a
responsibility to my MC readers, so suffer I must. Ummm, need I say SKIP
IT??!
Wadjda (Our “didn’t
see it yet review”)
A couple
of issues ago, the Mocha Column told you to watch for this film about an
independent ten year old Saudi girl, directed by Haifaa Al Mansoura.
It’s the first feature film made by a female Saudi filmmaker.
But it opened as we went to press so we haven’t seen it yet. It looks
great though, so we’re giving an unprecedented “see it” before the
fact!
BITS AND PIECES
TOTALLY BIASED GOES NIGHTLY
Progressive African American comedian W. Kamau Bell’s topical
tv show on FX has moved to a nightly format on FXX (FX’s new cable
station). Sharp critique of national issues and interesting items from a
humorous, pointed angle (wait, aren’t all angles pointed?). It’s
produced by Chris Rock, and the political satire often has an ethnic or
racial focus. It’s pretty good on LGBT issues, sometimes not so good on
sexism. Good supporting cast of comedians. Fortunately, the show is not as
boring as we’re making it out to be, it’s often LOL. Guess it has
better writers. Congrats to Kamau. We don’t know how he does a show 5
nights a week, we can’t even keep up with watching it. Some clips from
shows are available on FXX’s website.
CA PUBLIC TEACHERS MAY RUN WILD! As
California moves toward the implementation of the new national Common Core
academic standards (which will theoretically focus more on critical
thinking than on rote learning), the state has made the shockingly bold
move to suspend the traditional odious standardized testing this year.
Fearing perhaps that without the threat of The Tests this year, public
school teachers would wantonly teach science with gasp! actual time for
experiments and might even teach critical thinking ahead of time and
encourage students to examine why there’s been no money for public
educatation, Evil Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan initially threatened
to withhold federal funding from California unless the state tested this
year, but has now backed off. The CA bill that would allow most students
to skip this year’s standardized testing has passed the state senate but
sits on Jerry Brown’s desk. He indicated he supports the bill but has
until the end of the month to sign it. So teachers are left not knowing if
they will have official freedom to actually teach meaningfully and
creatively this year. Meanwhile, reactionary education forces like Parent
Revolution and Educators 4 Excellence are pressuring Brown to veto the
bill and enforce the testing. We’ll leave you with one of our
favorite second grade standardized math test questions: “Which picture
shows how two dogs would evenly divide 5 dog biscuits?” Hint to the
highly overpaid testmakers: Try this out with two dogs and see how
ridiculous your so-called “right” answer is. Two and a half biscuits
per dog? We think not!
STOP THE COPS In
an August 12 Al Jazeera tv story on gun violence in
Chicago
, a reporter interviewed Mike Shields, the head of the
Chicago
police “union.” Despite the level of racism and violence expected from
Chicago
cops, this statement jumped out in its racist callousness. Responding to a
mother’s tearful plan to sue the CPD for the cop murder of her son,
Shields said, “There are certain parts of the community where you get
shot by the police and it’s like winning the lottery. There’s always
gonna be a lawsuit, I can guarantee that.” We say, fuck the police.
SPACE, THE FINAL FRONTIER, OR WHERE’S THE ATM?
PayPal is partnering with the Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence Institute (known as SETI) to launch PayPal Galactic to
resolve the question once and for all of how earthlings will pay for
things in space. And for you skeptics who think this is too far off, did
you know that the Space Tourism Society of Los Angeles (no, we didn’t
make that up) says that space hotels will offer cruises that orbit the
planet by the end of this decade? Which raises many issues, such as what
happens to electronic payment systems when the transaction has to process
over thousands of miles back to earth. And speaking of the moon (which
actually we weren’t), we’re not even going to mention the complex
legal issues that mining the moon’s water ice will bring about. We’re
just relieved that the peace-loving
U.S.
signed the Outer Space Treaty
of 1967. This appears to permit mining on the moon and other celestial
bodies, according to space-law experts. But it's not entirely clear that
mining companies would own whatever they extract – perhaps it will be
owned by Lucas and Spielberg? And then there’s the Moon Treaty of 1979,
which attempted to set up a governing structure for using the moon's
resources (green cheese?). It was ignored by most countries, although
experts on space law don’t think that’s a big problem. Given the way
treaties are followed (or not), it doesn’t seem to matter who signs them
anyway. And getting back to intergalactic currency, we suppose that ATMs
on the moon and beyond will use Klingon darseks.
JOHN GREYSON AND TAREK LOUBANI FREED We’ve
mentioned John Greyson several times in the Mocha column, most notably his
courageous stance at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival in
protesting its spotlight on Tel Aviv. He’s a professor at the Department
of Film at
York
University
in
Toronto
, and an award-winning queer film-maker.
In mid-August 2013, John and Tarek
Loubani, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at
London University
,
Ontario
, were in
Egypt
enroute to
Gaza
for a collaboration with the main hospital in
Gaza
. They were arrested in
Egypt
and have been in jail since then but have not been formally charged. Only
the Canadian embassy has been allowed to contact them. In mid-September
they started a hunger strike to protest the arbitrary nature of their
detention. They were finally released on October 5. Wasting no time,
John has posted a video diary, "Prison Arabic in 50 Days", on
their website, dedicated to those who remain inside. Check
it out..
BEST QUOTE AWARD
So many contenders, but we’re giving it to James Clapper,
Director of National Intelligence (wha???). At a hearing of the Senate
Intelligence Committee way back in March 2013, before Snowden spilled the
NSA beans, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore) asked Clapper, “Does
the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of
millions of Americans?” Clapper replied, “No, sir.” Given the
subsequent revelations provided by Edward Snowden’s data, Andrea
Mitchell of NBC news asked Clapper about his denial, which was obviously a
lie. Clapper, sliding fast down the slippery slope, said his answer to the
senator had to do with the definition of “collect.” He then explained,
“I responded in what I thought was the most truthful, or least untruthful
manner, by saying no.” The Mocha Column has obtained commentary on this
matter from an unidentified, highly placed British source (ok, it’s
Lewis Carroll): “When I
use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means
just what I choose it to mean
– neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said
Alice
, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “When
I make a word do a lot of work like that,” said Humpty Dumpty, “I
always pay it extra.” We assume Clapper paid his lying words big bucks.
CAN THE POPE COPE? Hurrah
for the abortion-rights demonstrators who vandalized Chile's main
cathedral during a mass in July and used pews as barricades during clashes
with police. A group of direct action protesters, part of a larger protest
calling for the legalization of abortion, stormed into the Metropolitan
Cathedral of Santiago, interrupting the mass. They painted walls with
pro-abortion messages, broke ornaments and hauled pews all the way to the
Plaza de Armas Square in front of cathedral. Police in riot gear rushed to
contain them, and arrested at least two people. Reactionary Chilean
President Sebastian Pinera condemned the vandalizing of the cathedral.
Abortions, even for medical reasons and in the case of rape, have been
illegal since Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, which ended in 1990.
Pinera's government opposes any easing of the ban.
Through an
anonymous Vatican source, The Mocha Column has obtained the non-edited
version of the Pope’s recent speech on abortion and gay rights in which
he warned that the Catholic
Church's moral structure [excuse us????] might "fall like a house of
cards" if it doesn't balance its divisive rules about abortion, gays
and contraception with the greater need to make it a merciful, more
welcoming place for all.” In
the unreleased version, the Popester said, “As a South American
compatriot myself, I fully support the pro-abortion demonstrators in
Chile. Having been complicit with the Argentine dictatorship in the 1980s,
I cannot support any anti-woman measures, such as the anti-abortion laws,
that were put in place by the repressive Pinochet regime in Chile after
the U.S.-funded 1973 coup.”
However,
instead of releasing this version of the speech, the Poopster then issued
a strong anti-abortion message. Covering all bases, he then wrote two
personal checks: one for repairs to the Santiago cathedral, and one to
Planned Parenthood Chile.
WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF
by Kate
We had just gotten back from the hunger strike
solidarity demonstration at Corcoran when I heard the news that George
Zimmerman had been acquitted for killing Trayvon Martin in Florida. I was
not surprised, but I was disheartened.
“Here we go again,” I said to myself.
It had been a long, hot day, I had a headache, and all I wanted to
do was lie on the couch and watch Project Runway.
But I saw someone’s facebook status saying, “All Out to Oscar
Grant Plaza, 10 pm.” It was
exactly 10:00. I put my
battered shoes back on and headed to downtown Oakland.
When I got OGP, a young African American man was
standing rather precariously atop a statue, declaiming to the small
assembly.
“I’m not just saying this ‘cause I’m
loaded,” he said. “I feel
like I really want to hurt someone. Don’t worry.
I’m not going to. But
I want to. Because I know this
country doesn’t care about my life.”
In so many ways over the next two weeks, at
demonstrations and vigils, on television and radio and on the street, I
heard young dark-skinned men echoing that sentiment.
“Am I Next?” was the most heart-wrenching sign,
carried by a nine-year-old boy.
The aftermath was predictable.
Hundreds, occasionally thousands, participated in
nonviolent marches, rallies and speakouts all over the country, decrying
the impunity of white people who kill African American youth in the name
of providing security. In a
scene reminiscent of the heady days of Occupy/Decolonize, one Oakland
protest wound around the streets of downtown and Lake Merritt from 6 pm
until after midnight, briefly blocking the 880 freeway.
In Oakland and some other cities, small numbers of people smashed
windows of upscale businesses and government offices (but why Youth
Radio?), and in one highly publicized incident, a white waiter at Flora, a
restaurant in Oakland’s Uptown, tried to stop people from breaking the
restaurant’s windows and ended up getting hit in the head with a hammer.
A lot of the people doing the property damage were white
anarchists. Police were
somehow caught unawares – do they not watch television? – and not on
hand when the property damage was taking place, and business owners
screamed bloody murder about their broken windows.
The media branded all the demonstrations “violent.”
Obama, Trayvon’s parents, Ben Jealous of the
NAACP and others went on television pleading with everyone to be nice and
“peaceful.” At one
demonstration in Oakland, some Occupy Oakland people silkscreened t-shirts
that said “Fuck the Police” and featured a picture of Trayvon with
both middle fingers in the air. (It’s
real – apparently a selfie from his
cell phone.) They,
like a lot of people, felt like the soft-light hoodie photo featured on
nearly everything about Trayvon was a little saintly and they wanted to
celebrate a more rebellious image of him.
A young man from the NAACP came up to us while a friend of ours was
getting a t-shirt screened and said he felt like the image perpetuated
negative stereotypes of African American youth.
We could understand how he felt and suggested he should talk to the
people actually making the shirts about his concern.
He kept saying that his aunt had been in the civil rights movement
in Birmingham and she said everyone should be nonviolent.
Two weeks after Zimmerman was acquitted, the
Oakland city council passed a ban on bringing “tools of violence” to
demonstrations. The ordinance
passed with six votes in favor, none against and one abstention.
It makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by six months in jail and/or
a $1000 fine to possess “Clubs, impact-resistant shields, aerosol spray
cans, pressurized paint sprayers, sling shots, hammers, large wrenches,
fireworks, paint projectiles, and fire accelerants” while at a
demonstration. If you’re
confused about what any of those items are, you can read the definitions,
along with an exhaustive list of all the demonstrations in the last few
years where they were allegedly used, at http://bit.ly/16AvtKx.
I was trying to figure out what this ordinance is
supposed to accomplish, since obviously using any of those things, except
maybe the shields, was already a crime, but then I realized it means they
don’t actually have to see you doing anything; they can just find an
excuse to search you and then arrest you for possession.
Good deal for the cops, not so much for those of us who like to
have spray paint nearby or plumbers or carpenters who might want to come
to a demo straight from work.
The same night that the tools of violence ordinance
was introduced, the city approved accepting a $2 million federal grant to
create a “Domain Awareness Zone,” basically a massive 24-hour
surveillance center linking the 130+ cameras at the Port of Oakland with
every other camera in the city, including ones at BART and CalTrans
stations, on freeways, probably ATMs and even Twitter feeds.
(This project for “securing the ports” was not a response to
the West Coast Port Shutdown in 2011 – it began four years ago as part
of an Obama stimulus package.)
One positive result of the Zimmerman verdict and
surrounding media frenzy was some renewed attention to the case of Marissa
Alexander. Alexander, a
31-year-old African American woman with three kids and a Masters in
Business Administration, is doing 20 years in Florida for “aggravated
assault.” She fired one shot
into her kitchen wall while being threatened by her estranged husband.
Though accounts differ as to whether she fired in the air or at
him, his history of abuse is not contested – her injuries had sent her
to the hospital and she had a restraining order against him.
Alexander’s effort to invoke the Stand Your Ground law was
rejected by the court, because she had left the house and come back with
the gun from her car – the judge said she should have left.
She was prosecuted by Angela Corey, who also prosecuted the
Zimmerman case. Corey argued
that Alexander should have taken a plea deal which would have given her a
three-year sentence, and that it was her own fault she was convicted and
received the mandatory 20-year sentence for using a gun in the commission
of a felony.
At protests over the Zimmerman verdict, people
around the country carried banners calling for Marissa Alexander to be
freed. She was visited in jail
by Jesse Jackson and a Florida Congresswoman spoke about her case on
MSNBC. On September 14, small
rallies around the country demanded her release.
In the wake of the Supreme KKKourt’s decision in Shelby
County v. Holder, eviscerating the Voting Rights Act, Texas, Florida,
Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia have already moved to
make it harder for people of color, older people, students and people in
heavily Democratic areas to vote. An
Arizona law, the most restrictive in the country, which had previously
been struck down by the kourt, is given new life by the Shelby ruling, and
Kansas is trying to jump on board with demanding “proof of
citizenship” in order to vote.
In a glimmer of good news, the well-publicized
“stop and frisk” trial in New York resulted in a verdict that the
policy is discriminatory against young men of color – like anyone
didn’t know that, but still it’s good to have it recognized.
Though mayor bloomberg insisted he’s going to continue the policy
anyway, voters in the city’s Democratic primary issued a stunning
rejection of the policy – and of bloomberg himself – by voting
overwhelmingly for the dark horse candidate Bill deBlasio over the
mayor’s pick, Christine Quinn. DeBlasio
got 47% of the LGBT vote to only 34% for Quinn, even though Quinn is a
lesbian (take that, homonationalists).
deBlasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, is African American and a
former lesbian. DeBlasio ran
heavily against stop and frisk, often accompanied by his biracial kids.
The New York police department released statistics
last week purporting to show that shootings jumped 13% in the 28 days
following the stop and frisk ruling. This
notwithstanding the fact that in over 90% of stops under stop & frisk,
the police found nothing illegal. The
judge in the case, Shira Scheindlin, also “found that during police
stops, blacks and Hispanics “were more likely to be subjected to the use
of force than whites, despite the fact that whites are more likely to be
found with weapons or contraband.”
Meanwhile, since the Zimmerman verdict:
·
Jonathan Ferrall, a former Florida A&M football player,
was shot and killed by Charlotte police on September 14.
He had crashed his car and knocked on a white woman’s door,
looking for help. She hit her
panic alarm and called the police, who shot him several times when he ran
towards them.
·
In August, 60-year-old Roy Middleton was shot 15 times by
Florida deputies, standing by his own car in his own driveway.
A neighbor thought he was a car thief.
Fortunately for Mr. Middleton, those cops were terrible shots –
as are most cops, as it turns out. (Middleton
has pins in his leg, but is alive and talking to the media.)
According to the New York Police Department’s Firearms Discharge
Report, police who intentionally fired their weapons at someone hit their
targets 28.3% of the time in 2006, up from 17.4% in 2005.
·
In an infamous Cleveland incident in November 2012, an
unarmed couple was shot at 137 times from 60 police vehicles.
They were hit a total of 47 times – she 24 and he 23.
In August this year, the review concluded that 75 officers would be
disciplined but none would be fired.
According to Malcolm X Grassroots Movement,
“In 2012, police officers, security guards and
self-appointed keepers of the peace killed 313 Black men, women and
children. Like the killing of Trayvon Martin, 288 of these 313
extrajudicial killings involved unnecessary, excessive force. Yet, only
26 of the killers were ever charged with a crime—that is the judicial
system ruled 91% were justified.
“After the Zimmerman verdict additional research
found that of the 15 security guards and self-appointed keepers of
the peace charged with a crime, only four have been convicted. And of the
11 police officers charged, none have been convicted.”
MXGM recently released a report by activist
journalist Arlene Eisen documenting the fact that a Black person is killed
by police or security guards at least every 28 hours in the U.S.
Read the
report.
In a survey by the authors of the book Justice
in America: The Separate Realities of Blacks and Whites, 70%
of Black respondents and 17% of white respondents believed that stop and
frisk policies were a big problem in their community.
In a joint poll by NBC and the Wall
Street Journal, 59% of white respondents agreed with the statement,
“America is a nation where people are not judged by the color of their
skin but by the content of their character.”
79% of African American respondents disagreed.
Check out the great website http://blacklivesmatter.tumblr.com/:
“In the Black tradition of the call and response, #BlackLivesMatter
is both a Call to Action and a response to the ways in which our lives
have been de-valued.”
by Amanda
 September
12, 2013 marks the15th anniversary of the imprisonment of the Cuban 5.
Nearly a generation has passed since these Cubans were incarcerated,
initially in solitary confinement for many months. They join some of our
most courageous and brilliant comrades who have spent decades of their
lives in prison for fighting injustice.
At least 1 in 5 prisoners in the world is in a US
prison, our new plantation system.
Most Ultraviolet readers know of the Cuban 5 but
permit me to recap their case.
Since 1959 there have been hundreds of attacks on
Cuba by the reactionary Cuban community centered in Miami, resulting in
thousands of deaths of Cubans with many more injured, as well as extensive
property damage. The men who
are now known as the Cuban 5 went to Miami from Cuba to defend their
homeland and to prevent future attacks against Cuba. They were charged by
the US government with several conspiracy charges including espionage,
although their only “crime” was protecting their homeland. Despite a
refusal to move the trial from Miami, many judicial irregularities,
international protest including from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention, and years of appeals, 4 out of the 5 remain in prison with 3 of
them carrying life sentences. It has been extremely difficult or
impossible for wives and family members from Cuba to get permission to
visit them. In Cuba they are national heroes, with their pictures on
billboards all over the country. In my work organizing for the 5, I have
met many people who have told me they had never heard of the 5 until they
went to Cuba and how surprised they are that they are never mentioned in
US media.
In May I joined activists from around the US and
many countries in Washington DC for the second 5 Days for the 5 campaign
to coordinate efforts and intensify the pressure on the US government to
release the Cuban 5. We
demonstrated in front of the white house, did a series of press
conferences and events, including one with Angela Davis in a large church
with a standing room only crowd, and, along with international
parliamentarians, met with congressional representatives to press
for the release of the Cuban 5. It is always a great experience to
work with international activists and see the ways in which our struggles
are similar and different. I met some young activists from Vancouver who
were among the few queers in attendance and who were a lot of fun besides
being awesome organizers. I jumped at their invitation to come to
Vancouver on Pride weekend.
Vancouver Pride was the first weekend in August.
The Vancouver organizers had decided to focus on Private Manning and the
Cuban 5 for all the Pride activities. (Chelsea Manning is the US soldier
formerly known as Bradley Manning who was convicted in July 2013 for
espionage and sentenced to 35 years after releasing restricted documents
detailing clandestine US global diplomatic and military activities.)
We were there for the Trans march Friday night, the
Dyke march Saturday, and the Pride march on Sunday as well as tabling at
the rallies after the marches. In addition, the next day, Monday, was the
93rd monthly vigil in front of the US Consulate to demand the release of
the Cuban 5. Tuesday was the monthly teach-in by the
coalition, Mobilization against War and Occupation, focusing on
Manning. The enthusiasm and energy of these activists was exhilarating as
well as challenging to keep up with their pace. Most of them were half my
age, but they are also able to work with a diverse community of activists
of all ages, including many immigrants who have fled violence in the
middle east, North Africa, and Latin America as well as Canadian
indigenous activists.
As at our Pride events, there was a decided lack of
anti-imperialist organizing and activity. In fact, we were the only such
presence at the marches. Yet, there was a lot of interest during the
marches to fliers we handed out, and a lot of people came by the table at
the rallies. There was a beautiful banner with a rainbow map of Cuba
saying “Cuba SAYS LGBT
Rights are Human Rights”. We chanted as we carried large banners and,
for pride, decorated a truck float. The lit table had books, buttons, and
posters about many issues as well as a life-size Manning poster with the
face cut out so you could take a photo proving we are all Chelsea Manning.
It was a great outreach effort to the local queer community, some who knew
nothing about the Cuban 5 or Manning and some who were very aware.
As with the Manning contingent at 2013 SF Pride, we
must continue to make a large, vibrant, and colorful statement of our
politics that outreaches the queer community and makes visible our support
for something more than the corporate Pride image that dominates. QUIT and
LAGAI have been such a
presence for decades. I look forward to many more queers challenging the
definition of LGBTQ Pride that has become entrenched in increasingly
narrow and mainstream, reactionary politics. Stonewall was not about
asking for permission to join the military or to marry. We can demand an
expansion of the focus of queer politics to include education, food,
housing, health care, and human rights for everyone regardless of marital
status or citizenship.
We don’t want military recruiters at Pride to
recruit queers as soldiers of US imperialism around the world. I aspire to
that old slogan, Queers ARE revolting…it’s about time.
For more information about the Cuban 5, Contact International
Committee for the Cuban 5 or check
out Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba. |
