Single mother Mary White worked as a sales clerk until the bank foreclosed on the home she rented.

Tossed out on the street with her six boys, she lost her deposit and her job. Now she is revved up to vote in November. “My situation is going to make me want to vote even more,” she said.

“I want to say that this should not be happening to people in America, and I am very angry and upset about it.” (more…)

Tonight (Tuesday 22july) at 7:30pm at the corner of Capitol Ave and Broad St, (rain location is at the Charter Oak Cultural Center) there will be a candlelight vigil for Nashawn William, a 16 year old black youth who was attacked by a gang of whites in Plainfield, CT while waiting for a school bus in October 2007.

Police are trying to close the case, with no witnesses or arrests made. Nashawn and his family have since been forced to move to
Norwich after repeated threats and taunts against them following the attack.

At this crucial time, Nashawn and his family really need all our support

Justice for Nashawn! No Police cover-up in
Plainfield! 

Me and some folks from ARRGH! and Hartford Food Not Bombs are going out tonight in support. Hope to see more folks there!!! 

-Deric

The song lyrics in question:

This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion
It’s not what, I’m used to
Just wanna try you on
I’m curious for you
Caught my attention

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it

(more…)

A big thank you to Kelli for this posting. Give our support to our sisters in Dallas. We march with you on July 26th, 2008.

It’s Dawn Already, Wake Up! Open Your Eyes!

www.akpress.org/2006/items/ana

This is a wonderful historical piece that I found today. Enjoy.

By Gloria RubacHouston, Published Jul 18, 2008 12:18 AM

The Harris County criminal justice system here has historically been racist and targeted the poor, with justice denied for untold generations. Within the last year, the struggle against this system has intensified to the point that ruling-class politicians have been challenged to examine its violent and racist practices.

July 10 rally demands indictment of racist vigilante Joe Horn;Photo: Jon Axford
Recently the federal Department of Justice did a five-day examination of the Harris County Jail, a massive complex of detention centers where more than 100 prisoners have been “found” dead.

A Houston Chronicle review of state and county records reveals that from January 2001 through December 2006, at least 101 inmates-an average of about 17 per year-have died while in the custody of the jail. In 2006 alone, after three consecutive years of failing to comply with state standards, the jail recorded 22 in-custody deaths.

At the times of their deaths, at least 72 of the inmates-more than 70 percent-were awaiting court hearings and had yet to be convicted of the crimes that led to their incarceration. (more…)

Cynthia McKinney for president

Workers World newspaper in the past has supported the candidates of Workers World Party running for national office in the U.S. presidential elections and who have put forward a revolutionary socialist program. This time we are taking the unusual step of endorsing the candidacy of Cynthia McKinney because these are unique times and this is a unique candidate.

McKinney, a courageous Black woman and former U.S. Congresswoman from Georgia, has become one of the most militant leaders and voices for the U.S. left, progressive and Black movements.

Because of her militancy in the struggle against the war, the struggle to impeach Bush, as well as her struggle to expose the government’s role in the displacement of survivors of Hurricane Katrina, she was branded too Black and too radical to walk the halls of Congress. She was pushed out, not once but twice, by the leadership of the Democratic Party. Last year, McKinney severed her ties to that party.

On July 12, McKinney and her running mate, activist Rosa Clemente, won the Green Party’s nomination to run for president and vice-president, respectively. The Green Party’s nomination will put McKinney on the ballot in about 20 states, which is no small thing in the U.S. where the ruling class has made it very hard for any electoral formation independent of, and even slightly to the left of, the two major ruling-class parties to get ballot status. The Green Party is not the reason why we are supporting McKinney. (more…)

A note: We need each and everyone of us to be watchdogs when it comes to our stories. Nothing is small or insignificant about this process when people are trying to write any of us out of history. Attempts to erase, deny, omit, suppress must be met with us in full force out against the oppressors no matter who or what they may be. One thing that bothers me is we as a people haven’t taught our children well. Many do not know our wonderful stories. We have not shared with them or with straights the great gifts that we bring to all of human kind. That is a sadness that must be corrected. 

QWB thanks Kevin of the Hartford Undercurrent for this video.

You love Coffee but you can’t drink it? You have to stay away from caffeine or due to a medical condition can’t have that delicious cup of java? I found a very tasty pleasant alternative, a very pleasant surprise. Herbal Coffee Tea a blend by Mountain Rose Herbs is blended just for any of us, who miss our cup of coffee. Mountain Rose has this to say about their Herbal Coffee Tea–

“Enjoy this deep and invigorating coffee alternative made from 100% organic herbal ingredients! This shockingly good tea has a remarkable similarity to coffee thus making it the ideal alternative to coffee drinkers who are attempting to limit their intake of this highly  caffeinated beverage. Contains: Organic roasted Dandelion root, organic roasted Chicory root, roasted Carob, and organic Maca Powder.  Caffeine Free.”

(more…)

We Keep giving Insurance Companies 

-MORE-

They keep giving us less.

Where is all the money going? 

Join healthcare advocates, policy makers, activists, and allies for a Roving Demonstration.

DATE: Thursday July 24, 2008

Time: 3:00 PM

(more…)

“NO ATTACK ON IRAN!!!!!!!”

If you work hard, you deserve a secure retirement. And no one would suggest that Hartford’s retired teachers, paraprofessionals, police and firefighters didn’t work hard. Of course they did.

But Mayor Eddie Perez wants to slash the health benefits that retirees bargained for while they were working. Retirees are seeing their insurance premiums double and even triple!

Hartford WFP Councilman Larry Deutsch has been the real champion on this issue. Monday evening, Councilman Deutsch will introduce a resolution to put a 90 day moratorium on any changes to retiree health benefits, to give retirees the time to figure out their options, and to limit increases in retiree insurance premiums to a reasonable amount.

But we need you to join us. It’s time to stand up for retirees.

Join us for a rally for retirees:
Monday at 5:30 PM at Hartford City Hall.
Click here to invite a friend to the rally. (more…)

“L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he’d ever had rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms. Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or North Carolina flags at half-staff Monday, defying a directive sent to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley. When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms. After several hours’ delay, one of Eason’s employee hung the flags at half staff. He told his staff that he did not think it appropriate to honor Helms because of his “doctrine of negativity, hate, and prejudice,” and his opposition to civil rights bills and the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.”

In John F. Kennedy’s book Profiles in Courage he writes abut people who had the courage to stand up for what they believe in, well Mr. Eason has the courage. He had the courage to stand up against popular opinion, to stand up against bigotry and prejudice and it made him a true hero in my book.

Thanks to Diana for sending us the above piece. (more…)

Nashawn, 16, spoke briefly before being overcome by emotion as his mother watched sobbing
in the background. Cornell Lewis, founder of the Men of Color Initiative, with his hand on
Nashawn’s shoulder, comforted the young man as he spoke.

Cornell said, “Shame on America” for the racist assault perpetrated by K-Nation that inflicted
such physical and emotional injury on a young African-American man and his family.
(more…)

Posted by Rowland Keshena on A Radical in Bermuda.

The Greenward Shift of the American Revolutionary Left

(Are Cynthia McKinney and the Green Party a real alternative for American workers and youth?)

* 

As I posted last night, one my biggest gripes with sections of the American revolutionary left (including the US branch of the IMT) is that they are undergoing a reorientation away from the construction of a new revolutionary worker’s movement and towards the left-social democrats of the Green Party USA. Two of the more prominent revolutionary socialist groups to have backed the Green Party this year are the Workers International League (the American branch of the IMT) and Solidarity. So we must ask ourselves, is the Green Party USA the best alternative out there for workers and revolutionary change? Also what is going on with current attempts to unify the campaigns of several American revolutionary socialist groupings?So to the first question, does the Green Party represent the best interests of the workers and revolution in the United States? I would have to say no, especially when we throw in the idea of revolution. While I’ll admit that the Greens are far more progressive than the Democrats, (just see here and here), and they certainly are at the forefront of the battle to protect the environment (something all real socialists support), they are still broadly a left-social democrat institution. Now, I know right now you might be saying “but I really like the Green Party’s platform“, hell so do I, it has many great points to it, and as I said, it is certainly far more progressive and left than even the most extreme Democrats like Dennis Kucinich, but the intrinsic problem with the Greens is that they have not come to grips with the systemic nature of the capitalist problem, even as it pertains to the environmental question. At the moment they still are in the mode of trying to reform capitalism into a cleaner, nicer, less-heartless variety, but once they realize that capitalism is irreformable I fully believe that their platform will shift more to the left. The Green Party does not offer up the fundamental revolutionary change that is really needed to emancipate the working class. So why support a non-revolutionary organization when well established revolutionary parties and movements already exist?

(more…)

(more…)

“To me young people come first, they have the courage where we fail
And if I can shed some light as they carry us through the gale
The older I get the better I know that the secret of my going on
Is when the reins are in the hand of the young who dare to run against the storm
Not needing to clutch for power, not needing the light just to shine on me
I need to be just one in the number as we stand against tyranny
Struggling myself don’t mean a whole lot I come to realize
That teaching others to stand up and fight is the only way my struggle survive”

All of us, no matter how big or how small we or our work are, should take stock in Ella’s vision and practice of activism! Another key belief of Ella’s was that “you must let the oppressed themselves define their own freedom.” A mantra that we in the the Trans community must embrace if we are to realize the true freedoms we desire. Metroline can attempt to marginalize or erase the power of the Trans movement, though we the Trannies, the Queens, the Kings, the Queers have and continue to define our own freedom ~ and not let our history or our futures be defined by Metroline, HRC or any other entity that attempts to marginalize our identity and beauty!

To learn more about Ella, I encourage you at least to read Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision.

Below are both a video of Sweet Honey in the Rock singing Ella’s song (lyrics and music by Bernice Johnson Reagon) and the inspiring lyrics, of which many lines are based on things Ella said. Enjoy.

Ella’s Song
Composed by Bernice Johnson Reagon, copyright: Songtalk Publishing Co.

Refrain: (more…)

The JustUs Legal Collective has put together a Know Your Right Summer Training Series for folks heading to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul or Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer. Join us for one of our Know Your Rights trainings. Click to view Flyer

The trainings will be held on:

Monday, July 14 - 7pm at Bluestockings, 172 Allen Street (more…)

In a recent Metroline article dated late June, Mr. DaBrow then tries to say that he meant he was talking about the first night of the Stonewall Rebellion. The first night of the fight back June 27, 1969. He even puts this qualifying statement in all capital letters. VERY FIRST NIGHT. Mr. DaBrow then backs up his statement by saying that he talked with the President and founding member of the Stonewall Vets who remains nameless. (Mr. Williamson Henderson was the president up until July 1st.) Mr DaBrow claims his source told him that there were no drag queens in Stonewall the first night. (Mr. DaBrow claims this but didn’t find in necessary to put it in quotes in the article.)  Mr.DaBrow claims a lot of other things in his ramble as he attempts to smear the reputation of my good friend and comrade Jerimarie and to set himself and the bar rag Metroline as the oracle of all things LGBT. The Metroline’s recurring argument about whether drag queens and trans people were a part of the Stonewall rebellion or not really reflects a long standing phenomenon in “gay” history which is the discomfort of many gay men and lesbians with transgender, transvestites, drag queens, etc. So, this almost annual argument is a small reflection of the continuing desire for all trans people to be fully respected and recognized by many of us and the continuing desire by the homo-normative and somewhat straight laced gay men and lesbians to minimize or outright deny any presence of contributions by drag queens or other trans people to the early “gay” rights movement. And today claims are made by the Metroline that they respect and include Transpeople now, yet it has an unconvincing “ring” to it still.  (more…)

By Henry Fernandez | July 8, 2008
A few weeks ago, my three-year-old son fell and cut his head open, spewing blood like only a head laceration can. I applied direct pressure, calmed him down, checked for symptoms of shock, and secured the wound while maintaining the pressure by wrapping his head. Then we rushed him to the hospital where a couple of stitches and tears later, he was just fine. I learned how to handle that situation three decades ago from the Boy Scouts. (more…)

Babi Badalov has been campaigning to stay in the UK since his claim for asylum was rejected. He has been informed that he is now liable to be detained and has to sign in every week at the Border and Immigration Agency offices in Cardiff. His first signing was last Tuesday (24th June) and supporters from the campaign accompanied Babi to the BIA offices. Concern is high that he may be snatched at one of these signings so everyone was relieved to see him come out of the building, not least Babi himself.

News of the campagin has reached Azerbaijan where Babi was recently in a newspaper article that disputed Babi was an internationally renowned actor. No wonder as Babi has never claimed to be an actor and isn’t suprised that people had never heard of this actor’s name. He is however a contemporary artist that has had his work shown in many galleries throughout Europe and across the world.

This article made the fact he is homosexual known to his whole family. They have telephoned him, screamed at him, threatened him and disowned him. Babi has expressed concern for his family and the shame that this will have brought on them by having a family member that is gay, just proving how unacceptable homosexuality is in Azerbaijan. This article has raised Babi’s profile even further in Azerbaijan, resulting in letters being written to the press in his defence. Not only will this make it even harder for Babi to return if he is deported but it will also mean he has no support and family to return to if he is sent back.

We are pleading to people to continue to support Babi by either signing the online petition, getting your friends to sign it and by writing to Jacqui Smith (model letter here) and expressing your outrage at Babi’s claim being rejected. If you have already written, please write again.

See some of Babi’s work here

www.noborderswales.org.uk

Have you ever struggled with how to balance your religious beliefs, experiences and sexuality? If so, be sure to join us as we tackle this topic with our featured guest, Reverend Marilyn Bowens (rainbowrev), Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) New Haven. Download link .

Nashawn Williams was brutally attacked by racist whites in Plainfield while waiting for a school bus in Oct 2007.  Minister Cornell Lewis will bring the family to Hartford for a Press Conference on Saturday July 12th at 11 AM.  This is the first time Nashawn Williams will publicly speak about the attack and having a group of whites taunt the family while inside their home.  Police are trying to close the case; no witnesses or arrests.

Place: Charter Oak Cultural Center

Address: 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford

Time: 11 AM

Jerimarie Liesegang

Miss Majors pt1 (more…)

And for a “Peoples History of Stonewall” and not the revisionist and horridly inaccurate Metroline view of Queer History, I include a great piece from David Isay heard over the Pacifica Network: “Remembering Stonewall.” Enjoy hearing about the real story of Stonewall, in THEIR own words

Download link

Not much shocks me now-a-days but I am shocked over this. What do these gays and lesbians think that Trans people do in the bathroom? UGH!!!! I am ashamed some days to be a gay man and to consider myself a part of the movement. Too bad someone didn’t push over one of the loos with an official of Pride in it. Makes for a good dressing.