hupcollective

Last fall in Jena, Louisiana, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a "prank," more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town's police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them, "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy... I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen."1

A series of white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA did nothing. But when a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard fight, the DA responded by charging six black students with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

It's a story that reads like one from the Jim Crow era, when judges, lawyers and all-white juries used the justice system to keep blacks in "their place"--but it's happening today. The families of these young men are fighting back, but the odds are stacked against them. Together, we can make sure their story is told, that this becomes an issue for the Governor of Louisiana, and that justice is provided for the Jena 6. It starts now. Please add your voice:

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1749-62943

The noose-hanging incident and the DA's visit to the school set the stage for everything that followed. Racial tension escalated over the next couple of months, and on November 30, the main academic building of Jena High School was burned down in an unsolved fire. Later the same weekend, a black student was beaten up by white students at a party. The next day, black students at a convenience store were threatened by a young white man with a shotgun. They wrestled the gun from him and ran away. While no charges were filed against the white man, the students were arrested for the theft of the gun.2

That Monday at school, a white student, who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses, taunted the black student who was beaten up at the off-campus party and allegedly called several black students "nigger." After lunch, he was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. He was taken to the hospital but was released and was well enough to go to a social event that evening.3

Six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and an unidentified minor, were expelled from school, arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. Bail was set so high -- between $70,000 and $138,000 -- that the boys were left in prison for months as families went deep into debt to release them.4

The first trial ended last month, and Mychal Bell, who has been in prison since December, was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery (both felonies) by an all-white jury in a trial where his public defender called no witnesses. During his trial, Mychal's parents were ordered not to speak to the media and the court prohibited protests from taking place near the courtroom or where the judge could see them.

Mychal is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31st, and could go to jail for 22 years.5 Theo Shaw's trial is next. He will finally make bail this week.

The Jena Six are lucky to have parents and loved ones who are fighting tooth and nail to free them. They have been threatened but they are standing strong. We know that if the families have to go it alone, their sons will be a long time coming home. They will lose precious years to Jena's outrageous attempt to maintain a racist status quo. But if we act now, we can make a difference.

Please add your voice to the voices of these families in Jena, and help bring Mychal, Theo, Robert, Carwin, and Bryant home. By clicking below, you can demand that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco get involved to make sure that justice is served for Mychal Bell, and that DA Reed Walters drop the charges against the 5 boys who have not yet gone to trial.

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1749-62943

Thank You and Peace,

-- James, Van, Gabriel, Clarissa, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 17th, 2007

References:

1. "Injustice in Jena as Nooses Hang From the ‘White Tree,'" truthout, July 3, 2007
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070307B.shtml

2. "Racial demons rear heads," Chicago Tribune, May 20, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/yvh7t5

3. See reference #1.

4. See reference #1.

5. "'Jena Six' defendant convicted," Town Talk, June 29, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/ysxtgg

Other resources:

NPR: Searching for Justice in Jena 6 Case (streaming audio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11756302

Democracy Now! - The case of the Jena Six ...
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/10/1413220

Too Sense: Free The Jena Six Now
http://halfricanrevolution.blogspot.com/2007/07/free-jena-six-now.html

While Seated: Jena Six
http://www.whileseated.org/photo/003244.shtml

Nooses, attacks and jail for black students in Jena Louisiana
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/28/144445/384

Justice In Jena, by Jordan Flaherty
http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=12783§ionID=30

The Perpetrator becomes the Prosecutor (and other related entries)
http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/blog/

'Stealth racism' stalks deep South
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/6685441.stm

Dear friends,

Below is an urgent message from Dr. Mona, a dear friend to many of us. Her situation is both outrageous and tragic. However, multiply that by 6,000, because that is how many Palestinians have been waiting for up to five weeks on the Egyptian border to get to their homes in Gaza. Twenty-eight of them have died from heat, exhaustion, stress and their own delicate condition.

Please call AND write your members of Congress (or other elected representatives outside the U.S.), and demand their intervention to get Israel and Egypt to open the borders. Be sure to copy Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on your messages at eulmert@knesset.gov.il. Go to www.congress.org to find your senators or representatives. Call the Congressional switchboard at 1-800-839-5276 and ask for your member of Congress.

Paul

Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 06:39:02 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Marhaba..are you back?
From: "mona El-farra" <mona@gaza-health.org>

sorry i canot write more , can you circulate this to friends
and supporters
love
mona Sunday, July 15, 2007

My mother is in her last moments and I cannot cross the borders

My mother is in the hospital at the moment. She is severely ill. She was
admitted to hospital 3 days ago. I cannot reach her.

I finished my 45 day speaking tour in the USA. Everywhere across the USA
and in each lecture I told the audience about our suffering, living in
this big prison called Gaza. I told them about the borders closure and
about the patients who passed away while waiting to cross.the borders .

Now it is my personal story, like the daily stories of 1.4 million people
in GAZA under siege and occupation.poverty , lack of resources , killing
shooting violence etc....

I cannot cross the borders, I cannot cross the Rafah crossing. I badly
need to be next to my mother. I badly need to be there with her to help
her, to do whatever I can for her.to say good bye mum , I was always there
for my patients and many people, to help and try to alleviate their
suffering.in her last hours i canot be there my hands are tied, I am
helpless, I can do nothing, I just have to wait and wait and wait.my
throat is dry my are eyes full of tears .
this is unjust, unhuman . it is the occupation , how come to be just and
fair ,when it is mainly based on injustice , agression and cruelity .

Can somebody help me to go home? I badly need to be at home next to my
mother in her last moments.
Good bye mum ,hpoe you rest in peace , peace we donot enjoy in Gaza

The borders have been closed for more than 5 weeks , 28 patients died
while waiting to crossthe Rafah crossing .the only crossing between gaza
and egypt , all other exits are completely sealed by the Israeli army
The border was opened 70 times in one year

love and solidarity

[Dr. Mona Elfarra]

Tuesday, July 24th 8pm Sharp

Showing the film "Sir! No Sir!"

to benefit SWAN (Servicewomen's Action Network)

This event is part of an ongoing monthly series showcasing radical films
to benefit local organizing. Films shown on the patio at El Rio. Event is
free but donations gladly accepted. 21 and over. Space is wheelchair
accessible but bathrooms are not.

For more information please contact us at radfilms@lycos.com

See you there!


"Sir! No Sir"

In the 1960's an anti-war movement emerged that altered the course of
history. This movement didn't take place on college campuses, but in
barracks and on aircraft carriers. It flourished in army stockades, navy
brigs and in the dingy towns that surround military bases. It penetrated
elite military colleges like West Point. And it spread throughout the
battlefields of Vietnam. It was a movement no one expected, least of all
those in it. Hundreds went to prison and thousands into exile. And by 1971
it had, in the words of one colonel, infested the entire armed services.
Yet today few people know about the GI movement against the war in
Vietnam.

SIR! NO SIR! aims to change all that. The film does four things: 1) Brings
to life the history of the GI movement through the stories of those who
were part of it; 2) Reveals the explosion of defiance that the movement
gave birth to with never-before-seen archival material; 3) Explores the
profound impact that movement had on the military and the war itself; and
4) Tells the story of how and why the GI Movement has been replaced with
the myth of the spat-upon veteran.

from the Nation magazine comes this incredible, and incredibly disturbing article. they spent months interviewing soldiers about their time in iraq.

Over the past several months The Nation has interviewed fifty combat veterans of the Iraq War from around the United States in an effort to investigate the effects of the four-year-old occupation on average Iraqi civilians. These combat veterans, some of whom bear deep emotional and physical scars, and many of whom have come to oppose the occupation, gave vivid, on-the-record accounts. They described a brutal side of the war rarely seen on television screens or chronicled in newspaper accounts.

Their stories, recorded and typed into thousands of pages of transcripts, reveal disturbing patterns of behavior by American troops in Iraq. Dozens of those interviewed witnessed Iraqi civilians, including children, dying from American firepower. Some participated in such killings; others treated or investigated civilian casualties after the fact. Many also heard such stories, in detail, from members of their unit. The soldiers, sailors and marines emphasized that not all troops took part in indiscriminate killings. Many said that these acts were perpetrated by a minority. But they nevertheless described such acts as common and said they often go unreported--and almost always go unpunished.

the entire article is too long to post here, but you can find it at

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070730/hedges

Here's a compilation of articles about the United States Social Forum that I've been able to find so far. Hopefully more will come, because there was so much to refelct on, and I hope the discussion, the dialogue, keeps moving. We've got our work cut out for us, but I have more hope for the future than I did a month ago. By that I mean, the movment Heads Up seeks to help to build, that is, a multi racial revolutionary movment led by people of color and working class people, with strong leadership from other traditionally oppressed communities, such as queers and women...in Atlanta I saw that that movement is not only possible but that it *exists*. Which is thrillling.

--Rahula, for Heads Up


USSF articles


http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070716/berger

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Photos of the opening march

http://indybay.org/newsitems/2007/07/05/18433450.php



http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/sherman040707.html

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http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38397

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http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38388

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http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38374

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No link for this one yet…

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And, here’s a couple blog entries I’ve found about the USSF:

http://www.mwsocialforum.org/node/1248

http://thirdwavefoundation.blogspot.com/

---please post links to other blogs or articles about the ussf so I can update this compilation!

edited to add:

this indybay page has links to several different articles, blogas, and radio shows:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/06/29/18431645.php

and here's a new article, which I ahven't read yet...hope it's good!
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/07/the-us-social-forum-creating-an-alternative-world/

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and, well, of course at the ussf website there's some stuff...here's a link to photos from the forum
http://movementphotos.org/main.php

and Max from the editorial collective of Left Turn recently posted this account:
http://ideasforaction.blogspot.com/

Max's account is long, but really good reading, I recomend it. (I couldn't post it here because this post is too long!!)

A report on a GI Resistance meeting at the USSF
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/327/1/

and here's a blog post from the Student/Farmworker Alliance
http://www.sfalliance.org/2007ussf.html

******PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN WEDNESDAY'S EVENTS******
UPDATE: We had a great press conference and rally
Monday, July 9 at 3400 Cesar Chavez, with more than 100
people at the site. We planned to occupy the old Kelly
Moore parking lot at the end of the press
conference, but a neighbor that supports the developer's
project called the police and ratted us out to the cops
before we could even get in. We did not get to occupy
the site today, but we are not giving up the fight for
3400 Cesar Chavez!

Join us for a press event and rally on Wednesday July 11.
We will meet at the Day Labor Program Office at 3358
Cesar Chavez Street at 10:00 AM, and head to
the site together from there closer to 11 AM.
don't forget about the other events for the rest
of the week!

Please come out and participate in the Week of Action to
defeat the current project proposed for 3400 Cesar Chavez/
Kelly Moore Site in the Mission District. Seven Hills
Properties wants to build 60 Condominium units
with all but 9 priced at $550,000 and above, and a
Walgreens on the ground floor. We don't need more market
rate condos in the Mission District or in San Francisco.
We have the chance to defeat this project at the Board of
Supervisors hearing on July 17 @3 PM at City Hall.

Community organizations in the Mission District have
fought for years for sites like 3400 Cesar Chavez to
become 100 percent affordable housing. An alternative
project is being proposed by groups like the Mission Anti
displacement Coalition (MAC) to create up to 70 units of
affordable rental housing with community space on the
ground floor for the Day Labor Program and other
community organizations. Another Project is Possible!

We hope to see you (and your friends) there.
For a list of events, please see the schedule below or
visit
<http://www.myspace.com/missionantidisplacement>www.myspace.com/missionantidisplacement
(make
us your friend while you are at it, if you are not
already!)

We as the working class, immigrants, students, youth,
families, and queer community have a right to housing,
a right to community space, a right to the City.
Let's make sure developers like Seven Hills Properties
(developer of the 3400 Cesar Chavez site) and the Board
of Supervisors get the message loud and clear!

BASTA CON DESPLAZAMIENTO! HAY QUE ORGANIZARNOS! /
ENOUGH WITH GENTRIFICATION! LET'S GET ORGANIZED!

Lunes Julio 9 - Martes Julio 17
Semana de acciones para oponer condominios lujoso$ y otro

walgreens y retomarlo para viviendas accesibles para
nuestras familias y centros para la communidad! Reunete
con nosotros cada dia en el sitio 3400 Calle Cesar Chaves,
esquina con la Calle Mission.

Monday July 9th to Tuesday July 17th
Week of actions to oppose expen$ive condos & another
walgreens & retake it for affordable housing for our
families and community spaces! Join us every
day at the site, at 3400 Cesar Chavez St, corner
at Mission St.

Horario/ Schedule-

Martes/Tuesday: Vivienda y Anti-pobreza/Housing
Justice &
Anti-poverty
5-7pm Eventos comunitarios /Community Events

Miercoles/ Wednesday- Trabajadores/as! / Workers!
10:00 AM Press Event/Evento de Prensa DLP Office
3358 Cesar Chavez Street "La Retoma/The Take
Back!" Part 2
*12-2 Taller con Jornaleros, Trabajadoras Domesticas
y Eventos Comunitarios /Workshops with Day Laborers, Women
Domestic Workers and Community Events.

Jueves/ Thursday- Immigrantes/ Immigrants!
5-7pm Eventos comunitarios /Community Events
* Los Nadies is playing Thursday night!

Viernes/ Friday- Solidaridad con Grupos LGBT y de
Otras Comunidades/
Solidarity w/ LGBT groups and Other Communities
5-7pm Eventos comunitarios /Community Events
7pm- Pachanga!/ Party! w/con Young Workers United

Sabado/ Saturday- Jovenes/ Youth!
2-5pm BBQ + Eventos comunitarios /Community Events
5-7pm Microfono Abierto Para los Jovenes/ Youth Open Mic

Domingo/ Sunday- Familias/ Families!
1-5pm
Reunion y Eventos/ Reunion and Events

Lunes/ Monday 16th - Caminata por la Vecindad/ Walk
through the Neighborhood!
5-7pm Alcance a la comunidad/ Outreach to community

Martes/ Tuesday 17th-
Reunion Publica con la Mesa de Supervisantes/
Board of

Supervisors Public Meeting
3:30pm llegale con tod@s tu familia y tus compas! /
bring all your family and friends!

Si podrias ayudar con mesas, comida, tarpas o cualquiera
de los muchos trabajos que se va necesitar para esta
grande semana, por favor pongase en contacto con Nicolas,
(MAC, MEDA), al 415.531.4239

If you are interested in helping with tables, food,
tarps or any of the many tasks required for this big week,
please contact Nicolas (MAC, MEDA) at 415.531.4239

JUNTOS LO LOGRAREMOS! UNITED WE WILL WIN! ^o^

Members of the US Senate, as well as the Bush administration, are currently attempting to revive the most recent immigration proposal, which among other things, would separate families, heighten worker exploitation, further militarize the US/Mexico border, and provide no realistic path to residency for the vast majority of undocumented people now living in the US. This legislative proposal, as most “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” proposals in the past couple of years, will lead to more suffering and deaths and is nothing short of a human rights abomination.

Why has it been difficult for the immigrant rights struggle to push for a just legalization, or amnesty, law? What must we do to build a powerful and radical movement?

Part of reason why immigrant rights activists have failed in holding the US government accountable is because we are facing tremendous challenges. First, the intense level of state-sponsored terror against immigrant communities has made it difficult to organize in those communities. Since early this year, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have harassed, arrested, detained and deported over 20,000 migrants under “Operation Return To Sender.” Throughout the country, in cities and small towns, hundreds of workers are rounded-up at their worksites and deported, as what took place recently at an Oregon Del Monte plant. Uniformed ICE agent use Gestapo-type tactics to force their way into people’s homes without warrants. Parents in Redwood City, California were picked up as they dropped their children off at school. And people who “looked immigrant” were randomly questioned by ICE on the street in San Francisco, California.
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For everyone going to the US Social Forum in Atlanta in a few days, below
are the workshops included in our informal "Another Politics is Possible"
track. The track is endorsed by the organizations below and will feature a
special panel discussion on Friday, June 29th at 10:30am.

LA Garment Workers Center, INCITE!, Coalition of Immokalee workers,
Student Farm worker Alliance, Sista II Sista, Center for Immigrant
Families, Regeneracion Childcare, Pachamama Childcare Collective, Harm
Free Zone, Kitchen Table Collective, Left Turn Magazine, Catalyst Project,
Sisterfire, and Refugio.

-max

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“Another Politics is Possible: Living the Vision, from Below & to the Left”
Friday (29th) 10:30am-12:30pm
Georgia Ballroom East room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown
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Placing Palestine solidarity and solidarity with Arab and Muslim people internationally and in the US central in our anti-militarization, anti-war and anti-imperialist organizing.

Arab Movement of Women Arising for Justice (AMWAJ), the International Jewish Solidarity Network – USA, Left Turn Magazine, and the Palestinian Popular Conference Network have brought together organizations and activists from across the country to develop this crucial track that will explore connections between Palestine Solidarity and domestic struggles for justice; reframe the issue of Palestine as a liberation struggle; analyze the history of US imperialism leading up to the current situation in Palestine and the Middle East; and foster discussions on how to build our movement.

Please join us in using this opportunity to come together for important discussions that will help us move beyond our isolation and build a stronger movement for justice.

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Nahr Al-Bared Palestine Tent Schedule

(tentative--check our tent near registration for updated schedules)

The “Nahr Al-Bared Palestine Tent” will offer a mix of cultural, political, and cross-movement activities going on all day, every day! Stop by for cultural events, film screenings, and presentations; attend gatherings for progressive Arab activists and anti-Zionist Jewish activists; join discussions about Palestine & Middle East solidarity work; pick up t-shirts, DVDs, books, fair trade Palestinian olive oil, and much more at the vendor tables; and check out our amazing “Picture Balata” and “Birthright Re-plugged” photograph exhibits. ( Collapse )