Activists // Current

Anti-Poverty Rallies Smash World Record

The worldwide anti-poverty mass action that took place last weekend has broken all previous records for coordinated public demonstrations on a single issue, says Guinness World Records, the ultimate authority on evaluating achievements.

Guinness said Wednesday more than 116 million people took part in public gatherings and demonstrations organized by anti-poverty activists in 131 countries across the world, making it "the biggest mobilization ever on a single issue."

Organizers said the mass action on Oct. 17-19, which drew nearly 2 percent of the world's population, sent a clear message to world leaders that people will not stay seated while promises to end poverty remain unfulfilled.

"This is a wonderful statement of global determination and commitment to end the injustice of extreme poverty," said Desmond Tutu, archbishop of Cape Town, adding: "116 million people have stood together to say [that]. This message must be heard by leaders."

The worldwide actions, billed as "Stand Up and Take Action," were jointly organized by two international groups, the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) and the UN Millennium Campaign.

"The largest Stand Up is truly an historical event and as keepers and adjudicators of world records we are delighted to ratify such an important record and make this official," said Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records.

In a statement, Glenday congratulated "every individual" for taking part in the event and said he welcomed them to the "family of Guinness World Records."

The UN Millennium Campaign's Eveline Herkens said the event shows that, "business as usual cannot go on. Leaders must take note and act now."

The UN Millennium Campaign was established by the former UN chief Kofi Annan in 2002, about two years after world leaders agreed to set the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -- a series of measures to effectively reduce poverty, illiteracy, diseases, and environmental pollution by 2015.

Like his predecessor, the current UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is urging both the governments of rich and poor countries to do more to achieve all the MDGs and to end extreme poverty by half in the next 7 years in accordance with their pledge.

************CONTINUESThe worldwide anti-poverty mass action that took place last weekend has broken all previous records for coordinated public... more

goldenways
added this

0 responses

26 days ago

Detroit’s First Lady: Invincible

Words by: Andres Reyes

After immigrating to Michigan from Israel at the tender age of 7, Ilana Weaver, aka Invincible, used her natural gravitation towards hip-hop as a way to learn English. By the time she was in high school, she had begun to build her reputation as an MC, performing at open mics and throwing events in abandoned buildings around Ann Arbor and Detroit. Her passion for the music eventually led her to make a trip to NY at 16, where she linked up with the famed underground, all-female aNoMoLies crew. During that late-90’s NY indie boom, Invincible was able to build with like-minded progressive artists and continue to perform constantly with aNoMoLies. Still, for all the work her and the crew put in, there is not too much tangible from that period. Invincible explains, “the way people would see us was live at shows, and we would do shows so often. We would be at every event at that time in New York opening for everybody that was coming out at that time, Blackstar, deadprez, even Black Eyed Peas at one point.”

After turning down numerous major label offers that stifled her creative vision, Invincible moved back to Detroit in 2001 and began focusing more on her own music as well as her activism. She has since solidified links with the Waajeed-led Bling47 Group as well as with fellow D artist Finale to build strong musical network for her music. Her involvement with the Detroit Summer non-profit community collective has helped her use her skills and hip-hop in general as a way to speak to and organize youth around community issues such as predatory development and the criminalization of local schools. Rather than having her music and her community involvement exists separately, Invincible makes a conscious choice to mix those ideologies into her music, while still making sure the beats are hard and the rhymes match.

That mixture of good music and a message is just what she plans to deliver when she drops her first album after more than a decade in the game, ShapeShifters, released on her own independent label Emergence Music. They say an MC’s debut album is always a lifetime in the making and in this case, it shows. The unrelenting MC tackles deeply personal issues like emigrating from Israel at a young age, the realities of the seemingly liberal Ann Arbor she grew up in and family depression, all with the finesse of a true MC. With beats by fellow Michigan family like Wajeed, House Shoes and the Lab Techs, Invincible fashions a hard-hitting musical landscape that fills the low-end nicely as she tells her story. When questioned as to the significance of the title of her album, ShapeShifters, Invincible explained “it has to do with the concept of self transformation and how that’s connected to transforming our communities, our struggles, being able to transform that through transforming ourselves.” Truly a revolutionary in both thought and action, Invincible continues to be a beacon of hope for hip-hop and her community as she leads by example.Words by: Andres Reyes After immigrating to Michigan from Israel at the tender age of 7, Ilana Weaver, aka Invincible, used her... more

goldenways
added this

0 responses

27 days ago

Berlusconi Says Police Will Stop Student Sit-Ins

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Wednesday he would use the police to break up student sit-ins if protests against spending cuts disrupted schools and universities.

Berlusconi said the state would not tolerate sit-ins after student protested across the country against education reforms going through parliament. The centre-left opposition said his comments would aggravate tensions.

"I want to give a weather warning: We won't allow schools and universities to be occupied because the occupation of public places is absolutely not democracy but constitutes violence towards other students, to families and to the state," Berlusconi told a news conference.

"Today I will call the interior minister and give him detailed instructions on how to intervene with the police forces to stop these things happening."

Thousands of teachers and pupils attended street protests last week against the education reforms, which the opposition says will axe 87,000 teachers' posts over the next three years. Several universities have experienced small-scale sit-ins.

When asked by reporters to specify what powers the police would have, Berlusconi replied: "I am absolutely convinced that the state must guarantee the rights of its citizens. We will act like a state. Those who commit crimes should know that."

Street protests and student demonstrations are common in Italy. The left wing criticised Berlusconi's stance.

"I consider (his) words to be very grave," said opposition leader Walter Veltroni. "It seems to me that the prime minister chose to fan the flames, something he should not have done."

Berlusconi beat Veltroni at an April election and retains an approval rating of more than 60 percent in some polls as his conservative government implements policies aimed at cracking down on crime and illegal immigration.

He also denied that a proposal to put immigrant children who do not speak sufficient Italian into separate classes was racist, saying the aim was to bring the children's Italian level up to an acceptable level. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Wednesday he would use the police to break up student sit-ins if protests against... more

goldenways
added this

1 response

27 days ago

Turning Passion Into Action

How a drumming party in LA brought life-saving anti-malaria nets to Africa.

Most of feel that we’d like to do some good in the world, but we don’t know how. With so many urgent problems and seemingly so little that any of us can do about them, how does one get involved in a cause?

It helps to have an obsession, a particular problem that, above all the rest, keeps you from sleeping at night. For me, it was the fact that, because they don’t have access to mosquito bed nets, 3,000 children die of malaria every day in sub-Saharan Africa. I agonized about this until I read that one bed net costs $5. Here was a number that told me I could do something about this problem. Having an impact didn’t seem out of reach.

When Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour, who is also the UN Goodwill Ambassador for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, implored the audience at a concert at UCLA to “do something,” I wanted to heed him, but wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it. The answer came to me a few short hours later when I attended an after-party with crackling Senegalese sabar drumming played by some of N’Dour’s performers and local Senegalese sabar players who are well known to the African music and dance scene in Los Angeles. As a serious student of the sabar myself, many of the performers were friends of mine, and so I had the idea of putting it all together and hosting a big party to raise money to buy nets.

The next morning, I went online and found two small organizations that work to distribute bed nets in Africa; NetLife Africa, started by two medical students who travel around rural Senegal on bicycles delivering nets free of charge; and Netting Nations, a group based in Manhattan Beach that had recently completed a net distribution project in Ghana. I called up Netting Nations, and told Ben Kingston and Ike Stranathan my idea over coffee at Peet’s in Santa Monica. They were ready to sink their teeth into a new fundraising initiative and agreed to collaborate on Drums To Beat Malaria, a big African sabar party that would raise money for bed nets. It was a good partnership; I had access to the performers and a vision of what a sabar party looks like; they had an established non-profit with its tax-exempt status and some fundraising experience whereas I had practically none. We agreed to split the money evenly between NetLife Africa’s project in rural Senegal and Netting Nations’ project to deliver nets to an orphanage in Kenya.

The cornerstone of Drums To Beat Malaria was that everyone working on it would be donating their time, including the performers. We wanted to make sure that every dollar donated went to buy a net. Asking the drummers to work for free made for some uncomfortable moments, but the response was mostly enthusiastic. But once a few drummers signed on, more wanted to do it because they were moved by the cause and for the sheer fun of playing with so many drummers (it is normally too expensive to hire so many musicians).

Other components of the event began to fall into place. Ultra-hip air conditioned Supper Club in Venice donated their space and friends began asking what they could do to help. We created a website and I was invited to talk about the event on KPFK’s Afrodicia. Emails came in with offers to donate items to the silent auction. One mother from New Jersey found out about Drums To Beat Malaria and asked if it would be OK if she requested donations in lieu of presents for her son’s seventh birthday party. I got news from the Senegalese Association that because the event was taking place during Ramadan, the turnout among the Senegalese community would not be as high I had hoped (Muslims are not supposed to play music or dance during Ramadan).

***********CONTINUES

(You can still donate online at www.drumstobeatmalaria.org.) How a drumming party in LA brought life-saving anti-malaria nets to Africa. Most of feel that we’d like to do some good... more

goldenways
added this

0 responses

27 days ago

Afghan journalism student sentenced to 20 years

An Afghan appeals court overturned a death sentence for a journalism student accused of blasphemy and instead sentenced him... more

goldenways
added this

3 responses

28 days ago

While Politicians Talk, Woza Women Beaten And Arrested

POWER sharing talks between rival political parties are underway in Zimbabwe but there is no respite for human rights activists and journalists. Students were arrested and assaulted by police during demonstrations when parliament opened on Tuesday.
Also this week state agents used repressive laws to unceremoniously throw out two journalists, Peta Thornycroft and Brian Hungwe, from the hotel where the political parties are meeting, saying they are not accredited under the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa).
On Wednesday Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, the leaders of the pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza), were arrested during a demonstration protesting the deteriorating situation and hardships being suffered while the political impasse continues. Some people were allegedly beaten when the riot police used force to disperse the peaceful protesters.
Group spokesperson Annie Sibanda said several women went to the police station in Bulawayo to hand themselves in in solidarity with their leaders, but were turned away.
She said seven people were arrested before the demonstration started. The seven had been waiting for the others near a group of foreign exchange traders but were arrested and taken to the police station where they were beaten, together with the forex traders.
As the day progressed the seven were released one by one, but Williams and Mahlangu remained in custody at Bulawayo Central police station. Sibanda said: “We don’t have any details as to what charges they are facing as their lawyer has not been allowed access to them as yet.”
Riot police had descended on the protesters as they were holding a peaceful sit-in at the Mhlahlandlela government complex in Bulawayo. The group was demanding to be addressed by the heads of service delivery about what is being done to address the humanitarian crisis that is affecting millions of Zimbabweans.
The latest incident exposes the fact that there is no fundamental change in the attitude of the Mugabe regime, even during the inter-party talks being mediated by ex-South African President Thabo Mbeki. Ironically one of the main cabinet posts that the politicians are haggling over is the Home Affairs ministry that controls the police force.
The Woza spokesperson said the deal is meaningless as there is no sign of its implementation on the ground. “The very reason that we were demonstrating today was because in the agreement they make reference to the humanitarian crisis, to the food crisis, to the welfare of Zimbabweans and yet absolutely nothing is being done to help people through this horrendous situation they find themselves in,” Sibanda said. She added: “People are dying, children are dying, electricity and water cuts are getting worse. People are getting beaten in food queues and some are not actually surprised that the police continue to arrest and beat people because we can see everyday that the deal is meaningless in the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans.”–– SW Radio.POWER sharing talks between rival political parties are underway in Zimbabwe but there is no respite for human rights activists... more

goldenways
added this

2 responses

29 days ago

Art & Activism: 11 Works of Art

This video shows the artistic process for 11 of her most recent pieces, including prints and posters commissioned in 2008.... more

goldenways
added this

0 responses

29 days ago

Indians, Peruvians Honored for Human Rights Work

In the midst of applause, tears, and multiple standing ovations, a group of Indian workers trafficked into the United States and a Peruvian human rights organization seeking justice for crimes against humanity were honored here Wednesday evening for their bold actions.

The 32nd annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards saluted the work of the Indian Workers Congress and Peru's Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH).

The honors are presented each October by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a Washington, DC think tank working for policies that are "progressive, green, fair, and just," according to the group's director John Cavanagh.

The awards recognize leaders in the human rights movement in the United States and elsewhere in the Americas.

Author and IPS Scholar Barbara Ehrenreich presented the Domestic Award to the Indian Workers Congress for their "amazing example of courage and physical endurance" during a journey from New Orleans to Washington, DC by foot. This "journey of justice" was followed by a month-long fast to protest the abuses the members had suffered from a U.S. corporation.

Aby Raju accepted the Domestic Award on behalf of the Indian Workers Congress. His words were translated into English during a heartfelt speech that detailed the ordeal he and his fellow workers endured.

Raju said the members of the Indian Workers Congress were among several hundred Indians recruited in 2006 for post-Hurricane Katrina reconstruction work. The recruiters, who were hired by Signal International, promised the men green cards if they each paid $15,000 or more, according to Raju. Instead, Raju said, upon arrival in the United States they were given 10-month guest worker visas and placed in isolated labor camps.

Signal International, a subsidiary of defense contractor Northrop Grumman, is a marine construction company based in the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Indian workers were hired to help with reconstruction on the company's sites that had been damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

"I personally gave about $20,000 to come into this country," Raju said. "Right now, my mother, my father, my wife, and a son I've never seen live in a rental home. If you ask me, 'Why did you give this money?' I will say because I thought I was saving my parents and I would be able to live with my family here."

Raju paused to regain control of his shaking voice. "But the experience I had after coming here was living like a slave," he said.

Raju went on to detail the "journey of justice," where more than 100 workers formed the Indian Workers Congress and walked off the job site in March. The men walked from New Orleans to Washington, DC, where they embarked on a 29-day hunger strike and testified before Congress about the abuses they suffered. As a result of their advocacy, four witnesses from the Indian Workers Congress have been interviewed by the Department of Justice, and an investigation into the case is ongoing.

"There is still a need for all of your support," Raju said. "I hope that we can all join hands to work against the injustices that have been perpetrated against workers and human beings in the United States."

***********CONTINUESIn the midst of applause, tears, and multiple standing ovations, a group of Indian workers trafficked into the United States and a... more