The Robber Barons of Social Change
Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., the maker of "
Month: February 2010
No Tutu is Big Enough to Cover Up Israeli War Crimes
Human rights activists from Vermont, New York and Israel interrupted a performance of the Israel Ballet at the Flynn Theater in Burlington, VT on Friday, February 19th, calling attention to the dance company's complicity in Israeli war crimes. Using two banners that read "No Tutu is Big Enough to Cover Up War Crimes" and "Sponsored by Apartheid Israel", the activists, who had purchased tickets to the show, positioned themselves in front of the stage during the opening scenes of the performance.
Vermont Event: Report Back From Human Rights Delegation to Honduras
Fear and Defiance in Post-Coup Honduras
Monday, March 1st, 7pm, FreeBurlington College 95 North Avenue, Burlington, VTCommunity RoomCall 802-881-3293 for more info.
Burlington resident Peter Lackowski recently returned from a two week Rights Action delegation in Honduras. On this trip he met with many of the people who are creating a brave new movement which aims to break free of the US empire, the Honduran elite and establish a real democracy in their country. At this event Lackowski will cover the events leading up to the coup and the various maneuvers of Zelaya and his supporters. He will share stories and analysis from interviews with the people he met, both activists and others, on the strategy of the resistance and what people in the US can do in solidarity.
Community and Popular Radio in Haiti Today
Source: Truthout
Sony Esteus, popular radio promoter, at work in his post-earthquake office.(Photo: Roberto (Bear) Guerra)
Sony Esteus is squeezed into an elementary school chair, the kind with the curved piece of wood in front, in a courtyard. Around him are chickens, a fly-swarmed pile of compost, a truck and a tent. Sony runs his laptop off of an extension cord running out a window. The cord and the courtyard are on loan from a nonprofit, and they have formed Sony’s work station since the earthquake’s destruction of his own organization’s building. Sony is director of the Society for Social Mobilization and Communication – SAKS by its Creole acronym – which provides training, technical support, equipment and production to help popular radio stations educate and inform the community.
Nelson Mandela’s Walk to Freedom Remembered
Nelson Mandela, 1937
Twenty years ago, Janey Halim was part of the ANC welcome committee gathered outside Victor Verster Prison, waiting to greet Nelson Mandela as he emerged after 27 years of confinement. “It was a beautiful morning and we all just stood there with our eyes focused on the metal gate,” she recalls. “Then the gates opened and Nelson and Winnie walked towards us. Other people were cheering but I just cried and cried.” Two decades later, Ms Halim, known to most people as Auntie Janey, decided not to attend the commemorative event at the prison marking the anniversary of Mandela’s release because she feels let down by the African National Congress (ANC).
Somalia: Piracy Redux
Source: Foreign Policy in Focus
Over a year after the scourge of piracy escalated in the Gulf of Aden, the world is still mired in misguided and misdirected militarist policies. Meanwhile, millions of Somalis are caught in desperate circumstances. One-third of the country is on the run. Thousands choose to make the horrendous trek to Kenya where they face relatively safe, yet empty lives in refugee camps. At the African Union summit last month, diplomats lamented that even though Somalia was a major security threat, it didn’t get anywhere near the attention that Afghanistan received.