Reader Comments: Dems Should Quickly Move on Bold Package; Fascism Not to be Debated, But Defeated; Mike Pence as Franz von Papen; Nuclear Treaty Ban - letter from Vietnam; Trouble in Kansas - Your Help Needed; Angela Davis; resources, announcements
Obama spent most of his first term reaching out and it never got him any Republican votes, not even on his Romneycare healthcare reform, 99% of which was straight out of conservative think tanks. I would hope Biden took away a lesson or two from that.
What we teach our children about "human nature" matters. Reading books like "Lord of the Flies" without an antidote is dangerous.
"Dutch historian Rutger Bregman documents that Golding had no knowledge of behavioral science and was hardly an impartial judge of children's propensities. Rather, he was an alcoholic prone to depression who beat his kids. "I have always understood the Nazis," Goldman once said, "because I am of that sort by nature." So, he made up the story, and it wasn't about children's dark nature, but his own."
William Golding was educated at the exclusive Marlborough College (where he was a bully) and Oxford University. He was a schoolteacher for upper middle class English boys. That was his background and experience.
"Every part of this country, north south east and west, owes its origin and wealth to our “peculiar institution” as well as other less notorious programs of government sanctioned/ignored exploitation and murder of the poor, immigrants, women."
This has been in the making since Bush lied and lied and lied some more and Faux Spews was allowed to call itself news and this is now the result of shills trying to twist the original anti neocon truth movement into a republican conspiracy theory... Q and Alex Jones and Rush Limbaugh and Faux Spews are fascist propaganda
The Vietnam Peace Committee (VPC) expresses its pleasure that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) enters into force on 22 January 2021.
This event marks another milestone in the struggle against nuclear weapons following the adoption by the United Nations Conference on 7 July 2017. This victory is not only attributed to the 51 State Parties that have ratified the Treaty, but also to peace movements and peace-loving people from around the world.
We are aware that this is far from the total abolition of nuclear weapons as nuclear weapon states are still not part of the TPNW and many countries are still researching, developing, manufacturing, trading in, and threatening to use nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
The VPC calls on governments to join, sign and ratify the TPNW; respect the Treaty, as well as international laws and agreements in general, and stop the use or threats to use force in international relations. All disputes and differences should be solved by peaceful means.
We also call on all peace movements, people’s organizations and peace-loving people worldwide to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and make greater efforts in the struggle against nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, for a world of peace, stability and sustainable development.
The VPC is committed to be part of peace-loving forces in the world to make sure that such tragedies as those in Hiroshima, Nagasaki Vietnam and other countries shall never be repeated.
On her seventy-seventh birthday, we're excited to share an exclusive excerpt from Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture, an extended set of interviews with Dr. Angela Y. Davis
"The civil rights movement demanded access, and access has been granted to some. The challenge of the twenty-first century is not to demand equal opportunity to participate in the machinery of oppression. Rather, it is to identify and dismantle those structures in which racism continues to be embedded. This is the only way the promise of freedom can be extended to masses of people."
Seed the Vote sent 450 volunteers to support in-person canvas programs with our local partners. One of those volunteers, Eliza, who canvassed with Unite Here, learned from the local organizers and on the doors, “In Georgia, we aren’t here to flip voters, we’re here to fight voter suppression.”
Our partners in Georgia are in it for the long haul. In 2022, Raphael Warnock will need to run again for a full 6 year term. Even more importantly, they’ll continue to organize and win local efforts to bring justice and hope to our communities.
Keep reading to learn more about the incredible vision, leadership, and strategy of our partners and how to ensure they continue to be well-resourced and supported to keep building power and winning transformative social change.
New Georgia Project Action Fund is leading the way to a new Georgia by growing a lasting independent and progressive organizing movement. For them, our wins in 2021 are just the beginning. As Nse Ufot, Chief Executive Officer of NGPAF shared, “With these victories, there is no looking back for Georgia. We are finally beginning to undo a history of voter suppression and injustice in Black and Brown communities. We have put complacent leaders on notice: we have the power to vote you out and usher in elected officials who will honor the will of the people and address the needs of our communities.
With your support and volunteerism, the New Georgia Project Action Fund (NGPAF) continues to achieve and defend historic and joyful wins for our families and communities.”
Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights Action and Mijente ran the largest political campaign engaging Latino voters in the history of Georgia. In 8 weeks, 200 organizers and volunteers knocked on every Latino voter’s door in the state and reached over 1 million voters.
Mijente is a political home for Latinx and Chicanx people who seek racial, economic, gender and climate justice. Seed the Vote was so happy to collaborate and support their efforts in both Arizona and Georgia which led to a record breaking 16.6 million U.S. Latinos voting in the general election — a 31% increase!
For 20 years, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) Action Network, has developed grassroots leadership in Latino immigrant communities across the state of Georgia to defend and promote their civil and human rights.
Our work with these organizations will have a lasting effect. Tania Unzueta, Political Director with Mijente reflected, “You were critical to these campaigns. You supported us in base building and organizing, allowing us to scale up in the smartest, most relevant way with our gente.”
We hope you will stay connected and support these two powerhouse organizations, and if you’re Latinx, join Mijente as a member!
Asian American Advocacy Fund PAC is building a politically-conscious, engaged, and progressive Asian American base in Georgia that can create a state where Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians voices are represented in elected leadership and progressive policies across the state. During the Senate runoffs, AAAF PAC and their volunteers contacted more than 100K Asian-Americans in 11 different languages helping to nearly double Asian American voter turnout.
We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to partner on the GA Senate runoff with these organizations, and also SURJ and Unite Here Local 23, whose work we lifted up in previous emails. Together, we are building a multiracial movement that has the power to guide and win transformational elections and policy victories across the country!
With love and deep appreciation to our GA grassroots partners and their years of leadership & organizing,
Even before President Joe Biden was sworn into office this week, it was clear that he and his administration would face a series of crosscurrents, competing national crises and global challenges that will demand immediate attention.
The economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic—both the damage it caused and the vulnerabilities it revealed in the U.S. economy—must be addressed if we are to build an economy that works for everyone.
EPI's Top Charts of 2020 chronicle last year's economic fallout of the pandemic and tell a devastating story—not only about a crisis that has challenged us all, but also about underlying inequalities that have made the crisis so much worse for so many. Take a look at the chart below which gives a snapshot of the economy the Biden administration must confront during their first 100 days in office.
The number of officially unemployed is undercounted, even in normal times (and is probably worse now). The chart above provides an estimate of the number of workers directly harmed in December by the coronavirus downturn. Roughly 26 million people have been struggling to make ends meet during this pandemic recession.
Take a look at more of EPI's top chartsthat reveal the depth of the challenges facing the Biden administration and Congress. EPI's charts shed light on the devastating impact the pandemic has had on people throughout our country, particularly women, Black workers and Latinx families.
What happens when law enforcement deems Black activism as a national security threat? Throughout its history, law enforcement has continuously used its powers to chill the speech and movements of Black activists and activism that’s done on behalf of issues that impact Black communities.
In Criminalizing Black Protest: When We Resist, the 34th episode of “The Activist Files,” our Communications Director Chandra Hayslett and Senior Staff Attorney Pam Spees talk with Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, and Pastor Gregory Manning head of Broadmoor Community Church. The two activists are working to bring attention to the environmental racism in St. James Parish, Louisiana, which is a historic Black community under threat of destruction by Formosa Plastics. They share their stories of how police criminalized their activism.
Photo by John Englart via Flickr // Zinn Education Project
No Option Except Escape: A Role Play on the Struggles of Climate Refugees
The Zinn Education Project is excited to announce our publication of a lesson about climate refugees, written by high school students.
When WorldOregon’s Young Leaders in Action wrote this activity in late 2020, two hurricanes had recently slammed into Central America’s Caribbean coast. A Washington Post correspondent wrote about what she saw in San Pedro Sula, Honduras:
Blanca Costa crouched on a wooden cart with her three daughters under a highway bridge. . . . The cart was the one possession Costa was able to save when they clambered out [of their flooded house].
The three horses that pulled it, enabling her to earn money as a trash collector, were gone. It would take years, she said, to save enough to buy another one.
We don’t know whether Blanca Costa and her family will become climate refugees, but these are the increasingly frequent kind of events that create more climate migrants daily.
This role-play illuminates climate refugees' struggles and their uphill battle to receive recognition and protection. It is based on the lives of real people.
Through the stories of six young people whose lives have been changed by the climate refugee crisis, students try to imagine what it is like for a person to have “no option except escape.”
Labor Radio Podcast Network’s Weekly Wednesday Livestream interviews labor leaders about current labor issues with rotating hosts made up of network members.
Guests for January 20, 2021 of LRPN Livestream included Joe McCartin (Kalmanovitz Initiative at Georgetown University), Mark McDermott (Labor Activist), Marc Dann (Former Attorney General Ohio), Kurt Stand (xxxxxx), Danny Schur (Composer/Producer)
LRPN Hosts: Chris Garlock (Union City Radio in Washington, DC); Kris LaGrange, (UCOMM Live); Joe Cadwell, (GRIT podcast); Patrick Dixon, (Labor History Today podcast), Alan Wierdak (Labor History Today podcast), Sound engineer, broadcast producer, and editing by Evan Matthew Papp of Empathy Media Lab.
Additional Guest information:
JOE MCCARTIN, on the firing of Peter Robb from the National Labor Relations Board. Joe is author of Collision Course, Ronald Reagan, the Air Traffic Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_A._McCartin
MARK MCDERMOTT, a longtime economic justice and labor educator; he served as Regional Representative for the Pacific NW and northern plains states under U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. http://www.markmmcdermott.com/
Credits: Produced by Chris Garlock; Executive Producer and engineer and editor is Evan Matthew Papp from Empathy Media Lab.
About the Labor Radio Podcast Network
The Labor Radio Podcast Network is both a one-stop shop for audiences looking for labor content and a resource for labor broadcasters and podcasters. Resources include a weekly podcast summarizing shows produced by network members, marketing on social media, a website listing network shows and how audiences can find them, a database for contacting expert guests, access to a private listserv for Network members, and a weekly video call to increase solidarity and support amongst members.
Launched in April 2020, the Labor Radio Podcast Network focuses on working class issues that are often overlooked in the corporate-controlled media. The goal of the network is to help raise the voices of working people and strengthen organized labor to demand and achieve better treatment from workplaces and elected officials.
If you are a journalist interested in learning more or if you’re a labor radio or podcast producer and want to join the network, contact us at [email protected].
Follow the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag #LaborRadioPod or visit the website.
Like the rest of the world I’m smitten with the Bernie mittens, but it’s the heart and hands behind the mittens that I really love. I sincerely hope that those who share the amazing Bernie memes take the time to find out about the man behind the mittens, what he fights for, and stand with us to ensure healthcare is recognized a human right
I am overwhelmed with the love and shares of my art today. Thank you all so much! You can buy the mitten design on a mask in my Etsy shop. If you would like it on other products I sell there, just let me know. I print all of the Etsy items myself in my home. Yay small business! Each is made to order. 20% of Etsy sales this month go to the Nina Turner for Congress campaign.
I also put the image on Redbubble for anyone wanting to buy a tshirt or stickers because I don’t currently make tees or waterproof stickers but so many have asked! Thank you for loving my art but more importantly, for supporting Medicare for All!
They First Came for the Communists...
Northern Sun Merchandising
Offset, 1980s
Minneapolis, MN
January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, is the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest and most notorious of the Nazi death camps by the Red army.
The Nazis were defeated 76 years ago by the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and the United States. Unfortunately, the Nazi’s ideology continues to thrive. One participant in the January 6 attempted coup in Washington DC wore a t-shirt that read “Camp Auschwitz.” Underneath was “Work Brings Freedom”, English translation of “Arbeit macht Frei,” the sign above the entrance to Auschwitz and other death and slave labor camps including Dachau and Theresienstadt.
Another home-grown neo-Nazi, wore a shirt with “6MWE.” Attributed to the Proud Boys, it means “6 Million Wasn’t Enough” – referring to the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust. These t-shirts continue to be manufactured and sold.
It is critical to deal with racism and white supremacy whenever they rear their ugly heads. It is just as critical to respond to any injustice. The text on CSPG’s Poster of the Week was said by Martin Niemoeller, German theologian and pastor, after surviving Sachsenhausen and Dachau.
“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.”
As colleagues, students, alumni, donors and supporters of universities in general, we stand with the faculty and staff of the University of Kansas who object to a new regents policy that suspends the procedures of shared governance, including tenure protection, in order to ease dismissals, suspensions, and terminations. The principles of shared governance and transparency exist to support free inquiry and learning in all universities. We call upon Chancellor Douglas Girod to join the leaders of other Kansas Regents universities by refusing to exercise the policy and respect the long-standing standards of the academic profession.
Join us to discuss the important history of the brilliant Black labor leader, Ben Fletcher, who revolutionized anti-racist unionizing in the early 20th century. Peter Cole is joined by Kafui Attoh of CUNY SLU to discuss the legacy of Fletcher and his union, the I.W.W. #BlackHistoryMonth#BLM
