http://www.inthesetimes.com/archives/tags/activism/ In These Times features award-winning investigative reporting about corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, insightful analysis of national and international affairs, and sharp cultural criticism about events and ideas that matter. en-us Expression Engine jessica@inthesetimes.com seamus@inthesetimes.com Mon, 03 Sep 2001 16:16:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1637/one_dead_in_genoa/ For some 20 months, from Seattle through Washington, D.C. and Melbourne and Windsor and Philadelphia and Los Angeles and Prague and Davos and Quebec and Gothenburg, tactics have been escalating on both sides as the protests against gatherings of the world's political and economic elites have grown larger and more raucous. In Seattle, some 50,000 nonviolent protesters and blockaders, enraged by international institutions that exacerbate global poverty, environmental destruction and the loss of democracy, were overshadowed by a few dozen window-breaking vandals. By the time of Quebec and Gothenburg, large blocks of protesters had come to tolerate property destruction, and the hurling of everything from teddy bears to Molotov cocktails, to make their points. On the police side, the brutality… activism social justice David Sirota Mon, 29 Oct 2001 12:40:01 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1600/show_stopper/ For months the movement against corporate globalization had been building for what looked like its biggest demonstration in the United States, planned to coincide in late September with the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington. But the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon led to cancellation of the official meetings and most of the protests, temporarily throwing the growing movement off-course and forcing its leaders to reconsider their near-term strategy. Calling off the demonstration by what was expected to be nearly 100,000 representatives of labor, environmental, anti-corporate and solidarity movements "represents an interruption and perhaps the end of the momentum that started in Seattle [at the 1999 World Trade… activism social justice David Sirota Fri, 21 Jun 2002 14:23:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1504/fbi_on_trial/ Twelve years ago, Earth First! organizer Judi Bari lay in traction in an Oakland hospital bed fighting for her life, critically wounded by a nail-studded pipe bomb that exploded under the driver’s seat of her Subaru station wagon as she drove to an anti-logging rally. But instead of searching for the bombers, the FBI and Oakland Police immediately arrested Bari and fellow Earth First! organizer Darryl Cherney, smearing them in the media as eco-terrorists who were transporting explosives to blow up power lines. On June 11, a federal jury in Oakland finally vindicated Bari and Cherney, finding six FBI and Oakland Police investigators liable for violating the pair’s First and Fourth Amendment rights. The 10-member jury ordered the defendants to… activism social justice David Sirota Fri, 21 Jun 2002 14:23:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1505/fbi_on_trial1/ Twelve years ago, Earth First! organizer Judi Bari lay in traction in an Oakland hospital bed fighting for her life, critically wounded by a nail-studded pipe bomb that exploded under the driver’s seat of her Subaru station wagon as she drove to an anti-logging rally. But instead of searching for the bombers, the FBI and Oakland Police immediately arrested Bari and fellow Earth First! organizer Darryl Cherney, smearing them in the media as eco-terrorists who were transporting explosives to blow up power lines. On June 11, a federal jury in Oakland finally vindicated Bari and Cherney, finding six FBI and Oakland Police investigators liable for violating the pair’s First and Fourth Amendment rights. The 10-member jury ordered the defendants to… activism social justice David Sirota Mon, 10 Mar 2003 11:00:01 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/435/total_information_control/ “Size of protest—it’s like deciding, well, I’m going to decide policy based upon a focus group,” said George W. Bush, trying to dismiss the millions of demonstrators who took to the streets on February 15 to protest the administration’s plans for war with Iraq. Bush said what he did, no doubt, because White House strategist Karl Rove had discovered through focus groups that Americans view “focus groups” as a negative. The Defense Department, at the request of the Senate, has put the price tag on war with Iraq at $95 billion—and 99 cents. But the Pentagon has yet to release an estimate of the human cost, and the Senate hasn’t requested one. (Could it be that “conflagrating innocent civilians” is… activism media politics social justice war in iraq David Sirota Fri, 20 Jun 2003 12:00:01 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/458/next_stop/ Such optimism. Such scheming. Such giddiness. It has been nearly 40 years since so many have felt so compelled to fight back, to take on an imperial president and oppose a sweeping corporate agenda. The antiwar movement, celebrated or otherwise, is the big story. The outcome of the assault on Iraq was no surprise. The war was over before organized opposition, which significantly delayed its launch, could stop it altogether. But this antiwar movement is different. It refuses to demobilize. As many who took to the streets now realize, the war wasn’t the main issue, after all. It was, and is, the Bush administration. Consequently, this antiwar movement promises to be a feature of the political landscape, at least through… activism politics social justice election 2004 war in iraq David Sirota Fri, 05 Sep 2003 08:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/348/military_families_against_the_war/ Millions of Americans are anxious about and even opposed to the American war on Iraq and to the bloody occupation that has followed it. But for Stan Goff, it’s personal. A career soldier and Vietnam veteran, Goff is an organizer of Bring Them Home Now, a fledgling movement of hundreds of relatives of U.S. troops in Iraq who say their family members in uniform are being made to fight an illegal and immoral war. Goff is also the parent of one of those soldiers, a son who just last month was sent into Iraq to work as an army mechanic. “My son wrote an e-mail back that he’s already been under attack by mortars twice,” says Goff. Bring Them Home… activism government: administration government: military social justice war in iraq David Sirota Tue, 24 Feb 2004 13:20:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/515/praxis_needs_practice/ The way The World Social Forum is described in its literature sounds great: “an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and interlinking for effective action.” No wonder U.S. activists have picked up on this three-year-old international phenomenon, created to combat the World Economic Forum and now a counter-forum so popular it spawned a counter-counter-forum and a Tolstoy-length program. But where are U.S. social forums carrying the idea? Catching up to cities like Pittsburgh and Ithaca, Chicago got its first taste of praxis-building January 31 in what is supposed to be the future of social forums, de-emphasizing the massive world gathering for internationally linked local and regional meetings. Turnout was… activism social justice David Sirota Fri, 27 Feb 2004 17:06:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/710/who_owns_the_sky/ Former Interior Secretary Walter Hickel once explained: “If you steal $10 from a man’s wallet, you’re likely to get into a fight. But if you steal billions from the commons, co-owned by him and his descendants, he may not even notice.” Not since the Gilded Age of the 1890s has so much public wealth been shoveled into private hands with such brazen efficiency. Timber companies, corporate ranchers and foreign mining companies with cheap access to public lands are plundering our national patrimony. Congress obligingly turns a blind eye to the accompanying pollution, soil depletion and habitat destruction. Companies are rushing to patent our genes, privatize agricultural seeds and stake private claims on plots of the ocean. Broadcasters—who for decades enjoyed… activism economy environment politics social justice technology David Sirota Tue, 02 Mar 2004 10:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/517/beyond_regime_change/ The “anybody but Bush” mantra that progressives are using to focus their energies this election season is working wonderfully well. George II now appears to be carrying more baggage than his father did in 1992. And even the sudden disappearance of the Dean campaign has proved to be no obstacle to anti-Bush voters, merely clearing the way for John Kerry and John Edwards to move ahead of George II in recent polls. The regime change that we all yearn for may well be in the offing. But another interruption in the Bush dynasty, however essential it may be for human rights and democracy, does little to advance a progressive agenda. Bill Clinton’s victory over George I was certainly regime change,… activism politics social justice election 2004 David Sirota Tue, 02 Mar 2004 10:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/518/the_end_of_third_world_solidarity/ The Bush administration has been a disaster for America’s global image. Its cavalier dismissal of international treaties and diplomacy has tainted the entire nation as a bunch of unilateralists and hegemons. After 9/11, the Bushites’ blunt and bellicose response quickly squandered global sympathy and dismayed international police agencies. The administration’s heedless invasion of Iraq alienated allies and accelerated growth of the kind of Islamic radicalism that inspired 9/11. The image damage done by just three Bush years is surely a milestone in the history of negative PR. But one of the least-noticed changes is how this administration has altered the global image of African Americans. Through its artful deployment of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin… activism international affairs politics race social justice David Sirota Tue, 16 Mar 2004 10:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/523/campaign_of_shame/ With John Kerry as their de facto nominee, Democrats now are in a position to marshal their efforts to put Bush out of office. But between now and November 2, Kerry and the Democrats will have to overcome several foreseeable obstacles. Democrats go into this election as the financial underdogs. The Kerry campaign has raised an estimated $40 million, while the Bush campaign has taken in an estimated $150 million. This Republican funding advantage will allow Bush to buy many more television advertisements and consequently reach many more people. To counter this, independent organizations critical of Bush have been buying air time and running their own advertisements. For example, MoveOn.org has run an ad that shows a lie detector oscillating… activism elections politics social justice election 2004 David Sirota Thu, 18 Mar 2004 10:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/715/the_truth_about_leonard/ When Ka-Mook Nichols, a prominent former member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), testified last month that fellow activist Leonard Peltier bragged of shooting two FBI agents in cold blood, her words echoed throughout Indian country and beyond. For the last 27 years, Peltier has languished in federal prison, convicted of killing those agents during a shootout on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge reservation in 1975, much to the outrage of an international movement that believes he was framed. The incident occurred during a tumultuous period of violence between AIM, an Indian rights group working to improve conditions for Pine Ridge’s impoverished residents, and a corrupt local tribal government backed by the FBI. Now, Peltier’s involvement in that crime is coming… activism race social justice David Sirota Tue, 13 Apr 2004 13:45:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/412/rove_sweet_rove/ On a quiet Sunday afternoon in late March, more than a dozen yellow school buses crept up the street of a high-end Washington, D.C. neighborhood and parked in front of the home of Karl “Bush’s Brain” Rove, senior policy advisor to President Bush. Members of National People’s Action (NPA), a national coalition of community organizations, poured onto Rove’s lawn demanding that the White House support the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The activists surrounded Rove’s home chanting, blowing whistles and carrying posters with the message, “Rove: Don’t steal the dream!” If passed, the DREAM Act would grant in-state college tuition for children of immigrants who have graduated from high school and who have lived in the… activism education government: administration race social justice David Sirota Tue, 13 Apr 2004 13:48:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/160/ask_emma_goldman/ Dear Emma, With his recent signing of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, President George W. Bush has taken yet another step toward outlawing abortion. John Kerry, however, is a staunch advocate for pro-choice. Aren’t you excited about electing a president this November who will help to insure that a woman’s body remains her own? Kerry-Crazed in Connecticut Dear Kerry-Crazed, “Women’s development, her freedom, her independence, must come from and through herself. First, by asserting herself as a personality, and not as a sex commodity. Second, by refusing the right to anyone over her body; by refusing to bear children, unless she wants them; by refusing to be a servant to God, the State, society, the husband, the family, etc.,… activism gender social justice David Sirota Wed, 21 Apr 2004 09:00:01 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/725/transfeminism_let_her_rip/ It’s been in the New York Times, so it must be official: Transpeople are here in number and they’re here to stay. Transsexuals (those who medically change the hormonal and/or anatomical aspects of their biological sex) and transgendered people (those who change or redefine their gender that may not include any medical change) are, as illuminated in the March 7 Times article “On Campus, Rethinking Biology 101,” increasingly visible and vocal, and they’re out there doing shocking, subversive things—like going to college and working for appropriate living conditions on their campuses. These efforts bring up any number of issues about equal access, but also about the nature and meaning of personal attributes we’re taught to think of as fixed and… activism civil liberties gender LGBT social justice David Sirota Wed, 21 Apr 2004 09:01:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/724/feminism_future/ When San Jose State University senior Erika Jackson tried to recruit fellow women of color for a new feminist group on campus, the overwhelming reply was the sneer: “white women.” Those words were code for another term: racist. Many women of color, like their Anglo counterparts, eschew the term “feminism” while agreeing with its goals (the right to an abortion, equality in job hiring, girls’ soccer teams). But women of color also dismiss the label because the feminist movement has largely focused on the concerns of middle-class white women. This has been a loss for people of color. Likewise, it’s a loss for the movement if it expects to grow: the U.S. Census projects that the Latino and Asian- American… activism gender politics race social justice David Sirota Fri, 23 Apr 2004 08:43:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/727/coalition_to_community/ Second-wave feminism always had to grapple with questions of inclusion, democracy and power. The writings of black feminists from bell hooks to Barbara Smith lamented the condescending, patronizing and sometimes outright racist treatment they experienced in predominately white feminist circles in the ’70s. Even when racism was not there on an interpersonal level, there was a political struggle to stretch the definition of feminism from a narrow set of issues that impact all women to include racial oppression and economic exploitation. Issues like poverty, the prison system, police harassment, economic injustice and welfare, for many poor women and women of color, had to be central to any movement for liberation. Over the past few years a number of writers have… activism gender politics race social justice David Sirota Fri, 23 Apr 2004 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/164/pink_bloque_party/ “2 Cute 2 B Arrested” blazed across the cotton candy–colored sweatshirts of the members of the group Pink Bloque when thousands of people gathered March 20 in downtown Chicago to protest the one-year anniversary of the war on Iraq. Pink Bloque joined the crowd in full fuchsia ensemble, dancing to the beat of Top 40 hit “Hey Ya” by Outkast. In the wake of 9/11, a group of Chicago-based friends formed the activist dance troupe to give the look of protests an extreme makeover. They use pink clothing and pop songs to spark political conversation and to challenge the stereotype of protesters as bandana-clad anarchists or peace sign–waving hippies. Since 2002 this group of radical feminists has coordinated actions to… activism gender social justice David Sirota Fri, 23 Apr 2004 09:00:01 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/726/a_crucial_coalition/ If there is anything that shows the power of progressive coalitions, it is the March for Women’s Lives. The progressive feminist movement will converge April 25 on Washington, D.C., for what will be a historic march for women’s reproductive rights and health. The March for Women’s Lives is co-sponsored by more than 1,200 groups, including women’s, civil rights, environmental, lesbian and gay rights, women of color, disability, labor, religious, civil liberties, peace organizations and more. This march represents a huge coalition of pro-women’s rights progressive forces coming together to say, “We won’t go back.” The threat of returning to the days of illegal, unsafe, back-alley abortions is very real. The recently released private papers of the late Justice Harry Blackmun… activism gender politics social justice David Sirota