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Social Justice

Radical Culture: Art That Inspires Fighting Injustice

May 8, 2015 Lauren Steiner, www.alternet.org , ,
As a political activist, I have organized and attended many street protests. I often wonder how many people in the public we influence as we march by them brandishing our signs and shouting our chants. And when we post our articles, events and memes on Facebook, are we preaching to anyone besides the choir? Maybe there is a better way to change hearts and minds and inspire people to action. In a 2013 article, the radical intellectual Chris Hedges wrote: “The resistance needs a vibrant cultural component. It was the spirituals that nourished the souls of African-Americans during the nightmare of slavery. It was the blues that spoke to the reality of black people during the era of Jim Crow. It was the poems of Federico Garcia Lorca that sustained the republicans fighting the fascists in Spain. Music, dance, drama, art, song, painting were the fire and drive of resistance movements.”

Flowers Are Better Than Bullets

May 8, 2015 Laurel Krause, www.mendocoastcurrent.wordpress.com , , ,
Even today, 45 years later, a culture of impunity persists. We read the news and see law enforcement killing young African Americans across the country. Those of us who witnessed Kent State have to ask whether things might have been different if this era of brutal suppression of political protest had resulted in accountability. I see echoes of Kent State when I read that Mike Brown’s family has to file a civil lawsuit because there will be no criminal accountability for his killing. This is the legacy of past impunity and it saddens me greatly to see it continue. There is an important legal distinction to be made as we pursue accountability for the killings. Because the statute of limitations for civil rights expires quickly, survivors and stakeholders have a time limit in seeking justice when our loved ones are murdered by US law enforcement and the US government.

How Worker Co-Ops Are Moving Beyond Capitalism

April 20, 2015 David Morgan, www.occupy.com , ,
The explosion of worker cooperatives in recent years has social justice organizers talking. Transitioning to a people-powered economy will require the work of many different social movements and worker co-ops have come to the center of the conversation due to their ability to address multiple issues at once. These democratically owned and controlled businesses serve as a laboratory for reinventing our economy and many overlapping social movements are combining forces in the experiment. A new documentary, Own the Change: Building Economic Democracy One Worker Co-op at a Time, shows the potential of a networked worker co-op movement and activists across the country are embracing the film as a way to form new alliances.

No Justice For Pinkney – Again!

April 4, 2015 Phillip A. Bassett, www.bhbanco.org , ,
For a lesson in bigotry, lies and sheer negativity, you could try the Berrien County courthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan. I wouldn’t recommend it, though. Since 2006, I’ve been a witness there to many of the legal battles forced on Rev. Edward Pinkney and it has worn me thin. The town of St. Joe itself is a little backward, to put it mildly. (Think movie town Pleasantville before the color change.) Residents of the almost all-white city seem to carry a perverse pride in how well they’ve barricaded themselves from the mostly black folks across the river. The main tool that keeps the status quo is that bloody courthouse. It stands guard over the St. Joseph River like a big ugly trophy, daring Benton Harbor residents to come across.

Toward A Radical Climate Movement

March 13, 2015 Michael McCabe, www.logosjournal.com , , , ,
Given the failure of government to meet its obligation to mitigate climate change, it is clear that political protest is a tactic that must be pursued by the environmental justice community. Indeed, the historical record shows that a social movement is the most effective vehicle for forcing policy makers to respond to social problems. The recent International Day of Climate Action is a step in the right direction, and its attendance of over 300,000 participants in New York City alone should give us hope that such a social movement is possible. Perhaps equally significant is the fact that Pope Francis has identified climate change as a social issue that demands immediate action. That such a well-respected public figure is calling on ordinary people to respond to the needs of the environment lends additional credence to the idea that a social movement which addresses climate change is possible.

5 Surprising Facts On Indigenous Conflicts With Police

February 2, 2015 Joie Chen, www.america.aljazeera.com , , ,
But concerns about how police treat native communities aren't new. In 2000, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights noted that "many native Americans in South Dakota have little or no confidence in the criminal justice system" and warned that "the administration of justice at the federal and state levels is permeated by racism." The commission recommended increasing the number of Native Americans on the force, but 15 years later, the number of native officers on the 120-man Rapid City force has jumped fromjust one to three in a city where about 10 percent of the population is native.

Young Navajos Stage 200 Mile Journey For Existence

January 29, 2015 Lyla Johnston, www.idlenomore.ca , , , ,
At dawn on January 6, 2015, a group of young Diné (Navajo) women and their supporters gathered at sunrise near the fire department at the base of Dził Na’oodiłii (Huerfano Mountain). From there the group embarked on a 200-mile trek through eastern New Mexico—a tribute to the 150th anniversary of the tragic “Long Walk.” Throughout this journey they have been raising awareness about the historical and present day challenges faced by Diné people and inspiring hopeful solutions to address these issues. Organizers are calling out for community support in the form of walking, hosting or helping to garner basic materials. This first journey will end at Tsoodził (Mount Taylor), their southern sacred mountain.

Rev. Edward Pinkney Imprisoned For Fighting The Whirlpool Corp

December 17, 2014 Victoria Collier and Ben-Zion Ptashnik, www.truth-out.org , , ,
On December 15, Rev. Edward Pinkney, a leader in the struggle for social and economic justice for the residents of Benton Harbor, Michigan, was sentenced to serve up to 10 years in prison, on the basis of thin circumstantial evidence that a few dates had been altered on a recall petition against the city's mayor, James Hightower. The recall was prompted by the mayor's continued support for tax evasion by the Whirlpool Corporation, the Fortune 500 company and $19 billion global appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Benton Harbor. As we wrote last week in depth, the politically motivated prosecution against Pinkney killed the petition to recall Hightower, who many believe would have been ousted due to his ongoing protection of Whirlpool's interests at the expense of impoverished Benton Harbor, which is over 90 percent African-American.

Ferguson: Systemic Racism Requires Systemic Solutions

November 26, 2014 John A. Powell, www.ourfuture.org , , , ,
What we are witnessing is a reflection of a systematic failure in our society that is revealed wherever we are willing to look—schools, health care, employment, housing, life expectancy, poverty, and the list goes on. The problem is persistent, cumulative, and deeply debilitating. The arrest rate or murder rate between African Americans and whites, as evidenced by a recent set of studies, cannot be explained by the “behavior of blacks,” as some will quickly suggest. Nor can it only be explained by explicit racism in the police department or other systems that fail to serve the black community. What we are seeing is the consequence of a systematic failure at every level, and a political response that ranges from hostility to neglect.

After People’s Climate March: Diversify Funding Of Climate Justice

November 17, 2014 Robert Bullard, www.opednews.com , , ,
Much attention in the last couple of months has been devoted to the lack of diversity in mainstream environmental organizations. While just under 40 percent of the U.S. population is people of color, they make up less than 16 percent of employees at environmental institutions. It is important to note that in 2042 people of color are expected to be the majority of our population. In 2012, a decade later, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy produced its report, Cultivating the Grassroots: Winning Approach for Environment and Climate Funders, that found environmental funders spent $10 billion between 2000 and 2009. However, only 15 percent of environmental grant dollars benefited marginalized communities, and only 11 percent advanced "social justice" strategies.

Inextricable Link Between Social And Environmental Justice

October 24, 2014 Dennis Trainor, Jr., www.acronymtv.wordpress.com , , ,
“It is important to acknowledge the Indigenous people who have been fighting this battle on the front lines for centuries,” says Lee. “The big marches and massive actions (like the People’s Climate March) serve as motivation. I take it back to my community (because) ultimately I think it is acts of everyday resistance that will change they way things are done.” Erica speaks about the violence that goes hand in hand with Canada pushing through Keystone XL Pipeline, “pushing first nations people off their lands to get to resources on the lands. There is a lot of violence – especially towards Indigenous Women who are going missing and getting murdered in record numbers.” “What we are trying to bring attention to,” says Lee “is that social justice and environmental Justice are inextricable linked.”

Justice For Stanley Cohen

October 14, 2014 Justice for Stanley Cohen, www.freestanleycohen.xs2.net ,
Stanley L. Cohen is long-time social justice attorney and activist. For ten years he has been subjected to aggressive investigation and harassment by various agencies of the United States federal government, ultimately leading to criminal indictments being filed against him in two jurisdictions, relating to income tax matters. On April 14, 2014 following years of litigation, enormous expense and tremendous stress to his family and his practice, he accepted a deal that includes pleading guilty to impeding the IRS tax code. He will be sentenced in October or shortly thereafter. He is now facing 18 months in prison. The political nature of this prosecution is evident from the severity of the charges leveled against Cohen for underlying acts many of which are not even alleged to be illegal in and of themselves (for example accepting cash payments from clients, or keeping cash in an office safe), or are as benign and common as allowing clients to barter labor for legal services.

Talking Across Today’s Transformative Politics

October 13, 2014 Chris Dixon, www.imaginaurium.com ,
Social movements give me so much hope! I’m particularly inspired by grassroots movements with broad democratic participation that don’t shy away from articulating bold visions and engaging in disruptive forms of collective action. In recent years, I’ve been energized by Idle No More, anti-prison organizing, the radical wing of the climate justice movement, direct action migrant justice organizing, bottom-up labor militancy, and the 2012 Quebec student strike. In these examples, I see a lot of messy experimentation, action, and discussion, which is exactly what I think we need. I also get a lot of hope from people’s everyday activities to survive and thrive in the face of exploitation, oppression, and violence.

10 Ways Students Organize For Racial Justice

October 6, 2014 James Ceronsky, www.alternet.com , , ,
From Walmart to Wall Street, 10 Ways Students Mass for Racial Justice Young people are going on strike while striking debt. 1. The Long March for John Crawford. 2. The Growing Campus Movement. 3. Flooding for Divestment (and More). 4. Speaking Out, From the DOE to the UN. 5. Decolonizing Climate Justice. 6. At Colgate, Students Take Racism to the Floor. 7. At Wesleyan, the Boys’ Clubs Meet Their Match. 8. How Many Lives for Each Presidential Promise?. 9. Strike Debt. 10. Strike History.

Is Social Justice Driven By Emotion Or Reason?

July 11, 2014 Kate Aronoff, www.wagingnonviolence.org , ,
This spring, researchers at the University of Chicago published a study investigating how perceptions of justice and fairness relate to the human brain. As summarized last week by Erin Brodwin for News.Mic, the study’s main finding—or at least that most relevant to those of us who aren’t neurologists—is that “when people who are more responsive to injustice see things happen that they find morally wrong…their minds respond by accessing the sections of the brain responsible for logic and reasoning.” Brodwin’s conclusion from the study is that those interested in social change—especially around human rights and environmental concerns—should appeal to logic rather than emotion. While it’s certainly true that powerful fact-based arguments about climate change have catalyzed the movement against it, it is also true that such arguments have been successful largely in mobilizing those not directly impacted by its effects. Understandably so, researchers were not seeking to simulate lifetimes spent dealing with climate change, let alone the realities of abuse or race-based inequality.
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