[ Reader Comments: Afghanistan & Vietnam; COVID-19 and children;
Rich Trumka Remembered; Ben & Jerrys and anti-BDS laws; Berlin Wall;
Stanley Aronowitz; You Can Help - Haiti Emergency Relief Fund; lots of
announcements; more....] [[link removed]]

TIDBITS - AUG. 19, 2021 - READER COMMENTS: AFGHANISTAN & VIETNAM;
COVID-19 AND CHILDREN; RICH TRUMKA REMEMBERED; BEN & JERRY'S AND
ANTI-BDS LAWS; BERLIN WALL; STANLEY ARONOWITZ; YOU CAN HELP - HAITI
EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND; LOTS OF ANNOUNCEMENTS;  
[[link removed]]


 

August 19, 2021
xxxxxx

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
* [[link removed]]

_ Reader Comments: Afghanistan & Vietnam; COVID-19 and children; Rich
Trumka Remembered; Ben & Jerry's and anti-BDS laws; Berlin Wall;
Stanley Aronowitz; You Can Help - Haiti Emergency Relief Fund; lots of
announcements; more.... _

Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons -
Aug. 19, 2021, xxxxxx

 

Afghanistan & Vietnam (Bruce Hartford)
Afghan War...Profits  --  carton by Dr. James MacLeod
Re: Flawed From the Start, Afghan War's Bitter End Was 'Inevitable'
(Craig Gauthier; Jean Douthwright)
At the Arms Manufacturers' Club  -- cartoon by Jeff Danziger
Re: Let’s Stop Letting Presidents Lie Us Into War (Neil Alan Bufler;
Michael Dunn)
Re: Children Hospitalized with COVID-19 in U.S. Hits Record Number
(Jerry Neal)
Re: Vast Stretches of America Are Shrinking. Almost All of Them Voted
for Trump. (Bill Audette; Kevin Hernandez; Ralph Stephens; Don Lawson)
Re: The Left Gets the Last Laugh Without Cuomo, New York’s
Progressives Will Be Liberated. (Gina Klein)
Re: Cuomo Leaves, But a Corrupt Political Culture Remains in New York
(Jose Luis Medina)
If Elected, I Promise...  -- cartoon by Charles M. Schulz
The DNA of a True Labor Movement Leader: A Day in the Life of AFL-CIO
President Rich Trumka (Jon Hiatt)
Re: Trumka Dies Leaving the American Labor Movement at a Crossroads
(Joy Ann Grune; Kay Anderson)
Re: The Downward Path We’ve Trod: Reflections on an Ominous
Anniversary (Contradiction, Crisis, Convivium)
Re: A New App Is Taking Labor Unions Out of Union Organizing (Mark
Roth; Mary Klever)
Re: Illinois Should Avoid the Ice Cream War (Robert Matthews; Julie
Oppenheimer; Felice Sage)
Re: Sixty Years After The Berlin Wall (Kenneth Peterson; Stan Nadel)
Stanley Aronowitz  Presente! - A remembrance and a tribute (Nancy
Romer)

TAKE ACTION:

Haiti Struck by 7.2 magnitude Earthquake Please Donate to the Haiti
Emergency Relief Fund
Haiti Needs Immediate and Generous Support Now (The Movement for Black
Lives)

RESOURCES: 

Treaties Not Tar Sands — Poster of the Week (Center for the Study of
Political Graphics)
The Little Red Song Book - first published on this day in 1909 (Labour
History and Music)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Clarence Kailin: American Communist, Interbrigadier and Working Class
Hero - August 24 (Morning Star)
Join activist Rebecca Vilkomerson and author Sarah Schulman discuss
movement-building strategies in the ACT UP period and today - August
25 (Jewish Currents and Jewish Voice for Peace)
Hillbilly Nationalists: The Young Patriots & the Rainbow Coalition -
August 27 (Haymarket Books)
The Future of Climate and Food - September 9 (Kent Memorial Library)
Peoples' Voice Cafe Fall 2021 Season, Starting September 18!
Workers Unite! Festival 10 - Full Season 10 Returns Live Oct 8th-20th

AFGHANISTAN & VIETNAM

It's so frustrating watching the horrific scenes from Kabul and
hearing the TV talking heads dutifully babble the official talking
points while carefully ignoring the giant mound of elephant dung
that's at the center of Afghan reality -- massive corruption. For
weeks, pols and pundits have been studiously ignoring reports that
Afghan soldiers hadn't been paid in weeks, were out of ammo, and on
starvation rations. What happened to the funds for their pay, bullets
and bread? Siphoned off into the foreign accounts of the Afghan
political elite and military brass.

And where were the arms and ammo paid for by American taxpayers? Sold
on the black market to the Taliban by the Afghan colonels and majors
and supply sergeants. Today's NY Times had a photograph of armed
Taliban sitting in the former Afghan president's office? Can you
believe that some of them are referring to the Taliban theocratic thug
as the new president, anyone who knows anything about military-grade
weapons could see that half of them were carrying American-supplied
assault rifles. So too it was in Vietnam 46 years ago when our puppet
government in Saigon suddenly collapsed.

My short-term memory these days may be unreliable, but my memories of
'Nam days are crystal clear. For weeks the Vietnamese foot soldiers
had seen their supplies and pay disappearing into foreign bank
accounts. So they did what sensible soldiers have always done in the
face terminal-corruption by their so-called leaders. They stashed
civilian clothes and false IDs where they could grab them at a
moment's notice so they could disappear into the confusion when the
time came.

A lot of them had been working all along with the "Viet Cong enemy"
(who they knew from growing up in the same impoverished villages).
They passed along weapons and ammo and prepared to open the door when
dime dropped. And in return for being allowed to go home unharmed,
entire units made deals with the other side to simply hand over their
positions and arms when asked to do so. The day after Saigon fell, the
alleys were littered with abandoned Army uniforms that enterprising
peddlers were soon selling as "war-surplus" clothing in the streetside
flea markets. So too, I am sure is the case with the Taliban in
Afghanistan.

And underpinning it all was the political and financial corruption of
the American military-industrial complex that knowingly enabled
staggering corruption by Vietnamese/Afghani elites who signed the
authorizations and contracts for those $640 toilet seats, those
bridges to nowhere, those hospitals with no beds, doctors, or nurses,
those pallet-loads of $100 bills -- and let's not forget the
international heroin trade.

In Afghanistan, Military contractors like Halliburton so deeply gouged
the American public purse that even some Republicans felt uneasy. Like
pigs at the trough, Black Water and Triple Canopy paid mercenaries
four times what an Army GI made for doing the same work (and taking
the same risks) while billing the Pentagon at eight times a soldier's
pay. And so went the American way of modern war, kickbacks, bribes,
and black market profiteering.

So softly, softly, tip-toe carefully, carefully, around that mountain
of excrement that must never be mentioned, you babbling news bobble-
heads.

Bruce Hartford

AFGHAN WAR...PROFITS  --  CARTON BY DR. JAMES MACLEOD

Dr. James MacLeod
August 15, 2021
Dr MacLeodCartoons
[[link removed]]

RE: FLAWED FROM THE START, AFGHAN WAR'S BITTER END WAS 'INEVITABLE'

When decisions are made based on taking the resources of another
nation, in the end, it will come down to the will of the people, no
matter how long that takes, just remember how they manufactured the
threat of Iraq and its people, the same with Libyan people, lies ,lies
and none of them held responsible, Malcolm X said it years ago,
🤔🤔🤔

Craig Gauthier
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

We were lied to about all the reasons for this war.  I remember
watching Collin Powell, the general, lie to congress and the UN.

Jean Douthwright
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

AT THE ARMS MANUFACTURERS' CLUB  -- CARTOON BY JEFF DANZIGER

Jeff Danziger
August 17, 2021
The Rutland Herald (Vermont)

RE: LET’S STOP LETTING PRESIDENTS LIE US INTO WAR

trump and associates tried like hell to get us into Iran...

Neil Alan Bufler
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

Let’s never forget that what we are watching happen right now in
Afghanistan is the final act of George W. Bush‘s 2004 reelection
strategy. After 9/11 the Taliban offered to arrest Bin Laden, but Bush
turned them down because he wanted to be a “wartime president” to
have a “successful presidency."

Michael Dunn
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

RE: CHILDREN HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID-19 IN U.S. HITS RECORD NUMBER

Most of this could have been prevented.

Jerry Neal
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

RE: VAST STRETCHES OF AMERICA ARE SHRINKING. ALMOST ALL OF THEM VOTED
FOR TRUMP.

We love riding through the rural areas and what we see are a lot to
Trump signs and towns suffering economically. Trump did nothing for
rural America. Without fail the most depressed areas, towns, and
households loved Trump and he and Republicans did absolutely nothing
to support them. I can’t, for the life of me, understand why anyone
would vote Republican.

Bill Audette
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

The problem with this is that it only helps the Republicans.

Kevin Hernandez
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

If we could pen them up in Texas they can have it as long as they
secede and never ask for another handout from the "Blue States".
#NeverVoteRepublican

Ralph Stephens
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

The rural area where I live is depopulating so rapidly schools are
closing and some church buildings have apparently just been abandoned.

Don Lawson
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

RE: THE LEFT GETS THE LAST LAUGH WITHOUT CUOMO, NEW YORK’S
PROGRESSIVES WILL BE LIBERATED.

Hope on the horizon for closing down fracked gas in NYS and passing NY
Health Act!

Gina Klein
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

RE: CUOMO LEAVES, BUT A CORRUPT POLITICAL CULTURE REMAINS IN NEW YORK

The structure of state government, with its centralized power and few
ethical checks, invites scandal after scandal.

Jose Luis Medina
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

IF ELECTED, I PROMISE...  -- CARTOON BY CHARLES M. SCHULZ

Charles M. Schulz
Peanuts

THE DNA OF A TRUE LABOR MOVEMENT LEADER: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AFL-CIO
PRESIDENT RICH TRUMKA

I wrote this last week and it was printed in the On Labor Blog.
[link removed]…
[[link removed]]
When I did a remembrance for former President John Sweeney, who also
died this year, On Labor printed it and xxxxxx picked it up, so I
thought you might be interested in doing so again this time. (I was
Sweeney and Trumka's General Counsel and then Chief of Staff at the
AFL-CIO).

Thanks.

Jon Hiatt

      =====

Since the unexpected death of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on
August 5,  many who knew and worked with Rich have posted tributes
focusing on a variety of leadership roles that he took on: in the
Western Pennsylvania mines as a young health and safety committee
chairman; in the Mineworkers for Democracy’s struggle to save that
union; in the famous Pittston strike against one of America’s most
vicious corporate employers; in the international arena where he
demonstrated the connections between South African apartheid and the
impact on miners around the world; in the first contested AFL-CIO
election campaign where, with John Sweeney and Linda Chavez-Thompson,
he sought to revitalize the American Labor Movement; in iconic
anti-racism speeches he gave on behalf of presidential candidate
Barack Obama and in the aftermath of the Michael Brown killing in
Ferguson; and in key initiatives he created and implemented while
leading the AFL-CIO not only in the Federation’s political,
legislative, and organizing programs, but also its civil rights,
immigration, and community partnership work as the  American labor
movement’s representative of all working people.

In my experience working with Rich over some 22 years, first as
 AFL-CIO General Counsel and then as his Executive Assistant and
Chief of Staff, I witnessed the leadership qualities needed to take on
all of these critical roles.

And this was indeed fortunate, as it also became apparent just how
vitally the labor movement needed such a combination of experience,
talents, and leadership skills.

Thus, rather than focusing on any one particular example of his
 leadership, I offer the following vignettes, describing a rather
typical set of meetings that Rich had over the course of approximately
one day, in the early days of his AFL-CIO presidency.

[Read full post here
[[link removed]]]

RE: TRUMKA DIES LEAVING THE AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT AT A CROSSROADS

(posting on xxxxxx Labor
[[link removed]])

Contains good review of important accomplishments of last decade.
 But a xxxxxx tribute to him needs at least small component
describing Trumka's support and lack of support for them.

Joy Ann Grune

      =====

His death deprived the labor movement of a leader… only if you need
a white man. I believe we can look at our current leaders and emerge
stronger get, if we dare.

Kay Anderson

RE: THE DOWNWARD PATH WE’VE TROD: REFLECTIONS ON AN OMINOUS
ANNIVERSARY

(posting on xxxxxx Labor
[[link removed]])

“On January 6, the ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flag signified
something very different from what it had stood for in Eisenhower Park
40 years ago. The contrast has me thinking about the sources and goals
of social conflict, the meaning of solidarity, and the terrible toll
these past forty years have taken on this country.

A good part of the damage has flowed from what workers lost after the
PATCO strike: a robust capacity to come together to engage in
effective collective actions to make demands of their employers.  In
other words, the ability to strike.”

Contradiction, Crisis, Convivium
[[link removed]]
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

RE: A NEW APP IS TAKING LABOR UNIONS OUT OF UNION ORGANIZING

(posting on xxxxxx Labor
[[link removed]])

"In July, a group of cell tower technicians who work for an AT&T
contractor in the Philadelphia area approached the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) for help unionizing....The
IBEW never responded to the technicians."

What this tells me is that the IBEW has not changed in 20 years. My
son tried for an apprenticeship around 2000, aced the written tests...
and failed the oral. Oral tests, to join a union?

I personally contacted the international head of IBEW organizing, and
was told, in so many words, "oh, my son failed the first time. Tell
him to keep trying."

THAT IS NOT A UNION ORGANIZER, that is someone who works in a
Renaissance guild, whose purpose was to limit the number of people who
could do a certain job. They should be falling over their feet to talk
to these people, but they're not.

This is one of the main reasons that unionization in the US has fallen
to less than half of it was in the seventies. This is a union that's
given in to the bosses. Perhaps that techs should try a different
union, or talk to the union that AT&T's union employees (if there are
still any) are in.

Mark Roth

      =====

Interesting. It's definitely a good time for change in many workforce
practices. Maybe this is the start of it.

Mary Klever
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

RE: ILLINOIS SHOULD AVOID THE ICE CREAM WAR

Kudos to Marilyn Katz…her counter arguments, skewering  the absurd
contradictions of the Israeli and Illinois legislature’s posture on
this issue,  definitively cancel this tempest in  a teapot….

Robert Matthews

      =====

“However, beyond right and wrong, beyond free speech and morality,
the question that is raised is: Israel, can you have your illegal
settlements and your ice cream, too?”

Marilyn Katz: thank you for this piece. Point me to next step
please! 

Julie Oppenheimer
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

First thing I did when Israel threatened them was to buy some Ben and
Jerry's ice cream and I hardly ever eat ice cream.

Felice Sage
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

RE: SIXTY YEARS AFTER THE BERLIN WALL

it is worth clicking and reading the "Sixty Years After The Berlin
Wall [[link removed]]"
an eye opening different view of events.

Kenneth Peterson

      =====

Well as a good Communist my former uncle in law stayed in the DDR to
build socialism after his release from Buchenwald. He had to swim over
to West Berlin when the Stassi came to his factory to arrest him in
the Communist countries' purge of Spanish Civil War veterans in the
early 1950s--he had been an adjutant to the commander of one of the
International Brigades. When I asked him why he had left he said
"Because I was a Communist and they were a bunch of damn bureaucrats."
That was a face of the DDR that Grossman ignores.

Stan Nadel

STANLEY ARONOWITZ  PRESENTE! - A REMEMBRANCE AND A TRIBUTE

Stanley Aronowitz by David Shankbone
August 17, 2021

Stanley Aronowitz died today at 88.  Here's what I wrote to our
union's Delegate Assembly list.  Please read and remember Stanley.

Stanley Aronowitz was a unique individual, a great thinker and a
political activist in every cell of his body.  The struggles he
engaged in, from his very early years as a physically disabled child,
to his labor, tenant, civil rights organizing, to his complicated
family life and mmassive friendship and political networks, Stanley
was a powerhouse.  His deep belief in the potential of humans to take
care of each other, to love each other and to wield power for the many
against the control of the few, powered him through countless
movements and meetings and books.

Stanley was certainly an intellectual and his 22 solo-authored books
(plus several co-authored) and hundreds of articles prove it.  But
Stanley's greatest desire was to put those intellectual ideas into
action.  Stanley believed in and worked for a "new world", a world of
equality, dignity and shared resources.  His was a socialist vision,
perhaps a social democratic vision, that he lent to the various
movements in each step of his storied life.

I worked most closely with Stanley from 1996 through 2006 as close
comrades in the New Caucus of the PSC, both of us serving on a
3-person "convening" body within the early New Caucus movement over a
3-year period.  We worked together, with many others, to bring our
fledgling rank and file group to power in the union in 2000 and then
worked to keep the union as activist and truly democratic as possible.

He was a strong advocate for mass mobilization and political
education, emphasizing the importance of bringing PSC members into
political thought and action.  He understood the importance of shared
knowledge and experience and the centrality of the rank and file being
in control of union policies and efforts.  Stanley did the work as
well as talking and writing about politics.  He was a brilliant
strategist and tactician and believed deeply in honestly leading with
ideas.

In his 2002 bid for Governor under the auspices of the NY State Green
Party, his slogan was "Tax and Spend", which was the epithet the right
hurled at the left.  Stanley proudly defended that slogan, using the
gubernatorial campaign to advance his ideas of what a responsible and
responsive government serving the people should do.  Our latest "Tax
the Rich" or "revenue" campaign follows in that path but Stanley, in
the middle of neoliberal hegemony, made that explicit. 

In conversations with Stanley, someone would reference the tenants
movement and he'd say "I helped start that movement"; same with the
civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, the labor movement.
 One could see that as bragging, which Stanley would be comfortable
with.  But it was all true.  Stanley lived his 88 years in constant
participation, strategizing on how to advance left politics and power
to the people.  His life paralleled the great movements of his time
and his relationships were woven tightly into those movements as well.

I don't know the details of his other families, but I do know that he
certainly found his soulmate in Ellen Willis, a brilliant feminist
thinker and writer, and their totally beloved daughter, Nona
Willis-Aronowitz.  He was such a happy man in that sweet little
family, in their tiny apartment in Washington Square/ NYU housing.
 Ellen's early death was a deep blow to this powerhouse of a man.  I
have such a strong memory of Stanley saying that he had to leave
meetings by 7:30pm because he had to go home and cook dinner for Ellen
and Nona.  I loved that about him.  And I know he loved that too.

Stanley Aronowitz will be remembered by so many people in so many
ways.  To me he was a comrade and an organizer.  He was anti-racist
and feminist to his core and deeply believed in building a better
world.

Stanley Aronowitz, Presente!

With love and solidarity

Nancy Romer

HAITI STRUCK BY 7.2 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE PLEASE DONATE TO THE HAITI
EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti Saturday morning
(Aug. 14), leaving devastation in its wake. Hundreds of people have
been killed, and the terrible counting has just begun.

Centered on Haiti’s southern peninsula, the earthquake severely
damaged the cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie. Hospitals in the area are
overwhelmed. And, to make matters even worse, Tropical Storm Grace is
poised to hit Haiti this weekend.

WE ARE REACHING OUT TO YOU TODAY FROM THE HAITI EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND
TO ASK FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE SUPPORT FOR EARTHQUAKE RELIEF. We remember
the 7.0 magnitude earthquake of 2010, where 300,000 perished and over
2 million Haitians ended up in tent cities. And we remember the ways
in which funds collected by major aid organizations in the name of
earthquake relief somehow never made it to those in need.

THE HAITI EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND HAS NO PAID STAFF OR OVERHEAD. WE WILL
SEND EACH AND EVERY DOLLAR DIRECTLY TO GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY
ORGANIZATIONS ON THE GROUND IN HAITI. These groups are the ones
positioned to provide the most effective support for families and
communities impacted by the earthquake. When the 2010 earthquake hit
the capital of Port-au-Prince, HERF funded mobile health clinics,
women’s groups and community organizers who brought relief for
thousands of families.

When Hurricane Matthew devastated the southern peninsula in 2016, we
supported the work of grassroots activists who organized caravans with
health care workers, medicine and food for people in the affected
areas. _To repeat, each and every dollar raised went directly to
Haitian community organizations._

NOW, HAITIANS ARE MOBILIZING ONCE AGAIN AT THE GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY
LEVEL, FORMING WORK BRIGADES TO RESPOND TO THIS NEW DISASTER. AS THEY
CONFRONT THIS CRISIS, WE ASK FOR YOUR SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT.

PLEASE DONATE TO THE HAITI EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

DONATE
[[link removed]]
- CLICK HERE
[[link removed]]
[link removed]
[[link removed]]


We Thank You!
Haiti Emergency Relief Fund Board of Directors 

WALTER RILEY, Attorney at Law, Co-Chair
SISTER MAUREEN DUIGNAN, O.S.F., Co-Chair
SETH DONNELLY, Educator and Long-Time Haiti Solidarity Activist
NIA IMARA, Astronomer and Artist
PIERRE LABOSSIERE, Co-Founder, Haiti Action Committee
MARILYN LANGLOIS, Human Rights and Community Advocate
ROBERT ROTH, Educator and Co-Founder, Haiti Action Committee

Haiti Emergency Relief Fund [[link removed]]
c/o East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
2362 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
Telephone: 510-595-4650
[email protected]

HAITI NEEDS IMMEDIATE AND GENEROUS SUPPORT NOW (THE MOVEMENT FOR BLACK
LIVES)

This past weekend, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, taking the
lives of more than 1,200 people and causing serious infrastructure
damage and destruction across the country. This is particularly
devastating because Haiti is still recovering from the 2010 earthquake
that killed more than 200,000 Haitians and left many international
onlookers unsure if their donations actually supported the people of
Haiti.

SEE OUR COMPILED LIST OF TRUSTED COMRADES BASED IN HAITI OR CONNECTED
WITH HAITI THROUGH DEEP ROOTS AND INTEGRITY.
[[link removed]] Please
prioritize supporting and uplifting these organizations instead of
giving to organizations with a track record of harm
[[link removed]].

We’re three days out from the initial quake, and first responders
are racing to rescue survivors as Haiti braces for Tropical Storm
Grace, certain to escalate the devastation with flooding and
mudslides. As an organization centered around the liberation of Black
people, we must come together in solidarity with Black people across
the globe and offer our support and love to the Haitian people in
their time of need.

THE PEOPLE OF HAITI NEED IMMEDIATE AND GENEROUS SUPPORT NOW.

Right now, we are witnessing what we have seen many times before:
disaster capitalists and proponents of United States imperialism
swarming, prioritizing the consolidation of profit and power over the
needs of the Haitian people.

People everywhere must show up for Haiti. We have learned from
survivors of man-made climate disasters here in the U.S. that we must
support the immediate needs of the people devastated by this
earthquake and commit to their long-term needs and right to
self-determination.

The Haitian people are part of a powerful legacy of resistance,
courage, and dedication. We send our love to our people there and call
for global Black solidarity. Our thoughts are with all those who lost
their lives, all those waiting to be found, and all those who are
experiencing the ravages of this devastating earthquake. In a world
where white supremacy still reigns and the vestiges of colonialism are
palpable, we must come together for our people.

PLEASE CONSIDER UPLIFTING AND DRIVING FUNDS TO OUR LIST OF VETTED AND
TRUSTED ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR LIFE-SAVING WORK RIGHT NOW.
[[link removed]]

Give deeply and generously, and please spread the word to support and
amplify this list to your networks.

In solidarity & with love to the Haitian people,

Movement for Black Lives

Movement for Black Lives [[link removed]]

TREATIES NOT TAR SANDS — POSTER OF THE WEEK (CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF
POLITICAL GRAPHICS)

Treaties Not Tar Sands
Artist unknown
Resist Line 3
Digital, 2021
St. Paul, MN
Through ceremony and art, 
in the courts and on the frontlines

This week, six environmental and Indigenous rights activists with the
Stop Line 3 activist group, were arrested for blocking a work path for
the Line 3 project, a proposed pipeline expansion that seeks to siphon
a million barrels of tar sands (a substance used for petroleum
materials) daily from Canada through the Midwestern United States.
Since 2014, thousands of Stop Line 3 activists have disrupted the
construction of the pipeline by organizing locally. To combat this,
Enbridge, the Canadian pipeline company responsible for this
construction, has spent over $750k for private law enforcement. Over
600 activists have been arrested. 

Stop Line 3 activists intensified their efforts this week in response
to the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which
stated that human effects on the environment have caused irreparable
damage to the global climate. Stop Line 3 activists argue that the
impact of construction, and the possibility of a spill would
permanently damage indigenous peoples’ ability to exercise their
sovereignty, including their land and water rights. 

On August 25, Resist Line 3 activists working towards environmental
equity will hold a protest at the Minnesota State Capitol to call on
elected officials to stop construction of the pipeline. 

SOURCES:

* Sign the Petition to Resist Line 3
[[link removed]]

* What Are Tar Sands?
[[link removed]]

* Enbridge shells out $750K to law enforcement for Line 3 protest
costs
[[link removed]]

* The latest UN report is clear: Climate change is here, it’s a
crisis, and it’s caused by fossil fuels.
[[link removed]]

* Banking on Climate Crisis
[[link removed]]

* Sign Up to Join the Treaties Not Tar Sands MN Protest
[[link removed]]

* Just Out of Jail, Winona LaDuke Decries Militarized Crackdown on
Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Protests
[[link removed]]

Center for the Study of Political Graphics
[[link removed]]
3916 Sepulveda Blvd, Suite 103
Culver City, CA 90230
Phone: (310) 397-3100

THE LITTLE RED SONG BOOK - FIRST PUBLISHED ON THIS DAY IN 1909 (LABOUR
HISTORY AND MUSIC)

On this day in Labor History the year was 1909.  That was the day
that a committee of the Industrial Workers of the World in Spokane,
Washington published the first edition of the “Little Red Song
Book.” - “Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent.” 

Labor History in 2:00
[[link removed]]

CLARENCE KAILIN: AMERICAN COMMUNIST, INTERBRIGADIER AND WORKING CLASS
HERO - AUGUST 24 (MORNING STAR)

NOTE: CORRECT TIME - 7:00 BST (BRITISH SUMMER TIME) OR 2:00 PM EDT

Register here
[[link removed]]
-
[link removed]
[[link removed]]

JOIN ACTIVIST REBECCA VILKOMERSON AND AUTHOR SARAH SCHULMAN DISCUSS
MOVEMENT-BUILDING STRATEGIES IN THE ACT UP PERIOD AND TODAY - AUGUST
25 (JEWISH CURRENTS AND JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE)

ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25TH, 7 PM EASTERN, author Sarah Schulman and
Jewish Voice for Peace’s Rebecca Vilkomerson will discuss
movement-building strategies in the ACT UP period and today.

Sarah Schulman’s kaleidoscopic new history of ACT UP, _Let the
Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987–1993_
[[link removed]], offers indispensable
lessons about what gave ACT UP its power at its height, how other
movement lineages contributed to its methods, and how the urgent
demands of its political moment shaped its decisions and ultimate
split. What can the organization’s history teach social movements
currently in formation? How do insider/outsider strategies intersect?
How is grief used as a political ritual? How do racial dynamics and
racism play out in majority-white multiracial movements? Schulman will
be joined by Rebecca Vilkomerson, who served for ten years as
executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace [[link removed]],
to discuss movement-building strategies during the ACT UP years and
today.

This event is co-sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace. Sign up for it
here
[[link removed]]!

HILLBILLY NATIONALISTS: THE YOUNG PATRIOTS & THE RAINBOW COALITION -
AUGUST 27 (HAYMARKET BOOKS)

JOIN YOUNG PATRIOTS CO-FOUNDER HY THURMAN AND AMY SONNIE AND JAMES
TRACY FOR A BOOK LAUNCH DISCUSSION OF 'HILLBILLY NATIONALISTS'.

In 1969, the Young Patriots Organization (YPO) emerged out of
Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood to organize poor white people against
capitalism and white supremacy. They worked alongside the Black
Panther Party for Self-Defense and the Puerto Rican Young Lords in the
Original Rainbow Coalitions. The YPO embodied the politics that sought
to build multiracial working-class unity while respecting the
self-determination and autonomy of their comrades of color.

Join YPO co-founder Hy Thurman, Amy Sonnie and James Tracy, co-authors
of _Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels and Black Power:
Interracial; Solidarity in 1960s-70s New Left Organizing, Expanded
Anniversary Edition_, (Melville House Publishing) in conversation
with _Rampant Magazine_.

Get the new, expanded Anniversary Edition of Hillbilly Nationalists,
Urban Race Rebels and Black Power: Interracial; Solidarity in
1960s-70s New Left Organizing from Melville House Publishing
here: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

***REGISTER THROUGH EVENTBRITE TO RECEIVE A LINK TO THE VIDEO
CONFERENCE ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT. THIS EVENT WILL ALSO BE RECORDED
AND HAVE LIVE CAPTIONING
[[link removed]].***

SPEAKERS:

* AMY SONNIE is the co-author of _Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban
Race Rebels and Black Power: Interracial; Solidarity in 1960s-70s New
Left Organizing_ (Melville House Publishing).

* HY THURMAN is a co-founder of the Young Patriots Organization and
author of _Revolutionary Hillbilly: Notes From the Struggle at the
Edge of the Rainbow_
[[link removed]] (Regent
Press).

* JAMES TRACY is co-author of _Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race
Rebels and Black Power: Interracial; Solidarity in 1960s-70s New Left
Organizing_ (Melville House Publishing).

Moderator:

* ERIC KERL is a Kentuckian living, working, organizing, and writing
in Chicago. He is the author of _White Bred: Hillbillies, White
Trash, and Rednecks against White Supremacy_ (forthcoming from
Haymarket Books) and is on the editorial collective
of _Rampant_ _Magazine_.

This event is co-sponsored by _Rampant Magazine_
[[link removed]], Melville House Publishing
[[link removed]], Howard Zinn Book Fair
[[link removed]], and Haymarket Books
[[link removed]].

THE FUTURE OF CLIMATE AND FOOD - SEPTEMBER 9 (KENT MEMORIAL LIBRARY)

Thursday, September 9th on Zoom
7 p.m. EST
Register Here
[[link removed]]

In our hotly anticipated third Edmund and Sylvia Morris lecture,
national best-selling authors Bill McKibben and Anna Lappé will be
discussing an urgent topic with award-winning author and academic Raj
Patel: the link between climate change and food production. Join us
and learn how you can combat climate anxiety and be better prepared
for the future.

BILL MCKIBBEN is an author and environmentalist who in 2014 was
awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the
‘alternative Nobel.’ His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded
as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has
appeared in 24 languages; he’s gone on to write a dozen more books.
He is a founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate
change movement, which has organized twenty thousand rallies around
the world in every country save North Korea, spearheaded the
resistance to the Keystone Pipeline, and launched the fast-growing
fossil fuel divestment movement.

ANNA LAPPÉ is a national bestselling author, a renowned advocate for
sustainability and justice along the food chain, and an advisor to
funders investing in food system transformation. A James Beard
Leadership Awardee, Anna is the co-author or author of three books on
food, farming, and sustainability and the contributing author to
fourteen more. Her most recent book, Diet for a Hot Planet: The
Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It
was named by Kirkus as one of the best environmental books of the
year.

RAJ PATEL is an award-winning author, film-maker and academic. He is a
Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at
the University of Texas, Austin and a Senior Research Associate at the
Unit for the Humanities at the university currently known as Rhodes
University (UHURU), South Africa. He has degrees from the University
of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Cornell University, has
worked for the World Bank and WTO, and protested against them around
the world. Raj co-taught the 2014 Edible Education class at UC
Berkeley with Michael Pollan. In 2016 he was recognized with a James
Beard Foundation Leadership Award. He has testified about the causes
of the global food crisis to the US, UK and EU governments and is a
member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food
Systems.

_We are proud to present the Edmund and Sylvia Morris Lecture Series
here at Kent Memorial Library. Edmund and Sylvia Morris were renowned
biographers and accomplished writers. Edmund won a Pulitzer Prize for
his first biography of Theodore Roosevelt, and followed it with books
on Reagan, Beethoven, and Edison. Sylvia was also an acclaimed
biographer, penning works on Edith Roosevelt and Claire Booth Luce.
She was a sought after lecturer, too, and gave talks at The Library of
Congress, the Chicago Humanities Festival, and the University of
Delaware, among others. Both were deep thinking scholars and Library
lovers, and when they passed our friends Donna and Ben Rosen reached
out with an opportunity – to design and present a speaker series
honoring the legacy of these two esteemed members of the literary
community, and our community in Kent. Our goal with the Morris Lecture
Series is to tackle big issues and start important conversations, and
we hope you will be inspired by these events to think about the
challenges we all face, as a Town and as a nation._

Kent Memorial Library [[link removed]]
32 North Main Street, PO Box 127
Kent, CT 06757
860.927.3761 fax: 860.927.1427

PEOPLES' VOICE CAFE FALL 2021 SEASON, STARTING SEPTEMBER 18!

_AN ALTERNATIVE COFFEEHOUSE OFFERING LIVE ENTERTAINMENT IN NEW YORK
CITY,_

_FROM FOLK MUSIC AND PROTEST SONGS TO RAP, JAZZ, POETRY, STORYTELLING,
AND DANCE._

Starting with our Opening Night, September 18, 2021
Welcome Back! Fundraising Concert

NEW LOCATION!!
Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street
bet. West 3rd & West 4th Streets
New York, NY 10012

Saturday, September 18, 2021, at 8pm:
 
Welcome Back! Fundraising Concert

PAMELA JEAN AGALOOS, GARY DAVID ALLARD, FRED ARCOLEO, SALLY CAMPBELL,
BEV GRANT, CLEO CAROL KNOPF, JOEL LANDY, DIANE PERRY, GERRY SEGAL,
STEVE SUFFET, and THELMA RUFFIN THOMAS welcome you back as the
Peoples' Voice Cafe resumes our regular program of weekly in-person
concerts after an 18-month hiatus. This fundraiser will be our first
concert at our new location, the Assembly Hall of Judson Memorial
Church at 239 Thompson Street
[[link removed]] in
the heart of Greenwich Village. All proceeds will go to help the
Peoples' Voice Cafe cover the costs of relocating from Community
Church to Judson Memorial.

_PEOPLES' VOICE CAFE_

WWW.PEOPLESVOICECAFE.ORG
[[link removed]]_   •   _FACEBOOK
[[link removed]]_ _

239 Thompson Street, NYC 10012  •  Saturdays, September – May
 •  8 PM
Suggested contribution $20  •   PVC Subscribers & Sustainers $12
 •   Students & Youth $12

More if you choose, less if you can't.  No one turned away for lack
of money.

WORKERS UNITE! FESTIVAL 10 - FULL SEASON 10 RETURNS LIVE OCT 8TH-20TH

We're Back In NYC October 8th-20th, 2021 
with a Mix of Live and Online Events

Photo: The Last Cut, Directed by Ben Wang
Save the date! Week one 10/8-10/14 will again be held in downtown
Manhattan at Cinema Village
[[link removed]] theater,
which is committed to meeting or exceeding all CDC, state, and local
COVID-19 regulations

We are jurying the latest film entries now and starting to develop
programming. If you have a submission, note that the deadline
on FilmFreeway
[[link removed]] is
this Friday, August 20th. Please reach us at
[email protected] with any concerns.

Sponsorships are also still open through mid-September.

ALL LISTINGS/VIEWINGS AT BIT.LY/WATCHWUFF10
[[link removed]]

The Workers Unite Film Festival, now in its 10th season, is a
celebration of Global Labor Solidarity. The Festival aims to showcase
student and professional films from the United States and around the
world which publicize and highlight the struggles, successes and daily
lives of all workers in their efforts to unite and organize for better
living conditions and social justice.

WUFF brings together activists, academics, and filmmakers of all ages
and backgrounds for a celebration of social justice and the arts.
Through dozens of documentary screenings, community forums, and
interactive events across New York City, the festival provides working
people with a platform to tell their stories while leading a movement
for meaningful change. In recent years, we've incorporated theater
production, live music, and poetry/spoken word nights. We are the
largest worker solidarity themed film festival in the nation and the
only one in NYC, with the full support of NYC Council Speaker Corey
Johnson, Comptroller Scott Stringer, NYC Central Labor Council,
National & New York State AFL-CIO, IBEW Local 3, PEF, 1199SEIU, The
Puffin Foundation, The NY Labor History Association, UA Local 1
Plumbers, UFT, NYSNA, NY District Council of Carpenters, RWDSU,
Workers United NY & NJ, and many more.

WE ARE A NOT-FOR-PROFIT 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATION.

Contact: [email protected]
646-455-2225

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[[link removed]]
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[[link removed]]
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INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

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