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On Thursday, August 4th at Holiday Inn Midtown (6000 Middle Fiskville Rd, Austin TX) a dozen construction workers will lead a protest to reclaim over $10,000 in wages from a recent remodel at the hotel.
"It's just not right that we worked hard and didn't get paid" said Quirino Juarez, a construction worker who performed framing and drywall work at the Holiday Inn Midtown. Juarez along with 11 other workers worked under Mely's Construction, a San Antonio-based sub-contractor, in January and February of 2011. Over thirty workers are owed wages for work on the hotel, although only 12 have come forward so far.
WDP has attempted to negotiate a fair settlement with the general contractor and Holiday Inn management. However, all parties have avoided responsibility, promising to pay numerous times but never following through. "The job is done, the rooms look really great. They raised their rates and are benefitting from the remodel but we've received nothing", said Heladio Liborio who is owed two weeks of wages for drywall work at the Holiday Inn project. "It's been hard to pay my rent, bills and take care of my family."
According to Bloomberg News, InterContinental Hotel Group, owner of the Holiday Inn franchise, saw a 38% increase in profits in 2010 due mostly to remodels like that done by these workers1. The worldwide makeover has given the company a fresh new image and a higher level of revenue. Meanwhile the workers who helped remodel Holiday Inn Midtown in Austin have yet to receive payment for their work.
"Holiday Inn has an opportunity to be a leader in corporate responsibility by ensuring that those that work so hard to make it one of the nations most profitable hotel chains are compensated for their work" stated Patricia Zavala, Workplace Justice Coordinator at WDP.
A ZGraphix Video Production.
http://zgraphix.org
Video produced for Austin Indymedia by Jeff Zavala
http://austin.indymedia.org
Photography by Jason Cato
Learn more about Workers Defense Project/Proyecto Defensa Laboral: http://workersdefense.orgOn Thursday, August 4th at Holiday Inn Midtown (6000 Middle Fiskville Rd, Austin TX) a... more
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June 4, 2011 Austin Activists join forces to form a solidarity dance party in the Texas State Capitol Building, exercising their constitutional rights when the Capitol Police harass and use unreasonable force against free press reporters. The police also refused to help a victim of assault. Facebook event invite: May 28 2011 Adam Kokesh and friends were wrongly assaulted and arrested at the Jefferson Memorial for dancing. They will be back out next weekend and here in Austin we are planning a similar event in solidarity. Come out and dance to make people aware of the recent ruling making it "illegal" to dance at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. and also the brutality of police against peaceful protesters on May 28, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jUU3yCy3uI&feature=youtu.be *Suggested rules (but we don't need any rules to dance)**** -Leave political signs affiliated with political parties at home -Bring MP3 player and headphones -Bring Smiles, good cheer and have fun! -And remember WE CAN DANCE IF WE WANT TO! “Dancing is a healthy and elegant exercise, a specific against social awkwardness.” ~Thomas Jefferson. This is a zgraphix production. Produced by Jeff Zavala. http://zgraphix.orgJune 4, 2011 Austin Activists join forces to form a solidarity dance party in the... more
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University of Texas Professor Robert Jensen spoke at the First Unitarian Universalist Church Public Affairs Forum. In his talk, Jensen examines how nation, race, and gender affect our understanding of ourselves, with a focus on the unjust systems of power and privilege in which they are embedded. In each case he argues against the dominant culture's ideology and for a radical politics that takes seriously not only political but ecological realities.
Filmed on: Sunday, May 15, 2011.
Location: First Unitarian Universalist Church, Austin, TX 78756
Filmed, Edited & Produced for Austin Indymedia by Jeffry Zavala
A ZGraphix Production
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http://austin.indymedia.orgUniversity of Texas Professor Robert Jensen spoke at the First Unitarian Universalist... more
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Led by union workers from across Texas, thousands of chanting marchers converged on the Capitol on Wednesday to protest the recently passed House budget's deep spending cuts to education, health care and state jobs.
"We are all in this together," Judy Lugo, president of the Texas State Employees Union, told the raucous, cheering crowd on the south steps of the Capitol. "Every Texan, now and for years to come, will suffer the consequences if the Texas Legislature does not change course."
"We must not pack our kids into overcrowded classrooms or dismantle our parents' and grandparents' nursing homes" or allow legislators to "paper over their mismanagement with pink slips for teachers and public servants," he said.
After gathering at Waterloo Park, the line of marchers stretched for five blocks on the route to the Capitol. Popular chants included "They say cut back, we say fight back" and "It's raining, it's pouring, Rick Perry is snoring."
The Texas State Employees Union, a lead organizer of the "Save Our State Rally," estimated that 6,000 to 7,000 people attended.
At the Capitol, Lugo pushed for spending more of the rainy day fund and asked legislators to find additional revenue to repair a budget shortfall caused by "decades of bad public policy" and a recession brought on by financiers, speculators and corporate leaders.
Workers, she said, "did not cause this problem, and we are not going to pick up the tab for it."
Senators have been looking for $5 billion in non-tax revenue to help pay for as much as $10 billion in additional education and health care spending that has been added to the Senate's version of the budget. The first phase of their findings will be laid out at a hearing today.
The groups also called for lawmakers to leave untouched the remainder of the state's rainy day fund. That money will be needed two years from now for the additional Medicaid costs that stem from federal health care reform, said Talmadge Heflin of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a limited-government think tank.
A ZGraphix/Indymedia production.
Produced for Austin Indymedia by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org
Videography by Jeff Zavala and Matt Gossage.
Photography by Rene Renteria.
http://renerenteria.comLed by union workers from across Texas, thousands of chanting marchers converged on... more
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Coleen Rowley, one of three whistleblowers chosen as persons of the year for 2002 by Time Magazine, speaks about her experiences in the FBI and broader issues of official surveillance and massive data collection. When Coleen Rowley was an FBI agent in Minneapolis, her office got a lead just three weeks before 9/11 that a known extremist had paid $8.000 for lessons to fly a Boeing 747.
Her office arrested him, but, her superiors would not allow a full investigation. In a May, 2002 memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller, Rowley brought some of the pre 9-11 lapses to light, calling his defense of the agency a "rush to judgment to protect the FBI at all costs." Several weeks later Rowley testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about problems facing the FBI and the intelligence community, and her memo to Mueller in connection with the Joint Intelligence Committee's Inquiry led to a two-year Department of Justice Inspector General investigation.Coleen Rowley, one of three whistleblowers chosen as persons of the year for 2002 by... more
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David Rovics performs his newly written "Song for Bradley Manning" in this video.
Bradley E. Manning is a United States Army soldier who was charged in July 2010 with the unauthorized disclosure of U.S. classified information. He is being held in solitary confinement at the Marine Corps Brig, Quantico, Virginia, and is expected to face a court-martial in the spring of 2011.
Manning was assigned to a support battalion with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, based at Contingency Operating Station Hammer, Iraq, which gave him access to SIPRNet—the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network—used by the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of State to transmit classified information. He was arrested in May 2010 after Adrian Lamo, a former computer hacker, reported to authorities that Manning had told him, during an online chat, that he had downloaded material from SIPRNet and passed it to Wikileaks. The material included the video of a July 2007 helicopter airstrike in Baghdad—the so-called "Collateral Murder" video, which Wikileaks published in April 2010—a video of the Granai airstrike, and a large number of diplomatic cables.
Long live Wikileaks! http://wikileaks.ch
Song by David Rovics http://davidrovics.com
This is a zgraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.orgDavid Rovics performs his newly written "Song for Bradley Manning" in this... more
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On Thursday December 16th 2010, snow fell as 131 people were arrested in a Civil Disobedience at the White House protesting the continuing wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and in Iraq. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Chris Hedges provides an extraordinary anti-war soliloquy which is inter-cut with interview of Veterans of the recent wars and with Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the top secret Pentagon Papers. This action was organized by the Veterans Peace http://www.veteransforpeace.org/ Stop These Wars http://www.stopthesewars.org/ Read an interview with Chris Hedges just after the speech on the RawStory. And another Interview on Democracy Now where he discusses his most recent book, "Death of the Liberal Class" http://www.democracynow.org
America's military and economic empire could collapse at any time, but predicting the precise day, week or month of its potential demise is unattainable, according to a former New York Times war correspondent who spoke with Raw Story. "The when and how is very dangerous to predict because there's always some factor that blindsides you that you didn't expect," Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges said in an exclusive interview. "It doesn't look good. But exactly how it plays out and when it plays out, having covered disintegrating societies, it's impossible to tell." He explained that he learned this lesson as events unfolded around him in the fall of 1989. Then, members of the opposition to the Soviet Empire told him that they predicted travel across the Berlin Wall separating East from West Germany would open within the year. "Within a few hours, the wall didn't exist," he said. Hedges was one of the 131 activists were arrested in an act of civil disobedience outside the White House yesterday, even as Obama was unveiling a new report citing progress in the Afghanistan war. Speaking to Raw Story on Wednesday night, he said the signs of US collapse are plain to see and compared the country's course through Afghanistan to Soviet Russia's. "We're losing [the war in Afghanistan] in the same way the Red Army lost it," he said. "It's exactly the same configuration where we sort of control the urban centers where 20 percent of the population lives. The rest of the country where 80 percent of the Afghans live is either in the hands of the Taliban or disputed." "Foreigners will not walk the streets of Kabul because of kidnapping, and journalists regularly meet Taliban officials in Kabul because the whole apparatus is so porous and corrupt," he said. One day after this interview was conducted, reports hit the global media noting the CIA's warning to President Obama, that the Pakistan-supported Taliban could still regain control of the country. Hedges predicted that President Obama's war report released Thursday would "contradict not only [US] intelligence reports but everything else that is coming out of Afghanistan." His prediction came startlingly true: the CIA's own assessment was said to stand in striking contrast with President Obama's report. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, insisted that the US controlled more territory in Afghanistan than it did a year ago. 'A corporate coup d'état in slow motion' Hedges said he attended the protest and planned to get arrested because he is against the corporate powers that have enveloped the nation. "We've undergone a corporate coup d'état in slow motion," he said. "Our public education system has been gutted. Our infrastructure is corroding and collapsing. Unless we begin to physically resist, they are going to solidify neo-feudalism in this country." "If we think that Obama is bad, watch the next two years because these corporate forces have turned their back on him," Hedges warned. Hedges, author of "Death of the Liberal Class," said that his vision of America is one with a functioning social democracy, which stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of the corporate state. "American workers, as they are repeatedly told, will have to become competitive with prison labor in China," he said. "That's where we're headed, and all the pillars of the liberal establishment are complicit in this." "At least if you get sick in the UK, you don't go bankrupt or die," he added. Hedges said that another pressure point is the US dollar, which he pointed out had been dropped by Russia and China in favor of modified ruble/renminbi exchanges. "A few more deals like that, and our currency becomes junk," he said. Hedges continued, "As long as we have relative stability, these lunatic fringe movements can be held at bay, but if we don't undertake serious structural reform, which we're not doing, then it is inevitable that we will come to a tremendous crisis - economic and political as well as environmental."
Iraq Veterans Against The War Operation Recovery 678.986.0617 http://www.ivaw.org
This is a zgraphix production. Produced by Jeff Zavala. http://zgraphix.orgOn Thursday December 16th 2010, snow fell as 131 people were arrested in a Civil... more
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Religious fanatics gathered at the corner of S. Congress Ave. and Oltorf St. to proselytize religious lies. Was man made by God in his image or has man made God in our ignorance and weakness? Atheist pedestrians engaged in an open debate about sin, God and the question of how natural beings, such as humans, can't understand the supernatural realm. Also mentioned was the question of where one seeks forgiveness as a way to overcome sins, God or inner self? ; One of the atheists argued that God was not necessary and is actually a distraction from solving problems.
Friedrich Nietzsche is notable for having declared that God is dead and for having written several of his works in the presumption that man must find a new mode of being given the demise of God. Perhaps the most interesting quote on this theme appears in his The Gay Science ( aka Joyous Wisdom). A fairly full version of this key quote is set out immediately below:
Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market-place, and cried incessantly: "I am looking for God! I am looking for God!" As many of those who did not believe in God were standing together there, he excited considerable laughter. Have you lost him, then? said one. Did he lose his way like a child? said another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? or emigrated? Thus they shouted and laughed. The madman sprang into their midst and pierced them with his glances.
"Where has God gone?" he cried. "I shall tell you. We have killed him - you and I. We are his murderers. But how have we done this? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What did we do when we unchained the earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving now? Away from all suns? Are we not perpetually falling? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there any up or down left? Are we not straying as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is it not more and more night coming on all the time? Must not lanterns be lit in the morning? Do we not hear anything yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we not smell anything yet of God's decomposition? Gods too decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves? That which was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet possessed has bled to death under our knives. Who will wipe this blood off us? With what water could we purify ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whosoever shall be born after us - for the sake of this deed he shall be part of a higher history than all history hitherto."
Here the madman fell silent and again regarded his listeners; and they too were silent and stared at him in astonishment. At last he threw his lantern to the ground, and it broke and went out. "I have come too early," he said then; "my time has not come yet. The tremendous event is still on its way, still travelling - it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time, the light of the stars requires time, deeds require time even after they are done, before they can be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than the distant stars - and yet they have done it themselves."
It has been further related that on that same day the madman entered divers churches and there sang a requiem. Led out and quietened, he is said to have retorted each time: "what are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchres of God?"
This is a zgraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala
http://zgraphix.orgReligious fanatics gathered at the corner of S. Congress Ave. and Oltorf St. to... more
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AUSTIN, TX - After nearly a year of failed negotiations three construction workers are filing a class action lawsuit for an estimated $120,000 in back wages owed to them and other workers on the job. The workers who performed plaster work at Gables Park Plaza and 21Rio luxury condos say they were regularly shorted on pay and never received overtime - even though they commonly worked 60 or more hours a week. The workers are filing suit under the Fair Labor Standards Act in federal court against the Dallas-based company, Greater Metroplex Interiors (GMI) to recover their wages. GMI hired Capoera Construction to provide workers on the project, but Capoera disappeared after three of the workers were killed in a construction accident.
"We often worked up to 70 hours, six days a week with no rest breaks. We were denied overtime pay and were not paid at all for our final weeks of work. We simply want what is fair, and what we are owed" stated Filimon Salas, a plaintiff who was at the 21 Rio site last summer when three of his co-workers were killed on the job after a faulty scaffold collapse.
The workers in the case decided to file suit after unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a settlement with contractors and owners of the buildings. Yet, more than a year later the workers have still not been paid in full for their honest work. "These workers have tried to negotiate in good faith to recover what is legally owed to them, yet no one has wanted to take responsibility for these clear violations of their right to be paid for their work," said Craig Deats, one of the attorney's representing the workers in the case.
Attorneys in the case have filed a class action suit to allow more plaintiffs to join later. According to Deats there appear to be many more employees who worked on these buildings without receiving full wages but who are unaware of or possibly afraid to enforce their rights.
"With Austin construction workers having a one in five chance of not being paid their wages[1], we are not surprised that these violations have occurred," said Patricia Zavala of Workers Defense Project. "However, we believe that builders and contractors can do more to ensure safe and equitable working conditions." Zavala explained that builders have a unique opportunity to ensure that Austin is built sustainably- including for the workforce.
Workers Defense Project is a local organization dedicated to improving working conditions for low-wage workers in construction and other industries. http://workersdefense.org
What: Press Conference Announcing Class Action Lawsuit
When: Tuesday, October 19th 9:15am
Where: Gables Park Plaza 115 Sandra Muraida Way, Austin, TX. 78703.
This is a zgraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.orgAUSTIN, TX - After nearly a year of failed negotiations three construction workers are... more
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Human rights groups around the country participated in a National Day of Action yesterday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration Customs and Enforcement's (ICE) 2009 detention reform announcement. Activists called for an end to the human rights abuses in detention centers, the restoration of due process in the enforcement of immigration laws, and the implementation of cost saving alternatives.
Marking the first anniversary of the Obama Administration's announced intent to reform the immigration detention system, today's actions are part of the "Dignity, Not Detention: Preserving Human Rights and Restoring Justice" campaign led by the Detention Watch Network.
Year One Report Card, a joint report released today by human rights groups, reveals that many who are detained still suffer egregious human rights violations while in custody. Immigrants continue to be jailed for months or even years under substandard conditions. Mistreatment by guards, grossly deficient medical care, use of solitary confinement, and limited access to family and counsel remain persistent problems.
Last year, ICE promised to move away from the sprawling network of jails and prisons it uses to detain immigrants toward a less punitive model and take concrete steps to improve conditions of confinement for the nearly 400,000 people detained each year. But according to the report, the agency's reform agenda has been compromised by a growing detention population, internal opposition to reform by local ICE officials, and the expansion of ICE enforcement programs like 287(g), Secure Communities, and the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) that rely on local law enforcement agencies to channel more and more immigrants into the detention system.
"What the Year One Report Card shows is that the steps the Obama Administration has taken this year are not enough to bring about meaningful changes in the lives of immigrants," said Emily Tucker, Policy and Advocacy Director at Detention Watch Network. "Until ICE limits detention to only those rare cases where it has been shown necessary to ensure public safety, the human rights crisis in the U.S. immigration detention and deportation system will persist."
Participants in the National Day of Action called for the restoration of human rights within the detention system, and an end to programs that indiscriminately channel immigrants into the detention and deportation system. Coordinated educational actions occurred across the country in cities including Austin, TX, Freehold, NJ, Minneapolis, MN, Seattle, WA and Trenton, NJ.
To view the Year One Report Card please visit: http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-6953888/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5kZXRlbnRpb253YXRjaG5ldHdvcmsub3JnLw==
To learn more about the Dignity Not Detention Campaign please visit: http://detentionwatchnetwork.org
and http://www.grassrootsleadership.org
This is a zgraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.orgHuman rights groups around the country participated in a National Day of Action... more
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A group of protesters including ProfessorD.us from The Dope Poet Society gathered at the steps of the Travis County Courtroom to speak out against the death penalty.
An inquiry into whether Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongly executed was postponed today after state District Judge Charlie Baird announced that he needed some time to review a motion for his recusal from the case and to allow lawyers for Willingham's family to respond.
Baird reset the case for a week from Thursday in his Travis County courtroom.
The recusal motion was made by Navarro County District Attorney Lowell Thompson, whose office successfully prosecuted Willingham in 1992. Thompson was in court and said he would return next week.
Baird said that prior to the hearing he was delivered a letter form Caren Burbach, general counsel for Gov. Rick Perry, declining Baird's invitation for the governor or someone from his office to participate in the Willingham hearing.
In the letter, Burbach questioned whether Baird had the jurisdiction to hear Willingham's case and noted that multiple levels of state and federal court upheld Willingham's conviction.
"The petition and hearing appear to be improper collateral attacks upon a final judgment against a man found guilty of murdering his three children," Burbach wrote.
Baird said from the bench that "these were pretty much exactly the same proceedings that we engaged in on behalf of Mr. Timothy Cole, who the governor later recognized and who was posthumously pardoned by the governor."
After a hearing last year, Baird issued the first posthumous DNA exoneration to Cole, who died while serving a prison term for a rape he did not commit. The Dope Poet Society is a politically charged hip hop group from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Their music is characterized by clever and sometimes controversial lyrics. ProfessorD.us (formerly Professor D) is the lead vocalist of the group, known for his tongue twisting, "rapid fire" rap style. The group has been active since 1995 and has toured around the world. They have also performed and collaborated with some of the most influential artists in Hip Hop including Public Enemy, Dead Prez, Jeru the Damaja, and Boot Camp Click.
Professor D changed his name to ProfessorD.us with the release of his 2008 album, Third World Warriors Vol.1, which lists the artist as "ProfessorD.us - The Dope Poet Society".
To hear more music by The Dope Poet Society please visit: http://ProfessorD.us
This is a zgraphix production. Produced by Jeff Zavala. http://zgraphix.orgA group of protesters including ProfessorD.us from The Dope Poet Society gathered at... more
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Women in Black was inspired by earlier movements of women who demonstrated on the streets, making a public space for women to be heard - particularly Black Sash, in South Africa, and the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, seeking the "disappeared" in the political repression in Argentina. But WIB also shares a genealogy with groups of women explicitly refusing violence, militarism and war, such as the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom formed in 1918, and the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in the UK and related groups around the world opposing the deployment of US missiles in the eighties.
Beginnings in Israel
Women in Black as we know it today began in 1988 in Israel. In 1987, 20 years after Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinian intifada began. In response Israeli Jewish women began to stand in weekly vigils in public places, usually at busy road junctions. Starting in Jerusalem, the number of vigils in Israel eventually grew to almost forty. In the north of Israel, where the concentration of Arab communities is greatest, Palestinian women who are Israeli citizens were also active in Women in Black groups. Many local WIB groups made contact with women across the Green Line engaged in support work, e.g. visiting Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Establishing a formula for action
At WIB vigils, women carried placards saying "End the Occupation" and closely related messages. The focus was quite precise, in order to be able to draw in a wide group of women. The vigils were predictable: same site, regular intervals. The women wore black. Although they were not particularly silent in most Israeli locations, as they have become in some countries since, there was no chanting. They were seen by, and provoked reactions from, many passers-by on foot and in vehicles, some of whom heckled and abused them, both in sexualized terms ("whores") and for their politics ("traitors"). Their policy was not to shout back but to maintain silence and dignity.
In other countries, including Canada, the USA, Australia, and many European countries, Women in Black vigils soon began to be organized in support of those in Israel. In Berkeley, California, for example, Women in Black has been standing weekly since 1988. In the UK at this time, women (mainly Jewish, with Palestinians and others) picketed the offices of the Israeli state airline, El Al.
To read more about the history of Women in Black please visit: http://www.womeninblack.org/en/history
This is a zgraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.orgWomen in Black was inspired by earlier movements of women who demonstrated on the... more
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In the spirit of the Oleo Strut, Under The Hood is a place for soldiers to gather, relax and speak freely about the wars and the military. Support services for soldiers include referrals for counseling, legal advice and information on GI rights.
The Under the Hood Cafe offers an oasis for members of the military to gather and talk of issues of importance. I welcome the opportunity to meet fellow military in an atmosphere of peace and ;justice.
— Ann Wright, U.S. Army colonel (retired), official of the U.S. State Department (retired)
To learn more please visit:
http://www.underthehoodcafe.org/
Immortal Technique
The War Vs. Us All
Feat. Mumia Abu Jamal
The war against us all
This war in Iraq isn't the end; it's the beginning of Wars to come
all around the world at the whim of the Neo-Cons in the White House
This is the Bush Doctrine come to life; War, war and more war!
War brought to you by the big corporate-masters who run the show
This isn't just a War on Iraqis or Afghans or Arabs, or even Muslims
It is ultimately a War on us all!
That's because the billions and billions that are being spent on this War
the cost of tanks, rocketry, bullets and yes even salaries for the 125,000 plus troops, is money that will never be spent on; education, on healthcare, on the reconstruction of crumbling public housing or to train and place the millions of workers who have lost manufacturing jobs in the past three years alone. The War in Iraq is in reality; a war against the nations' workers and the poor who are getting less and less while the big Defense industries and making a killing – literally!
What's next Iran, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela?
We've already seen the corporate media
play megaphone to the White House, to build and promote a War based on lies.
War is utilized by the imperialists first and foremost, to crush internal enemies.
We're seeing the truth of its insight
when we see the sad state of American education
the rush of seniors to buy affordable medications from the Canadians
because American drugs are just too expensive,
the threat of privatization of Social Security
and the wave of repression that comes with an increasing Militarized Police;
this is a War on all of us,
And the struggle against War is really a struggle for a better life
for the millions of folks who are in need here in this country!
The fight against the War is really to fight for your own interest
not the false interests of the Defense Industry
or the corporate media or the White House
Down with the Wars for empire!
From Death row this is Mumia Abu Jamal...
Please visit: http://freemumia.org
This is a ZGraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.orgIn the spirit of the Oleo Strut, Under The Hood is a place for soldiers to gather,... more
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Moon Flowers blooming are like radio telescopes tuning in to the moons movement. Just as sunflowers follow the sun, Moon Flowers follow the moon.
Imagine sitting in your garden on a warm summer evening, a full moon overhead and beautiful Moon Flowers blooming nearby with their fragrance wafting on a light breeze.
The Moon Flower opens in mid to late afternoon and blooms right through the night. Its lovely fragrance and large flowers attract night flying insects, like moths, to pollinate it.
When the sun rises in the morning, the Moon Flower dies. It is replaced by another one the same afternoon until all the buds have flowered and then died as the sun's rays strike them.
This is a ZGraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.orgMoon Flowers blooming are like radio telescopes tuning in to the moons movement. Just... more
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A Musical Performance Mixed with Footage from the Protest and the Candlelight Vigil Dedicated to the Activists Killed on Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
An overall weariness seems to have settled with Palestine solidarity activists. ; The news of the attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla by Israeli forces that came early Monday morning was far less shocking among those who have kept up with Israel’s track record over the past years than it should have been. Although the attack was in international waters, on unarmed international civilians, and entirely illegal, Israel’s war crimes are starting to become old news as the Israeli government continues to get away with its abuses.
The vigil held in front of the Capitol Building Friday, June 1st, was then an uplifting and encouraging event as over 70 members of the Austin community gathered with candles to remember those who were killed and wounded on the flotilla and to remember the hundreds of activists who are still being detained by Israel. Several individuals shared words of inspiration and hope with the crowd and a general theme of patience and commitment to action resonated throughout the speeches.
With a recitation of a verse from the Qur’an, Imam Islam of the North Austin Muslim Community Center stressed the importance of working towards justice in times of severe oppression. “If we see an injustice it is our responsibility to change it” with our hands, our mouths, and our hearts. He also told the crowd that as they grieved for their brothers “that grief is also mixed with a renewed hope” that people will work towards justice and peace with nonviolence.
Others such as Ramsey Doany, a Physics student at the University of Texas, encouraged the crowd to stay strong in their dedication to justice and peace for the Palestinian people. He noted that while the situation seems more and more dire every day, there is still hope and a deep need for commitment from activists to educate and speak out against Israel's injustices such as the attack on the Gaza Flotilla.
Overall there is recognition among the Palestine activist community that little if anything has changed in preventing Israel from continuing to commit war crimes. Reverend Ed Hartwell argued, ”the Israelis are saying ‘there is no humanitarian crisis...’ Well there is no new crisis. It’s just getting worse and worse. That’s the crisis.” For some, this fact has provoked more anger with Israel and the United States in the activist community.
At the protest held the day of the attack at Sixth and Lamar in Austin, people held signs that read “F*ck Israel.” While many disagree with this alienating language and the signs were asked to be taken down, there are still a great deal of people who are just fed up with Israel getting away with every grievous act they commit. The United States’ unwillingness to harm its relationship with Israel sends the message that Israel can get away with just about anything in regards to the Palestinians and therefore their war crimes have become increasingly more flagrant. Over the past year and a half Israel has continued to push the line farther and farther, first with Operation Cast Lead, then with plans for more settlements, then with the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, and finally, with this attack on international civilians.
Additionally, the siege on Gaza has destroyed the vitality of the citizens of Gaza who, for over the past four years, have been living on the bare minimum amount of food and water that the United Nations says a person can survive on. Over 10 percent of children under the age of five are now chronically malnourished and the 1.5 million people in the enclosed area are desperately in need of food and supplies to rebuild after Operation Cast Lead. Because Israel has refused to allow in enough food and has banned the importation of essential items such as concrete, fresh meat, and fabric for clothing, the Gaza Flotilla and the 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid it carried was not a trivial mission. But even in light of these circumstances and although hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of international civilians have been killed in the last two years because of Israel’s extreme force, the United States has done little more than publically slap Israel’s hand for media purposes. Now the Obama Administration has responded to the death of nine or more international civilians in international waters by saying it is merely “regrettable.” The increased frustration is certainly warranted.
However, despite this discouraging lack of progress, it is gatherings like the Gaza Flotilla Vigil that help the community remember that while Israel’s human rights abuses are horrendous and becoming ever more wearisome, the need for voices to speak out against Israel’s crimes is even stronger and can be found among those dedicated to fighting for peace. At the vigil, with four and seven-year-olds holding candles under their chins and people of different races and religions standing together, it was not the anger of the protest from the day before that ran through 70 people’s minds. But in the moment of silence that was held at the vigil, a renewed sense of hope for a lasting peace was felt among the Reverend, Imam, college students, families and Austinites alike.
Article by Leah Gilman.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
A ZGraphix Production.
http://zgraphix.orgA Musical Performance Mixed with Footage from the Protest and the Candlelight Vigil... more
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Bobby Whittenberg plays his song Oh Palestine with Joe Carr on backup vocals as well as other talented musical artists such as Ramsey Doany and Sari Andoni. This Musical Performance and Video is Dedicated to the Courageous People in the Freedom Flotilla for Gaza and to the Palestinian People. We stand with you. We mourn with your family and friends today, on this BLOODY Memorial Day Massacre Monday.
Here, in Austin Texas in front of Whole Foods, at Sixth Street and Lamar, we spent the afternoon of the Memorial Day Massacre in protest of Israel's murderous massacre of 19 Peace Volunteers who were killed in an illegal raid on May 31, 2010.
The terrorist state of Israel boarded the ships in INTERNATIONAL waters and committed unspeakable acts of violence against humanitarian workers and activists. We stand in solidarity with the Freedom Flotilla, all of Palestine and against these acts of violence.
This is a ZGraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
Watch more at: http://zgraphix.org/links.htmlBobby Whittenberg plays his song Oh Palestine with Joe Carr on backup vocals as well... more
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This video is dedicated to the Courageous People in the Freedom Flotilla for Gaza. We stand with you. We mourn with your family and friends today, on this BLOODY Memorial Day Massacre Monday. Here, In Austin Texas in front of Whole Foods, at Sixth Street and Lamar, we spent the afternoon of the Memorial Day Massacre in protest of Israel's murderous massacre of 19 Peace Volunteers who were killed in an illegal raid on May 31, 2010. The terrorist state of Israel boarded the ships in INTERNATIONAL waters and committed unspeakable acts of violence against humanitarian workers and activists. We stand in solidarity with the Freedom Flotilla, all of Palestine and against these acts of violence.
This is a ZGraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://www.zgraphix.orgThis video is dedicated to the Courageous People in the Freedom Flotilla for Gaza. We... more
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Bobby Whittenberg plays his song "Oh Palestine" from his "No Gods! No Master Sergeants!" album released in 2010. Music and lyrics written by Bobby Whittenberg.
This song features Joe Carr on backup vocals and woodwind.
Visit Bobby's myspace to hear more of his music!
http://www.myspace.com/bobbywhittenberg
&
Visit Bobby's blog to learn more!
http://veteranarchy.blogspot.com/
This video and music was produced and recorded by Jeffry Zavala. http://www.zgraphix.orgBobby Whittenberg plays his song "Oh Palestine" from his "No Gods! No... more
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Burning Flags and Tearing Down Walls
On March 20, 2010, on the seventh anniversary of the United States invasion of Iraq, at a rally across the street from the White House, before an anti-war march, veterans Robyn Murray, Matthis Chiroux, and mother of a Marine Elaine Brower burned an American Flag in protest of the violent, aggressive United States Government. As a combat wounded veteran and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, I fully support, endorse, and encourage this symbolic protest. It is important for the general public to see veterans committing non-violent acts of dissent and I hope to see more of it in the future.
This has sparked a controversy among people with more fascistic sympathies. Matthis has received threats of violence, rape, and death. Such threats truly show the character of people loyal to the American flag and the American government. Very few things are more quintessentially American than "Fall in line or we will beat you, rape you, or kill you." Just ask native americans, or african americans, immigrants, women, or the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Haiti, etc. Violence, dominance, rape, and murder are the American way and when Matthis Chiroux, Robyn Murray, and Elaine Brower lit that flag, it is exactly that type of ethos that they were challenging. If people are more upset over the burning of a piece of cloth than the death and destruction of people, then certainly their priorities are out of order. With this type of repression of radicalism, it is no surprise that this movement has been only marginally successful thus far.
The image of two veterans and the mother of a Marine burning the flag of the American empire is a powerful and striking one. It causes people to ask questions. It causes people to look beyond the lies told by the media and the administration. It is a call to arms and needs to be heeded.
Some have called this action "divisive" or "alienating." This is a clear attempt to universalize their own misguided allegiances and to push their own agenda masked in the thin veil of "propriety." Fortunately most people are capable of deeper thought than these petulant patriots. It is not always in the moment that we see the results of an action. We do ourselves and others no justice if we posit that our knee jerk reaction is necessarily the best one, and the most accurate indication of the long term affects of an action. Most of us are capable of performing a deeper analysis of things that may initially shock us long after the fact. We turn things over in the heads and ponder and analyze them. People are less often changed and moved by things that are commonplace, or everyday, but are most moved and changed by things that jar them out of their comfort zone for a moment. It is impossible to know what will inspire and what will alienate different people, as not all people are the same. What repulses one may inspire many others.
One can not help but note how appropriate it is that those who support the burning of the flag are pushing for an illumination of consciousness, a stepping into the light, while those who favor repression and suppression would wish to extinguish the flames of burning flags and the fires that burn in our hearts, driving us to seek peace and justice. To anyone with a complete and accurate analysis, the burning of an American flag symbolizes the destruction of walls built between people. It symbolizes love for all people, regardless of national origin, and is indicative of international solidarity.
Patriotism and nationalism are no different in principle than racism and they need to be challenged and combated accordingly. Let us all step into the light of a million burning flags, putting behind childish allegiances that have kept us divided. Let us burn all flags, cross all borders, and take down all walls that divide us. Let us destroy that which destroys us. Let us unite for peace and justice. Let us create a new world.
Peace, Love, and (A)narchy,
Bobby Whittenberg
To read Bobby Whittenberg's blog go to:
http://veteranarchy.blogspot.com/Burning Flags and Tearing Down Walls
On March 20, 2010, on the seventh anniversary... more
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Thousands of activists gathered on the south steps of the Capitol on Friday evening and marched to City Hall in support of improving treatment of immigrant workers and the reformation of laws to recognize them as contributing members of American society.
International Workers Day, commonly known as May Day is the annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement over the past century. Activists across the country use this day to call for better treatment of immigrants.
When you work a day, you should get paid a day, said Teresa Parkinson, a volunteer with the Workers Defense Project, an immigrant rights organization.
Parkinson said there are businesses, restaurants and construction companies in Austin that do not pay immigrants for their work. If the workers report these businesses for malpractice, they risk being deported.
I know immigrants are being mistreated, Parkinson said. They have a right as humans to be paid for the work that they do.
Caroline Keating-Guerra, an organizer of Fridays march, summed up the event as a rally for immigrant rights reform, which includes immigrant access to health care and education, a pathway to legalization and ending government raids and family separation.
In a speech prior to the march, Eric Tang, an assistant professor in UTs College of Liberal Arts, described May Day as a celebration of the relationship between humans and the work they do. He said Americans must ensure that the rights people earn for being contributing members of society are respected.
Many times [immigrants] are marginalized, ghettoized and pushed out of the mainstream of American society, Tang said.
Martín Ruiz, a member of the Workers Defense Project, said the government needs to recognize immigrant participation.
[This march] is more than about being Hispanic, Russian, Asian, rich or poor, Ruiz said. Its a day that workers can take to the streets and reclaim a more dignified life for themselves and their families.
This is a Z Graphix Production, Directed by Jason Cato Produced by Jeffry Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org
Photography by Jason Cato
Cinematography by Keegan Godsey and Jeffry Zavala
To learn more go to:
http://workersdefense.org
http://buildaustin.orgThousands of activists gathered on the south steps of the Capitol on Friday evening... more
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