Progressive Calendar 10.20.05 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001![]() |
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Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 05:13:28 -0700 (PDT) |
P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 10.20.05 1. MN Somalis post-9/11 10.20 6:45pm 2. Legal ed/non-citizens 10.22 8:30am 3. Intl youth/skills 10.22 9am 4. Haiti 10.22 10am 5. EJAM/kid env health 10.22 10am 6. Ophuls/anti-war film 10.22 12noon 7. Gulu walk/Uganda 10.22 1pm 8. Vs police brutality 10.22 2pm 9. Witness/peace/fiesta 10.22 5:30pm 10. Justice/Dean/party 10.22 7pm 11. Women/issues 10.22 7pm 12. Hartley benefit 10.22 7pm Duluth MN 13. The MN 8/reading 10.22 8pm 14. genderBLUR cabaret 10.22 8pm 15. Ralph Nader - "None of us have the right to avert our gaze" 16. Scott Lyons - On national commemorations in the Age of Empire 17. Andrew Schmookler - Speak moral truth to immoral power 18. Wilfred Owen - Anthem for doomed youth (poem) --------1 of 18-------- From: omar jamal <shabeelj [at] yahoo.com> Subject: MN Somalis post9/11 10.20 6:45pm Omar Jamal Director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center The Executive Director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center Mr. Omar Jamal will address about the "Somalis in Minnesota post 9/11" on Thursday October 20th 2005 at the Humanists of Minnesota at 900 Mount Curve Avenue Minneapolis MN, Chalice Room down stairs. Social Time: 6:45-7:30pm First Unitarian Society Program: 7:30-8:30pm Chalice Room - Downstairs Q & A: 8:30-9pm 900 Mount Curve Av Minneapolis Thousands of Somali refugees have settled in the Twin Cities since Somalia's civil war erupted in 1991. Minneapolis-St. Paul has become the de facto "capital" of the Somali community in North America. Mr. Omar Jamal will speak about the change the community went through after 9/11. Some of the main reasons the community settled in the Midwest were job market and services for families; however, soon after 9/11 all hopes vanished and fear, detention and FBI interrogation become very common. Mr. Jamal will focus on the high spirit of the Somali community being most recent immigrants in the United States in an attempt to accomplish the American Dream, yet without any of their making, get caught up in the terrorist war --------2 of 18-------- From: humanrts [at] umn.edu Subject: Legal ed/non-citizens 10.22 8:30am October 22 - International Leadership Institute: Continuing Legal Education Program. 8:30am-12noon. Cost: $95.00/ Per Person. International Leadership Institute Presents: Special Concerns When Representing Non-Citizens In Civil and Criminal Cases Professional Liability Practice Pointers The focus group for this particular CLE is Civil Attorneys, Paralegals and Guardian Ad Litem who handle cases that involve non-citizens and their interaction with US Immigration Laws. Family Law Attorneys who handle cases that involve non-citizens or issues surrounding pre-nuptial agreements. Program Schedule and Speakers: 8:30am: Check In 8:45-9:00am: Opening Remarks -Michael Ciresi* 9:00 - 9:45am: Professional Liability (emphasis on the civil practice) -Jerry Blackwell -Karl Johnson -Pat O'Gorman -Danielle Shelton 9:50-11:25am: Criminal/Immigration Panel Immigration Consequences of Criminal Sentences: When does a criminal attorney need to consult with an immigration attorney to avoid collateral consequences related to sentencing? -Albert Goins -Earl Gray -Herbert Igbanugo -Robert Oleisky -Thomas R. Anderson III, Esq. 11:30-12:00: A View from the Bench -District Court Referee Wesley Ligima -District Court Judge LaJune T. Lange -District Court Judge Salvador M. Rosas *invited speaker The course provides three (3) hours of professional continuing legal education units. Certificates of participation will be provided. Location: Lower Level Classrooms, University of Minnesota Law School, Walter Mondale Hall --------3 of 18-------- From: humanrts [at] umn.edu Subject: Intl youth/skills 10.22 9am October 22 - 4th Annual International Youth Conference: Critical Skills For A Changing World. 9am Cost: $15.00/person. This year the ILI International Youth Conference will be held at the University of Minnesota Law School, Walter Mondale Hall on Saturday, October 22, 2005. The youth conference focuses on leadership skills for youth; a road map to college for students and parents; positive coping skills for students; navigating cultures for self identity; and international human rights 101 around the world. The conference will also celebrate youth expressions with a Spoken Word Poetry Composition and Performance Event hosted by SASE founder and director Carolyn Holbrook and performer, Mankwe Ndosi. Invited or confirmed guests and session presenters include Dr. Monica Colvin-Adams, Tsehai Wodajo, Liz Royal and Kristi Rudelius-Palmer. A special presentation at this year s conference will be a session for parents on How to finance their child s college education (public or private college). Many parents are confused as to what are the correct ways to finance higher education. They want to know how to use their savings to support their children s college career. Finance experts will be at the session to answer parents questions. This session is Saturday, October 22, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm at the University of Minnesota Law School Human Rights Center, lower level. The session is free with conference registration which is $15.00/person. Conference sponsoring community partners include Valentini & Associates, P.A., NFL Play It Smart and University of Minnesota Human Rights Center. The Youth Conference is open to all high school students (8th to 12th grades), college students, teachers, parents, community professionals and youth advocates. Attendees will have an opportunity to explore critical international topics important to our communities emerging youth leaders. The youth conference begins at 9:00am with registration and includes a lunch for each registered attendee. Juice and coffee will be available at the check in table. The event has space for youth oriented vendors and health focused literature. 150 young people are expected to attend the conference. Conference sponsoring community partners include Valentini & Associates, P.A., NFL Play It Smart and University of Minnesota Human Rights Center. Youth Conference Registration is $15.00 each for youth and adults. Registration forms can be found online at www.internationalleadership.org/Calendar. Print out the web form and mail to the address indicated. For more information or vendor booth forms contact: Coventry Cowens at coventryintl [at] visi.com or leave a message at 612/340-0250, ext 1. Location: University of Minnesota Law School, Walter Mondale Hall, 229-19th Avenue South Minneapolis --------4 of 18-------- From: Mary Turck <mturck [at] americas.org> Subject: Haiti 10.22 10am Saturday, October 22 - Canada in Haiti: Waging war on the poor majority Yves Engler, Canadian journalist and Haiti activist, will speak on his new book, which will be available for sale and signing. (Coffeehour: A weekly talk and discussion with a featured speaker. Saturdays, 10-11:30 a.m. $4 ($3 for members). Resource Center of the Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis.) --------5 of 18-------- From: Elizabeth Dickinson <eadickinson [at] mindspring.com> Subject: EJAM/kid env health 10.22 10am On Saturday, October 22, a free conference on Children's Environmental Health will take place at the Minneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55411. Registration begins at 10am and the conference starts at 11:15am and will go all day. This year's theme is "Fighting for our Future: Children's Environmental Health". We won't be just talking; we'll be planning and organizing on the dangerous pollution which hits low-income children and children of color the hardest. We will have action-oriented workshops about: * The Arsenic triangle in Phillips Neighborhood; * Lead in our homes, which cuts our children's IQ and makes them more impulsive; * Mercury, a dangerous neurotoxin, which the government is failing to protect us from; * Pesticides: if it kills bugs and weeds, what is it doing to the poor migrant farmers who work in it?; * Toxic Dumping in Somalia: International Environmental Racism plain and simple; * Asthma: Spreading among Blacks like mad: Is it the air, our homes? Come see what you can do; * Youth Organizing Our keynote speaker is Margie Richard. Her keynote address begins at 5:30 p.m. Ms. Richard been called the "The Rosa Parks of the Environmental Justice Movement". From her trailer in a small town in Louisiana, this retired schoolteacher took on the world¹s 10th largest corporation, and third largest petroleum company, to save her community. Ms. Richard brought visitors to her trailer on the Shell fenceline and told them the story of how her community was being poisoned. She said it was God ³who opened the door² and allowed her to take that message to a human rights conference in Geneva and environmental conferences in the Netherlands and South Africa. She brought bags of polluted air from her community to these international gatherings and demanded that Shell buy out the homes of her neighbors. The relocation campaign that she led clearly had the potential to become another media disaster for Shell. In September 2000, Shell offered to buy out half the properties on the two streets closest to their fenceline. Town residents were outraged: Did pollution coming from the plant stop after the second street, they asked? And what would happen to those left behind? In June 2002, after protracted negotiations Shell finally agreed to buy out all of the residents of Diamond who wanted to move. For her efforts, on April 19, 2004, Richard became the first African-American woman to win the $125,000 Goldman Environmental Prize for grassroots activism. EJAM's opening speaker (11:15 a.m.) is a bright young leader named Jesus Torres. Jesus will be speaking to the need to organize youth around environmental justice. He has been organizing migrant farm workers in South Minnesota and he has an inspiring and informative perspective. Come and listen. On Friday, October 21, at 6:30 PM, we will show the movie Fenceline at the Minneapolis Urban League. Margie Richard will be there to answer questions and talk about her struggles and victories! Please come and get active, and bring a friend. For more information, or to pre-register please call Alecia at (612) 436-5402 or alecia.carter [at] sierraclub.org. --- From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com> Environmentalism Takes on Racism and Economics: EJAM conference addresses health by Lydia Howell Say "environemtal movement" and many Americans think of saving obscure species from extinction or wilderness preservation. Grassroots activists are broadening that paradigm by linking public health, racism and economic power, exemplified by Environmental Justice Adovocates Minnesota (EJAM), hosting their third annual conference on Saurday, October 22nd in Minneapolis. "People of color and poor white people tend to live where the rest of society wants to dump its garbage. We say some people don't have the complexion for protection from environmental hazards. That's environmental racism. When we recognized poor white people are also subjected to pollution, we expanded to environmental justice," says Minnesota State Rep. Keith Ellison, an EJAM founder and one of only a handfull of people of color elected to the State Legislature. "Becaue of people's politcal disadvantage, whether it's economic, race or both, they should NOT have to live where everyboy else dumps crap they don't want, with dirty air and bad water." Studies show that 71% of African-Americans live in counties that don't meet federal clean air standards, creating high rates of respiratory diseases. Continued housing segregation based on race and class puts people of color and the poor on toxic waste sites and by 'dirty industries', resulting in escalating cancers and other health problems. EJAM's conference keynote speaker, Margie Richard, lives in Norco, Louisiana, an African-American community, surrounded by the oil industry, chemical and plastics plants since the 1920s. Located 25 miles from New Orleans, the area is known as "Cancer Alley". "I got involved when my sister died at 43 from a rare disease caused by these poisons. I saw my students with asthma. We all grew up with those flares burning chemicals off the factories...Many people here have respiratory disease, cancer, shortness of breath," explains Richard, a retired middle-school teacher. "We weren't getting anywhere just talking among ourselves. We needed to connect government, industry, African-Americans, poor whites, Indigeous people." Richard, the first African-American to win the Goldman Prize for environmental activism, started Concerned Citizens of Norco (CCN). For 30 years, she challenged the world's tenth biggest company, Shell Oil - and won. EJAM's conference highlights children's health, focusing on local hazards. One in three African-American children has asthma. Children who are poor and/or of color are disproportionately harmed by lead poisoning. "This lead crisis is deeply impacting the academic gaps in public schools. This lead crisis is deeply impacting the juvenile courts. It causes impulse-control problems," Ellison, a father of four, is intense. "People think 'it's bad home-training" or 'babies making babies'. Some just say 'THOSE people are just like that'. But, many of these kids have lead poisoning!." Ellison says Minnesota's policy of universal screening for lead in children is better than many states. However, enforcement is far from universal. "Are all children on Medical Assistance screened? Are all toddlers screened?", he asks. Long-gone industrial sites perpetrate public health consequences. One conference workshop looks at what's called "the arsenic triangle" in south Minneapolis' Phillips neighborhood, near Lake Street. "It was a pesticide manufacturing company that closed in the 1950s," says Thomas Frame, with the City of Minneapolis' Regulatory Services, working on environmental safety. "We're still trying to discover the distribution pattern of these poisons. We keep finding arsenic 'hot spots' but, no pattern yet." Richard's community understood the petrochemical industries were permanent, so, they battled for restitution. "It was like David and the giant. We had to come face to face with Dutch Shell. There's a need here that CAN'T be ignored,"Richard relates."It took 15 years for us to be heard. The plant wasn't going anywhere so, we only had two choices: stay there with a slow death or move away. We chose to move away but, we wanted continued healthcare no matter where we are." Richard networked with the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice DSCEJ) at Xavier University, a historical black college in New Orleans, currently closed due to post-Katrina flooding. "DSCEJ carried me from my front yard to Dutch Shell," Richard says that white, middle-class environmental organizations also stepped up. " A struggle is a struggle. Our plea was:if you can help save a black bear or trees, will you give us some assistance? Sierra Club gave us funds to start our website. There's always someone in an organzation with a heart and understanding." In 2000, Shell paid out $5M in community development funds, helped relocate Norco residents, and purchased about 200 of 226 their properties at $80,000 each. Twin Cities' quality of life includes lakes damaged by industrial waste. Another EJAM workshop addresses mercury pollution from coal-fired energy plants, making lakes and the fish in them a public health hazard. "Native Americans and Asians are more likely to have mercury poisoning because eating fish is part of their cultures. African-Americans and pooor people are affected, too," Ellison explains. "All these people are substinance anglers. They're not fishing for fun - they're fishing for FOOD. So, this is traditional, historical, and survival." Going to work can be an environmental hazard. Since the 1960s' California migrant farm workers movement, led by Caesar Chafez, pesticides have been recongizing as causing infertility, birth defects and cancers. EJAM's confernce kicks off with Jesus Torrez, an Owatana, Minnesota migrant worker, union activist and youth organizer making these issues current. "Migrant farm workers are mostly Hispanic people in southern Minnesota. people with the least economic power applying this poison so we can get a 1% bigger corn crop," Ellison says. "These pesticides' purpose is to kill stuff, so what do you think it does to you?" Rep. Elliosn calls Margie Richards "a true hero", urging people to come be inspired by her experience. "For me, this is an evangelical call. Our Earth is the Lord in all its fullness. Are we going to respect the Creation for ALL of us? You pollute and you can't tell the wind which way to blow. You can't tell the river where to flow," Richard's voice lilts in Southern dialect and the poetry of black preachers. "Land, air, water are here to stay. Will we clean it up or leave it messed up for future generations? How could someone respect the Creator and NOT respect His Creation?" "People in the environmental movement have to think more broadly. It can't be only about saving exotic species and wilderness - those it is those things,too. If you're teaching in the public schools, environmental hazards are impacting your students' ability to learn. The environment is impacting public health,"Ellison underscores that EJAM's conference is action-oriented and building new coalitions. If you're interested in power dynamics and the people, there's a strong democracy component here. If you want to - quote - 'Fight the power', the environmental justice movement is the place for you. We'er not anti-industry, but, we are about people who reap the profits should also pay the costs." FREE Sat. October 22, Environmental Justice Adovcates Minnesota Conference 9:30pm-5pm, MInneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Ave. North, MInneapolis (612)588-9122 www.ejam.org Hear Rep.Ellison and Margie Richards on "Catalyst", archived www.kfai.org --------6 of 18-------- From: humanrts [at] umn.edu Subject: Ophuls/anti-war film 10.22 12noon October 22 - Film: Memory of Justice. 12noon 1976 278 min Arguably his greatest work, and virtually unavailable to the U.S. public, The Memory of Justice remains Ophuls' most ambitious film. If you can commit to seeing only one 4 1/2 hour film in your lifetime, make the necessary arrangements to see this stunning masterwork. In one courageous, lyrical tour de force, Ophuls takes on the sweep of history from Nuremberg to Vietnam, exploring the questions of guilt and responsibility for the horrors of war. University Film Society at the Bell Museum of Natural History, 17th and University Avenue, SE --------7 of 18-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Gulu walk/Uganda 10.22 1pm Saturday, 10/22, 1 pm, "Gulu Walk," drawing attention to as many as 40,000 children of Northern Uganda who make the "night commute" to reach urban centers in order to avoid abduction. The walk is 3.5 miles, beginning and ending in Elliot Park, Minneapolis. FFI: http://guluwalk.com/minneapolis/ --------8 of 18-------- From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] minn.net> Subject: Vs police brutality 10.22 2pm This Saturday, October 22 is the 10th Annual National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality. Here in the Twin Cities, we've marked this day every year since it started. This year, we'll be gathering for a rally and march in an area that has been marked by numerous incidents, including deaths at the hands of police. You'll want to be there to hear the authentic voices of people whose lives have been affected by police brutality, misconduct or abuse of authority. O22 PROTEST AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY Saturday, October 22 at 2pm Peavey Park Corner of Chicago and Franklin Avenues, Minneapolis --------9 of 18-------- From: Merideth Cleary <meriberry15 [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Witness/peace/fiesta 10.22 5:30pm Witness for Peace Fall Fiesta Please join past Witness for Peace delegates and members of the community to for a night of education, music, food, and dancing..for the Witness for Peace Fall Fiesta!!! Hear Colombian Human Rights Lawyer and Analyst, Diana Murcia share her perspective on Plan Colombia: U.S. Military Buildup in a Changing Latin America. Saturday, October 22 5:30pm St. Joan of Arc Church 4537 3rd Avenue S. Minneapolis, MN PROGRAM: 5:30 Doors Open, Silent Auction 6:00 Dinner (Home-Cooked Food from: Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Venezuela 7:00 Speakers 8:30 Salsa Lessons & Dancing! Please call Merideth to RSVP or with questions at 612-702-8542^Å.or e-mail her at merideth [at] witnessforpeace.org. --------10 of 18-------- From: Tom Taylor <tom [at] organicconsumers.org> Subject: Justice/Dean/party 10.22 7pm Saturday October 22nd at Mill City Cafe (75 22nd AVE NE from 7-10pm) is shaping up to be THE artistic and social justice event of the season as folks gather to support Dean Zimmermann in his defense against the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There will be drink, music and food. Some of the fine establishments that have stepped forward to provide scrumptious food are: Rainbow Chinese North Country Co-op Cristo's Greek Restaurant Mill City Cafe Bergin Fruit And Nut Company There will also be an incredible art auction with pieces included from these artists, collections and galleries: Aldo Moroni Keri Picket Shaskin Heinz Brummel Bruce Bacon Jan Attrige Lucinda Anderson Roy McBride Kat Corrigan Michael McElrath Tom Taylor from the Shannon Welch collection Gallery 13 Creative Electric Studio Jodi Reeb Myers Jan Elftman Wilenski Reunion Show Posters Terrance Myers Kendall Bohn Come have a time, get some art, hear Dean and others and stand up with us all and proclaim: IF LOVING DEAN IS WRONG I DON'T WANT TO BE RIGHT. We hang together or surly we will all hang separately, -Tom Taylor 612-788-4252 --------11 of 18--------- From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com> Subject: Women/issues 10.22 7pm Saturday, October 22 Equilibrium Spoken Word Series at the Loft features "We Got Issues!" National Tour featuring Kelly Tsai, Kamilah Forbes, Lenelle Moise, Sarah Littlecrow-Russell & Staceyann Chin. Performance including monologue, spoken word, beatboxing, movement and song. Produced by the Next Wave of Women& Power in collaboration with The Center for Civic Participation & Code P ink. 7 pm at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis. --------12 of 18-------- From: Debbie <ddo [at] mchsi.com> Subject: Hartley benefit 10.22 7pm Duluth MN Eat Sweets, Bid On Treats! Hartley Nature Center cordially invites everyone to its second annual "Eat Sweets, Bid on Treats!" Benefit Auction, hosted by KBJR's Barbara Reyelts and Michelle Lee, Saturday, October 22nd, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to bid on silent and live auction items while they sip gourmet coffees and ciders and nibble the same desserts you would find in the area's finest restaurants, all while being serenaded by local musicians. "Eat Sweets, Bid on Treats!" is Hartley's biggest annual fundraiser, bringing in as much as 10% of the center's total operating budget. Put another way, if this year's goal of $19,000 is met, the auction will pay for one educator for an entire year. Proceeds from the ticket sales will be used to establish a school scholarship fund that will enable qualifying schools to attend for just $2 per student! (to qualify schools must have 60% or more of their students qualify for the free or reduced school lunch program) Tickets for the auction are $25 dollars each, and available only at Hartley Nature Center. Pick them up in person, order by phone at 724-6735, or send the total amount for the number of tickets you want to Hartley Nature Center, 3001 Woodland Avenue, Duluth, Mn. 55803. Here is your chance to support the many valuable environmental education programs Hartley Nature Center has been offering for more than 15 years, while pampering yourself too! 3001 WOODLAND AVENUE, Duluth, MN 55803 office: 218-724-6735 FAX: 218-724-4891 WWW.HARTLEYNATURE.ORG --------13 of 18-------- From: wamm <wamm [at] mtn.org> Subject: The MN 8/reading 10.22 8pm "The Minnesota 8": Staged Reading with Reception to Follow Saturday, October 22, 8pm. Great American History Theatre, 30 East 10th Street, St. Paul. "The Minnesota 8" by William Lanoue is a true story of young anti-war protesters who, during the Vietnam War, raided and destroyed draft records at several Minnesota draft boards, got caught and were convicted. Many of the guys still live in the Twin Cities and have been interviewed for the play. The performance will have a bare-bones staging, allowing for the spotlight to be on the text, as the performers move about the stage as you would ordinarily expect for a theatre performance. A reception with real members of "The Minnesota 8" will follow the performance. To reserve tickets in advance, please contact the WAMM office. Co-sponsored by WAMM. FFI: Call 612-827-5364. --------14 of 18-------- From: David Strand <mncivil [at] yahoo.com> Subject: genderBLUR cabaret 10.22 8pm genderBLUR Cabaret & Fall Festival After Party for the Trans, Genderqueer & Allied Communities Saturday, October 22 7:30 pm - Doors open 8:00 pm - Cabaret Post-show Fall Festival After Party: pumpkin carving, apple bobbing, dance party and more! Everyone Welcome (except Herbie Klockenlocker) Held at Patrick's Cabaret, 3010 Minnehaha Ave S (at E Lake St), Minneapolis $0-10 suggested donation, no one turned away due to lack of funds Curated and Hosted by Rob Yaeger Featuring Comedy, Music, Youth Performers, Drag Kings, and more! with Hakeem Joy MacArthur Miss Harmony Vuitton River Gordon and more! Concession sales (including hot cider and pumpkin goodies) to benefit the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition. * All-ages, alcohol-free, smoke-free * Wheelchair accessible * On bus routes 21 and 7 * ASL interpreted * Dressing rooms available on site * No-Scent Policy: so that everyone can be comfortable, please don't wear perfume or other scented products Winner of the 2003 Twin Cities Community Pride Award, this regularly-held cabaret and party invites trans, genderqueer and allied people to get together and celebrate our communities. genderBLUR works to create a place for people of all different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, genders, sexualities and abilities. * Volunteers and new members for the genderBLUR Collective are always welcome! 612-823-1152 or www.genderBLUR.org --------15 of 18-------- An Interview with Rev. William Sloane Coffin "None of Us Have the Right to Avert Our Gaze" By RALPH NADER CounterPunch October 19, 2005 Rev. William Sloane Coffin has been a leader against the war in Vietnam, an advocate for civil rights and an opponent of nuclear weapons. Coffin was an Army officer in World War II, acting as liaison to the French and Russian armies. Upon graduating from Yale University in 1949, Coffin entered the Union Theological Seminary until the outbreak of the Korean War when, in 1950, he joined the CIA and spent three years in Germany fighting Stalin's regime. He earned his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Yale in 1956 and was ordained a Presbyterian minister. Rev. Coffin became Chaplain of Yale University in 1958. Early on he opposed the Vietnam War and became famous for his anti-war activities and his civil rights activism. He had a prominent role challenging segregation in the "freedom rides." Coffin used his pulpit as a platform for like-minded crusaders, hosting the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, among others. Fellow Yale graduate Garry Trudeau has immortalize Coffin as "the Rev. Sloan" in the Doonesbury comic strip. By 1967, Coffin increasingly concentrated on preaching civil disobedience and supported the young men who turned in their draft cards. In 1968 Coffin, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Marcus Raskin and others were indicted by a Federal grand jury for conspiracy to counsel, aid and abet draft resistance. All but Raskin were convicted, but in 1970 an appeals court overturned the verdict. Coffin remained chaplain of Yale until December 1975. In 1977 he became senior minister at Riverside Church in New York City and became a leading activist, meeting with world leaders and traveling abroad to protest U.S. policies. He currently resides in Vermont. Ralph Nader: With the majority of Americans in poll after poll turning against the U.S. war and occupation in Iraq and with many retired Generals, diplomats and intelligence officials opposed to the invasion in the first instance why is the organized opposition not greater? What can be done to turn this public support into organized opposition? Rev. William Sloane Coffin: Sacrifice in and of itself confers no sanctity. Even though thousands of Americans and Iraqis are killed and wounded, the blood shed doesn't make the cause one wit more or less sacred. Yet that truth is so difficult to accept when sons and daughters, husbands, friends, when so many of our fellow-citizens are among the sacrificed. Because her son was killed Cindy Sheehan is not called unpatriotic. What the rest of us have to remember is that dissent in a democracy is not unpatriotic, what is unpatriotic is subservience to a bad policy. The war was a predictable catastrophe and we've botched the occupation. However, I sympathize with those who are perplexed about what is best now to do. Soon I hope people will heed the call to renounce all American military bases in Iraq and to begin withdrawal of American troops. I think Bush has it wrong: he says: "When Iraqis stand up, Americans will stand down." More likely its: when Americans stand down, then Iraqis will be forced to stand up. The question is, "Which Iraqis and for what will they stand?" RN: Why do you think most of the anti-war groups stopped their marches in 2004 and became quiescent compared to 2003? WSC: Wars generally mute dissent, and Bush is given to silence criticism, to keep problems hidden and ignored. Now that such tactics are no longer possible, given the many setbacks to his war aims, the marches will soon begin. RN: What do you think the churches and the National Council of Churches should be doing that they are not now doing regarding the war-occupation? WSC: Bob Edgar, the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, has been an eloquent protester of the war. Local clergy must brave the accusation of meddling in politics, a charge first made no doubt by the Pharaoh against Moses. When war has a bloodstained face none of us have the right to avert our gaze. And it's not the sincerity of the Administration, but its passionate conviction of the war's rightness that needs to be questioned. Self-righteousness is the bane of human relations, of them all - personal and international. And the search for peace is Biblically mandated. If religious people don't search hard, and only say "Peace is desirable," then secular authorities are free to decide "War is necessary." RN: Any comparisons between the domestic opposition to the Iraq War/Occupation with the domestic opposition to the Vietnam War? WSC: There are similarities. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was based on a lie; so was the charge that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. And the lies continued: We were winning the Vietnam War, Iraqi oil would pay for the costs of the war and of the occupation. I think the absence of a draft has much to do with the present lack of student protest. On the other hand, I think the colossal blunders of the Administration will quicken an antiwar movement faster now than during the Vietnam War. After all, it was only after the Tet Offensive in 1968, not originally in '62,'63 or '64, that the American opposition to the Vietnam War became massive. RN: What should the U.S. government do now? WSC: The U.S. government should realize that if we can't defeat the insurgents, we have lost. The insurgents, on the other hand, have only not to lose to declare victory. And to defeat the United States and its allies might go a long way to assuage, to offset the humiliation and rage so many Muslims presently feel. All of which indicates we should start to withdraw our troops. What we shouldn't do is to believe President Bush when he says that to honor those who have died, more Americans must die. That's using examples of his failures to promote still greater failures. RN: What do you think should be done strategically and tactically by the peace movement? WSC: I am very much in favor of well thought out non-violent civil disobedience, of occupying congressional offices, telling lawmakers, "You have to stop the slaughter, to admit mistakes and to right the wrong." Unfortunately, to get media attention, you have to sensationalize the valuable. But town meetings, letters to the editor, flooding Washington with protest letters and marches - all that is still very important if the protest continues and gains momentum. RN: How is Vermont a model in this respect? WSC: Representative Sanders, Senators Leahy and Jeffords - Vermont is well representative by these sensitive, intelligent people. The state is exceedingly environmentally friendly which tends to make people more peace-minded. Actually some Vermonters want to secede from the Union. I'm opposed. Better to stay where the guilt is and try to improve things throughout the country. RN: What broader advice do you have for strengthening our democracy and confronting the concentration of power and wealth over the life sustaining directions our country (with its impact on the world) needs to take? Please address any specific reforms that demand priority. WSC: Something happened to our understanding of freedom. Centuries ago Saint Augustine called freedom of choice the "small freedom," libertas minor. Libertas Maior, the big freedom was to make the right choices, to be fearless and selfless enough to choose to serve the common good rather than to seek personal gain. That understanding of freedom was not foreign to our eighteenth century forebears who were enormously influenced by Montesquieu, the French thinker who differentiated despotism, monarchy, and democracy. In each he found a special principle governing social life. For despotism the principle was fear; for monarch, honor; and for democracy, not freedom but virtue. In The Broken Covenant, Robert Bellah quotes him as writing that "it is this quality rather than fear or ambition, that makes things work in a democracy." According to Bellah, Samuel Adams agreed: "We may look to armies for our defense, but virtue is our best security. It is not possible that any state should long remain free where virtue is not supremely honored." Freedom, virtue - these two were practically synonymous in the minds of our revolutionary forbears To them it was not inconceivable that an individual would be granted freedom merely for the satisfaction of instinct and whims. Freedom was not the freedom to do as you please but rather, if you will, the freedom to do as you ought! Freedom, virtue - they were practically synonymous a hundred years later in the mind of Abraham Lincoln when, in his second inaugural address, he called for "a new birth of freedom." But today, because we have so cruelly separated freedom from virtue, because we define freedom in a morally inferior way, our country is stalled in what Herman Melville call the "Dark Ages of Democracy," a time when as he predicted, the New Jerusalem would turn into Babylon, and Americans would feel "the arrest of hope's advance." RN: What about the Educational system as it relates to democracy? WSC: Higher education is doing fairly well. Universities are only too expensive, and do too little to persuade students to make a difference, not money, to be valuable not "successful." Lower education, on the other hand, particularly for the urban and rural poor, cries for attention. And it's all related - inadequate education, housing, jobs, day care, lack of medical assurance. Our children need teachers and doctors, not generals and wars. And they desperately need the incentive only good mentors and a good nation can provide. RN: Are you writing another book? WSC: Not that I know of. To contact Rev. Coffin or Ralph Nader write the Director of Democracy Rising, Kevin Zeese at KZeese [at] DemocracyRising.US. You can comment on this interview on Ralph Nader's blog at www.DemocracyRising.US. --------16 of 18--------- On National Commemorations in the Age of Empire Multicultural Columbus By SCOTT RICHARD LYONS CounterPunch October 19, 2005 A week has now passed since America observed its latest round of Columbus Day activities - e.g., the usual Italian American-led parades and Native American-led protests - and in that regard things were no different in my town, Syracuse, New York, which dutifully featured both. But many folks seemed pleasantly surprised this year when a pretty young lady of Vietnamese descent, Myphuong Phan, was crowned Miss Columbus Day. According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, the committee who selected Phan for the honors did so because "Columbus discovered America for everyone." Christopher Columbus: he's not just for Italians anymore! Many Americans, conservatives and liberals alike, would doubtless applaud this multicultural take on the controversial explorer; and some might even conclude that our colorfully adorned Miss Columbus Day brought an additional meaning to the day's festivities, namely another welcomed step away from that grisly legacy of ambivalence known as the Vietnam War. Surely, if Columbus discovered America for Miss Phan as much as anyone else, there's a bit less incentive to worry about old unpleasantries like napalm or My Lai. Of course that wouldn't change the fact that the Vietnam War was waged in precisely the same imperialist spirit that Christopher Columbus represents, whether we call it stopping the spread of communism, opening up new markets, or discovering the New World. In the cases of both Vietnam and the Americas - and here we can quietly mention Iraq as well - the sovereignty and intelligence of people who inhabited invaded lands was considered a moot point by outsiders who presumed to know best and acted accordingly. In such cases, you can be sure that the deaths of natives will always far exceed those of the invaders, and native life will inevitably be made more difficult in the aftermath. To wit, the American phase (1965-73) of the Second Indochina War (1960-75) killed some 1,700,000 natives, as well as 58,000 U.S. military personnel. Bathed in the blood of imperialism, the entire war destroyed 3,500,000 lives. So far the Iraq War has killed between 26,000 and 30,000 civilian Iraqis, according to the conservative estimates of Iraq Body Count, although the British medical journal The Lancet reported a year ago that the war had already caused a possible 100,000 "excess deaths." Such numbers are getting worse; Robert Fisk recently reported that 1,100 Iraqi civilians died in Baghdad alone last July. The US military death toll is rapidly approaching 2,000, of which a full quarter has been reservists, and that latter statistic is multiplying: in August and September of this year, a full 56% of the US military dead have been reservists. As for the death toll legacy of our old friend Columbus, for years demographers have argued over how to estimate the pre-Columbian Native population and its subsequent reduction, with informed guesses ranging anywhere from 8 to 100 million Indians killed as a result of Columbus's "discovery." Personally, I've always been partial to geographer William Denevan's reasonable 1976 "consensus count" of 54,000,000 dead Indians, but that's probably because I'm a moderate. Whether attributed to unlivable conditions of life caused by colonialism, or to outright genocidal military campaigns, the fact is these obscene numbers would not exist were it not for the man Americans celebrate each October. Nor would our more current and depressing array of statistics that consistently rank today's Indians at the very bottom of every single social indicator of well being, from health, to education, to crime, economy, and more. So I suppose I'm not feeling uplifted by Syracuse's multicultural take on Columbus, no matter how much I support efforts by the Vietnamese-American community to become more accepted in their new country (and I do appreciate that impulse). To me, this joint celebration of old Chris on the one hand, and today's fascination with "diversity" on the other, is neither more nor less than a symptom of the cultural logic of Empire: namely, the New World Order's desire to have everyone wear their ethnic costumes to global capitalism's grand ball. Global imperialism, whether in the form of yesteryear's colonialisms or more recent blood-for-oil initiatives pursued by US-led "coalitions," is always done in the service of the global market. Today's world elites who benefit from this market - it's not just Americans - are far removed from those stodgy old Mr. Potter types who used to frown upon cultures that weren't Eurocentric enough. To the contrary! Global capitalism knows full well that culture and ethnicity make great "niche markets," so cultural differences have become commodities like any other. In this context, ethnic groups from Vietnamese to Native Americans have been transformed from subaltern "savages" into so many new producers and consumers in the global marketplace. Provided, of course, that they are invited to attend the ball. For those not favorably situated to participate in the global market - i.e., those unlucky millions who presently lack use value for whatever historical reason, for instance the vast majority of Native Americans living on reservations today - you can be certain that their cultures will continue to be thoroughly condemned: as "cultures of dependency," "cultures of poverty," and so on. But there is nothing inherent in the world market today, or the global culture it produces, that requires ethnic groups to check their ethnicities at the door - just their poverty, their complaints, their progressive political movements, and most definitely their militant resistance or even a hint of it. So in addition to the crowning of young Phan, the traditional Vietnamese dragon that was featured in Syracuse's Columbus Day parade last week was a perfectly acceptable way of participating in - and celebrating - global imperialism, as well as another sign of America's commitment to its cultural diversity. Indeed, in this instance the two are the precisely same thing. Progressives should always resist the symbol of Columbus, no matter how colorful the clothing folks might try to put on him. Not only because of what Columbus means as a symbol - namely, the origin of so much suffering and death for imperialism's victims, be they Native Americans to Vietnamese to Iraqis - but even more so because of what Columbus Day does to the people who celebrate it. Columbus Day is an act of public memory, a "commemoration," which my dictionary defines as a "ceremony to honor the memory of someone or something." It's a ceremony. That means the commemoration of Columbus has, as all ceremonies do, something powerful built into it, some sort of creative component that changes the world, or at least the people doing the ceremony. Just as the ceremony of marriage creates a family, or the ceremony of bar mitzvah creates a man, the ceremony of commemoration is similarly intended to create something new that didn't exist before. What do commemorations create? The identity of a people. This holds true no matter what the specific context or given people doing the commemorating. When Cherokees commemorate the Trail of Tears, they leave the day feeling very Cherokee. When Christians commemorate the resurrection of Christ, they not only solidify their identities as Christians but actually become the "Body of Christ." It's not even the case that peoples have to be large, recognized, historical groups; to the contrary, where two or more are gathered, it seems, identity can be present. (Think about family funerals.) All that's required is some commemoration of a common past. Commemorations work by compelling people to remember this past, first by asserting that there is indeed something that's "common" to it - which isn't always easy - and second by reflecting upon how it led to our current present. But commemorations don't stop with reflection on the past; if they did, we would just call it studying history. Commemorations are different because they insist that we identify with what is remembered, deeply and emotionally, and hence come to feel akin to others who supposedly feel the same way we do. In this heartfelt manner, we are transformed into a particular people, an "us." What sort of identities do national commemorations create? Why, national ones of course. Through commemorative ceremonies authorized by the United States of America, disparate groups of people, be they Vietnamese, Italian, or Cherokee in origin, are compelled to solidify their common identity as national citizens, that is, as Americans. This is how a recent Vietnamese immigrant, not to mention a Cherokee, can come to identify with Columbus, even though more honest assessments of the past would find less common ground between America and its imperial victims than violent opposition. Of key importance to this process of making national identity is the presence of particular values. That is, the identity formed through the act of remembering is inseparable from the values drawn from historical example. For instance, each Fourth of July Americans assemble to reflect on the independence gained long ago through an act of militant rebellion waged in the name of liberty, freedom, and equality: values which are then firmly linked to American identity. Public memory creates a common identity defined in large measure by this reverent acquisition of certain values - they're absolutely crucial - which explains the proliferation of emotional, value-laden speeches at commemorative events. None of this is meant to imply that national commemorations are absolutely effective, working on everyone, everywhere, every single time. No, it's still very much the case that the Cherokee remember the Trail of Tears and view Columbus Day accordingly. But these ceremonies are supposed to work this way, and they are very often successful, especially in the arenas of public perception: mass media, writing, school curricula, and other sites where commemorations are disseminated as a kind of pedagogical orthodoxy. So our dangerous global age seems as good a time as any to ask new questions of national commemorations like Columbus Day. For one, what kind of national identity are we trying to create for ourselves by celebrating this man? For another, what values are we deeming so important from the example of his life that we wish them for our own? The identity that's created through Columbus's commemoration is not an American one so much as that of the global imperialist. Columbus was obviously not an American himself but a slave-trading explorer who saw all non-Europeans (and a good many Europeans beneath his own class position) as lesser beings given to people like him for exploitation by the grace of God. As for values, to the extent that American identity in, say, its Jeffersonian ideal, might be tied to enlightened values like freedom, liberty, and equality, to what values would a Columbian imperialist identity be linked? Discovery, even though discovered lands somehow always seem to be occupied? White supremacy, by virtue of an idea called "civilization" that posited as "savage" all non-whites? How about male dominance? Slavery? Land theft? Genocide? I don't believe that most Americans want to be global imperialists who value things like genocide and slavery, yet history proves time and again that they will allow their government to act in their name in precisely these ways. Why? One reason is certainly because their identities and values are so often, and so powerfully, provided to them through national celebrations - yes, sometimes the obnoxious kind embodied by Orwell's "hate week" or the programming on Fox News, but more often through simple, local, and more polite observations of national commemorations like Columbus Day. What these established identities and values do to the people who receive and then hold them, however unwittingly, is make them complicit in activities they would otherwise be loathe to perform themselves. Each October Columbus Day turns Americans into ruthless imperialists, whether they know it or not, and for that reason alone the annual commemoration seems required to culturally justify what is relentlessly happening in our name: imperialism, colonialism, exploitation, marginalization, and mass death. So it seems more than just a passing fancy for anyone who detests imperialism to appreciate Indian protestations of Columbus Day as the moral objection of a group whose history is elided in its celebration and support efforts to replace it with Indigenous People's Day. A national commemoration like the latter would obviously invoke a different set of identities and values for Americans to assume, as well as produce new festivals and initiate important dialogues. Indigenous People's Day would flip the script of Multicultural Columbus: that is, rather than globalizing the very embodiment of imperialism, it would give progressive internationalism a distinctly American face. This might also be a good time for progressives to revisit the political potentials of national commemorations in general, since many of them - for example, Labor Day, Earth Day, and especially Martin Luther King Day - invoke identities and values that we revere. Commemorations are important, but why are so many progressive ones depressing candlelight vigils? Better to capture the festive energy of large antiwar demonstrations, or for that matter small Fourth of July parades, if we wish to use the powerful energy of commemorative ceremonies in ways that might actually benefit us, not to mention the world, for a notable change. Scott Richard Lyons, A Leech Lake Ojibwe, teaches at Syracuse University. --------17 of 18-------- What America Needs Now: A Prophetic Social Movement that Speaks Moral Truth to Amoral Power by Andrew Bard Schmookler Published on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 by CommonDreams.org There's good reason why, a year after our presidential elections, millions of Americans still refuse to "get over it". It's not because these ruling forces are so "conservative" in their values. Although these rulers persuaded half of America that they are righteous champions of such values, many of the rest of us can see through their pretense. We can see that, beneath that sheep's clothing of false righteousness, they are satisfying the wolf of their unbridled appetite for self-aggrandizement. We can see it in their persistent effort to undermine any rules that, in the name of a greater good, would restrain their freedom of action - whether in their tearing down the rules of international order, or in their disrespect for constitutional limits on their power, or in their dismantling of environmental restraints on their pursuit of wealth. We see it, too, in their use of bullying tactics and character assassination in dealing with political opponents. For all their pious talk, there is no sign whatever of the Golden Rule in how they conduct their politics. We see it in the way they sow enmity - whether between Americans, whom pollsters have found more intensely polarized than ever, or between America and other nations, among whom trust in American power has reached an all-time low. And we see it in their disdain for the truth - whether in how they "spin" virtually everything they say to us, or how they disregard or distort science, or in how they arrange to be told only what they want to hear. America would be fine in the hands of people devoted to real conservative values. But this is something different, something dangerous. For America is now ruled by forces apparently not guided by any genuine values at all. One can look in vain for any juncture where they've made a decision that sacrificed any of their power or wealth in favor of some larger good. And this is not just about this particular presidency, which should be understood as the creature of bigger forces. These forces - an alliance of the greediest part of American capitalism with the most power-hungry and imperialist of American politicians and with the most divisive and hypocritical of America's religious leaders - have been gathering power for a generation and will doubtless seek to maintain their grip when its current public faces leave office. Never in American history has so much power been in such ruthless hands. The very soul of America is endangered. Yet not only did the presidential campaign of 2004 fail utterly to speak about this profound moral danger, but the political opposition remains virtually mute and effectively impotent in the face of these forces. (This silence and this impotence are signs of another part of America's moral crisis, of that also-dangerous moral flaccidity into which too much of American liberalism has lapsed.) It is essential, therefore, that those of us who do see this frightening reality stand up to take the struggle for America's soul to a new stage - a "prophetic" stage of speaking moral truth to amoral power. Moral truth is our great weapon, for the power of these rulers rests on moral lies. Only by selling their false image of righteousness to good, conservative Americans could these forces gain power. But that which depends on moral lies can be defeated with moral truth - for, if these good people can be helped to see that these emperors have no moral clothes, they will withdraw their support. Most of those who have supported these rulers should be regarded not as our opponents but as our potential allies. For the struggle that now must urgently be waged is not that of liberal values against conservative values, but of those who really care about goodness against those in power who only pretend to. To accomplish these worthy goals, unmasking the false righteousness of our rulers must be framed in terms of Americans' shared values - of justice and compassion and truth and fair play - and supported by evidence drawn from our common knowledge. Framed in that way, the stories of what we've all seen can be told in ways that strip away the political coverings and show the dark moral reality that lies beneath the mask these rulers wear. America is in need of an "Emperor's New Clothes" moment. "This emperor," we must loudly declare, "has no moral clothes". By skillfully speaking the moral truth, we can help unite the good people of America, and end the polarization that our amoral leaders have worked to foster. With such "prophetic" speech, we can help America's conservatives to remember how better to tell the difference between good and evil, and help America's liberals to remember how absolutely vital - and real - that difference is. Let us then speak to America, drawing strength from that ancient idea deeply embedded in the Western religious tradition: the idea that the material power of the bad ruler can be overcome by the power of moral truth boldly spoken. Let us launch, then, a "prophetic" social movement to re-establish the power of real righteousness in America. Andrew Bard Schmookler has just launched his website "NoneSoBlind.org" devoted to understanding America's present moral crisis and the means by which this challenge can be met. Dr. Schmookler is also the author of such books as The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem of Power in Social Evolution (SUNY Press) and Debating the Good Society: A Quest to Bridge America.s Moral Divide (M.I.T. Press). He also conducts regular talk-radio conversations in both red and blue states. Schmookler can be reached at andythebard [at] comcast.net. --------18 of 18-------- Wilfred Owen Anthem for Doomed Youth What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? - Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, - The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires. What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes. The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds. [orisons = prayers] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - David Shove shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu rhymes with clove Progressive Calendar over 2225 subscribers as of 12.19.02 please send all messages in plain text no attachments
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