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i thought this was a very well stated argument and that there is a difference btw telling people..."
Posted by rockliv in How To Tell People They're Racist
eschlaik posted in China Marches to a Green Beat
gilesli posted in Calling All Guilty Olympics Watchers - Free Tibet!
Gavin Leonard posted in Taking On the Democratic Party Machine
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Mideast Youth Takes On Afghan Media
Last year, we profiled Mideast Youth, an independent blogging network dedicated to eliminating extremism from the Middle East and North Africa. I thought I'd check back in with the group to see what they've been up to. Sure enough, they've been busy as ever. But their new project is both fascinating and really cool.
Mideast Youth has launched Afghan Press, a blog whose purpose is to "use digital media to show the world what currently goes unreported" in Afghanistan. The journalist-activists who started Afghan Press want to cover daily events in remote villages and interview locals -- everyday people -- who are never represented in the media. And they hope to do this using all different forms of media.
Afghan Press has also become a place to announce journalism training opportunities for Afghan journalists. In this way, Mideast Youth hopes to contribute something to Afghanistan's media.
From the Afghan Press mission statement:
Afghanistan is a country riddled with poverty, illiteracy, censorship, human rights abuses and corruption. There are hardly any progressive and independent news sources functioning within it. We aim to change that!
We want to create a powerful Afghanistan through new media technologies. The internet is our only gateway to free speech and global outreach...It is time for Afghanistan to have a successful digital media outlet that is by the people, for the people, to the world and whose mission is to improve the country.
Reporting from the Allied Media Conference
We wanted to create a world for you, a world that looks back a decade and to the beginning, that looks forward a decade and beyond imagination. We wanted to create a world beyond the media of now where a voice speaks at you and you can’t respond –- tonight you will hear many voices from all around you, from those not in the room, from those who are never heard. Speak back, revel in the experience of each other tonight, this is the world we will be heard in, the world we will create, the world we must be ready for.
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Growing The Urban Vineyard
I've been reading a lot about urban farming and sustainable food systems lately. All over the country, local folks are finding ways to tie together goals of community-building, education, economic development, health, and self-reliance through models of sustainable agriculture. So I was really intrigued when I heard that some people are taking those models to another realm, with urban viticulture and enology -- that is, vine growing and wine making.
The concept of growing a vineyard in the middle of a city is particularly interesting because viticulture is a very precise science. Grapes are sensitive and temperamental creatures. Growing them for wine requires just the right conditions. Variations in climate, soil contents, pesticides, etc. can make all the difference in the world.
I found two bloggers who have started urban vineyards. Manhattan resident Nathaniel Martin calls himself the "Self Sufficient Urbanite." Here's the reason he gives for starting his project:
Being self sufficient and treading lightly on this planet means consuming only what you need and understanding the sources of those goods and the methods that created them. I've been an avid beer brewer and wine maker for years which has brought me a lot closer to understanding how good alcohol is made from raw ingredients. The transformation from barley and grapes into alcohol is a magical alchemic process. Sugar is converted into alcohol by yeast. The sugar comes from either fruits that have sugar naturally or grains that have starches that are converted to sugar through heat and enzymes. Growing these ingredients is another matter... I've never made (or more appropriately grown) those raw ingredients myself, so I was still missing out on part of the experience of how beer and wine is made into a finished product.
Martin says he started growing grape vines last year -- two Cabernet Sauvignon vines and one Shiraz. Both come from a local farm in Upstate New York. You can check out his photos documenting the beginnings of this project.
Another urban dweller, blogger Chris Pearson, is growing vines in Washington, D.C. For anyone interested in urban vineyards, Pearson's blog "The Urban Vineyard" has so far done an excellent job of documenting the step-by-step process of vine growing, with tips along the way. His photos are also a good resource.
Whether urban vineyards will follow the footsteps of urban farms remains to be seen. This could very well be a next step for local food advocates looking for ways to bring communities together.
A Roomful of Lawyers and the Right to Education
I’ve spent the past two days at a conference hosted by the National Access Network, an alliance of organizations that works to support state-level legal efforts to increase educational opportunity.
The fact that such an organization exists, servicing a growing body of lawyers who have tried state-level education lawsuits in nearly all of the 50 states, may seem something of an anomaly to casual observers of civil rights in America. After all, we are barely more than a half-century removed from one of the most well-known lawsuits in American history, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which established as a matter of national jurisprudence that schools could no longer discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity. So the concept of equal educational opportunity has long been at the very heart of the battle for civil rights.
The anomaly is that even as civil rights have become increasingly a matter of federal court action—from Miranda rights to free speech rights to other matters of equal protection—the progress of lawsuits on the federal level to further education as a civil right has long since ground to a halt. Whether it was the 1973 Rodriguez US Supreme Court decision which ruled that children do not have any kind of a right to education in the federal government, or the 2007 Seattle / Louisville decisions which effectively ended the legacy of Brown-initiated desegregation efforts, the federal courts have been a place where education advocates have gone only to get bad news over the past three decades.
In the wake of these negative rulings at the federal court level, a quietly impressive—and at times, heroic—group of lawyers have risen up to fight on behalf of children in the states instead. The basic nature of the challenges that these lawyers have brought is to question whether states, all of which have some limited clause requiring the provision of public education, have met a certain standard to provide educational opportunity to their children. Some of the lawsuits have fought for more equitable distribution of resources between wealthy and poor districts; others have argued instead for an adequate level of resources in every school district within a state, equity notwithstanding. The trial record is a mixed one, but the adequacy lawsuits have been particularly successful, winning 20 out of 28 state cases at the state Supreme Court level.
The recognition among lawyers that these state lawsuits are the “only game in town” has grown into a truism, with any discussion of raising a new federal level claim scorned upon as unrealistic. The problem with foregoing action at the federal level, be it legal or political action, is that it impels an end game where we have 50 different sets of standards, resources, and ultimately educational opportunities—and children will win or lose depending on what state they are born in. That might have been okay two hundred years ago or even a half century ago when youth in different states faced unique economic challenges, but that is no longer the case today.
All of this made my participation at the conference, representing Our Education’s 20,000+ students who believe that quality education ought to be a federal right guaranteed to all American children no matter what state they live in, something of an oddity. In a roomful of brilliant lawyers who have spent thousands upon thousands of hours fighting to force statehouses to do better by children but who have generally looked at the federal government without much hope, the idea of a constitutional amendment is at best naïvely optimistic, and at worst, a detraction of resources and energy away from more winnable strategies.
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Not Everyone's On Board With Urban Farming
People across the country are getting involved with the urban farming trend. Young people, old people, socially conscious people, gardening lovers, and people who just like to eat. In light of my piece this week, I thought this account of new urban agriculture endeavors in Seattle was pretty interesting.
What stood out to me was the backlash some new projects are getting from the city's transportation department.
Seattle residents interested in the local food movement are getting creative in finding green spaces in areas of unused, urban land. In these overlooked "nooks and crannies," reports SeattlePI, residents are starting to grow their own fresh produce. For example, they're transforming planting strips adjacent to city streets into sources for cheap and healthy food.
But Seattle's Dept. of Transportation say that these impromptu gardens are potential traffic hazards. It also says they could cause health risks. From the article:
[T]he Seattle Transportation Department, which technically requires homeowners to get a street-beautification permit before planting anything there, discourages people from growing food. Among the potential problems: crops tainted with automobile and stormwater pollution; bushy plants spilling into the street; creating a haven for rodents and pooping dogs; and potential complaints ranging from vegetable theft to unsightly dead cornstalks.
However, transportation officials also say that there is no law that specifically prohibits small-scale farming on planting strips.
Furthermore, the Dept. of Transportation hasn't actually done any studies or surveys to find out if their claims about health risks are valid.
Meawhile, many residents seek an alternative to shopping at grocery stores where prices continue to rise. Plus, in inner-city areas, it's difficult to find healthy food even at existing grocers. Residents believe they should be able to grow their own food instead of having to drive long distances to get access to fresh produce (with gas prices being what they are).
What city officials may not realize is that transforming unused bits of land into small-scale farms is the first step to creating a sustainable food system that will not only boost health (rather than presenting a risk to it), but will also boost local economy and the community.
Courage In The Aftershocks
Thousands of people slept in the streets yesterday in and around Chengdu, China as panic spread due to reports of another powerful aftershock by state media. The reports turned out to be false, and state news tried to get the word out as quickly as possible to calm frightened families.
At the same time, young people filled Tianfu Square, standing together in solidarity for their country and their loved ones lost in the quake. Yesterday marked the first in a three-day period of mourning.
"Go China! Sichuan! Stand up! Be strong!" they shouted, NPR's Andrea Hsu reports. They gathered together to chant, sing, light candles and honor victims of the natural disaster. Their strength is nothing short of inspiring.
NPR's All Things Considered has been keeping a Chengdu Diary of the Sichuan province in the aftermath of the massive earthquake which has killed as many as 70,000 people. As many as 40,000 are still missing.
That Diary has captured touching stories of survival, especially among young people.
Melissa Block spoke with two young friends, both 15, who managed to make it out alive. They were at school when the quake hit. Huang Zhihui was in history class, and his teacher told everyone to run. Zhihui ran down the staircase. He made it out of the building, to the playground, as he heard the building collapse behind him.
Juyuan Middle School was destroyed, and hundreds of Zhihui's schoolmates were killed, crushed by the wreckage.
Zhihui's friend, Wei Bo, didn't run when his politics class felt the ground shake. Their teacher said to be calm and stay in their chairs. The building came crashing down on the class. Wei Bo managed to escape from the debris. He also pulled out another student who was buried. But most of his classmates and his teacher died.
It's not always clear what to do in such a situation -- duck and cover? evacuate? stay put? stay away from staircases? or just run?
The most touching part of these stories from NPR's Chengdu Diary is the courage that only comes with strength in such a crisis. A mother dying to save her baby. Parents searching for their missing child. Villages desperate for water and food. A farmer pleading for feed for his pigs. And friends, families, and strangers standing together and strong -- helping each other get through it all.
Read or listen to NPR's reports on the crisis here.
Local Food Gets Globalized
A new documentary, simply titled Asparagus!, gives us big reasons to care about this one little green stalk. The film focuses a magnifying glass on Oceana County, Michigan, the asparagus capital of the world. Over the course of 53 minutes, we meet many of the residents, family farmers, and farm workers for whom asparagus defines life.
The film brings to life our country’s local asparagus industry, while pulling in issues from the local food movement to free trade to the U.S. war on drugs to the struggle of family farmers in an increasing globalized world. As many documentaries do, Asparagus! sets up a David/Goliath conflict: Oceana County’s asparagus community finds itself under serious threat from foreboding forces of the U.S. government’s war on drugs.
In the early 1990s, the government started using U.S. tax dollars to pay Peruvian farmers to grow asparagus instead of coca. Since then, hundreds of American farms have gone out of business. Not only is imported asparagus cheaper, but it’s available year-round – because Peru’s agricultural conditions allow for year-round growth.
For Oceana County, the impact has been particularly damaging. Many family farms have been forced to shut down. The ones still holding on for dear life struggle to compete with cheap imported asparagus.
Unsurprisingly, the so-called war on drugs initiative has done nothing to curb cocaine production or distribution. As one farmer in the film says, it’s not like coca farmers stopped their growing and switched over to asparagus. And why would they, when the cocaine industry is such a lucrative one, mainly due to high demand from the U.S.?
The film also takes on free trade, depicting small farmers whose lives and livelihoods are being greatly impacted by U.S. foreign trade policy.
But the real appeal of the film is that it’s got heart. As we get to know Oceana’s residents and farmers, hear their stories, and learn about their idiosyncratic love for asparagus, it’s hard not to fall in love with the town. Which also makes it hard not to get onboard with their cause.
Asparagus!, the award-winning “stalk-umentary,” is part of the Media That Matters film festival, and was released in its full length on DVD last week. Watch the trailer here.
Pro-Tibet Protests: Sports Lovers Meet Torture Victims
UPDATE: We've been holding the corner of Embarcadero and Washington streets since 10 a.m. this morning in San Francisco together with Tibetans, Students for a Free Tibet, Darfur activists, and then of course pro-China folks have been right here with us. Intense emotions abound as sports lovers meet torture victims.
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I'm sitting with a mix of folks from Students for a Free Tibet, Ruckus, RAN and others at the jail where the seven Tibetan rights activists who pulled off the stunning Golden Gate bridge action have been held since being whisked off the bridge yesterday.
Our latest news is that they're coming out any minute now -- that's been the word for two hours. I think of them through the labyrinth of halls and walls beyond the door so sleepy, sore, with perhaps no idea of just how far reaching their tremendous action has been for two days.
This isn't the first action on the Golden Gate Bridge, but a good friend pointed out that its probably the biggest action since 9/11. But the actions in this campaign so far have all been big -- Mt. Everest, the Great Wall, the Eiffel Tower. Well, almost the Eiffel Tower. Police presence in Paris was too high for the action to get going, so they defaulted to a nearby bridge over the Seine whose name escapes me now, writing this on my phone from the waiting room of this jail.
The demands -- no torch run through Tibet, an end to human rights abuses, and ultimately the liberation of Tibet -- are on the front page of newspapers worldwide.
The victory in many ways is already complete for the campaign on the torch. The Olympics were supposed to herald a new China. Thing is, the Chinese government thought it could get the symbolic stamp of approval without actually changing its behavior. As Tibet has escalated their campaign for international attention, China's government has shown its unwillingness to improve their violent history.
The activists are released one by one, first the women, then the men, swamped by journalists and then enveloped by loved ones.
They are free! Tibet is next!
WireTap Writer Biko Baker Becomes the Director of the League of Young Voters
WireTap is thrilled to announce that our editorial board member and writer, Robert "Biko" Baker became the Executive Director of the League of Young Voters this week. Congratulations to Biko and the League!
As Billy Wimsatt, the founding visionary of the organization and former executive director, explained in an email, "Biko has been with the League since 2003. He came up through the ranks from Local Organizer to State Director to National Organizing Director ... . When I started the League back in 2003, my greatest dream was to build a powerful national youth organization and leave it in good hands. Today, my dream has come true. ... It's the perfect time for me to move on, and pass the torch to the next generation. ... "
I first met Biko in person at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit. Biko was on a panel with the author and activist Grace Lee Boggs and talked about the power of "collective activity of everyday Americans." He argued that the Civil Rights history is dominated by stories about strong primary leaders -- Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. -- and how while they are important, their work wouldn't have lasting impact, if their rallies weren't attended by crowds of ordinary people, and more importantly, if the unsung heroes -- like Ella Baker -- weren't organizing tirelessly behind the scenes to bring people out to these rallies and engage them in the long term.
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Obama Gets Real, and Reflections on Take Back America
I'm at the Take Back America conference this week, seeing the event with the dual eyes I have been using for viewing this entire election season thus far.
This is the most exciting election of my lifetime and most of the folks I know have to say the same, whether they want to admit it or not. everyone's talking about it, the speeches and debates are water cooler conversation for more than the usual (political nerd) suspects.
Our next president will be a black man, or at the very least a white woman, according to the masses at this conference (nicknamed the "progressive convention"); the passion is in people's eyes, their bodies aquiver with the idea of advancing progressive ideals. it's been a while since we had a national moment of victory.
The speakers here are talking about green jobs, healthcare for all, workers' rights, Martin Luther King -- things/ideas/people I take seriously, believe in, need. and more than ever before, the speakers and participants here are referring to a history of nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, the idea of protecting our democracy with actions that make our words mean something. So that makes me happy.
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What Do You Think About Youth and Violence?
It’s time for Round 2 of our monthly Youth Media Blog-a-thon.
Beginning on Wednesday, March 19th we’ll be kicking off another round of blogging. This month’s topic is violence -- from violence on our streets to the war on Iraq. Once again, we’re asking for participants.
Here’s a little blurb from our official press release:
San Francisco, CA - YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia and WireTap will host the second round of the Youth Media Blog-a-thon from Wednesday to Wednesday, March 19-26, 2008. Youth bloggers (between the ages of 15-25) – along with any bloggers dedicated to writing about youth issues and youth media – will address the topic of violence and its effects on youth and our communities.
The monthly blog-a-thons will connect the youth media community around issues that affect their lives, asking for their thoughts on hard-hitting topics. The goal of these monthly events is to foster more dialogue between youth media, which will lead to their connectivity as media makers and as activists.
We’re coming off of a tremendously successful first round of blogging where over 15 young folks debated important issues surrounding the presidential election.
If you are interested in participating, contact me at Jamilah AT wiretapmag DOT org for more information on how to participate.
Here's an a list on a few of this month's participants:
- Oh Dang! (http://www.ohdangmag.com)
- Khmer Girls in Action (http://www.kgalb.org)
- Boston Progress Radio (http://www.bprlive.com)
- Vanessa Huang (http://graniterainbow.wordpress.com")
- Kameelah Rasheed (http://kameelahwrites.blogspot.com/)
- The Playground (formally known as Grits & Eggs: http://jaysplayground.blogspot.com)