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Mitchel Cohen Takes On Global And Local Goliaths: Profile Of A Lifelong Multi-Movement Organizer

February 24, 2019 Jonah Raskin, Counterpunch.org
If there are leaders who stand out in a disciplined crowd or an unruly mob, there also those who are led, sometimes in a sheep-like way, until they bolt for The Dark Side, whether it’s outright Fascist or Trump Republican. Sad to say, the American Left is littered with radicals who became anti-communists, Cold Warriors, armchair liberals and cynical Yuppies, though strikers, sit-in protesters and street fighting men and women also remain true to youthful ideals. There are also individuals – “citizens” French revolutionaries would say—who fall somewhere between charismatic leaders and those who follow them. They aren’t flamboyant figures like Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda, but they’re not anonymous, either.

‘Resistance Can Be Fun’: Angela Davis Speaks In Alabama After Award Snub

February 19, 2019 By Abbey Crain, Al.com ,
“I have never loved Birmingham as much as I love Birmingham tonight,” Dr. Angela Davis said to a crowd at Boutwell Auditorium in downtown Birmingham. Davis was greeted with a standing ovation, fists raised, as she took the stage to address the generations of activists that came together to make sure she was in Birmingham on Feb.16. “It is really a joy to be here this evening,” Davis said. “It almost feels as if we are marking a new beginning.” Davis was originally invited by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to accept its annual Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights award. But six weeks ago, the BCRI rescinded the award due to Davis’ long-term support of Palestine.

Dozens Drop To The Floor In Mass ‘Die-In’ At Brighton Shopping Centre

January 28, 2019 Isabella Cipirska, Brightonandhoveindependent.co.uk , , ,
A group of more than 80 local environmental activists staged a mass ‘die-in’ in a Brighton shopping centre yesterday to underline the threat of human extinction from climate change. Dressed all in black, members of Extinction Rebellion Brighton lay down on the floor of the Churchill Square Shopping centre for 11 minutes at 3pm. The demonstration at Churchill Square shopping centre The group said this was to symbolise the 11 years we have left to act to avoid climate catastrophe, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent report.

NYPD Surveilled Of Black Lives Matter Protesters And Keeps Their Records

January 22, 2019 George Joseph, Theappeal.org , ,
It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2015. Black Lives Matter protests were still erupting across the country, and M.J. Williams, a lawyer and activist, was excited to get more involved. The month before, Williams had started to attend weekly protests at New York City’s Grand Central Station. That day, she was at Foley Square, and activists from the group organizing the weekly demonstrations had invited her to join them in a small, nonpermitted march up to Grand Central. The march hadn’t been publicized on social media, and organizers intended to take authorities by surprise.

How Tre Arrow Became America’s Most Wanted Environmental “Terrorist”

January 14, 2019 By Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank, Counterpunch.org , ,
That Tre Arrow, a tree-hugging vegan who espouses non-violence and lives by the airy and nebulous philosophy of Gaia, would top the FBI’s Most Wanted list, only reaffirms the notion that the Bureau’s energy is being exerted in specious directions. On August 12, 2008, after a tumultuous seven-year investigation, Arrow was sentenced in Federal court to six-and-a-half years for lighting three cement haulers ablaze at the notorious Ross Island Sand and Gravel in Portland, Oregon, as well as firebombing two trucks and one front loader owned by Ray Schoppert Logging Company near the timber town of Estacada, Oregon. The acts were in protest of the Eagle Creek timber sale in Mt. Hood National Forest in the late 1990s.

Activists Who Crawled Into Fracked Gas Pipeline Found Guilty In Narrow Ruling, Granted Unconditional Release

January 9, 2019 Staff, Erikmcgregor.com , , ,
Cortlandt, New York – On January 8, 2019, Cortlandt Town Justice Kimberly Ragazzo found three New Yorkers — Rebecca Berlin, David Publow, and Janet González — guilty of trespass, rejecting the climate necessity defense; the three shut down construction of the Spectra Energy (now Enbridge) high-pressure, high-volume, fracked-gas, “Algonquin” Incremental Market (AIM) pipeline. Justice Ragazzo highlighted the strict, objective standard of New York’s necessity defense and focused her verdict on the narrow grounds that the defendants had not exhausted all legal remedies, specifically citing the defendants failure to file as ‘intervenors’ with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

They Rescued Pigs And Turkeys From Factory Farms — And Now Face Decades In Prison

December 27, 2018 By Leighton Akio Woodhouse, Pedro Armando Aparicio, and David Zlutnick, Theintercept.com , , ,
IN THE FALL of 2017, Glenn Greenwald reported on a nationwide FBI manhunt for two pigs named Lily and Lizzie. The pigs had been removed from a factory farm in Utah by animal rights activists from a group called Direct Action Everywhere. From the perspective of the activists, the pigs were rescued. From the perspective of Smithfield Farms, the Chinese-owned multinational corporation that owns the factory farm, they were stolen. Direct Action Everywhere, also known as DxE, engages in a practice called “open rescue.” Open rescue involves entering, without authorization, the facilities of animal-based industries, such as farms, slaughterhouses, and puppy mills...

Confronted By Black Lives Matter Activist, Tennessee Governor Says He’s Considering Clemency For Cyntoia Brown

December 13, 2018 By Michael Harriot, Theroot.com , , ,
Questioned by a Black Lives Matter activist during a recent speaking engagement, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced that his office is considering offering clemency to Cyntoia Brown, a sex trafficking victim currently serving a life sentence for first-degree murder. Tennessee’s outgoing governor gave a speech on Monday at the Nashville Public Library on the importance of education. During the question-and-answer part of the event, Justin Lang, described as “a higher-education professional and member of Black Lives Matter Nashville,” stepped up to the mic and asked the governor about Cyntoia Brown’s plight...

Activists Denied Entry To Poland For Climate Summit

December 9, 2018 Natalie Sauer, Climate Change News. , , ,
Members of the network attributed this to Poland’s controversial anti-terror legislation passed ahead of the UN climate summit Cop24, which gives authorities the power to “collect, obtain, gather, verify, process and use information, including personal data about persons posing a threat to public safety and order, including outside the borders of the Republic of Poland”. The environmental umbrella group, which represents over 1,200 NGOs worldwide campaigning on climate change, voiced fears that the Polish authorities may have compiled a “blacklist” of activists.

Fred Hampton’s Boyhood House Saved From Foreclosure — For Now

December 6, 2018 Michael Romain, Thevillagefreepress.org , , ,
The childhood home of slain Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, 804 S. 17th Ave. in Maywood, will not be up for auction this week, as was originally scheduled, buying community leaders some more time in their attempts to keep the home in the Hampton family. The ongoing ordeal, many community leaders said, should nonetheless serve as an opportunity for many people to learn about the factors that led to the home going into foreclosure in the first place. According to the website of the Judicial Sales Corporation, the foreclosure sale — which was supposed to be at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 23 — has been canceled for now.

Peace Activists’ Best Hope? The Sunrise Climate Movement

December 4, 2018 Patrick Walker, Nationofchange.org , ,
Let’s start by facing a crucial fact: both major U.S. political parties love war. In fact, they love it so much that they’re completely willing to sacrifice a livable climate – and human existence with it – to their militaristic aims. Manuel Garcia’s incisive, cut-to-the chase article, underlining how U.S. elites’ love of military domination (which both major parties simply reflect) is the death knell for any effective climate action, should be required reading for all peace and climate activists. At least for all who take these life-or-death issues seriously enough to demand timely, meaningful action. Like, say, before the end of recorded history. Let’s face a second crucial fact: whether as separate issues – or as properly connected...

Activists Disrupt Jamie Dimon Speech And Hand Deliver IPCC Report To Send Message That Chase Must Stop Banking On Fossil Fuels

November 20, 2018 Staff, Ran.org , ,
Columbus, OH–This morning activists disrupted JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s speech at an Axios.com event, calling attention to the bank’s funding of fossil fuels, carbon pollution, and Indigenous rights violations. The activists handed Dimon a copy of the latest UN scientist report on climate change. This action is part of a broader, growing pattern. Dimon has been hounded with the same message at many events across the country, including the bank’s AGM, various speaking engagements, and outside its headquarters. Activists are determined to continue bird dogging him until he takes responsibility for his role as one of the most powerful funders of climate change.

Trial Of Eight Accused Of Murdering Honduran Activist In Chaos

November 5, 2018 By Nina Lakhani, Theguardian.com , , , ,
The trial of eight men accused over the murder of Honduran indigenous leader Berta Cáceres has been thrown into disarray after judges ousted the victim’s lawyers from proceedings. The legally suspect ruling in the country’s most high-profile case leaves the verdict vulnerable to appeal. The case is considered a litmus test for the justice system which has received millions of dollars of international aid in recent years Cáceres, who won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize, was shot dead just before midnight on 2 March 2016 at her home in La Esperanza, in western Honduras, after a long battle against the internationally financed Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam project on the Gualcarque river, territory sacred to the indigenous Lenca people.

Ferguson Activist Melissa McKinnies’ Son Found Dead From Alleged Lynching

November 1, 2018 By Elijah C. Watson, Okayplayer.com , , ,
A Ferguson activist claims that her son was recently killed by lynching. Melissa McKinnies took to Facebook to share news of her son Danye Jones‘ death. The 24-year-old, who would’ve turned 25 on November 19, was found dead by his mother on October 17. In a since-deleted Facebook post, McKinnies shared graphic images of Jones hanging from a tree. The images have since been shared on social media. Unverified accounts from social media accounts claim that police have ruled Jones’ death a suicide. (Both hyperlinks include the graphic images of Jones. Viewer discretion is advised.) McKinnies participated in numerous protests in Ferguson following Michael Brown‘s death. She was a former member of Ferguson grassroots activist group Lost Voices according to ColorLines.

Human Rights World Summit Warns Of Rise In Activist Murders

October 31, 2018 Staff, Telesurenglish.net , ,
The conference is aimed at building ties between activists to develop strategies for fighting repression and discrimination over the next two decades. More than 150 rights campaigners from around the world gathered in Paris on Monday, warning of a spike in the number of activists from Brazil to the Philippines being murdered for their work. Groups behind the Human Rights World Summit, including Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights, said at least 312 activists were murdered in 2017. This represents a doubling in the murder rate since 2015, they said in a statement on the first of three days of meetings in Paris, bringing together activists from 105 countries.
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