[ Reader Comments: Impeachment; GOP Stunt; Witches; Medicare for
All; Chile; Trade Unions; #MeToo, NBC; Houston Firefighters Need Your
Help; New Social Contract for Workers National Tour; Announcements:
Washington, DC, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles..]
[[link removed]]

TIDBITS - OCT. 31, 2019 - READER COMMENTS: IMPEACHMENT; GOP STUNT;
WITCHES; MEDICARE FOR ALL; CHILE; TRADE UNIONS; #METOO, NBC; HELP
HOUSTON FIREFIGHTERS; NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT FOR WORKERS; ANNOUNCEMENTS:
WASHINGTON, DC, NEW YORK, CHICAGO, LOS ANGELES...  
[[link removed]]


 

October 31, 2019
xxxxxx

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

_ Reader Comments: Impeachment; GOP Stunt; Witches; Medicare for All;
Chile; Trade Unions; #MeToo, NBC; Houston Firefighters Need Your Help;
New Social Contract for Workers National Tour; Announcements:
Washington, DC, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles.. _

Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements AND cartoons -
Oct. 31, 2019, xxxxxx

 

Re: The Republicans Sink Even Lower: Matt Gaetz’s Stunt Outside the
SCIF is Despicable and Dangerous (Robert Supansic; Neil Alan Bufler;
Sharai Rudolphi; Martí Garza; Mary McHugh; Robert F Kamerer Jr.)
Re: The Trump-Ukraine Scandal: More than a Quid Pro Quo, It’s
Extortion (Aaron Libson)
Lynching  --  cartoon by Rob Rogers
Re: Most Witches Are Women, Because Witch Hunts Were All About
Persecuting the Powerless (Gordon Galland; Ronaldo Subawon; Domingo
Soto)
Re: We Deserve a Better Medicare-for-All Debate (Robert Politzer; Jay
Schaffner)
Re: The Coming Long-Term Care Crisis (Daniel Millstone; Hollis
Stewart)
Re: Chile - Global Left Midweek - Storm Centers! (Dan Morgan; Global
Left Midweek moderator)
Re: Chile Protests: What Prompted the Unrest?; Eyewitness Report:
It’s Not 30 pesos, It’s 30 Years (Joe Grogan; Disraelly Gutierrez
Jaime)
Re: “A Union Is an Equalization of Power” (Emory Thompson)
Re: When High-Road European Corporations Take the Low Road in the U.S.
South (Arlene Halfon)
Trump Eats Baby  --  cartoon by Mike Stanfill (Raging Pencils)
Re: Middle Class Racism (Rick Fantasia)
Re: Rachel Maddow And Time's Up Both Slam NBC For Its Treatment Of
Sexual Harassment Issues (Joy Ann Grune)
Re: $5 Million to Laid Off Coal Miners (Alan Lemke)
Re: Women’s Unpaid Labor in Political Economy* Revisited (Daniel
Millstone)
Tell the Houston Mayor to Enter Arbitration with City Firefighters
NOW! (Ginny Stogner McDavid, President, Harris County AFL-CIO Labor
Assembly)

RESOURCES:

California Burns – Oil Companies Profit: Poster of the Week (Center
for the Study of Political Graphics)
Announcing “Untapped Power” - Learn about our strength in this new
report launching Nov 4 (Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA),
AFL-CIO)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

A New Social Contract for Workers and National Tour - dates in 2019
and 2020 (National Economic and Social Rights Initiative)
Nov 2-11 #RemoveTrump actions  - Washington, DC
([link removed] [[link removed]])
Sport at the Service of Humanity Conference - Washington, DC -
November 6 - 8
Screening of "Brooklyn, Inshallah" A Voter Engagement Documentary -
New York - November 9 (DOC NYC Film Festival)
Los Angeles Screening Of Suppressed - November 20 (Brave New Films)
From Robeson to Brown. A Modern Cabaret of Protest Songs - Chicago -
December 8 (Hot House)
Labor Notes Conference: April 17-19, 2020

 

RE: THE REPUBLICANS SINK EVEN LOWER: MATT GAETZ’S STUNT OUTSIDE THE
SCIF IS DESPICABLE AND DANGEROUS

Lynching is the quintessential expression of American racism.Less
attention is give to fact that lynching is also the quintessential
expression of American lawlessness.Conservatives acknowledge the first
since it validates their conception of human nature; they are less
ready to acknowledge the second since it is ideologically unpalatable
and involved so many of the respectable citizenry.Respectable, white
citizens encouraged, condoned, and even organized lynchings.The father
of the late Senator James Eastland organized one in which a black man
and his female companion were burned to death, a result which did not
prevent the respectable citizens of his county from electing him
District Attorney.

We now have the most lawless Presidency in American history.Trump
openly claims he can commit murder with impunity and his so-called
Justice Department agrees.He calls the Constitution’s Emoluments
Clause “phony” while his former Acting Attorney General says abuse
of power is not an impeachable crime.

Last Wednesday, a mob of respectable, white Congress Members invaded a
secure room in the basement of Congress to stop a legal investigation
into the impeachment of the President in an attempt to thwart the
workings of our system of justice.No white trailer park trash these.
They were led by Matthew Gaetz (R-Fl), the rich son of a former
Congressman who is well known for his moronic pronouncements.They sat
down for hours in flagrant disregard of the rules established by a
previous Republican Congress, objecting to “secret” proceedings
which included over forty of their own Republican colleagues.One
assumes they distributed cell phone images of the event, much as their
forebears distributed postcards of black people hanging from trees.As
was the case with many lynchings in the past, a good time was had by
all; they ordered pizzas – Dominos for members of the press and
gourmet pizzas for themselves.They left the cleanup to the maintenance
staff, much as the rest have been trying ever since to clean up the
mess left by the history of lynchings.

One assumes they were frustrated over their inability to hang someone.

Robert Supansic

    =====

The rules were written in January of 2015, and signed into procedure
by GOP leader, John Boehner and was enacted by a Republican majority.
These are not the impeachment hearings, those will be in the public.
These are initial interviews and depositions, under oath, with
witnesses questioned by committees including both Republicans and
Democrats.

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

     =====

Truth doesn't seem to matter to these misinformed & misguided
hooligans. Their "act of rebellion" against their own party's rules
was a ridiculous stunt to misinform the public, draw attention to
themselves, & stroke their own egos. What a waste of tax payers
dollars.

Sharai Rudolphi
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

In case Trump wanted a little better idea of what a lynch mob looks
like ...

Martí Garza
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Disturbingly close to what most actual lynch mobs in American history
looked like.

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

     =====

Matt Gaetz and Trump Republicans gallop up fools hill!

Robert F Kamerer Jr.
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: THE TRUMP-UKRAINE SCANDAL: MORE THAN A QUID PRO QUO, IT’S
EXTORTION
 

It's interesting that the first Jewish president of the Ukraine gets a
form of political blackmail !!

Aaron Libson

 

LYNCHING  --  CARTOON BY ROB ROGERS
 

Rob Rogers
October 25, 2019
robrogers.com [[link removed]]

 

RE: MOST WITCHES ARE WOMEN, BECAUSE WITCH HUNTS WERE ALL ABOUT
PERSECUTING THE POWERLESS
 

Tough, but fair...

Gordon Galland
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

That's right. Sometimes it was just plain jealousy.

Ronaldo Subawon
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Investigate how many women vs. men were burned alive in Spain.
Inhumane Popes, corrupt Kings, whore and jealous Queens and, down and
up the lane. Pope Francesfurer, will announce if the Vatican allows
married men to priesthood after a 1,000 years prohibition. A long
1,000 years of being in the closet. Will it end pedophile crimes in
the Christian Churches and all over the planet, where that religion is
practiced? Hummmmm!

Domingo Soto
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: WE DESERVE A BETTER MEDICARE-FOR-ALL DEBATE
 

I don't think there are many people around the nation who like their
insurance companies. Most people just want to have access to their
preferred doctors. But the notion of forcing 150 million people to
make a change in their medical coverage is bordering on insanity. This
reality is what neither Bernie nor Warren are really addressing.

Robert Politzer
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

It is a phase-in. Most people who are covered through employment and
especially if retired, must at age 65 go Medicare. With their plan age
of Medicare would drop initially to 55, then 50, then 45, then
everyone. It is not one shot and you are off your existing coverage.

With Medicare, I actually have access to some docs that my prior
coverage did not cover.

Jay Schaffner
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Perhaps but it is the issue of forcing people to do so is my great
concern and my belief that it would backfire dramatically against the
Dems that would allow the Criminal Syndicate known as the GOP to rise
back up.

Robert Politzer
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: THE COMING LONG-TERM CARE CRISIS
 

What's your plan for aging? Judith and I plan to not get sick (We have
great health insurance but no long term care plan). The current
improved Medicare For All plans would be a blessing for us (and the
children) if, by some miracle we are not killed by a truck and instead
become frailer bit by bit. We are at a point where we can begin to win
this struggle. Thanks to Meagan Day for setting out the problem in
terms we can all grok to and to xxxxxx
[[link removed]] for
republishing this Jacobin link.

Daniel Millstone
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Need this Medicare4All right to provide Long-Term health care now as
well as universally available family planning resources so women can
make the decisions on reproduction, hopefully with the others in their
lives but on their own as necessary.

Hollis Stewart
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: CHILE - GLOBAL LEFT MIDWEEK - STORM CENTERS!
 

The news media reports from Chile are grossly inaccurate. The vast
majority of demonstrations are peaceful. 23rd October hundreds of
thousands in Santiago, never properly shown on TV here either, and all
this week totaling millions in every city and small town. Yes, there
is looting, not unexpected when the poor see how the top military,
police, pharmacies and big business in general loot the country every
day

Dan Morgan, Chile
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Thank you Dan! The uprising in Chile has seen violence but in some
ways is more reminiscent of Paris '68 - it started from a minor issue
- subway fares - and blossomed into mass democratic action, including
major sympathy strikes. A historic event! 

Global Left Midweek moderator
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: CHILE PROTESTS: WHAT PROMPTED THE UNREST?; EYEWITNESS REPORT:
IT’S NOT 30 PESOS, IT’S 30 YEARS
 

Thank you for this very important analysis.  Here in Canada too
people are being treated as consumers only rather than as persons with
basic rights.  This is what happens when the conservative
pro-business conditions and priorities of the market as introduced by
politicians become the norm.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the
people of Chile.  Other commentators have correctly linked the many
present issues in Chile to the after-effects of Pinochet and his 1970s
Right-Wing regime that introduced major conservative changes to the
legal framework that continues to influence  the country.

Joe Grogan
Bolton, Ontario/Canada

     =====

Chile has been gripped by a nationwide movement against high living
costs and inequality. A 30 peso fare increase, from 800 to 830 was the
last straw after all the other abuses of this neoliberal economic and
social model. The lid has blown off the pressure cooker of discontent.
Only the political and economic elite could be surprised. We saw what
happened in Ecuador – a social movement could produce change. On
Facebook, Twitter etc everyone asked – if they can do it, what about
Chile?

Disraelly Gutierrez Jaime
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: “A UNION IS AN EQUALIZATION OF POWER”

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

Unions. There is no contract freedom or level playing field without
them. Union busters are the enemies of democracy, decency, and the
country itself.

Emory Thompson
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: WHEN HIGH-ROAD EUROPEAN CORPORATIONS TAKE THE LOW ROAD IN THE U.S.
SOUTH
 

So, European companies are taking advantage of substandard American
labor standards in the same way American companies take advantage of
sub substandard labor conditions in higher poverty countries.

Arlene Halfon

 

TRUMP EATS BABY  --  CARTOON BY MIKE STANFILL (RAGING PENCILS)
 

Mike Stanfill
October 24, 2019
Raging Pencils
[[link removed]]

 

RE: MIDDLE CLASS RACISM

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

A thoughtful piece by two perceptive writers....

Rick Fantasia
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: RACHEL MADDOW AND TIME'S UP BOTH SLAM NBC FOR ITS TREATMENT OF
SEXUAL HARASSMENT ISSUES

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

All articles I have read including one in your email of today report
that all who once worked for NBC and signed NDA can now speak up.

And what abt present employees?  Altho NDAs are usually used by
employers to silence people leaving their employ, they can be
structured in many different ways even to shut up people still
employed.

And what about future employees?  I would guess NBC HAS NOT committed
to no further use.

Joy Ann Grune

 

RE: $5 MILLION TO LAID OFF COAL MINERS
 

For some workers as Sanders has identified the only route is the band
together in the Union. Sanders wants to fix the problems not just
Tinker with them every election year

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

 

RE: WOMEN’S UNPAID LABOR IN POLITICAL ECONOMY* REVISITED 
 

Try, why don't you this somewhat critical and useful account of how
Marxists have thought about the role of women's unpaid household
labor. It looks at a Monthly Review issue to which several friends
have contributed. The links are very good and the journal Meeting
Ground Online from which this article was taken which is well worth
perusing. Thanks to xxxxxx for the link
[[link removed]].

Daniel Millstone
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

TELL THE HOUSTON MAYOR TO ENTER ARBITRATION WITH CITY FIREFIGHTERS
NOW!
 

Please help
[[link removed]]
us out in Houston, TX getting a contract for our brave men and women
of the Houston Professional Firefighters Association Local 341, IAFF!

HARRIS COUNTY AFL-CIO
[[link removed]] STARTED THIS
PETITION TO MAYOR, CITY OF HOUSTON THE HONORABLE SYLVESTER TURNER
[[link removed]]

Firefighting is dangerous work.

  Houstonians understand and appreciate the risks to life and health
that firefighters take, both on the spot at fires, chemical spills,
natural disasters and other emergencies and long-term in the form of
increased incidents of heart attacks, strokes and cancer because of
exposure to toxic substances and overwhelming stress.

  Just recently, we mourned the death of Houston Firefighter Kenneth
Stavinoha, who suffered a heart attack while on the job. More and
more, the Texas Legislature has enacted laws that presume the causes
of firefighter deaths are connected to risks that go with the
territory.

 _ THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS RECOGNIZED THESE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES BY
ENABLING FIREFIGHTERS TO SPEAK UP TOGETHER AND NEGOTIATE A COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY._ A contract affords firefighters
the ability to support their families and, with similar circumstances
for police, provides Houstonians a First Responder force of the
highest quality.

  At this moment, the system for producing fair contracts is
broken. _SINCE 2017, CLOSE TO 4,000 HOUSTON FIREFIGHTERS REPRESENTED
BY THE HOUSTON PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION (HPFFA) LOCAL 341
HAVE WORKED WITHOUT A WRITTEN DEAL. _Because negotiations stalled,
the union exercised its right under state law to ask a state judge to
declare an impasse and enter into neutral binding arbitration of
remaining contract disputes. Take note: State law prevents
firefighters from striking, so when negotiations are stuck,
arbitration may be the only path to a fair contract.

 _ INSTEAD OF AGREEING TO ARBITRATION, THE CITY CHOSE TO PURSUE A
DISTRICT COURT RULING THAT PUBLIC-SECTOR BARGAINING IS
UNCONSTITUTIONAL. SUCH A FINDING WOULD HAVE MAJOR CONSEQUENCES FOR
FIRST RESPONDERS ACROSS THE STATE_, so it is fortunate that District
Judge Wesley Ward rejected the City’s argument. The City has
appealed.

  In response to those developments, the Firefighters asked voters
to approve pay parity with police, and Proposition B won overwhelming
voter approval. Even as Houston negotiated a phase-in of the provision
with Fire Fighters, the city challenged Proposition B and won a ruling
from District Judge Tanya Garrison. The Fire Fighters have
appealed._ NON-BINDING MEDIATION ORDERED BY AN APPEALS COURT HAS NOT
PRODUCED RESULTS._

  _THE HARRIS COUNTY AFL-CIO LABOR ASSEMBLY IN SEPTEMBER UNANIMOUSLY
ADDED OUR NAME TO A PETITION CALLING ON MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER TO
ENTER ARBITRATION WITH FIREFIGHTERS. _The petition calls for either a
traditional three-member arbitration panel or for Houston to withdraw
its legal challenge to public-sector collective bargaining, allowing a
state judge to arbitrate the labor dispute.

  As a member of the Texas House of Representatives, Mayor Turner
voted for the current law that grants firefighters and police
collective bargaining rights, with local voter
approval. _APPROXIMATELY 28 CITIES IN TEXAS HAVE COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS. _The rights conferred in that law
highlight our state’s support for police and firefighters and have
afforded access to the middle-class for First Responders across the
state.

  Taxpayers clearly should examine the cost of a fair contract for
Houston firefighters. But we also need to ask what the cost would be
if the nation’s fourth-largest city does not invest adequately in
our fire-fighting force. How many lives are saved and how much
property is protected by having the capacity to respond rapidly and
expertly to disasters, both of the natural and man-made
variety? _WHEN HURRICANE HARVEY AND TROPICAL DEPRESSION IMELDA
VISITED OUR CITY, WHOSE LIVES WERE ON THE LINE IN THE RESCUE
OPERATIONS? WHY DOES POLL AFTER POLL CONFIRM THE RESPECT AMERICANS
HAVE FOR THE PROFESSION OF FIREFIGHTING? WE BELIEVE THE PRICE OF A
FAIR FIREFIGHTER CONTRACT IS FUNDAMENTALLY WORTH IT._

  Going without a contract can sap quality by persuading Houston
firefighters to go elsewhere. That costs big money in the form of
training costs and lost experience, and it undermines the
infrastructure of our city. Allowing a public-sector collective
bargaining dispute to linger this long is bad for Houston in ways we
can calculate and in the intangibles.

  We have a mechanism to end the impasse and work toward a fair
contract for Firefighters. _MAYOR TURNER, IT IS TIME TO LEAD AND MOVE
FORWARD. NEUTRAL ARBITRATORS WILL SIFT THROUGH ALL THE FACTS AND, IN
GOOD FAITH, LAY OUT STANDARDS FOR A CONTRACT THAT FIREFIGHTERS AND
TAXPAYERS CAN LIVE WITH._ Our city deserves nothing less. 

_GINNY STOGNER MCDAVID, PRESIDENT_

_HARRIS COUNTY AFL-CIO LABOR ASSEMBLY_

_2506 SUTHERLAND, HOUSTON, TX 77023_

Ginny Stogner McDavid needs your help with “MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER:
ENTER ARBITRATION WITH CITY FIREFIGHTERS NOW!”. Join Ginny Stogner
and 3,023 supporters today.

Sign this petition
[[link removed]]

 

CALIFORNIA BURNS – OIL COMPANIES PROFIT: POSTER OF THE WEEK
 

Burning the Planet for Profits
Greenpeace
Offset, 2002
Luxembourg
Fires continue to burn in Northern and Southern California history,
and the fire season is now year round.  Elsewhere, 100-year floods
are happening annually. Super storms and record-breaking droughts are
all becoming the “new abnormal.” This is not random. This was
predicted. This is a result of climate change. This is due to our
unabated use of fossil fuels.

POSTER HISTORY:

Esso is the name under which Exxon/Mobil trades in many parts of the
world outside North America. In 2001, a campaign to boycott Esso was
launched in London by the Stop Esso Campaign, an alliance founded by
Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and People & Planet. The Stop Esso
Campaign called on the public not to buy any Esso products until the
US based oil company changed their stand on global warming. The
campaign targeted Esso as the world's leading global warming villain
because:

* Esso donated more dollars than any other oil company to help Bush
win the 2000 election and then reaped the rewards when Bush ditched
the Kyoto protocol, an international agreement to stop global warming.
Esso was the most active company to undermine this treaty.
* Esso refused to accept the link between burning oil and global
warming.
* At the time, Esso invested none of their massive profits in
renewable energy or green fuels.

Center for the Study of Political Graphics
[[link removed]]
3916 Sepulveda Blvd, Suite 103
Culver City, CA 90230

 

ANNOUNCING “UNTAPPED POWER” - LEARN ABOUT OUR STRENGTH IN THIS NEW
REPORT LAUNCHING NOV 4
 

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO and the Institute
for Asian Pacific American Leadership & Advancement is pleased to
launch a new report, _Untapped Power: The Strength of Asian American,
Native Hawaiian, & Pacific Islander Working People_,
[[link removed]]
on Monday, November 4, 2019. 

Poor and working class Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific
Islanders (AANHPI) in our communities are struggling. Without
disaggregated data to tell the full picture of our communities, the
issues our workers face often go unseen. That’s why we are proud to
collaborate with AAPI Data to present this report on the state of
AANHPI workers. 

Be the first to read the latest data highlighting who AANHPI workers
are, what barriers we face, and how advocates, policymakers, and the
labor movement can build the power of AANHPI workers.
[[link removed]]

AANHPI workers are the fastest growing working age population in the
United States, overrepresented at the lower and higher ends of the
labor market - meaning that our communities experience wide income
disparity. As we become a larger and larger share of the labor market,
it is crucial that we call attention to the ways we can best build
power for workers in our communities.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT on Monday, Nov 4th and find out how you can bring
_Untapped Power_ to where you live!
[[link removed]]

Solidarity and love,
The APALA Family

 

A NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT FOR WORKERS AND NATIONAL TOUR - DATES IN 2019
AND 2020
 

A NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT FOR WORKERS

In September 1892, union workers in New York City took an unpaid day
off and rallied in Union Square in support of a worker’s holiday.
While continued agitations by the labor movement forced President
Grover Cleveland to make it a federal holiday two years later, it has
been labor and social movements that breathe meaning into our
collective celebration of Labor Day. 

More than 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King stated that “all
labor that uplifts humanity has dignity” with a clear vision of the
connections between labor conditions, human dignity, global peace and
economic justice. In the midst of our severe national crisis of both
rights and democracy, those connections are more significant than
ever.   

Workers must be at the center of bringing us from this moment of
crisis to a future where all families can thrive. This is why NESRI is
kicking off a major national tour – _A New Social Contract:
Creating A Vision For Putting People and the Planet First_
[[link removed]] –
with its first event in New Hampshire
[[link removed]] focusing
on transforming jobs and workplaces. 

Big ideas are in the works – sectoral bargaining, a federal jobs
guarantee, the growth of coops, and demands for universal systems from
healthcare to family care that liberate workers from this abusive
economy. These ideas are already being endorsed by some Presidential
candidates and support for them is growing. But they come from the
work of our partners, allies and social movements. The Coalition of
Immokalee Workers (CIW) increasingly successful fight to transform
agriculture; Migrant Justice’s breakthrough in the dairy industry;
CTUL’s (Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en La Lucha) work to address
severe abuses in construction; Raise the Floor Alliance’s statewide
agenda for workers’ rights; The Chicago Workers Collaborative
building power for temp workers; the New Economy Coalition’s support
for worker coops; Rights and Democracy’s statewide agendas; and
more. 

These innovative efforts offer a foundation for a New Social Contract
for our country by giving us a new vision for labor. On this Labor
Day, we continue the unfinished business of building a human rights
movement in the United States and celebrate and honor the efforts of
working people across the country.

From the Center for Popular Democracy, National Economic and Social
Rights Initiative, Rights & Democracy Institute, Working Families
Party, and organizations around the U.S.

This is an unprecedented historical moment. More than ever, people in
the U.S. are hungry for transformative ideas that bring about lasting,
 comprehensive change. What would our values look like in practice if
our whole society was built around them?

Our communities and movements have the solutions to even our deepest
challenges. It is out of these solutions that we must build our
future. 

The New Social Contract Tour is bringing together national and local
leaders to show how community and social-movement solutions will build
what’s next. Be part of a defining conversation on what a new social
contract holds for our future..

Featuring:

* LINDA SARSOUR (Women’s March)
* MAURICE MITCHELL (Working Families Party)
* JENNIFER EPPS-ADDISION (Center for Popular Democracy)
* NAOMI KLEIN (author and journalist)

UPCOMING EVENTS:

    DETROIT, MICHIGAN. Details to come.

    November 13-14, 2019: LAS VEGAS, NEVADa. Details to come.

    Spring 2020: SOUTH CAROLINA. Details to come.

    Spring 2020: WEST VIRGINIA. Details to come.

    March 24-25, 2020: COLUMBUS, OHIO. Details to come. 

    Spring 2020: FLORIDA, MINNESOTA, CALIFORNIA, OREGON, GEORGIA

PAST EVENTS:

* September 15, 2019 in CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
* October 29, 2019: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
 

GOALS: 

Advancing Equity & Justice
[[link removed]]

Building Power [[link removed]]

Strengthening Public Goods
[[link removed]]

National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
[[link removed]]
90 John Street, Suite 501
New York, New York  10038
212-253-1710 | [email protected] 

 

NOV 2-11 #REMOVETRUMP ACTIONS  - WASHINGTON, DC
 

[[link removed]]

We had to do a quick rebrand on the #TickTockTimesUp actions (the
white supremacists in Watchmen chant "tick tock" ... sigh). Now our
goal is front and center: Remove Trump. We've updated our website
[[link removed]], Facebook
[[link removed]], Twitter
[[link removed]], and Instagram
[[link removed]]. But the changeover has
left us behind where we had hoped to be with outreach and publicity,
and we were already scrambling, so please help spread the word! I've
attached a few graphics for sharing. 

Quick recap of our plans: WE'LL BE GATHERING IN FRONT OF THE WHITE
HOUSE EVERY DAY FROM NOV. 2-11 AT NOON AND 6PM to raise the call for
Trump's removal. Meet at 16th and H. Bring signs, banners,
noisemakers, and especially friends; this is a nonviolent convergence.
Here's the Facebook event
[[link removed]].

We are also holding a MARCH FOR REMOVAL ON FRIDAY, NOV. 8 -- we've
joined forces with Jane Fonda, Greenpeace, and CodePink and are asking
everyone to meet at their 11am #FireDrillFriday rally at the Capitol
on militarism, war, and this toxic presidency before we all march
together to the White House.

[link removed] [[link removed]]

 

SPORT AT THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY CONFERENCE - WASHINGTON, DC -
NOVEMBER 6 - 8
 

The Sport at the Service of Humanity Conference is an invitation-only
gathering bringing together leaders in athletics, education, faith
communities, and youth sports to discuss the power of sport to effect
positive change in the world. The event features speakers, panels, and
breakout groups focused on building a global movement to use the power
of faith and sports for the common good.

The annual conference grew out of an initiative launched by the
Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture
[[link removed]], which held the first
global conference in 2016 at the Vatican
[[link removed]]. That event included
two days of intensive conversation among a variety of stakeholders,
focused on how sport and faith can drive positive social change. The
discussion centered around three themes: inspiration, inclusion, and
involvement, and how sports participation and fandom can build and
nurture all three.

SPORT AT THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY (SSH) CONFERENCE

November 6 - 8, 2019 | Washington, D.C.

_REGISTRATION FOR THIS INVITATION-ONLY EVENT IS FREE, and includes
conference materials and meals. Guests are only responsible for the
cost of travel and lodging._

The 2019 Sport at the Service of Humanity (SSH) Conference will take
place at exciting venues throughout the greater Washington, D.C. area,
including Capital One Arena [[link removed]],
the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)
[[link removed]], and Georgetown University’s Main Campus
from November 6th to 8th. It will feature dynamic speakers and panels,
a Georgetown men's basketball home game, a tour of the newest museum
of the Smithsonian Institution, and breakout groups focused on
building a global movement to use the power of faith and sports for
the common good.

For more information on the conference including speakers, agenda, and
travel/accommodation logistics, please visit our website
[[link removed]].

Full schedule here
[[link removed]]

 

SCREENING OF "BROOKLYN, INSHALLAH" A VOTER ENGAGEMENT DOCUMENTARY -
NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 9
 

[[link removed]]

Watch unofficial trailer here [[link removed]].

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2019, 4:30 PM

SVA Theatre
333 W 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011

Buy tickets here
[[link removed]]

[link removed]…
[[link removed]]

EXPECTED TO ATTEND: Director Ahmed Mansour, producer Jillian Karole,
subject Khader El-Yateem

NYC PREMIERE Khader El-Yateem is a Palestinian American, a practicing
Lutheran pastor and, he hopes, the first Arab American on the New York
City Council. Having grown up amidst conflict before emigrating to the
US, Father K works to alleviate the mounting fears of the diverse but
marginalized Arab-American community of Bay Ridge following the 2016
presidential election. With the support of political activist Linda
Sarsour, he mounts the campaign of a lifetime, taking viewers into the
heart of identity politics.

_Co-presented by NYWIFT [[link removed]] & Muslim Public
Affairs Council (MPAC) [[link removed]]_

OFFICIAL SITE: [link removed]
[[link removed]]
ON TWITTER: BKinshallahdoc [[link removed]]
ON
FACEBOOK: بروكلين-إنشالله-Brooklyn-Inshallah-163492614345811/
[[link removed]]
DIRECTOR: Ahmed Mansour
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Paul Costello, Marcia Rock
PRODUCER: Jillian Karole, Sarah Friedland
WRITER: Paul Costello, Miles Kilcourse
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ahmed Mansour, Hannes Hosp
EDITOR: Ahmed Mansour
MUSIC: Jason Schoenfeld
RUNNING TIME: 83
LANGUAGE: English, Arabic
COUNTRY: USA
YEAR: 2019

 

LOS ANGELES SCREENING OF SUPPRESSED - NOVEMBER 20
 

[[link removed]]

RSVP here [[link removed]]

Brave New Films [[link removed]]
10510 Culver Blvd.,
Culver City, CA 90232
[email protected]

 

FROM ROBESON TO BROWN. A MODERN CABARET OF PROTEST SONGS - CHICAGO -
DECEMBER 8
 

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2019 AT 4 PM – 7 PM

Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
915 E 60th Street 
Chicago, Illinois 60637

FROM ROBESON TO BROWN – A MODERN CABARET OF PROTEST MUSIC 
With Freedom Song Leaders and Maggie Brown 

Our capstone concert in our On Whose Shoulders series on December 8
will honor two stalwarts of protest music – Paul Robeson and Oscar
Brown Jr.  The Artists performing will be announced at a subsequent
date. The program will also raise funds for the Rosenberg Fund for
Children. Rosenberg Fund Executive Director Jenn Meeropol will make
remarks at the concert.

PAUL ROBESON is the son of a former slave turned preacher; Paul
Robeson was an All-America football player but rejected a career as a
professional athlete and instead obtained a law degree. Because of the
lack of opportunity for blacks in the legal profession, he drifted to
the stage, making a London debut in 1922. He caused a sensation as an
actor and for his bass-baritone singing voice.

Increasing political awareness impelled Robeson to visit the Soviet
Union in 1934, and from that year he became increasingly identified
with strong left-wing commitments, while continuing his success in
concerts, recordings, and theatre. In 1950 the U.S. State Department
withdrew his passport because he refused to sign an affidavit
disclaiming membership in the Communist Party.

OSCAR BROWN JR. is renowned for having written the lyrics to Max
Roach's 1960 protest album We Insist!: Freedom Now Suite, which Roach
performed in its entirety the day before Brown's appearance at this
1964 Newport Jazz Festival. He also wrote the lyrics to the
oft-recorded Bobby Timmons tune, "Dat Dere," and composed tunes for
Mahalia Jackson, Lena Horne, Lou Rawls, Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln and
others.
In 1944, at age 18, he hosted the nation's first black news radio
broadcast and in 1948 ran for the Illinois state legislature on the
Progressive Party ticket. Following a two-year stint in the Army,
Brown became a card-carrying member of the Communist Party, ultimately
resigning in 1956. 
 
Featured artists included in the program are THE FREEDOM SONG LEADERS
with Africa Brown, Wanda Bishop, Shanta Nurullah and Zahra Baker and
MAGGIE BROWN with Africa Brown and friends.

FREEDOM SONG LEADERS. SHANTA NURULLAH, ZAHRA, BAKER, WANDA BISHOP,
AFRICA BROWN AND TONI ASSANTE LIGHTFOOT WASHINGTON PARK FORUM: SOAP
BOX ACTIVISM  

The outpouring of speech and writing that accompanied the rise of
North America's large industrial cities was diverse in its political
orientation, form, and content. But much of it was offensive to the
people who controlled society's political, economic, and cultural
institutions. The conflict between advocates for change and defenders
of the status quo would shape the possibilities for free speech and
redefine the limits of government power over Americans' political
debate and private behavior.

Radical and religious speakers leveled their appeals to passers by on
street corners and at factory gates. On the southside, near the
University of Chicago, the congregation of speakers in Washington Park
called itself the "Bug Club.".  Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and other
leaders in the emancipatory struggle for justice made the Washington
Park Forum and the soap box there their pulpit for activism. This
concert celebrates this history.

SHANTA NURULLAH has distinguished herself as a sitarist and bassist
exploring African-American improvisational music. A member of the
legendary Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
(AACM), Nurullah co-founded the all-women's bands Sojourner and
Samana, and her current projects include the bands Sitarsys and
Classic Black; the duo ShaZah; and Freedom Song Leaders, a vocal
ensemble.

ZAHRA BAKER is an accomplished performer, recognized for her work as a
folk and jazz vocalist, dramatic actor, and an engaging storyteller.
Her performance history includes "In the Spirit" (Storytelling duo of
African American stories and songs), Freedom Song Leaders
(Co-founder), David Boykin's Outet (Jazz Vocal Improvisation), Othello
at Shakespeare Repertory Theater (Vocalist/Actor), and Classic Black
(Jazz and Storytelling Ensemble).

MAGGIE BROWN is a singer, songwriter, actress, producer, and director
Maggie Brown is said to be "one of the most fiercely committed artists
in Chicago" by Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich. Maggie grew up tuning
into her father's methods on stage, at the typewriter and in the
director's chair. One of seven children of singer, songwriter, and
playwright Oscar Brown, Jr., Maggie started acting professionally at
age 15.

Formative years in theater then shifted to performing as vocalist,
band leader, recording artist, and songwriter. In 1995 Maggie launched
her independent label MagPie Records and released her first solo
project FROM MY WINDOW. Before her father's passing, Maggie produced a
live concert recording with her father called WE'RE LIVE.
 
Maggie has recorded with Abbey Lincoln, Jonathan Butler, Ramsey Lewis,
Stevie Wonder, and her father. In her hometown of Chicago, Maggie is
called on to bring authenticity and integrity to whatever the job
calls for and has worked with a diverse list of band leaders
including: Tom Washington (South Side Big Band), Joan Collaso (11
Jazzy Divas), Douglas Ewart (AACM Inventions Ensemble), and Orbert
Davis (Chicago Jazz Philharmonic).  With an upbringing rooted in
jazz, she is comfortable singing blues, gospel, pop, and even
rapping-with impressive conviction and flow. 

JENNIFER MEEROPOL is the Executive Director of the Rosenberg Fund for
Children (RFC) and the granddaughter of both Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg, and Abel Meeropol (known for writing the anti-lynching
anthem "Strange Fruit.").

The RFC is a public foundation created in 1990 by Jenn's father
Robert, to honor her grandparents. The Fund makes grants to assist
today's "children of resistance - kids of current activists who are
experiencing repression, and youth activists targeted for their own
organizing. The Fund currently grants close to $400,000 per year to
aid hundreds of children in the U.S. whose parents (or who themselves)
have been attacked for struggling to protect immigrants, combat racism
and police brutality, safeguard the environment, preserve civil
liberties, wage peace, and organize on behalf of workers, political
prisoners, the LGBTQ community, and others whose rights are under
threat.

What we do:

The mission of HOTHOUSE is to instigate, produce and otherwise
facilitate participatory multi-disciplinary events that create
opportunities for high caliber artistic practices; that extend our
collective resources into underserved communities and foster the
international exchange of ideas and methods within the context of
progressive social change praxis.

HotHouse [[link removed]]
Chicago, Illinois

 

LABOR NOTES CONFERENCE: APRIL 17-19, 2020 - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
 

We hope you'll join us and help spread the word. If you have any
questions, please reach out to any of us at Labor Notes. And if you'd
like any print materials (conference brochures) to help publicize in
classes or other programs, let me know and I'll see if we have some
leftover from our mailing.

It’s official! Registration is now open for the 2020 LABOR NOTES
CONFERENCE.

WHEN: Friday, April 17, 9 a.m. - Sunday, April 19, 3 p.m.

WHERE: Hyatt Regency O’Hare at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL!: REGISTRATION JUST $115 _($45 off the regular
price of $160)_ until February 28! TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE
[[link removed]].

SOME SCHOLARSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE. Please click here to apply
[[link removed]].
Please note that the Saturday night banquet is sold separately from
registration for the conference and space is limited. 

Labor Notes [[link removed]]
Labor Education and Research Project
Main Office: 7435 Michigan Ave, Detroit, MI 48210; (313) 842-6262.
East Coast Office: 104 Montgomery St, Brooklyn, NY 11225; (718)
284-4144

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INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

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